A look around the Gore Lane area of Exmouth this morning got me my 1st Barn Swallow of the year and another year tick was this Rose-Ringed Parakeet . Also seen was a European Green Woodpecker , 2 Stock Dove and a Common Chiffchaff .
And on Bowling Green Marsh the European Spoonbill count has now risen to 4
My car was off the road today so I spent a couple of hours in the garden just to see what I could see and it turned out pretty good as I saw the following .
Herring Gull , European Green Woodpecker , Wood Pigeon , Winter Wren , Blue Tit , Great Tit , Coal Tit , Black-Billed Magpie , Carrion Crow , Wester Jackdaw , Rook , Eurasian Jay , Dunnock , European Robin , Common Chaffinch , European Greenfinch and European Goldfinch .
A trip down to South Huish Marsh to look for some Blue-Headed Wagtail that have been seen there . And we managed to see 4 of them and got great views . Now Blue-Headed Wagtail is one of the sub specie of Yellow Wagtail to which there are quite a few . But it is always nice to see them !
Also seen were 20 Cattle Egret , numerous Rock Pipit and a few Common Linnet .
Many Thanks Chas .
A mad early morning dash down to the top fields at the Gore Lane area of Orcombe Point in Exmouth to look for a reported Eurasian Hoopoe . I arrived to find one birder already there but he had not managed to see the bird yet . And after while a couple more birders turned up so we decided to walk up the lane a bit further to see if we could look at the field better .
And it paid off as the bird was picked up in flight being harassed by Black-Billed Magpies it flew around for a while and then landed on a post . It then was then harassed again and flew off and after much searching we did not see it again .
A look at the Exe Estuary then got me 6 Pale-Bellied Brent Goose .
Thursday 20th March
A trip out to Dartmoor to look for a reported Great Grey Shrike near Bellevor Tor . But I only managed to get a very distant view of it .
Friday 21st March
A look at the Exe Estuary from the Goatwalk in Topsham got me my 1st Osprey of the year . I then had a quick look at Bowling Green Marsh where I saw a male Greater Scaup , a male and female Common Pochard and 3 Eurasian Spoonbill .
Todays birding started at Bowling Green Marsh with the usual suspects seen with the long staying Greater Scaup , 3 Common Pochard , 10 Mallard , 8 Northern Pintail , 3 European Spoonbill , a Large flock of Black-Tailed Godwit and a single Bar-Tailed Godwit .
My next stop was at Tremletts Marsh in Topsham with a male and female Common Stonechat seen . My 1st on the Exe Estuary this year . My last stop was at Darts Farm again in Topsham with a Little Egret ( a bird that is common now but I can remember when it was an absolute rarity ) Also seen were 2 Stock Dove and a Common Chiffchaff .
The long staying Long-Billed Dowitcher showed very well in the bright sunlight on Bowling Green Marsh this morning . ( It has now been with us for 7 months )
Also seen was the male Greater Scaup , a few Tufted Duck , 3 European Spoonbill , 10 Common Greenshank , a Spotted Redshank was in with numerous Common Redshank , 2 Stock Dove , a Common Chiffchaff and 4 Common Sand Martin .
Not bad for an hours birding !
News came out this morning of a couple of Barnacle Geese on Powderham Marsh so over I went to look for them and I managed to see one of them , there was no sign of the other one while I was there .
Not a lot else was seen with only my 1st Common Sand Martin of the year , Canada Goose , Little Egret , Northern Lapwing .
Well my luck was in this morning as I sat on my bench having breakfast a Great White Egret flew over heading towards the Clyst Marshes . Also seen in the garden was a European Greenfinch the 1st in the garden for quite a few years .
I then had a look at Bowling Green Marsh and managed to see the Greater Scaup , 2 Common Pochard , around a dozen Tufted Duck , 3 Eurasian Spoonbill and 4 Stock Dove .
A trip over to the Exminster Marshes this morning was a good move as a Little Ringed Plover was showing well making it my 1st spring migrant of the year .
Also seen was a nice White Wagtail that dropped into the marsh but it didn`t stay long , a male and female Pied Wagtail , a Meadow Pipit , Cetti`s Warbler and Common Chiffchaff .
At home we have a flock of white dove`s that come into the garden to feed but today sadly we lost one of them today to this female Eurasian Sparrowhawk....But that is Nature for you !
I then went down for a quick look at Bowling Green Marsh with all the usual birds on show but this female Western Marsh Harrier sat in the reedbed for about half an hour .
My look around Bowling Green Marsh this morning was bitterly cold but I still managed to see a few good birds with the following .
Tufted Duck , Common Pochard , Greater Scaup , Norther Pintail , European Spoonbill , Black-Tailed Godwit , Bar-Tailed Godwit , Long-Billed Dowitcher , Spotted Redshank , Common Redshank , Common Greenshank , Common Kestrel , Water Rail , European Green Woodpecker & European Greenfinch .
Nothing different but still a good days birding .
