Not Boring Seawatching Stuff

Beacuse seawatching is fun and interesting.

I tell myself this even when I've not seen anything bar one Herring Gull for the last 40 minutes and I'm wondering why I didn't stay in bed, no, really, I could be just getting up now, what in the name of the Great Green Arkleseizure is wrong with me?!?!?

Ahem.

So, I spent much of my traditional early September Hollydays seawatching, mostly from the Nose. I did not get to cornwall, due to circumstances, which is a bit of a shame, but not as much of a shame as getting to Pendeen to find that the dreamed-for South Polar Skua had been and gone already and I got up at fBLEEEEPing four for this?!?

Ahem again.

Adding in the Weekend's Seawatching I still haven't tallied in public, the other seawatching I've done, the fact this is now late October [eek]*, and we have a few totals. This is what this post is for, so those of you not interested in hourly rates of Gannet passage, and what I dropped on the 3rd [which I can talk about as I can't say it was one], may be advised to just skip it.

Still here?

 

Ok!

😁 

I have ten watches, with varying levels of recording, depending on what was passing. Properly I should be recording the same species in hourlies for every watch regardless of passage levels, but there are limits to what I can do - especially on my tod - and how many clickers I can feasibly use.!

What I'm going to put up is a simple list of Date, Site, Start Time, Wind Direction and then hourlies for Gannets, Kittiwakes, Manxies, Balearics, and Auks, with added Species of Note. I have not included the commoner gulls and terns, though I have included Fulmar [all recorded Fulmar are definite passage birds, btw].

 

 

All passage is South [or West - same direction of movement] unless stated. 

 

16/8, Hope's Nose, 0925, E-ENE

 

Gannet                   41 - 72 - 37

Kittiwake              46 - 31 - 14

Manxie                  68 - 12 - 27

Balearic                18 - 2 - 4

Auks                       No records

 

LT Skua, Arctic Skua, Great Shearwater, Arctic Tern, Roseate Tern.

17/8, Hope's Nose, 0930, NE

 

Gannet                  39 - 17 - 26 - 86 - 24

Kittiwake              1 - 9 - 5 - 39 - 27   

Manxie                  1 - 1 - 2 - 5 - 0

Balearic                  1 - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0

Auks                       No records

Black-tailed Godwit, Arctic Skua, 7 Med Gull, Fulmar.

18/8, Hope's Nose, 1310, E-ENE

 

Gannet                   69 - 22  [+22N]

Kittiwake               43 - 25   [+25N]

Manxie                   1 - 0

Balearic                  1 - 0      [+4 N]

Auks                       1 - 0

2 Arctic Skua [single different birds N + S], Black Tern, YL Gull.

31/8, Hope's Nose, 0650, SSW

Gannet                   42 - 56 - 48 - 14

Kittiwake              Passage not recorded; 2000+ in vicinity of Ore Stone

Manxie                  0 - 0 - 0 - 2

Balearic                 11 - 2 - 1 - 3

Auks                      0 - 1 - 0 - 0

 

LT Skua, Arctic Skua, 3 skua sp., 3 Fulmar.

2/9, Hope's Nose, 1055, WSW

 

Gannet                   43 - 16 - 52 - 69

Kittiwake              138 - 43 - 65 - 127

Manxie                  0 - 0 - 1 - 1

Balearic                 27 - 8 - 1 - 6

Auks                     No records

Cory's Shearwater, 2 Sooty Shearwater, Pomarine Skua, storm petrel sp., 3 Med Gull, 8 Fulmar.  3 Painted Lady butterfly.

3/9, Hope's Nose, 0730, WSW-SW

 

Gannet                 205 - 76 - 62 - 28 - 24 - 22

Kittiwake             885 - 112 - 157 - 78 - 14 - 16

Manxie                0 - 3 - 20 - 27 - 25 - 1

Balearic               7 - 20 - 29 - 24 - 27 - 23

Auks                    5 - 2 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

7 Great Shearwater, LT Skua, Bonxie, 6 Arctic Skua, Stormie, [probable Wilson's Petrel 0740], 4 Arctic Tern, Roseate Tern, 17 Fulmar, Med Gull, 2 Whimbrel.  2 Painted Lady & 1 Clouded Yellow butterflies.

7/9, Hope's Nose, 1000, SSE

 

Gannet                 60 - 69 - 65 - 82 - 62

Kittiwake             278 - 28 - 9 - 3 - 63

Manxie                 0 - 0 - 0 - 3 - 1

Balearic                1 - 2 - 0 - 2 - 8

Auks                     2 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 2

Dunlin                  41 - 0 - 33 - 31 - 0     

[Note: Dunlin passage added for this watch only.]

