End Of Calendar Year Ketchup.

We start our ketchup with Yule. Unsurprisingly, the Sun did not deign to show Shiny face or anything like it. I did a little seawatching.

Three and a half hours of it.

Gannet 120

Auks 141

Kitts 194

Fulmar 3

GND 7 [+3 on sea]

RTD 2

BHG 1

Com Gull 3

CScoter 2

I then went up Exe way, where among the points of interest were a Grey Wagtail in a tree [not low down in it, either], a Common Sand on the falling tide, an adult f Marsh Harrier over the Big Reeds, and success after spending a couple of hours sat - only slightly nervously as the wind gradually shifted - by the sewage works.

Another day, another seawatch. An hour at the Nose;

Gannet 8

Auks 11

Kitts 21

GND 2 on sea

Com Gull 2

CScoter 11 +7 on sea

F type BlackRed in Sandy Cove with The Teacher was better, must be said.

Patch patrols gave 10 Purple Sandpiper and 11 Turnstone on the Real Living Coast with single GND and RTD and 2 GCG in the north Bay, 5 Grey Seal on Thatcher Rock and 3 GNDs on the sea off the Nose.

I had confirmation of 3 Blackcaps visiting my skygarden; male and two females - one with a metal ring - and they continue to do so into January.

A trip up onto t'Moor in mistyfog with a surprise sunshine burst gave a band of 12 Fieldfare, which I saw very nicely 😄, later 2 Mistle Thrush flew over without stopping.

The last four days of the year saw me trying and failing to find missing yearticks; most painfully BNG. But I did some good birding in the course of this, and saw some wonderful sights.

 

First up, I hit the Exe for a day which included a family party of Egyptian Geese at Dart's Farm, and a long-range Long-billed Dowitcher scoping from Powderham Bend[.!]. Light went at Cockwood Crossing, where I ran into one of Devon's Finest and there were some Red-Breasted Mergansers, though not like in the Old Days..

 

 

Broadsands gave me no sign of the Black-necked Grebe, though a very showy Black-throated Diver and a nice Siberian Chiffchaff were some consolation, as was another long-range yank-scoping, this time of the Surf Scoter [The Artist may have helped. 😊]

 

 

Trying the Patch from the errant BNG the next day drew a blank but Purple Sands, still and a Common Seal in the Outer Harbour. 

Then I met The Teacher 'somewhere', where a male Merlin sat on a tree and something else turned up, too. [I am unable to give details. Sorry.]

And I finally ended the year where I started it, on Patch.

Blackball roost was a bit light on non-gulls. 2 GCGs, 2 Guillemots and a Razorbill light..

 

1300+ large gulls, ~80 BHGs, and ~50 Kittiwakes at 1625.

 

 

 

 

Year end; 239.* Not sure how I got that far, but clickers don't lie.

 

 

 

Plan for 2025 includes not chasing a deranged yearlist. Twitching Slavonian Grebe [ok, and White-rumped Sand] in north Devon is out of it.

That said I WILL see a BNG in Devon this year.

It must be done.

 

 

 Ahem.

 

 

Th-th-that's all, folks!

Be Seeing You...

[[* NB: This is by my reckoning, not even slightly 'official', so untwist any vexed nether garments! 😉]]

Er, Yeah. Stuff To Report On.

It's the mostcrazyful time of the year, so this will be short and to the point.

No, really.

Friday and I zipped off after work and found a) Warleigh Point DWT [which is very nice] and b) the Velvet Scoter lurking in proximity to it.

Velvet showed very well, and scarfed five not at all small crabs while I was there. Legs and all.

I was impressed.

Saturday, my head decided to foil my plans. This was extra vexatious as The Teacher found a Hawfinch ON THE DECK at the Nose.

I've never even had a flyover there. Or anywhere else on Patch.

Bugger.

Sunday. the head was behaving but I had Things to Do. I got to the Nose first anyway. Lots of Blackcaps, lots of Common Scoter, an few GNDs, one calling. Four Grey Seals, a few Common Dolphins. A Painted Lady was nearby, basking in the windy sunshine. Look at my socials.

😇

Up Exe way some time later and I found nothing particularly noteworthy, though lots of waders and a few Brents around, which is always nice.

Closer to Home,  [Right at it, as it happens] a female Blackcap has turned up [best thing that happened on Saturday]. She has a metal ring, which is not only upside down, but very hard to read as she naturally splits her time between trying to kill the male and terrorising everything smaller than a Blackbird... I have '..T075..' with the 5 a touch speculative.

That's it.

Be Seeing You...

The North Wind Blows: Surf's Up!

I had something important to do on Saturday, but was able to find an hour to answer The Call from my fellow Irregulars;  "Big scoter at the Nose!"

Big-nosed scoter at the Nose; a 1w Surf Scoter was with 5 f-type Common Scoter in Hope Cove, closest to Black Head and so best viewed from Bishop's Walk.

Twitter and Bluesky have lots of pics and video, but gaggle still suck, so nothing here. [Be grateful, mine aren't good]

Still there the following morning, as I stopped in on a patrol of the lee side of the peninsula, hoping for something else sheltering from the NW now N-NE blast.

A fair-sized for these days group of about 45 [couldn't count accurately with the swell; couldn't even get them all in a photo!] Common Scoter were out by the Buoy Farm, and a few Gannets were tootling about. The shelter at Meadfoot had persons, assorted in, so I had to reesort to going to the cafe and buying a coffee to do a scope scan [oh, the sacrifices we make]. I'd brought rations, so no chips, btw.

I found 2 GNDs on the sea, and a Razorbill flew N while a Guillemot flew S.

Wow.

