This Is Not A Proper Post

Just making sure you don't get your hopes up.

Sorry.

It is currently far too hot. Again. 

Love that global warming.

[[THIS BLOG HAS BEEN SUSPENDED FOR VIOLATING GARGLE TERMS & CONDITIONS REGARDING OVERLY SARCASTIC CONTENT]]

Moor Nonsense

We continue the sequence of overly-late, overly-long, yet still somehow far too brief posts.

Time having passed in ever-greater amounts, it is of course harder to remember what the frick I was even doing, over and above the notes in diary and notebook. Which makes telling interesting and sometimes even accurate tales ever more difficult in turn.

I am forced to balance required brevity with trying to make things legible. [For the usual debatable definition of legible]

So we shall see - back in the mists of three months ago [yes, really... Oh the shame] - how this goes;

Having succeeeded* - after a lot of effort, it must be noted - in not only finding Patch Wheatears at Hope's Nose but also seeing - and getting a lots of other people on - the Bittern of Bowling Green, I was a happier-than-recently birder. And also no longer tied to a [self-imposed and not entirely sane **] drive, able to consider doing Other Things.

Like get up on t'Moor.

The Moor, The Moor! Ach, there's nothing like it. [Yes, there are other uplands, but they are all too small or too glaciated. 😛]

Ahem.

I have a list of things I very much like to do every year, places to go and so on. One of them is to go and see The Man. And he is a man, the Beardown Man, as you can easily tell when approaching from the south. 😉 😇

The day after my precious Wheatear, I was up on t'Moor and off to Beardown Tors, Lydford and Devil's Tors, paying my respects, then Rough Tor, Crow Tor, and back via Beardown again. It's a nice loop, bar one impressive hillock that you almost literally climb. This time my best sighting was a group of 8 Golden Plover, plus an interesting thrush sp. flyover, and it was all hazy sunshine and 'I'm glad the horseflies aren't out yet' balmy goodness.

The following weekend, a late start saw me seeing another favourite menhir - the Laughing Man - on my way to lunch at Huccaby Tor. No yearticks, but a nice time. For somewhere so close to such a busy road - for Dartmoor - it's very quiet.

There then follow Challacombe-Vitifer loops and Emsworthy visits repeatedly, with yearticks including Willow Warbler, Redstart, Cuckoo and so on.

This cycle was interrupted at the end of April by a proper walk, and another of my Required Things To Do;

Wild Tor! 

I had foolishly hoped that right before ten tors it would be quiet up there as the teams rested before the main event. Ho ho frickin' ho.

I am an old man and have forgotten how much energy you have as a teenager.... 

Yet another invisibly reeling Gropper was the best bird to tell you about [One day I will see one reel. One day.] and away from the chattering hordes [oh my days but the yapping.! I suppose it's just what they're used to on their phones, vocalised out of desperation?] it was as lovely as the high Moor always is.

Speaking of high, last month I walked the length of Hamel Down and this month the length of Corndon Down [one a bit longer than the other, 'tis true], in slightly different weathers - though wind was involved both times - though both without yearticks. I hadn't been up Corndon for many a long year, and it was good to be back there, seeing many views from different perspectives. Also Mistle Thrushes.

Getting up to date - on this topic, at least - yet another Vitifer-Challacombe loop on Sunday. This time with the Folks, sunshine, and a wonderful Red Kite! Picked up by Mum while it was below us [no bins, either] as we were approaching Birch Tor; "That doesn't look like a Buzzard". It thermalled up, showing wonderfully, before heading off west.

I have more to post - been to other places to see other things - but this is something, at least.

I shall [and hopefully far more directly]

Be Seeing You... 

[[* Yes, typo, yes left in as it amused me.]]

[[** But what is sane? And Who Decides What Is Truly Sane? Me. So, entirely reasonable and rational then. 😁 ]] 

I Keep Saying This

To myself that is;

"Got to write the blog"

It still doesn't happen.

There's so many other things to do. Many far more important than updating this. {And most of them aren't getting done, either}

The stupid format - [over and above the 'submit to our rules or post no pictures'], where any paragraph automatically adds a space, and a double space automatically adds a full stop, but does not automatically capitalise the start of the new sentence. which is so STUPID [see?] - really doesn't help matters.

That paragraph does make sense, if you read it the right way.