Cory's Shearwater, LT Skua, 2 Pomarine Skua, 15 Arctic Skua, Stercorarius sp., Sabine's Gull, 3 Arctic Tern, 2 Black Tern, 2 Med Gull, YL Gull, Fulmar, C Scoter, Ringed Plover [not with any Dunlin].

10/9, Hope's Nose, 1125, SSW

 

Gannet                    17 - 24 - 29 - 33

Kittiwake                0 - 2 - 1 - 1

Manxie                    0 - 0 - 8 - 58

Balearic                  0 - 4 - 17 - 56

Auks                       0 - 1 - 0 - 0

YL Gull, Med Gull, shearwater sp.

12/9, Prawle Point, 1145, W

Gannet                   40 - 14 - 4 - 3 - 19 - 68 - 6

Kittiwake               8 - 1 - 0 - 8 - 7 - 57 - 20

Manxie                  39 - 46 - 45 - 76 - 112 - 248 - 56

Balearic                 15 - 10 - 7 - 10 - 17 - 26 - 4

Auks                       3 - 0 - 1 - 0 - 0 - 2 - 0

5 Cory's Shearwater, 3 Great Shearwater, 9 large shearwater sp., shearwater sp., Sooty Shearwater, Puffin, Sabine's Gull, Stormie, probable Leach's Petrel, 6 Arctic Tern, Grey Phalarope, skua sp. [prob. Pomarine], Med Gull, Fulmar.

19/10, Hope's Nose, 0940, SSE

 

Gannet                    306 - 60 - 54 - 48 - 12

Kittiwake                23 - 1 - 0 - 1 - 0

Manxie                    1 - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0

Balearic                   No records

Auks                        742 - 81 - 10 - 1 - 2

Bonxie, Sooty Shearwater, Puffin, auk sp., possible Leach's Petrel, YL Gull, 3 Med Gull + 4 more on slick, C Scoter.

Phew!

A few good birds and interesting numbers, there. For example, 27 large shearwaters and 40 skuas; even ten years ago I'd expect maybe 3 big shears and 400 skuas, how times change.! Also clear evidence to how good I am at failing to get up at a decently early hour... 😔

Right, time to hit Post

::faints:: 

Be Seeing You...

[[* Not to mention my current fixation with italics... ]]

In Which I Go Tarting About On t'Moor

Now this is about the other stuff I've been up to - when I've been up to much - and is indeed mostly related to wandering the Moor. It also dates back into September in part, and well, what can you do, really? I'm not giving up on this here blog, but two other social feeds and the mind-controlling therefrom [so many things to keep up with... argh] isn't helping. In order to allow pictures to be put up and people to actually see what I'm doing, I need them both [tut].

 

Ok, stop whining and [try to] get on with it!

 

 

 

I have bashed Patch and near-Patch [though that involved seawatching, too, because I'm me] too, and I have a couple of pics of interesting things over on Bluesky of actual birds and even something that isn't a bird [gasp!], which should be visible with only a small amount of scrolling when you're reading this.

In not entirely actual chronological order [because why be obvious?]...

 

 

I found myself needing to while away what turned out to be a day in Paignton. Naturally I'd brought some optics along [duh] and so I wandered about here and there. Clennon Lakes held a variety of not at all rubber duckies, including an array of nice Gadwall moulting out of eclipse. Young's Park [of Scaup fame] held a likewise slightly different array of ducks, plus a showy Grey Heron. I joyfully noted The Artist's Favourite Bird there, and have put a pretty [ok, that is debatable] pic of it up so you can all admire it. 😇

But being me, and having, it seemed, quite a bit of time to play with, I ended up looking at the sea. From the middle of a bay, on a [well what started out as a] sunny day. Nope, I did not see anything better than a couple of Med Gulls in about three hours total [and those were sat on the shore, too]. The odd Gannet and Kittiwake were out there, but that was it. Well, aside from a gorgeous paddle steamer - yes, really! - that came cruising by, doing a lap of the pretty riviera coast for the masses aboard, it seems. 'Waverley' did photo quite nicely when she came by, and so you can see over there.

