Lots and Nots (Oh, and Knots)

I was going to post on Saturday, but I forgot. Sunday I got back too late and had to get to bed as I had to get up in the morning. Monday I forgot again. Tuesday the same. Yesterday I got distracted and then had stuff to do.

I blame work. There is good reason for this as I am again on Days and having to get up unnaturally early.... :(


Right then, one big catch-up coming-up;

Wednesday [this being the one in January] - I got down to the Harbour to annoy the gulls and as well I did too as there were loads of them! I counted 128 Herrings and 2 GBBs on the pontoon - a new record by more than 40!! Ok, no sign of anything with or to one day have yellow legs, but that's a mere detail...

My last Friday for however long was spent rocking up to Topsham for the tide - and again well I did as the place was heaving with birds. Taking lunch proved very prescient as I spent nigh on 5 hours there - mostly in the hide. There were so many birds so spread out [and quite frequently so mobile] that getting accurate counts of everything was pretty much impossible. Only the Avocets, Barwits, and Curlew were together enough and still enough to say there were 602, 242, and 56 of them. Yes, six hundred Avocets! Not as many as last winter [they got to just over 650 if I remember rightly] but still an amazing sight. 2 Grey Plover were also countable, and 8 Snipe was a minimum figure [with 14 more flying over]. I did make attempts at Blackwits and Dunlin, getting ~1200 and ~900. The Lapwings and Redshank were so spread out and so mobile that I only recorded 140+ and 'low hundreds' respectively..

While counting the Dunlin - ok while trying to count the Dunlin - I came across the Curlew Sand which has been knocking around with them. I thought 'Ooh, Curlew Sand, quite close, I'll get back to that'. Could I find it again? Ha ha ha... A Spotshank also tried the same routine, but eventually decided on a different game and materialised on the bank opposite the hide. Having posed like a porn star for a while, it then decided to be naughty and moved the the grass by the railway line with some Redshanks - yes, a Spotshank feeding in grass! Getting [finally] to the title birds, there were a few Knot on the Point when I arrived - mixed in with the Barwits and so on - but they buggered off very early and I didn't get a count. The birds were quite twitchy and a fair few moved over to Goosemoor after a couple of the bigger flushes.

Eventually I gave my legs a stretch and went to look for the female Long-tailed Duck. After working up to the pub and back, I decided to just stay put and plonked down on a bench at the head of the Goatwalk. Sure enough she popped up, feeding in the main channel just south of the last big buoy. Closer to, 5 Turnstone did what they do, down to 'ooh, aren't they close?' range. :)

Late afternoon I got down to the Harbour again, but the gull numbers were a good hundred less. I wonder where they went? Heading on, the sea gave up a lone Razorbill [which looked fine].



On Saturday I was up and out for a yomp on't Moor. I was mostly after the stones, but birds popped up now and again. Heading south from Whiteworks, my primary targets were Drizzlecombe and Hingston Hill [or more properly the wonderful stone rows thereon]. Between these three points I meandered and detoured a bit - I almost went down to Brisworthy, but decided I didn't have quite enough daylight to play with. Instead I had a mooch around the Nattor Brook edge of Burrator, with little to show for it in way of birds I must say, but it was worth a try. I did break my own record for Ridiculous Range to Nail Goosander on Burrator - picking out an obliging drake from nigh on 3km from first Gutter Tor and then Cuckoo Rock [the ranges on the map for the two sightings are pretty much the same] - this being one of the reasons why I take the Li'l Scope in my rucksack.

Another came while I was having lunch at Higher Hartor Tor [yes, really] - I picked out a big flock of birds to the southwest and the numbers made me think at first of Starlings - but wait, Starlings with white undersides? Must be waders; I got the scope on them and indeed not Starlings, Golden Plover! About 500 of them, easily the biggest group I've ever seen on the Moor. They were the only big numbers around, though, as mostly it was very quiet up there. Hardly any Mipits, even. Still, it was glorious walking even though there were hordes about and I spent far too much time picking up other peoples' litter... [Stop moaning]


Sunday saw a family outing to cornwall to see Sister and Brother-In-Law. Little Black Dog came along and met their Mad Dog - no fur flew so it was a success ;) - we had lunch and took a stroll [after several aborted attempts at beaches] around some nice clay pits. There were 13 Tufties on a very green pool and I was mildly vexed that I hadn't brought the Big Scope - well, so many RNDs about, you know! Despite the wind and sideways drizzle it was nice - the Hounds Of Hell had a great time as BIL had brought out two balls and a pocketful of treats [he knows how to keep dogs happy]. I had quiet hopes for an owl on the way back, but they were dashed.


This week has been work and nothing even vaguely interesting to report. I did have something to blabber on about in mind, but typing all this has driven it far away [so be grateful! ;) ]. Well, there's always tomorrow.