I had to wait, and suffer, and put in a lot of effort, this weekend. Twice. I was rewarded, but still.

Ok, I was rewarded with something I've waited TWENTY FRELLING YEARS for. I suspect if my head hadn't immediately tried to kill me, I'd be a lot happier. But hey.

[[I am happy about it, btw, but in a rather anticlimactic fashion. What will you do?]]

Anyways, until I either post something decent or resort to another of these things, I shall

Be Seeing You...

Belated Notice of Summer

Er, oops?

Yeah, really not been up to snuff, even by my standards.

So, yes, Swifts!!!

I believe they arrived on the 14th - which is second latest arrival date in Recorded History, btw - then were seen and heard screaming on the 15th, confirmed on both sides of the area on the 16th.

So Summer is here. Thus, the rain.

I will be getting back to this, and perhaps trying not to go with such walls of text as I do it.

Might even happen?

Be Seeing You...

A Timely Update, Updated!

Cutting in to my sequence, something actually almost to date.. [What madness is this?!?]

Being back on Days, and it being That time of year, I've been doing some skywatching on my lunch break. This has paid off nicely, in quality if not quantity.

Monday [Sun, few high clouds]: 2 single Swallow low N, 12 Woodpigeon medium height N, 1 Red Kite low S [at about 100', in sunshine; lovely!], in heavy inner primary moult but with intact tail as far as could be seen.

Tuesday [Overcast, stronger wind]: 2 Swallow low N [together], 1 kite sp. over high [picked up when past overhead], circling for even more altitude and departing W. Tail looked 'off' for intact RK and against grey clouds colour not certain. Occam's Razorbill* would say RK with tail moult/damage [perhaps a duller-toned individual] but as BK has been reported in SW repeatedly in recent days, this cannot be ruled out. Thus 'kite sp.'

Wednesday [Sun with bright overcast rapidly spreading]: 3+ Swallow very low N

Thursday [Bright to grey overcast]: 2 House Martin low N, 3 Swift low N, 26 Woodpigeon medium height N, Hobby low-medium height N!!

[My first Hobby at Work for 9 years, no less!]

Now that's a set of skywatching. Not vast numbers but for a total of 80 minutes from a restristed viewpoint, I'll take them!

To compare, last week's combined total passage was 5 Swallow and 2 Stock Dove. Yeah.

These are the third and fourth kite days I've had in, ah, 17 years of assorted Summer skywatches. Fourth Hobby in the same timeframe.

I will get to my next Big Update. At some point.

Be Seeing You...

[[* Birding version of Occam's Razor 'the simplest explaination is likely true'. Occam's Razorbill says an uncertain ID is most likely to be the commonest species possible. The name refers to a seawatching truism about possible Brünnich's Guillemot; it's going to be a 1w Razorbill. Though not always, as the Portland Harbour bird from a 'few' years back reminds us.]]

 

Yeah, So...

The burst of inspiration has gone.

I will be thus posting directly.

It will happen, just no idea when. [To translate the Deb'n for you]

I mean, it might be tomorrow...??

[[Yeah, and I might find a Hoopoe sat on my car when I get out of work, too 😏]]

Ahem.

Be Seeing You...

It Just Keeps Coming

And the series of wall of text updates continues.

We left Our Hero having just tarted off to Plimoth, where he saw a surprisingly easy Red-crested Pochard and didn't see surprisingly absent Mandarin, as well as finding walking just over there ['twas barely a mile] surprisingly hard...

This was on a very sunny Friday*, straight from another week of Nights [oh yes, no sleep 'til yearlisting done, to mangle Motörhead], so there was a Saturday, a Sunday, and maybe even a Monday afternoon to come.!

What did I get up to? [[Other than getting off that third person nonsense]]  Read on... 

A forecast sunny day and some initiative saw me up reasonably early and up onto t'Moor! I decided to do one of the classics; up Holne Moor to Ryder's Hill, then down to the Heap of Sinners, over to Puper's, then across the Mardle and back along Holne Lee. It was lovely up there.

 

Bird-wise; a good-size flock of Golden Plover, singing Skylarks, displaying Ravens, a distant soaring yeartick, a close calling not-yeartick, and 2 flushed Snipe were the points of main interest. 

The walk was not as soggy as expected from the huge levels of recent rain, at least until it came to getting over the Mardle. Which was still up and very frisky. The ford that was the traditional crossing-point for this walk was thigh-deep in the middle...