Another day not so far out saw me patrolling the Patch on foot, mostly to see what was going on if anything. I found Firecrests in three areas, which was great, and checking the Real Living Coast [might need a new name for Haldon Pier, now] for overly-early Purple Sand payed off with a lovely juvie Ringed Plover [which was alone, and had white above the gape line, so got looked at very hard...]. Not had Ringo there before, and not on deck on Patch this year [you sometimes find the odd few grounded on the Point at Hope's Nose].

Ok, let's actually get to the bit on the title.

Yarner is technically Dartmoor, and when not robbed out by thieves foragers* is of an Autumn filled with a great assortment of funguses. I took a wander over after work and while it was horribly humid, it was also very quiet and indeed very fungal. I had lots of fun, though when the Deerflies found me it got less amusing... [bladdy things]. A notable plethora of Boletus species was in evidence [and a health warning, while some are edible, many are not and one is deadly, so be very careful, ok?] and again a lack of Russula [4 spp, mostly one of each?!?], while Yarner's bounty of deadly Ammanitas continues...

There were a few birds about, including a party of flyover Crossbills, and a late-ish Common Hawker.

Earlier I was first about Fernworthy, where I found almost no Russula, even in the really good bit, though loads of False Chanterelle [don't be fooled, and have a care for your insides] all over the place. A big party of Crossbills eluded the camera, bar their lookout, who was up on top of a conifer and I got a pic [it's on Bluesky somewhere]. 

I spent most time out on the Moor looking for a stone row and a cairn circle in what turned out to be a great wading of vegetation. The grass wasn't too bad, but the Gorse was ouchy...

When located, the row was dinky and badly pinched-from, but seemed to be aimed at Bellever Tor, which was cool to learn, and the circle was also buried - though under Gorse not grasses - and also well-robbed out. But in a very scenic location, and if not for the rain which waited for me to find it and sit down, would have been well-worth the hunting. Just. 

I saw a bunch of Hirundines, and at least 4 Whinchats [not expeced and also WOO!] but also got rained on hard a few times. Ah well. Yes, I've mentioned that twice now, but I got rained on twice before I got to the trees, so I figure its appropriate.

Even earlier I took a wander to somewhere I'd not been to since I was yea-high to a doodlebug, Manaton Hill. Which was buried under VERY high Bracken [it's been a good year for the stuff, unfortunately] but was also home to far more views than I remembered. It rained far far more than forecast, with the rain having noticed me [and me without full waterproofs, as I foolishly believed it would be 'hot Sun with few showers' Ho frickin' ho] and evidently decided I was target for the day [it was frickin' sunny at Cosdon Beacon while I was being rained at. Repeatedly. Tut.]

Ahem.

I toddled over from Hound Tor [slightly more recent blast from the past], where I later had lots of fun finding the cairn circle there [I knew it was..not where it was. Which was less than helpful], but, upon having a triumphant [ok exhausted] coffee in the lee of a Gorse bush there, I was rewarded by a VERy close Wheatear! Too close, as when I tried to verrrry carefully go for my camera, the Wheatear wasn't having it. Alas, the pic would have been legendary.

A trip to Prawle later, I was back up on t'Moor looking for more lesser-known standing stones. This time I started at Fernworthy [still almost no Russula...😕] and headed through - via lunch [late start, tut] at Assycombe - to the Stannon valley, where I sought a row and another cairn circle.

The grass was long, the stones in the row not robbed are small, the coobeasties were in the way. I found it eventually, noted with interest it seemed to be pointing to Bellever Tor, and then went on for the circle.

 

Which took more than an hour, being hidden amongst circle-high Gorse and Heather and Bramble on a hillside studded with stood-up [as opposed to standing] stones. The photos I'd seen showed it in low Heather and grass, clearly visible. Oh ho ho not so now, oh no. The supposedly very nice cist inside is now totally hidden, though the location and view therefrom is quite worth the walk out there.  

The reward also was a surrpise encounter with Whinchats, plural. At least four! Woo!

Work later, I took a Friday afternoon at Yarner, where I finally found some fungi, and a Common Hawker, though that was the only getting out I did that weekend.

Yet another late start presaged what was hoped to be a look for early Ouzels, but that was kaiboshed by far nastier than forecast weather. I headed away from Headland Warren and up over the ridge, where a nice hut circle was high-walled enough to shelter me from the blast while enjoying a view off to the North and East. Moving on - a little reluctantly, as a comfy spot with a good view is a thing of value - I went looking for the latest in a series of cairn circles [I'm not chasing a yearlist, and the collecting bug demands sustenance...], this time near Grimspound. This one was easier to find, though my hopes of getting a pic of the interior was foiled by it being full of Ferns.!

