Swanning About Again

Oh, those puns are just getting worse...

So, last weekend, Sunday was the primary birding day and I was a Good Birder again and started on Patch. Once again I got very little for my efforts, most notably vexing on the sea; where a flat calm gave not a single seaduck in sight and only 2 GNDs.. Oh dear. Plenty of Guilles on the Ore Stone - I won't inflict another blobs shot on you, numbers seem fairly consistent at 150-200 - and nowt but usuals inshore. Winter thrushes have flown over in small groups, but only Starlings are evident; still too warm for stuff to be driven out from inland.

Always something blooming

Great Northern Diver

And that was the close one.

Stonechat.

Showing classic features of being entirely normal. 

:)

Velvet Shanks

Coprinus silvaticus

Blackening Waxcap, really gone over!

Snowy Waxcap

H. persistens

Crimson Waxcap

victim of the mowing..

But some survive!

Now for something new..

I found quite a few of these, dotted about;

Hmm, what's inside...??

Boo!

Odd variant of Red Cage??

Certainly a Clathrus sp. 

The ones in my book are very red, no variants listed, so..???


Ok, on to chasing birds!

Bowling Green had an allegedly showy 1w male Long-tailed Duck. Worth a try. Also lots of ducks at low tide to go through for Yankees!

Long-tailed Duck.

Broad across the beam!

Eurasian Teal

Wigeon and Snipe

Lots of Wigeon [no American] lots of Teal [no Green let alone Blue winged], lots of Shoveller, plus 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Shelduck, and the standard Mallards etc.
Waders, Snipe aside, had bailed out.. But wait, the chap next to me asks me what that wader wandering along the back left is.. rather dark and not even slightly orange of leg- it ducked behind a clump of rushes and steadfastly refused to be seen again!
I dug out a Dowitcher shot and he said 'Yes! That's it!'. Hmm. Well, I spent too long a) getting other people on the right patch of rushes and b) waiting for it to come out. Eventually, after even legging it down the lane for a 90° shift in angle of view failed, I gave up and moved on.

Outside factors may also have played a part, it must be said;

Pesky parascender

[or paramotor, if you prefer]

The greener kind of disturbance

Speaking of the lane, no Firecrests in sight but;

White Saddle

I think this is Hohenbuehelia petalodes

Onward to the title-earning bit. The Wild Swan Chase!


Yes, I found myself stood on Bow Bridge* in the rain, looking at grazing swans in the distance...

But one looked up in sympathy;

Whooper Swan

It was with a very laid back Mute [they're normally Robin-like in their psychotic aggression..!]

Whooper / Mute comparison.

Rare picture!

After a burst of heavier rain, a lot of noise attracted my attention along a rather muddy footpath nearby;

Starlings!

But also, with a little patience;

Fieldfare!

"Laaa!"

[sort of]

Hard to get an accurate count due to trees, but 150+ Starlings and 60+ Fieldfares and Redwing mixing in fields south of the road.


Time and deteriorated weather stopped me heading on further in search of Smew [curses] at Chard Res., but you can't have everything.

[[And yes, I want a drake in Devon, please! At under 1km range...**]]



Be Seeing You...






[[*That's the one just SW of Axminster, not the one in London]]
[[**My only previous Devon drake Smew was seen at 'aaargh' range on the Exe estuary during that Big Freeze a few - quite a few now - years back when we had an influx.]]