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...