A Proper Update. No, Really.

Back after my break.

Yes, I am doing it in one post. Those reading on their phones may be advised to pull up a chair...

 

 

So, to cast minds back to April, we start with a four hour seawatch at the Nose. Passage was a bit up and down, but there were Manxies and that was Good.

Ok, looking at the Notebook, we have 222 Gannet, 41 Manx, 34 Kittiwake, 44 Fulmar, 2 Sarnie, 10 C Scoter plus 3 north, 1 LBB, 1 Turnstone at 1217, and the goodies; 1 Little Gull [2cy] at 1013 and 2 Puffin at 1020. A GND was on the sea and I noted 16 Early Purple Orchid spikes up at three locations.

I think it started as expected [seawatching 'because'] and then got better; possibly the Goddess of Birding taking pity on me..

Next day was a lot 'better' and I was at the Nose after migrants, being very pleased to find a Reed Warbler chuntering away in the Top Dell when the sun nearly came out. With a Garden Warbler also on site, this wasn't bad return for these days.

Other Irregulars on site had Wheatear and Whitethroat, which I was unable to find 😕

Next day I headed up to t'Moor in search of Whinchats.

I found loads of Willow Warblers, 3 Cuckoo, a lovely pair of Redstart, and single smart Wheatear and Reed Bunting, but it seemed that Whinchat would elude me.. Until it didn't, with a cracking male up and singing!

Woo!

 

While this was - I believe - again Devon's first Whinchat of the year, a naughty 'tog was also out, and got on social media before I could, to claim my Glory... Tut.

I had planned a day out the next day, but was dragged up and out earlier than intended [on Nights, you know, not lazy. Honest] by the Teacher, who'd found a reeling Gropper at the Nose!

 

Heading over, it was the same old story; I heard it but could I see it? Could I f[CENSORED!]. Eventually the Gropper dematerialised completely.

2 Mipits and 8 Swallow passed overhead, 3 GND were on the sea, a Whitethroat was singing.

 

So, I had the Big Scope and some rations, what was a birder to do?

I gave the sea 2.5hrs, largely out of sheer bloody-mindedness.

22/3 Gannets, 1 Fulmar, 3 Kittiwakes... Whimbrel were heard but not seen repeatedly; hiding on far side of the Lead Stone, I triangulated.

Then it got better; 9 Whimbrel north in three 3s, Red-throated Diver S [1240], 7 Sarnies, 3 Common Tern [1223], Little Tern [1203], Arctic Tern [1206]

Far better than I expected or had a right to, but that's tern passage all in. You can never really tell.

Next weekend, a proper early visit to the Nose gave a singing Lesser Whitethroat which, while trying to stalk for a photo, I managed to almost walk into [pesky birds not staying in one spot...]. Also a Sedge Warbler in subsong, 2 singing Whitethroat, the Mallards of Hope's Nose posing for a pic, and a Common Sandpiper which posed nicely, but my BLEEEEEPing camera refused to work for.... Arg. 

From there I went on up t'Moor, where habitat from open moor to increasing trees gave Skylarks, Cuckoos, Yellowhammers, Tree Pipits, Willow Warblers, Garden Warblers [yes, two], Redstart, Pied Flycatchers. With Grey Wagtails and Dipper on the un-named river [due to Dippers breeding].

 

A good day.

April's last birding was all around Exminster, where I found no Wood Sandpipers, but 3 Hobby overhead, a Wigeon for a pair of intrepid daylisters, and - alas right after they left - a Cuckoo on Powderham Marsh!! My first on site, I believe. A single Gyppo and at least 16 Cattle Egret there, too.

All the expected warblers bar Lesser Whitethroat on site in numbers.

May opened up with another Dartmoor edge wood - yes very cryptic but wait - where a couple of Spotted Flycatchers showed far better though also far more quietly than the nearby Wood Warbler.

😎

Oh yes.

 

Pied Flies, Redstarts, an unusually showy [to bins] Garden Warbler, and two migrating Hobby made it quite the day, I can tell you.

I then decided to get some proper exercise and indeed up on the tops of t'Moor. My intended start point of Scorhill was foiled by a large party arriving just before me - all in their own cars - filling the place up. This is very inconsiderate; if you're a big group meeting somewhere with limited access, car pool!!

 

Ahem.

 

My backup spot was almost full due to inconsiderate parking as well, but as my car is only li'l, I was able to squeeze in. My Wild Tor loop was not off the table, though, as despite being miles away from my usual start point, I could still get there!

Things turned up quite quickly, as while waiting for a hack photoshoot to finish [everyone's on socials], I got on not one but two Red Kites heading west along the line of the A30. Things like this are why I always have a scope up on t'Moor. Even my li'l one makes a difference 😁

 

After a slightly zig-zaggy route not ending up in Raybarrow [itsa big bog. Avoidance recommended], I joined my usual route at White Moor Circle, heading up to Wild Tor for a slightly more sore-footed lunch than usual, but all annoyance forgotten when a Hobby came screaming by at 0' 😮😁. 

 

It was very much a day of ups and downs, as while I got up Hangingstone Hill with no problems, I was driven off the top by arriving hordes [what? I make no bones about my desire for a little solitude]. Not so bad as I got out of the wind [did I mention it was a bit breezy?] by the Hangingstone itself. A cuppa was then rudely interrupted by a column of smoke rising over Cut Hill.....

 

Yes, THAT day.

 

I swore vehemently, quickly packed up and got up to the summit again to get signal [and fully out of the wind] and called 999. Always do this if you see a fire out in the country. You may assume that it's been called in, but maybe everyone else is assuming the same...

The width of the base of the smoke had doubled in the ten minutes between first sight and call, and as the news may have told you, it burned 500 hectares before the fire brigade and commoners [who were arriving within the hour] got it under control.

Stopping off back at Wild Tor, I was greeted by my only Wheatear of the day, and the sight across the valley of the firefighting effort assembling. Now aided by all-terrain vehicles; a good thing too, out that far.

Then comes some filthy twitching, as a pair of Black-winged Stilts had arrived at the Black Hole. I hadn't twitched anything for so long I was worried I'd forgotten how, but it all came back to me 😉

Seeing Murphys [briefly] and The Teacher was good, but BWS porn was even better [no offence, folks 😆]

 

On my way home, a raptor was quite low over Splatford Split. "THAT's not a Buzzard!" I said to myself, and I was right. It wasn't a kite, either, far less any kind of eagle... young Marsh Harrier. 