Yeah.

 

So I found myself working my way upstream, looking for a crossing point. 

Now, the thing about high Moor watercourses is that they've all been streamed over the centuries [to millenia]. This means that they tend to be a bed of too-large-to-move boulders sitting on the bedrock, with the gaps filled with smaller stones, sand, and eventually soil under a variable layer of vegetation. The watercourse meanders through this, with the boulders showing as pretty features in the stream. A large enough volume of water - like say a flood event - running through tends to wash away the interstitial material, often leaving a mat of living vegetation as a surface covering with nothing but water underneath.  

You see where this is going, don't you?

 

So did I, being naturally paranoid cautious, and always having a stick with me on t'Moor for a reason. So I was not surprised when - maybe ten feet from the river's edge - my foot, put on seeming grass, just kept going down. Thanks to keeping two points of contact I caught myself when only knee-deep, and survived without even getting flooded boots [gaiters are also useful things] though with a couple of strained muscles as a momento.

On Dartmoor, never assume you're putting your feet on solid ground. 

Next day it rained. Quite a lot. Supposed to be showers, but well.

I was a little tired and achey, but got out in the afternoon to look for reported yearticks. Just a nice amble on the level, don't need more than bins. Dartington to Queen's Marsh, where a Green Sand and Mandarins had been reported. In pouring rain I found neither. Persistence turned to annoyance, and I told the weather what I thought of it. The rain was so offended that it went off in a huff and sunshine ensued. The prospect of walking back in increasing heat did not appeal either, but that's weather-vengeance for you. Heading back, I still kept looking [it's what you do] and so did not miss the 13+ Mandarin [only 2 females] and Green Sand which had materialised about halfway up.

Result!

Mandarin being species 100 for the year, by the way.

I allowed myself a celebratory coffee and cake at the centre; sat outside to dare it to rain again. It didn't and a Collared Dove flew over. Not a yeartick but always nice to see.

Nights means I often have a Monday afternoon to play with, and I used this one to go after another yeartick. Pochard. Yes, Pochard.

Gone are the days of a flock reliably wintering on Slapton Ley, with others all over the place, oh dear. That I'd thought - and even hoped - that the female Ring-necked Duck [vagrant from north america..!!] on the Ley earlier in the year was actually a Pochard is a damning indictment on the state of birding and the madness of yearlisting.

Ahem.

So, 2 Pochard reported on Exminster lagoon. I approached from the south, and the Big Scope duly presented.. Wait, aren't there TWO females? Yes, one male, two females. I could not get all three birds in shot at once for the definitive pic, looking into the afternoon Sun really not helping. Oh well.

I also caught up with Knot on the estuary for the year, and was annoyed to see yet another kite boarder ignoring the rules to flush all the wildlife as he zoomed down from Topsham - over the flats - and off towards Starcross... 

The shoulder I'd wrenched on the Mardle objected to carrying my scope - even in a rucksack - and so it would be a couple of weeks before I risked the scope again. In the mean time, I prowled the Patch on foot, seeing no yearticks, and took a sunny Sunday to Yarner with the Folks, which was a lovaly amble, though again no yearticks.

 

 

My first Friday afternoon of the Day cycle I decided to have lunch in the field and once again dip Bittern at Bowling Green. Having no scope means it won't hurt if there's no Bittern to not see, right? Just have lunch, maybe see something, then hit the lanes on the way home.

The three Pochard from Exminster were there, and being proved right about them being three [three not two has History for me. Long old story, not going into it] was most satisfying. A territorial pair of Black Swans also showed up, sorting out the 2cy Mutes and looking spectacular. They breed; they're feral, they count. Just as much as Canda Geese, Mandarins, Little Owls, Golden Pheasants [ahem], Muscovy Ducks, Ruddy Shelduck....

The Bittern remained stubbornly invisible. I was a little less bothered than the time before.

The lanes between Exe and Teign contained many many Pheasants [Common] and a couple of Red-legged Partridges, but no Greys. We try and try again. [[And again and again and-]]

March marched in with, well, not really a lion-like roar. But I was determined to at least try a seawatch of a carefully-limited nature.

Two hours at Glonk Corner with lunch and a few birds. No shearwaters or skuas, oh no [weep] but there were birds and I didn't break anything.