 

I'd not been to King Tor for a while, and again a nice view sheltered from the wind was on offer. There were a lot of Skylarks in the area, including many juveniles. I stayed put until the rain turned up, though nothing fancy did before then. You puts the hours in and sometimes something comes out.

The next day saw me out not seawatching [dratted weather timings] but at Cockwood Crossing, looking for a reported Slavonian Grebe [news of which had broken while I was up on the Moor, naturally]. I gave it 2 1/2 hours - stood by the main line in the full force of the wind - but no dice. A female Common Scoter - much rarer on the Exe - was some consolation, but even an eventual Kingfisher perched out of sight...

I headed to Bowling Green - despite the tide being past - to have lunch sat down out of the elements. You never knew, a Garganey might be there?

Ho ho.

 

 

BUT I did then see a wader wander out from amongst the loitering Teal, Wigeon, and Canada Geese. A smallish thing with pale legs and a nicely pointed fringe of streaking on the pecs. On the Pectorals.

 

Oh [BLEEEP], that's a Pectoral Sandpiper**. And it then flew when I went for the camera.

😰

[This is typical]

Then I refound it and this time got the shots. 

Then I asked the others in the hide if they were interested in a Pec Sand [they weren't, dear raspberries one and all] then I sent a few texts. Then I counted to just under ten minutes, which is when the first twitcher arrived. [Wotcher Dave].

Despite being a bit flighty, the yankee wader stayed put for the rest of the day, showing very well [for a Pec] to assorted birders. At one point a Glossy Isbis turned up and tried to steal the limelight. A couple of Ruff were there, too.

But I was just too happy to get something twitchable twitched. First one since the Glonkus maximus. 

Result.

😎

October started with much Patch patrolling. Highlights included 2 Wheatear and a House Martin at the Nose on the 4th and a fall of phylloscopus warblers on the 10th, plus loads of Firecrests all over the place!

Next weekend, I was again thinking thrushes, and decided to do some reconnaisance in to the presence or not of berries in a couple of Moor vallies. The result was an utter lack of Rowan berries, though many Hawthorn bushes were well-stocked. More excitingly, a juv female Merlin below Avon Dam - I got a truly awful picture as she vanished at typical warp speed - was early. I found only three Mistle Thrushes in the Mardle, nothing thrushy in the Avon, and 2 Grey Wags but no BlackRed on the dam, with 10+ Teal at the top end of the reservoir and no Goosander.

This weekend, while today I was not out for birds, yesterday morning I got to Emsworthy, where I saw at least 4 Ring Ouzels [2+ ad males, 1 ad female, 1+ 1w], 35+ Fieldfare, 3+ Mistle Thrush, but no Redwing [reported by others, though]. Others got to double figures of Ouzels, but hey that's birding.

In the afternoon I was out on Patch with the Folks and the birding highlight was seeing the local pair of Buzzards being assailed by 5 Jackdaw. This is of note as Jackdaw are rare here [it's Crows and Magpies and Ravens and Jays]. Added to the now regular 2 who are visting my skygarden and it might be significant? Will be interesting to see if they stay on and try breeding next year.

 

Zoggin' 'eck, I'm - seawatching tallies aside - up to date!!

 

::Faints:: 

Be Seeing You...

[[* Ok, taking what you will eat today, leaving at least 90% of fungi intact, and not going after rare species is one thing, I suppose.]]

[[** American wader, vagrant, and if not a serious rarity, a bird that was once a real pain in my behind as I've dipped them a ridiculous number of times ]]

A Month Or So Later...

I'm still having issues.

When I have the time to post - like say right now - I just can't get it to work. When I don't.. Well, not really then, either. 

Give it a go anyway:

Overcast and trying to dizzle at the Nose early this morning, and a surprising number of warblers chasing insects and each other about the South Side. Mostly Chiffs, of course, but not all. Vismig highlight a Crossbill, but mostly Mipits, alba Wagtails, and common finches. Of glad note, there are hordes of Firecrests everywhere; four in one small tree on the way out!!

Also of interest, as well as Blackbirds and Magpies, now the local Jackdaws {both of them} have learned how to cling on to the fat block feeder like they're Blue Tits... Birds, eh?

There, that's what I've got. Yes, it's better than nothing.

And I'm not giving up.  

I will afflict you with some sort of seawatching data comparison at some point.

[[I say afflict, I dunno who reads this anymore anyway, aside from fecking AIs...]]

But even so, I will

 

 

Be Seeing You... 

 

 

 

 

[Some sunny day]