O...k.

[Still rather good, but, well, hopes went up a bit]

 

 

 

 

Another week passed and I was on a mission.

 

We now get to the source of a whole week's posting on bluesky; the Great Butterfly Hunt!

 

Glanville Fritillary is a very pretty butterfly and I'd never seen one. Yes, there are those who say "Only the Isle of Wights ones are kosher", but I say "Beavers" [and maybe a few other things]

 

So I set off early [bright wasn't happening at that hour] and went up the 303 [road of dooooooom], hit a right, then a left, and found myself at the wonderfully-named Spreadeagle Down. This may be the NTs smallest car park. It is certainly the only one I know right next to a very busy airfield. But never mind all that, as I went swanning off down a track, looking for a certain spot on a certain bank. 

Needn't have bothered, the things were basking on said track like they were Speckled Woods.!!

 

Also Brimstones showing - yes, just sitting out in the open and letting themselves be photo'd.!?! - and also Adonis and Small Blues, Dingy and Grizzled Skippers... It was rather fun. There were birds, too, but butterflies sort of dominated. The usual steeply-sloping site, but if you can hack that [and the heat when the sun shines..woooh] it's well-worth the trip. 

 

I couldn't not then head over thattaway a bit to the Cerne Abbas Giant, where it was even steeper, even hotter, and the Duke of Burgundys even more obliging. You could sit down and they'd land next to you and let you macro them... ::Faints:: 

 

Also Marsh Fritillaries, both sites. Though less bright than the Devon ones, I notice.

Then on to the traditional 'end of a good day in Dorset' site; Maiden Castle, where the Corn Buntings were singing, and Walls were showing.. What madness was this?

Back to more normal service though, as I got on and promptly dropped another kite. Ah, that's more like it.

[In my defence, it was miiiiiiles away and dropped below the horizon without giving a good view. But still.] 

 

 

 

More time passes. Eurovision comes around and I do my traditional Eurovision Nightjar Trip. There were indeed Nightjars, and I even got a pic of one!

Also a Roe Deer, and a surprise reeling Gropper [which I could not even get the slightest glimpse of. Of Course.]

 

 

Next day I was up on t'Moor, where the Marsh Frits were starting to appear, though ahead of the orchids. I went for a yomp up higher, and my first Green Hairstreak of the year plus more Walls - including a very unnaturally posey one..?!? - were notable, because why not more butterflies? Wheatears busy provisioning chicks delighted me more than all of the above, though. 😀 

Sunny and a little bit windy became windy with a hint of sunny the next weekend, plus added near sideways showers for fun and grockle-repelling value. I was - of course - up on t'Moor again, this time a bit further south. 14 miles of up and around and down and over and over a bit more included more Wheatears up, Yellowhammers down, and another unusually-showy Wall, what is going on with them this year?!?

This was from Shipley Bridge, so much time spent on The Sub - with two showers blown overhead to my satisfaction - though without anything interesting seen despite much sky-scanning. I did get over to finally see the standing stone on the other side of the Avon - which I'm pretty sure completes the set - and it's quite a nice one, possibly with now-flattened stone row, too. Bit out of the way, though and thus the moderately-impressive distance covered.!

 

 

Another weekend and due to Circumstances only one day out again, this time I was - as per usual these days - following the Murphys. This time I was after a sizeable Silver-studded Blue colony on the East Devon Pebblebeds; one bigger than any I'd seen before [my pet spot had an all-time highest day count of 4...]

However, as I'm me, I didn't ask exactly where they were - and with such a sedentary and compact-territory species, this can be crucial - as I wanted to see if I could find them myself. 

This decision cursed repeatedly in unexpectedly-sweltering heat, mounting wind, threatening cloud, and surprise Horseflies as I naturally started at the wrong end....

 

But I did succeed. 6+ males [no females] including one VERY fresh one, showed quite wonderfully. Hard-earned and all the better for it.

 

Also year-ticked the Red Arrows, saw a Good Horsefly, did more skywatching - best non-mechanical bird a Swallow... - and got more dragons than expected with a flyby Downy Emerald while I was having lunch. Yes, I dropped my sarnie. 

Hmm. So many words. Is this more than all last year? Maybe.

I am now looking with what I don't dare allow to be hope at the prospect of maybe, possibly, could be, seawatching weather where I can get at it.

 

 

 

 

Just don't mention cheerfully carefree warblers.....

 

 

 

[Ok, not that bothered; off-Patch and not chasing a yearlist]

 

 

 

[Not THAT bothered? Singing? Singing.....]

[[Singing!!]] 

Ahem.

I shall, once more,  Be Seeing You... 

Notice.

Apologies to those expecting my very overdue fuller update, but I am taking a break from social media.

 

Expect me when you see me.

Be Seeing You...

 

Only Very Slightly Late Update Of Stuff And Things

Once upon a time there was a blog about what I got up to.

 

I'm trying to recall it - back in the misty depths of, er, last month ::Cough:: - and looking back, I can see my last proper post - not counting the SWIFTS! update - was about the Night Heron...

 

 

Which was a fun thing, oh yes [once it came out], but a bit of a while back.

 

So, I'm going to have to get to looking through my notes and so on.

 

It's not the same as writing close to, when all the stuff you think about at the time 'Oh, that'll be good for the blog' is still in recoverable memory, but I have only so much useful time and it seems that the picture socials kind of get first priority. Even this post is about to be cut off - as I type - to stick some pictures up on BlueSky..

 

RIGHT HERE.

 

Ok, where was I?

 

Getting cut off again, of course... 😞

 

 

So what to do? Probably yet another quick overview to catch up and try once again to keep this updated more regularly.

A very brief summary would be;

 

I hit the Nose a lot. Some seawatching was overtaken as the weather shifted by looking for migrants with some even seen. I also spent a fair while in assorted Moor-edge vallies, looking for Summer species with some success, it must be said. Birding near estuaries after wandering waders a couple of times and finally getting up on t'Moor for a good yomp only to see it set on fire by some irresponsible wotsit...