On to the Harbour, where on the Real Living Coast I found there were at least 8 Sandpipers Purple, in small groups among the boulders. 

Anglers on the end of the pier [not allowed to do that, but they didn't care] meant I had to go around and scan the upper Bay from Princess, where 2 more GNDs, 1 GCG, and a Grey Seal [plus of course the usual plethora of Shags and Cormorants] were all to be seen on the sea. A nicely dark and streaky Guillemot was in the Outer Harbour, too.

One GND came close enough for half-decent photos, but my hoped-for BNG, let alone anything sexier, was not to be had.

Nothing better than Firecrest in terms of land birds, and that calling and resolutely not showing.

So, WAHOOOOOOO!!! for first Surfer on the deck at the Nose, and a well-twitched easily watchable one, too [much better].

Be Seeing You...

Borrowed Powers

Circumstances saw me at Dawlish Warren at lunchtime today, where I would spend some hours looking for a Dusky Warbler that turned up earlier in the week. In very un-Dusky style, it has been tarting about in the grass in front of all and sundry like an Olive-backed Pipit, when it should be hiding in bushes and showing once an hour if you're very lucky.

Today it seemed someone had told the bird that, as after showing it was still present to LC first thing, it then vanished.

Others saw BlackRed and Firecrest while searching the most salubrius bit of the Warren the DW had chosen; right next to the gokarts and pirate golf, by the railway line.  I didn't.

A lovely male Bullfinch did show up for myself and KR, which I will stick a pic of up on butterflies at some point, but the Dusky was not having it, it seemed. We walked a good loop of every possible bit we could think of, but no joy. A Song Thrush and the Bullfinch again was the best that could be found.

 

All others had already abandoned hope, and the weather was closing in with intent, so Kev too called it a day [he has seen it, I believe, a few times to be fair]. I'd wandered back to the car park with him, so did one last loop through the main area on my way back to where I was parked [as I refuse to pay what would be extortionate summer rates in winter; Teignbridge Council can go BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP]. We had cheerily discussed the possibility of it showing for me, with me saying "I can see it popping up and going 'Nah nah, nobody'll believe you!' "..

And so I was slightly faster with the camera than I might have been if I was on my last gasp otherwise. The first view was just get on it and be sure, yes, but then it flew up to hide behind the pirate golf and I got a snapshot off. Amazingly I hit it, wings spread. Unamazingly, it was not at all in focus, but you could see it was not a Robin or a Wren or a Dunnock [or a BlackRed].

Pic [plus the same view without the bird in comparision. This is a Backward Birder record shot......] on the birdie. I will probably inflict it on butterfly, too.

It popped up by the gokarts, coming out of a teeny Pine in a small patch of cover by a sheltered bit of long grass - which is where it had probably been happily foraging while Kev and I were wandering everywhere else.! - zipping over to the corner where Lee had it in the morning. A couple of minutes later it nipped through a gap in the security fencing and into the thick Buddleias behind the pirategolf, along the railway line. I gave it half an hour, then ten minutes more. No further sign.

Time pressed, so I exited, stage left.

Also at least 9 GC Grebes offshore, with assorted divers seen by those who hadn't pinged their backs and could lug scopes about.

[It had been a fun morning]

Anyways, I'm sure there's more to say but now is not the time.

Be Seeing You...

[[Oh, the title? I'd been hanging around with legendary birders, and some of their bird-finding Power had rubbed off on me. I doubt it'll last, but it was fun seeing something and getting any kind of pic. :) ]]

Late Again

And I don't even have 'had to wait until I sorted the photos out' as an excuse any more... Oh dear.

Been a bit under the weather, for various reasons, but I was determined to get out, depite having Things to Do as well.

Bearded Tits have been seen on the upper Exe reedbeds on and off, and they're on the 'to do' list, so I figured it was worth a try, being in the area anyway on Sunday and having lunch and the afternoon to play with.

Needless to say, they weren't having any of it and I got not a sniff.

I did run into a very nice Siberian Chiffchaff at Dart's Farm ponds; quite likely fresh in, as there seems to have been an influx of eastern birds over the weekend. I heard it first, among sporadic standard Chiff calls coming from the Penduline bit [IYKYK]. A group of maybe 4 or 5 warblers were actively feeding in there and the muddy Snipe field next to it and fairly soon a wonderful grey and white type Sibe appeared. Would it let me get a shot? Would it BLEEP ...

But one Chiff did actually pose, and you can see it Over There or Over There if you feel like it.

The usual Kingfisher was even more mobile after being flushed by a Cormorant [yes, really; it came in to land, saw me and took off emergency style] before I could get it, and the Cetti's wasn't showing at all but that's not a surprise. No wildfowl or waders other than a handful of Canadas and Mutes was, though.

No Brambling among the finches and pipits and wagtails, either.

The Exe herself had the family of Black Swans at Topsham Rec [['not self-sustaining' my arse Ahem.]], a few gulls and a flyby Common Sand. A lot of the usual waders further downstream, including Avocets off the Goatwalk 😁 A juv Marsh Harrier dropped into the reeds opposite the Quay, which may go some way to explain why nothing else popped up from said reeds.!

Loads of ducks on Bowling Green [that's where they all were hiding] including 24+ Pintail, 86+ Shoveler, and the 1w male Scaup [right at the back in the awful light, the rotter...]

The birds have been ravenous on my feeders with tits in good numbers particularly, though worryingly I haven't seen any Greenfinches for a while, now...

In case I haven't mentioned it, I caught the male Blackcap on the fat feeder and while the photos are through angled glass with curtain reflections, they are point blank. [Which is why curtain reflections were necessary].

Ok, I think that'll do.

Be Seeing You...