Being A Thorough And Responsible Birder; Now Extended!

Saw me following up on the reported Wilson's Phalarope on Friday.

Stop sniggering, it was reported in clear good faith, and well, stranger things have happened. Like Serins.

[[Mutter mutter]]


Yeah, you may not be shocked to discover that, despite a careful search all about the area where the Kenn meets Exe, and indeed further afield, there was no sign.
Greenshank, Spotshank, Sanderling, yes, plus some nice Pintail, but no phalaropes of any kind.

However, I did catch two reprobates, via sneakily sneaking up on them...

Gotcha you bar stewards

At frickin' last.

"I knew we should have taken that

left turn at Alburqurque..."

After that, with a spring in my step and a song in my heart, I toddled along the way, then where a dogleg in the levee gave a little shelter from the ravening wind, dropped over and settled down with the scope to munch some lunch and see what might be about*. There's nothing like sitting quietly to get birds to come to you, especially when you're below the skyline.
This, however does not work when you have not only yapping fools passers-by stopping and talking loudly right by you, but a bloke with a deranged dog - which really took a dislike to me and was not even vaguely on a lead - barking and growling away feet from my ears..**

Ho hum.

You would have thought the weather would have kept them off, or at least moving, but no.


Aaanyway, no wonderful close wader pics, but here's a little of what was inside a half kilometre..

Jackdaws!

Redshank

Sanderling

Pintail,

plus Oyk and Common Gull

Horrid gull

Low-flying Dunlin!

The inevitable Shelduck

Oh yes, I ought to put up something from earlier..

Kennmouth

Red- and Greenshanks

Canadas in view were interrogated for any lurking grey geese [well, if you don't ask..], but not even a Greylag was in sight. However, careful inspection of all the fields in the area [some creative routing may have occurred] revealed a Red-leg as well as masses of Pheasants, so another one in the Yay column.

Then back to the real world.


Cold, damp, and rather prickled is how I got my vengeance.





Be Seeing You...

[[*Powderham Bend is a favourite viewpoint of mine, as you can see from Topsham to Exmouth - with a big scope, anyway! - {though not the Warren and Starcross, due to the yacht club}. Or in this case 'dark wader which looked like the Dowitcher' to RNG; two birds you wouldn't expect to be in view from the same spot! :D ]]
[[**The dog, not the bloke. The bloke did tell the dog off, but when it ignored him, he - oh never mind...]]