😒

 

Then heading way out East after butterflies with a full-on Lifer and finally getting photos of things, too...  ::faints::

Now that is a short summary.

 

 

 

I intend to post something more detailed and it might even happen, but better this than nothing, right?

Right?

Hello?

Note to self: Really must do better.

Be Seeing You...

Swifts!

I heard one scream briefly yesterday lunchtime, but no evening - or indeed any - sighting. Today was different, with the Teacher reporting four in the area mid-afternoon and [after getting back from t'Moor] finally getting one plus* myself at 2050.!

Woo!

 

So Summer is Officially here.

 

 

 

 

I have more news, and you will get to read all about it here - no, really - just not quite yet...

 

 

 

Be Seeing You... 

[Trust me]

[[* Only one seen/heard at a time. Two brief glimpses, one bout of faint screaming, one sustained view. They were high up!]]

Continued Word Issues, Though Look Over There

Limited amounts of mojo and the blog is - as usual - suffering for it.

 

Sorry.

 

However, my photo uploading, most notably on the Butterfly Place, has been more or less consistent [if a bit late at times] and I am I think pretty much up to date.

 

So while you won't be getting much in the way of an account of what was going on, at least you can see some occasionally pretty pictures of what i was looking at!

 

Well, the stuff that stayed put long enough when my camera felt like working, that is...

 

 

Ahem.

 

 

Goto Backward Birder  and see.

 

[[I'm also on twerpter, but you have to be signed up to see anything. Same handle, so not hard to find, and sometimes different pictures.!]]

Be Seeing You...

Er, Yes...

Suffering a slight lack of the muse.

 

 

 

Aren't Dippers brilliant, though?

Be Seeing You...

Waiting For The BeeGees [It Makes Sense In Context?]

Weekend started with a wander seeking previously-missed migrants, and I found three of them.

 

 

Also a couple of passing Swallows and my first Sedge Warbler of the year.

 

 

Yes, I am being obscure for a reason.

Much more fun on Sunday, when I decided to get three days' worth of trips done in one.

 

As we had three days' worth of weather, I think it was reasonable.

I started off on a hillside on the edge of Dartmoor - which I am not naming - where in sunshine I was led round and round by a handful of Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. I got a few nice pictures, but the sort of lovely underwing photo you see on the feeds of better 'togs eluded me. 

First Whitethroat of the year and a Tree Pipit made themselves known, and Speckled Wood and Dark-edged Bee-fly - along with a hoverfly I will ID at some point - also joined the 'let's wind the human up' party.

I didn't stay long as I had a trip to Emsworthy planned and wanted to get parked within a mile of the place if at all possible...

[Sunny Sunday?!? Ho ho ho]

This became complicated close to, as I ran into the back of a charity tractor run. 18 of them.

More power to their driveshafts and so on, but things were slightly delayed.

 

And yet somehow I was pulling into the main car park quite easily..?!?

[Suspect I'd got the Teacher's spot, having just missed him]

 

And then the Sun went away and the rain said "Hiya humans!"

But there were Redstarts. LOTS of Redstarts.

 

And two Cuckoos. Heard but not seen, though.

 

I set up an ambush and waited.

 

 

 

And waited and waited.

[Two hours enough?]

 

 

 

Bugger.

 

I went a'looking.

 

Eventually, a Cuckoo flew past me. Camera said "ha ha"

 

Cuckoo flew over me. Camera said "ha ha"

 

I said various Ancient Devonian Swear-words {which I will not translate} and the usual Curses upon the programmer of the autofocus.

 

The Cuckoo landed in a Hawthorn. In sight.

Back to me.

 

 

I used that tried and tested tactic, the Spiral Dance.

[[You go across not towards the bird - moving towards anything will spook it, so don't - and gradually get closer in a great big spiral. Simple.]]

It worked. I was shocked, I can tell you.

Then the Wheatear appeared and I even got a photo.

Time for venue three.

 

There have been not one but two vagrant herons knocking about Slapton Ley in recent days. Purple and Blue-crowned Night [yes, BLUE-crowned. That thing is royal blue, not black.]. Ok, both rather hard to see species, but hey, what's a few hours standing about in the cold wind between mad birders, right?

 

 

Though I did not spend all the time until dusk standing in the wind on Slapton Bridge. I had a seawatch [What?? SW wind blowing. Worth a shot] and saw a handful of Gannets and Guillemots offshore, with three Red-throated Divers on the sea. [I even hit one. Just.]

The Purple Heron, it turns out, did a bunk on Friday [photo from Saturday clearly a Grey flying away...], but the Night Heron was showing, though only after dark.

[[Who's playing that guitar?]]

Well, dusk anyway.

A few other herons flew over, including ten Cattle Egret and a Great White Egret. [Older birders mused on how times and bird-rareness change]

 

Mr Two Hoopoes [yep, that's your name now] picked up a metre-long Pike, and my camera did too, shocking all involved. [[See 🐛 ;This is BlueSky, as the Scum-suckin' evil ones gaggle won't put a butterfly emoji on here for some strange reason..??😏 ]] 

Eight o'clock came and went, and the handful of deranged mad crazy er, dedicated birders thinned a touch, but eventually, at 2020, it was suddenly there.

 

Well, sort of. As I had suspected, it was on the overhung Willows on the Graveyard Pool and very hard to see.

 

As anyone who's looked at my pictures can attest.

 

[[Yes, it IS in all of them]]

After sitting as a cute little ball of feathers for a bit, it flew to the channel south of the bridge and showed quite wonderfully.

 

Other people got better photos, go look for them if you want to actually see some of it.

It was a very happy - even though I had to get up at aaaaaarrrrggggh o'clock the next morning - Backward Birder who went his way home singing a slightly edited Sunday Night Heron. [Yes, this is where the BeeGees come in, probably calling their solicitors right now...]

I advise you to not think too hard about what the lyrics might be, if you at all value your sanity...

Mistle Thrushes still hanging around at work [closed site, sorry], and my first moths for the year are waiting to be unleashed upon the unwary.. Heh heh

What will the proper-length* weekend bring?

Beeeeeeeee-eeeeeater?

 

{I can dream}

 

 

 

Be Seeing You...

[[*You know I'm right]]

Twice Upon A Time...

You see what I did there?