21 Gannets, 12 Guillemots, 21 Razorbills, 3 Red-throated Divers, an interesting-looking female Scoter sp., 2 Fulmar, and no less than 9 species of gull. Not big numbers, but it was lovely to just be able to do it.

Being good and nursing the truly over the top numbers of soft-tissue injuries I've been plagued with since Yule has not been easy. 

March means madness.

Wheatear madness.

Every year I go insane trying to a) find the first Wheatear of the year and b) see it at the Nose.

I never succeed at the first.

I drive myself into the floor doing the second.

 

This year it took nine goes.

Nine.

 

Though I got three good birds in those eight 'failed' visits, none of which I can talk about, due to The Rules.

So we talk about what else I did.

Chasing yearlists of a Devonian Nature invariably requires at least one trip to North Devon. This is not just due to a species I can't talk about despite being advertised on big signs and everything [ffs], but because I feel if you're doing a geographical area, you should cover it properly. I mean, if you were on Scilly, you'd not just stay on St. Mary's, would you? So doing a Devon yearlist, you should be all over Devon. Over west to Plimoth, up north to the Taw-Torridge, down south to Prawle or Soar, out east to the Backwater.

I like the trip to Tamar Lakes. Now I know not to follow satnav [which aims you at horrificly - even by todays' standards! - potholed lanes...], anyways. At a classified place en route, a Little Owl flew across the road in front of me, which aided to this feeling. 😃

[[In past years I've had Merlin and Short-eared Owl do the same to me. I take it to be a Sign that the Goddess of Birding approves of my making the effort]] 

Little birds were not feeling helpful, and once again I had to do some walking, up to the Upper Lake [which unlike the Lower Lake is half Devon and half Cornwall] and around the Devon side thereof. Where I scored very nicely.

 

Some other interesting birds in the area later, I had a decision to make. Glossy Ibis and Whooper Swan had been on opposite sides of the Taw-Torridge, but neither had been reported for a few days. I could go for one or the other. Which?

I figured a great big white swan was quite visible, whereas Isbises are very capable of hiding in even an oopen grassy field [recall the Clennon bird], so the Whooper was likely gone but the Glossy might still be there.

Hours of effort later I had no isbis. BIG flock of Linnets, party of Cattle Egrets at quite close range, a Cetti's Warbler, but no Glossy Ibis.

No SEO or Barn Owl on the way home, either.

Insult is added when I get home and see that the Whooper Swan is not only still on Braunton Burrows but showing to all and sundry. Feck. [Then it buggers off before I can get back. Naturally.]

Another Friday lunch. Another trip to Bowling Green.

The territorial Black Swans are still present. Nobody's seen the Bittern.

This time there are two sleeping Spoonbills and low-flying Sand Martins, too. Hey, there are worse ways to spend time.

Then something big and brown lifts out of the reeds and flies on broad wings out onto the grass to the right of the hide?!?!?!

BITTERN!!!!!

Which proceeded to tart about in the open for at least 40 minutes - albeit at the back of the grass and often ducking down [presumably going after small fish in the little channels there] - to the joy of all present. I was indeed very happy. Bittern is a bugger to get in Devon. Also the most sustained views I'd ever had of one. [These aren't in my actual order of priority, but rules of humour must be obeyed]

Still hadn't found a Wheatear, though...

Mothers' day saw me and Sister taking Canis horribilis salivatus [and her pog, The Rushing Jaws**] out in frisky wind and rain about Cockington. I had outside hopes [as no sane people were out so maybe birds would be] of a partridge or even one of the Legendary Goldies, but of course no dice. Nice groups of finches, buntings, a few singing warblers and Skylarks, though. The Sun even came out - as we were heading back, but still - and the Ramsons were starting up in the woods.

The 21st of March saw me finally find my Wheatears. Yes, plural. I was [and still am] Very Happy.

Next day, I hit t'Moor.

But that [and much Moor] will have to wait for the next thrilling episode of Backward Birding!

[[Ooooh!]]

Be Seeing You... 

[[* Yes, in Plimoth, notoriously a rain-soaked hellhole. Apparently it was horrid everywhere else that day..?!? {And I did drive over through some epic rain, especially Totnus way} I suspect Diabolical Intervention....]]

[[** Yes, that is a reference. Though she is a sweetie, just very energetic. Think the soul of a Springer Spaniel in the body of a Wisht Hound..]]