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...