Ahem.

 

Anyways, so to continue this ketchup, we get to the main event [well, the one I've been requested to please get a hurry up and blog about]

 

 

I like shrikes.

[I'm way too young to know how I feel about Ike, btw]

But they are verrrry thin on [or usually above] the ground in Glorious Devon in recent years.

Last year I spent a lot of time up on t'Moor, at various past locations, looking in vain for a lovely [unless you're a Coal Tit] Great Grey Shrike.

 

So when one popped up at Bellever, I was there as soon as possible.

 

Ok, it was a bit overcast and a lot windy, but the sun was forecast to come out, and the wind was the same as it had been showing in.

And to be honest, even if it was raining sideways, I'd have still been tempted.

 

Did I mention I like shrikes and it'd been a while?

Things got off to a good start when I arrived at the car park to the south of the site to find Murphys [2] having just arrived themselves.

 

Things got even better when we'd hardly got any distance on our way; a bird got up from a section of stone wall ahead.

Hmm, that's a raptor, not a shrike, not a Kestrel, oh itsa Merlin!!!!

 

A female, and she hared off - as they usually do - far too quick for me to even get to my camera.

Very good omen, though.

😄

 

 

Skylarks sang and it tried to be sunny, as we traced the wall line up to the plantation edge, then followed the edge [on the inside, folks, no bird-disturbing here] for not that far down onto the lee side of the ridge before

"There it is!" 

Great Grey Shrike, sat on top of one of the scattered self-seeded conifers [see? they have uses]. We then watched the bird sit, scan, and pounce on various small and unlucky things, relocating frequently as they do.

It even gave us a hover; they do it like Kingfishers do, if you've ever seen one.

 

Other birders arrived after positive news was put out [lightweights 😛] and despite it trying to rain on us, we even got a few other birds [Crossbill, Siskin, and so on].

 

 

How the day would have carried on is a matter of debate, as news broke of a flock - yes a flock - of Blue-headed Wagtails at South Huish Marsh.

 

Despite not having had lunch yet, it was decided that some things cannot be allowed to pass.

 

 

It was not, I must stress [officer] wacky races; I was very good. It was just a little tense when I got stuck behind a whole convoy of verrrry slow assorted lorries and wound up getting there 20 mins after Team Murphy [all I did was stop for go-go juice on account of being on fumes...]

 

But despite an even stronger wind, there were [eventually] EIGHT of the brightly-coloured little darlings there. And a Water Pipit. And a flock of ten Cattle Egrets flew in. And a Water Rail was tarting about in the open. And my first Swallows and Sand Martin of the year were flying about. 

It was all rather good.

Next day I went looking for Little Ringed Plovers and hoping for an Osprey. I got neither, though I did see a Barnacle Goose which was definitely wild, and some nice butterflies.

Cut to Mothers' Day, where the Traditional Nicpic was held at Laughter Tor in blazing sunshine and Skylarks. A Common Lizard! turned up right next to us, but the shrike didn't fly over. A pity as I would have shamelessly bribed it with rations if it had. 

[[What? Like any of you would do differently]]

We then reach Wheatears at Last, and after that, finding a quite ridiculous 32 Sandpipers Purple on the Real Living Coast [and I photo'd Every. Single. One. to prove it, too] the day after dropping a kite overflying Town. Swings and roundabouts, I suppose.

My first Willow Warblers, Redstarts, Tree Pipit and Pied Flycatcher of the year all came on last Sunday during a two-site 'I'm going birding and dam the grockles' kind of thing. [And oh, but there were hordes...]

 

 

And then we come to Monday, when on getting home from work I turn on my phone to a message from The Teacher;

 

'Corn Bunting at Hope's Nose quarry ri-'

 

 

 

 

     there was more but I was already out the door.

 

 

 

 

A call to said finder on getting to the Entrance Bushes resulted in being told 'It's just flown off strongly south' 😱 

After swearing very little and quite quietly, really, and heading down the South Side, I managed to refind it sat on top of the Wryneck Bush. Bunting re-relocates back to where it was, where I join the small but happy twitch watching this streaky little browny grey-ish bird flying about and not sitting close for good pictures, but we didn't care.

 

 

First one for the site since 1994, said MB.

Patch Mega, says I.

 

 

Since then, on consecutive days we have had a very showy Hoopoe at Berry Head, a Night Heron at Slapton [again!], and now a Purple Heron there, too.

 

 

What's tomorrow?!?

Be Seeing You...

Interjection

Interrupting my slow progress on part two to say that yesterday - what? You're not expecting promptness on here, are you? - I got the shock news that a Corn Bunting had been found at the Nose, and by none other than The Teacher; on one of those few and far-between, ever-so-short holidays they get 😛 and so out in the week.

Needless to say, I was over there with bins, notebook, and camera before you could say "It's just flown off"

 

OH Come ON.......

 

 

 

 

It had gone south, so I went down the South Side, scanning every bush, tree, and sticking-up-thing I could.

 

There it is!

 

Right on top of the Wryneck Bush [another Teacher find].

 

 

Reader, I almost died.

[[I didn't, as you can tell by reading this, but it was close]]

The bird then flew back to the First and Last Bushes, where said Teacher, along with a small but glad twitch of MB and The Murphys [sounds like either a northern soul band or a short-lived 80's cartoon series.!] waited. We admired the bird as it flew around and generally changed position a lot, but pictures were taken and it was good.

 

 

Corn Bunting, if you don't know and can't be bothered to duckduckgo [[because f- gaggle]], is a large but very grey-brown bunting, quite unlike the festively-coloured Cirl and Reed Buntings, or Yellowhammer. Its song is likened to jangling keys, and it's easiest seen at the car park of Maiden Castle in Dorset [seriously, you often don't even need to get out of your car...].

There are a very few in north Cornwall, but zog all in between.

The last one at the Nose was in November 1994.

 

 

Needless to say, that's a Patch Tick.

 

Woo.

Pics on here; Butterflyplace

Better pics here; Steph Murphy's Butterflyplace

Video here; Teacher's Butterflyplace

That may be too many hyperlinks for a blog....

 

 

 

There were also Bluebells, for icing.

Anyways, I am very happy.

And I am getting on with it. And yes, the shrike is in the next one.

 

 

 

Be Seeing You...

Once Upon A Time...

That ketchup post is finally here.

I'm not going to go into all the twelve visits to the Nose I made last month, because - aside from the last - there was a running theme of 'No Wheatear....::sniff::'

First report was a trip out West. 

A Wood Duck has been frequenting the duck pond at Saltram - where all the birds are actually wild [go figure, if you've seen it; right by the gift shop!] - along with a male Red-crested Pochard, with evident designs on the more-or-less resident female.

 

Wood Duck?!? Well, it is my opinion that not every Wood Duck is an escape. If Mandarin can get to Iceland, and Woodies can get to the Azores - and they can - then genuine vagrants can get here. A pair in Cornwall recently being most recent.

This Wood Duck was reportedly very wary - for a duck on a pond - and I wanted to have a look. I've seen an interesting Wood Duck in Devon before - a male, so automatically written-off by all and sundry - and as I said, I wanted to see how wild-acting this bird really was.

 

 

Of course, the one day there was no sign of her.....

 

 

 

Ok, turns out two days, as The Teacher tried the day after me and dipped her as well.

 

 

But other things to see.

The male and female RCP showed wonderfully, at least 36 Mandarin did too, and oh yes, a winter plumage Curlew Sandpiper eventually turned up at a nice range down on Blaxton Meadow. [Plumage Tick!] 

Pics of all on BlueSky, along with a colour-ringed Curlew, Med Gulls, and the naughty Ring-necked Parakeets.

I - being Out West already - went on to South Huish, where eventually the Water Pipit showed riiiight at the back of the Big Puddle.

 

It being a bit blowy, I gave the sea some attention, seeing a lone male Common Scoter and eventually a Red-throated Diver out there. Passage of one Gannet and one Kittiwake was a bit underwhelming, enlivened briefly by 8 more Common Scoter.. Until off to the North, a skua hove into view! Pom! It turned about and headed off NW, but too late to avoid me. 😁

But that was it.

Next trip was a two-header also.

Started in a wood by the edge of Dartmoor, where a small woodpecker showed nicely though not as well as for some other birders [drat], and on nearby heath a male Dartford Warbler steadfastly would not be photo'd, either...

After taking care of Important Things, Powderham Park contained at least 28 Cattle Egret and - on I think the fourth attempt - an Egyptian Goose! Woo.

Powderham Bend saw me sit myself down for a slightly late lunch and hope for an Osprey on the rising tide. 

Nope.

5 Red-breasted Merganser were on the water, and 47+ Turnstone and 66+ Dunlin were trying to stay out of it by the yacht club.

The weekend after, I headed up onto t'Moor with the Folks and their 'orrible slobbery dog [he's a sweetie, really, and very friendly. Very very friendly]

We did the walk I'd scouted the month before - up to White Tor - and all the sunshine was most appreciated. Lack of big flock of Golden Plover this time and no Wheatears, of course.

That's all for this time. We have more to come, including Proper Filthy Twitching With Friends!

Be Seeing You...

At Last. At Last. At Last.

Triple title as at last yesterday I found three Wheatears at Hope's Nose!!

 

 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

 

 

Ahem.

 

 

So I shall be recommencing blogging.

 

If I can remember what I've been doing...?!?

Pictures of pretty Wheatears [and lots of other things] on That Butterfly Place

Because google still blow goats.

Be Seeing You...

Insert Post Here .3

No, this isn't a post.  Yet.

 

But it will be. This is a placeholder.

Why? Well, it's like this; until I get a Patch Wheatear, I can't post about anything else.

 

I am in fact just about right now to head out for yet another go. So we shall see.

 

 

 

EDIT: I failed. And I failed again yesterday.

 

Bugger.

EDITED AGAIN:

 

Still all failure.

 

Double bugger.

 

 

 

If you want an idea what I've been up to, go to bluesky.

 

[Link's in that post of the 6th down there  \/ ]

                                                                   \/

                                                                   \/

Be Seeing You...

Still No Wheatear At Nose

Like it says up there.

 

 

I've not seen any BlackRed since, and only the odd GND or three on the sea. The Ore Stone Guillemots and Razorbills are back and busy, insects are starting to buzz [more] and its getting a bit Spring-y, but...

 

It's not Spring until a Wheatear is here.

I have been tarting off after stuff, but that will have to wait.

 

 

 

Be Seeing You...

Patching And Stuff

In which life gets in the way of birding, in that frustrating habit it has.

 

 

Despite sunshine and very early arrivals of Wheatears elsewhere, I failed to find one on Patch or at all. I also had repeatedly failed to see even a single Black Redstart this year.

 

Not good.

 

So I went off Patch to do some wandering about the lanes and fields of Devon. Despite it being notionally still 'cold' - and to be fair the wind did its best with what it had - the blazing sunshine got things up to a balmy 12°.! The Skylarks were singing, there were flowers and even blossom on trees..

Oh, wait, it was March.

 

 

Anyways, it wasn't entirely Spring yet, as a flock of at least 9 Redwing turned up, snarfing Mistletoe berries in laneside trees. I even got a few pics of them. I did not get a pic of my first Partridge of the year - Red-leg version, alas - which I surprised through a hedge close enough to flush it [this is quite rare, they're usually wise to you and run off].

When I say through a hedge, I must add, I wasn't going through it; partridge on the other side of the hedge - on the edge of a field - and I was quietly walking down a lane!

I also saw - three times - a flock of 7 Stock Dove, who seemed to be very unsure where to go.

All in all it was lovely to be ambling about in the sunshine, and while the wind picked up a little, it didn't get parky.

 

 

 

Cut to another go about the Patch, where I made a more-in-hope attempt at BlackRed and Wheatear at the Nose.

 

There were hordes of mundanes about [sunny Sunday? Hmm] and the female Kestrel was covering everywhere humans didn't get to...

 

Bugger.

 

 

Offshore, I eventually found a lone GND off Thatcher Rock, and the Ore Stone colony was in full form, but little else doing.

 

A second go at the South Side and Sandy Beach, on my way back up, though, and finally! Finally! The male Black Redstart appeared right down below me, for less than a minute, but long enough to get a bad pic.

 

 

Woo!

 

I sat myself down on the Wheatear Lookout bit, in hope one would appear - they are diurnal migrants, so can turn up through the day, and the South Side was the only human-free area - but no dice. However, while scanning the back of the beach, the female Black Redstart appeared by a bit of 'art' [people like piling stones up down there; mostly A-level photography students.!]. Again she showed for less than a minute, but again I got a pic.

Double woo.

 

There were a few insects knocking about in the sunshine - again see Over There - and even more flowers. A lovely little Eyebright right next to where I was sitting being one.

Elsewhere on Patch, I got nothing spectacular. But you keeps looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

::Plaintive voice::  Wheatear...??

 

 

 

Ahem.

 

 

 

Be Seeing You...

Including The Inevitable Wild Goose Chase. And Now A Bunch Of Other Stuff, Too.

The Boss, being The Boss, finds a White-fronted Goose on the Exe. Not unsurprising; it's winter and we've had easterly winds coming from a cold continent, and other EWFG turning up about the country. 

 

It being midweek, certain job-having birders have to wait a bit before trying to see it, and we do want to see it, as it seems to have hit its head or something and forgotten that wild geese in Devon are supposed to show riiiiiiiight over there..

Friday arrives and the weather is.. unhelpful.

 

I did some seawatching, as you may have read last time, but other people did manage to see the goose. Possibly in the morning?

 

Anyways, Saturday dawns with a forecast of early rain clearing early-mid morning and lighter winds.

 

Reality is rather different.

I, no, we - as I was not alone in Questing For The Vanishing Goose - spent more than three hours looking for and through groups of hiding Canada and Brent Geese. Some goons in a buggy didn't help matters, flushing all the geese from down by the railway bridge [where it had been showing] which was considerate of them. Doing whatever they were doing on the weekend, for maximum public annoyance and all.

 

Anyways, the goose was found, and seen, right off over there ::points::

I observed that I could have stayed in my car, not getting dizzled on sideways, and waited on the sunshine and done just as well.

 

I did see some nice Marsh Harriers [also right over there {different over there than WFG}], another showy Greenshank, and various other things, so I suppose it wasn't all bad.

The next day I was more dedicated to the Patch, having a good amble around. It was much of a muchness on and off shore, though an actually photographable Firecrest 'somewhere on Patch' was a nice change.

 

Later in the day, I met up with a Certain Birder and we went to a Certain Place, where, despite the weather, we saw Certain Birds. Three of them.

It was good.

[Oh, so cryptic]

Cut to this last weekend, where the only proper birding was done on Sunday. Having missed Spoonbill in North Devon, learning there was one tarting about the Exe again gave me ideas. Seawatching was the order of the day, at least at first and I gave it an hour at the Nose.

It wasn't great, but it wasn't awful.

You may have read of record passages of Red-throated Divers 'upstream', past the mouth of the Exe. I saw two. They did come through together, and quite close in, but, well.

I suppose the RTDs were congregating in the sheltered waters off Labrador Bay [which is a good place for them]. Or they went through before or after I was watching, of course.

Oh well.

 

5 GNDs were on the sea, a couple of Harbour Porpoise were in Hope Cove, and a late-on rush of Razorbills at least got something over 200. But the rain was setting in, passage was stalling, and it was either stay for the day or get going. I got.

Glonk Corner, 1hr

Gannet              24

Auks*              286

Kittiwake         20

Common Gull  19

RTD                 2

 

[*Primarily {>90%} Razorbill, all tracked past Ore Stone colony without stopping]

 

Common Gulls and Kittiwakes also passing birds, not loitering.

Going? When the wind was blowing?

I had a mission.

I was hoping the Spoonie would come into Bowling Green with the high tide, fleeing the windy Exminster.

 

 

Yeah.

 

 

I'd started at Dart's Farm, worked through Goosemoor to Bowling Green, then went Exe-wards. Nothing. Well, at least 4 Greenshank on Goosemoor, lots of Blackwits up close on BG, and a male Ruff with them was my first of the year. Lots of Pintail were on and coming into BGM; I counted 98, with plenty of hiding spots for more.

The Spoonie had apparently come in very late the day before, and so there was a choice to make. Stay put [in the dry, did I mention it was rather heaving it across?] and hope it did it again, or go looking to see if it was huddled with the Corms on Exminster...

 

 

Ah feck it.

Exminster was oddly quiet for a time when the road was not flooded knee-deep [funny, that]. The odd dog-walker, a lone angler, three mad running blokes, that was it.

I started by the railway line - hoping with laughable optimism to pick the Spoonbill up from the first gate, maybe please? - and worked as far out as the viewing box. No Spoonbill. Shock.

 

A 1w Marsh Harrier was annoying the ducks [full crop, so presumably looking for somewhere out of the weather to roost], the Scaup and Pochard were on the reservoir, and a Cetti's Warbler popped up in front of me [[said "You're nuts, you know that?" and vanished into deep cover]], but no horizontal white thing on legs. 

I checked the Exe. Tide still up, no Spoonie.

There were two other places it could possibly be; Powderham Marsh, down a long long muddy walk, and Dawlish Warren, down a long drive and scope or hard walk across the dunes..

I made it to the railway bridge, debating my life choices and the vagaries of not chasing a year list honest, no really, I just want to see a bird, don't you believe me?  I knew from past endeavours that you can see a surprising amount of PM from that bridge, if you're prepared to move around a bit and the leaves aren't out. So I had a look. This was straight into the teeth of the weather, but I'm a seawatcher.

 

There's a swan. Good, proof big white things are visible. [This was a recurring theme; if you can pick out Mute Swans, you can pick out Spoonbills] Then a bird took off. Big, white, from a standing start so not a swan, fast wingbeats, neck out, not a Great White Egret, that's the Spoonbill!!

It vanishing out of my limited view and I could not pick it up again. 

Well, that was fortunate. If I hadn't stopped to check, I'd have yomped out to nothing.

Where did it go?

Was it really a Spoonbill or was I hallucinating? [No, don't laugh, you have to be sure] My nagging paranoia struck again so I thought to myself, 'Why not be sure?' 'It's more or less on the way' 'You might see something else... Little Gull, even?'

 

Bugger.

Left hand down a bit.

 

 

Cockwood Crossing gives - as part of a lovely panorama of the lower Exe estuary - a view down into the Railway Saltmarsh and across to Finger Point. No Spoonbill. A GCG and 5 RB Mergansers bobbed around, and scattering of Brent Geese, Wigeon, Teal [[mutter mutter]] were exploiting the falling waters, but no Spoonie. 

[[Dawlish Warren sightings confirm this, btw]]

The whole thing reminded me greatly of trips up to the Taw/Torridge; long yomp in wind, rain, and mud, to get a distant view of a Spoonbill.

 

The next day, you may be unsurprised but amused to learn, not one but two Spoonbills were at their usual spot with the Cormorants on Exminster.

I had time to get to the Nose, in hope of male BlackRed in the sunshine, to find no sign of him. The female Kestrel was very much in evidence, though. These two facts may not be unconnected.

Four Grey Seals were hauled out, but the seas - busy Guillemot colony aside - were quiet. A bevy of gulls were in evidence about the remains of the slick from the earlier rain, but not even a Med to be had..

Oh well.

Wait a minute.

I'm up to date.

Argh! Who am I and what have I done with myself? Again?!??!

Be Seeing You...

Here And There

The Patch needed a good going-over, and with NE wind blowing and clouds in the sky, I suspected inshore birds might be the order of the day.

I circled the peninsula, with a few notables amongst a fair amount of ground covered for little on show.

[I wasn't surprised]

 

 

The Nose held two Irregulars, and after chatting with them, offshore I counted 7 s/pl, 4 w/pl, and 3 intermediate GC Grebes [so you were right, I did find more! 😁], but aside from Guillemots on the Ore Stone ledges and a scattering of Gannets, not much else.

 

I moved onwards to more sheltered waters, and found 5 GN Divers off Meadfoot, with a raft of 5 adult Kittiwake, and a lot of Shags and Cormorants. No BlackRed at either site, though. I stayed for a while, and a Harbour Porpoise eventually showed, heading NE, inland of the oyster farm.

The Harbour was not filled with sheltering birds, though a 1w GND appeared and showed at point blank range as it swam out of the mouth of the Outer Harbour, with another further out. On the rocks, 14 Purple Sand and 2 Turnstone. Off Torre Abbey, 3 Mute Swan and a handful of BH Gulls with the Herrings and GBBs.

 

 

 

Next day was sunnier, though not much less windy. I said 'stuff it' and went up on t'Moor.

I'd not been to White Tor for an age [pre-camera times, no less], and as it was on the lee side of the Moor, I figured 'why not?'

 

From Pork Pie Hill car park I headed up to Roos Tor, stopped for a cuppa and to enjoy the view, then over to White Tor for lunch. Ravens were knocking about with the usual spp., and Golden Plover were repeatedly heard, before finally a flock showed up and flew right over me in a nice [albeit not super neat] V. I hit them with the camera, and with the luxury of this here screen, there were 101 of them. 😄

 

I admit I may have been hoping for a nice Red Kite, or even [one of those] WT Eagle, but no dice [shock], but you do what you can do.

 

It was - when out of the toothsome wind - rather nice up there, easy going and what would have been great views if it hadn't been so hazy.

 

 

On my way home I stopped off above the Dart valley, where 53 mixed Fieldfare and Redwing were foraging in a paddock. While I was watching them, a Snipe was flushed by something and flew over me calling 'hetch!'. Two Buzzards had a prolonged go at what turned out to be a Crow. Woo.

Today I abandoned a planned Wild Goose Chase due to weather [ie. not being able to see it; I do not fear cold or rain {nor glom of nit 😉}] and gave the sea an hour from Meadfoot [NE wind]. I got 3 Gannets - plus a Razorbill on the sea - and resorted to counting Cormorants and Shags.

Cormorant  E  19

                   W  4

Shag           E   7

                   W  3

Gannet       E   3

BHG          E   1

C Gull       E   1

It was worth a try.

Ye Gods, I'm up to date!

 

What madness is this?

Who am I and what have I done with myself?!?

Be Seeing You...

Getting About A Bit

A few days off work [hours to use up, that sort of thing] saw me first visit heath and woodland in search of birds I'd not seen yet this year [that's keeping count, not chasing a yearlist, officer]. 

At a heathland site, Dartford Warbler was where I'd left it last year, while at a different and much woodier site, LSW was feeling unhelpful.

 

 

At Yarner Wood, the Marsh Tits eventually took pity on me and one posed quite nicely [well, once you got the camera to focus through all the twigs...], and a Song Thrush likewise was well-behaved. Other species were much naughtier, Redpoll especially...

 

 

A rather iffy day of weather saw me up on t'Moor, where perhaps the lack of other people saw a group of at least 18 Golden Plover on the deck in camera range even with the awful light 😁 . I was mostly there to recce a walking route for later in the year and to look at a triple stone row [not a double, it's a triple]. Pics will appear Over There directly.

 

[Perhaps a bit more directly, might have to annotate them. Once I remember how...]

 

 

And now it was time to get some miles done and hit the road. The Levels beckoned. A Baikal Teal was out there, with another Green-winged and what's this? Report of an American Bittern? Also another Isbis, Whooper Swans, and all the lovelies you get up where it's flat and soggy.

 

Tally-ho!

 

Well, it wasn't that soggy [areas closed off via removed bridges, not flooding, hmm] but the rarity-hunting proved a bit flat.

Yes, looking for tiny ducks in huuuuge areas among vast numbers of other ducks is never easy, but come on...

 

But it was rather nice. Started misty working on rainy, then later the Sun came out and it got, well, warm. Possibly even hot. What madness is this? [That'd be climate change, there, boy] 

I resorted to an actual iced drink [much to shock of café-folk "do we have any ice?"...], having had to walk two miles to find an open loo [thank you rspb, putting 'loos closed' up on socials after I'd pointed it out and been told 'oh, they've been out since saturday, I think, but someone should be here to fix them today'....]

Ahem.

 

Anyways, at least 9 Marsh Harriers were quite nice to see, with 4 up at once at one point. Bitterns were booming but unseen, the Whoopers were sitting about on Noah's, a few Great White Egrets were in evidence, as were plenty of assorted ducks.

I wandered about Ham Wall and Shapwick for most of the day, before fleeing the onrush of Starling-hungry mundanes to Catcott, where the Green-winged Teal did not show. [Day before, day after.....] But the Starlings did show, and were brilliant with the aid of optics [you could see the macroforms much better than when they're right on top of you] though not that far off; you could hear them, even there!

😄

An attempt to see a Barn Owl failed, but driving over backroad Levels after dark gave a surprise benefit, as Snipe started shooting over the road in front of me at hedgetop level, and That's A Jack!  😮😍

[Their shorter bills give a more balanced shape and they have more extensive streaking down the breast, so you can pick them in flight from below as well as above {crown and tail}]

A rainy day did not see me seawatching, but I did take time out of getting annoyingly necessary things done to hit Arch Brook on the Teign estuary. The pack of roosting 'shanks, when I found them, did indeed include the SpotRed. A Grey Seal came in very close on the high water, and further out, my first ever Teign estuary Goosander surfaced long enough to get the camera on her 😁

Another day trip out was to the North; Tamar Lakes, The Skern, Fremington Pill and area, and Bursdon Moor.

 

Things went a bit better, though as with last year, wandering out along the Tarka Trail caused it to rain on me..  This time I haven't come down with anything as a consequence, though, which is nice. 

Willow Tits are publicised at Tamar, though not always easy to see, and indeed it took more effort than I'd like to get anything other than Marsh Tit and frelling squirrels [where's a Goshawk when you want one?], but I scored in the end.

 

The Lesser Scaup at The Skern was another matter altogether. Pull up, get out, scan the inlet to the left, oh, there he is.

That's what you want.

I stayed longer than planned, cooing over ridiculously close views for a bird out in the open, and watched him dabbling for food right in the shallows "You're a diving duck, not a Shoveller?!?"

 

Tore myself away to head east to Fremington, walking back west in search of Isbis and Spoonbills [the Spotshank there was on the Pill, from the car, natch ]. I found a big flock of Linnet [~150] and a big flock of Stock Dove [14] [perspectives] after it stopped raining hard on me. Before that, the Glossy Ibis popped up from hiding in the same field it was in last year, and flew off low so I couldn't get a pic, the fiend!

I had to turn back for time reasons; no trek to the far side of Isley Marsh this time. And with the tide well down, no Spoonbills were in sight. Drat. Nor any Kingfishers flying by, either. Oh well.

 

Then Bursdon was almost a bust... Until a female Merlin appeared on a tree, way off over there. Nice views with the big scope, and I got a photo of sorts [yeek]. The trip home gave no passing owls of any kind [not counting calling Tawny at BM].

Day after, up on t'Moor with the Folks. Sunshine and wind; lovely in the former and out of the latter.

Another Merlin, but this time the Navy version.!

Few flocks of Fieldfare, and a surprising female Stonechat FF with a leatherjacket.?!?!!!? First week of February.

Huh.

 

 

More updating will be along, honest.

 

Ok, you know it will come, the fun part is 'when'.. 😇

Be Seeing You...

Left Then.

Continuing my updates, we now get to the fun times, as with a "Forth Éorlingas!", Storm Éowyn rode over the nation.

[You knew it was coming]

I got out of work and hit the Nose.

Admittedly, the timing wasn't ideal, but it was blowing nicely and so...

I gave up after an hour.

That hour did have 1300 auks [mostly Razorbills, as you'd expect in winter], 202 of both Gannets and Kittiwakes, 5 Fulmars, 1 LBB, 2 GND, 1 BTD, 1 diver sp.... 2 more GND and a GCG were on the sea ~80 BHG and 15 Common Gull were attending what was more flotsam than slick. Passage had pretty much died off by nine, really, though.

MP the Irregular arrived and we wandered over to Hope Cove, where 5 GND were on the sea... And oh, what's this? Another BTD! Which showed quite well, though never as well as the moment I noticed it right on top of us - of course it wouldn't behave, we had cameras - and in addition an adult Med Gull popped up on what was more of a slick.

Then, as I was going, I picked up a 1w RTD from IMD

[[Oh, so many initials.!]]

The next day was markedly calmer. I made plans, which were foiled due to my talent for turning my alarm off in my sleep [I use two for work, but refuse to when I'm off]

Still, I was going out.

I had vengeance in mind

Exminster was, well, still Exminster. The road was flooded, but I decided to see if my car - untested deeper than tyre depth - could do it. Yup, no worries. 

Now for some birds? There was no sign of the GWT, of course, but I worked my way down to Turf thoroughly, and prepared to check over the Exe for the inevitable no sign of the Long-billed Dow- oh, there it is.

Right on top of me. RIGHT THERE at Turf Lock, on the little triangle of mud between the mouth of the canal and the stream that drains Exminster Marsh; as close as a wader can get.

The Sun then came out, low as it was late in the day, and the views at 75x were breathtaking.

I even got the odd photo.

Still no GWT on the way back.

I stopped off - for the third time - at That Woodcock Place.     Time passed.

Woodcock!

A second, and low!

Third!

Get in.

And then we have Storm Freddie.

Yes, Freddie. F comes after E and before H. As does G, btw.

So the Spanish can learn the alphabet.

Storm Freddie, despite far far less fanfare from the media, was much friskier than Éowyn. The seas at the Nose were quite impressive [though I've seen better, and The Boss has seen the best; ask him about it]. 

 

The birds?

There were birds. There was also more seawatching. And rain. Oh yes, the rain. There was some of that, too.

The Teacher arrived just before me, but chose perhaps not the best position with a SE and serious seas. He gave it a while, then a while longer at Glonk Corner with me, before deciding Hope Cove might be interesting.

 

I gave it six hours, as patience and persistence and so on...

Auks 1158, Gannets 238, Kittiwakes 355, Fulmar 64, LBB 13, BHG 6, C Scoter 1, GND 2, Purple Sand 12, Turnstone 1.

3 GND and 1 RTD were on the sea offshore, 1 GND and the BTD were in Hope Cove, and 9 GND were towards Longquarry Point.

So only Fulmars and sea'd GNDs doing better than the Friday, really. 

 

I confess I did have hopes for something like Leach's Petrel, Grey Phal, or Little Auk, but that's birding.

Next time, we have my little winter break from work to go winter birding around and about and actually get out of the county maybe?

 

 

 

 

Be Seeing You...