Quick Bit

Back on the Patch today and of course no Waxwings..

Big increase in Redwing numbers, with at least 34 out the back and a lot more round and about. A single Fieldfare, a couple of Song Thrushes, and lots of Blackbirds with / near / everywhere also. Speaking of the Garden, I've at last seen a second Blackcap - another male! This makes 4 males and no females in the neighbourhood [[Calling Frau Blackcap, vhere are you?]] Starling numbers out the back have hit three figures, with an in-view count of 103 and more in the immediate area. Watching Starlings, Blackbirds and Blackcap trying to hang upside down like Blue Tits as they go after palm berries is quite amusing...

Back again

Terrible, isn't it? No updates since Saturday, what is the world coming to.....

Today marked the eighth day since I went off to zumerzet [and technically other counties too, but don't get any locals going on that subject.. ;) ]. Having spent 7 being good, not driving my car around [[though I'd describe birding as a 'necessary journey']] and generally beating the Patch senseless* when not diligently job searching, I decided it was time to properly go somewhere. After all, no matter how many pictures you see, it's not until you actually experience something that you truly appreciate it, do you?

'Up to 8" of snow', they said. In the three falls, we had 2cm, 4cm, and a barest dusting here. 'Well, the last fall was Monday, they must have cleared the roads by now..' thought I. Ha ha ha..... I had wanted to get up on't Moor - last winter I'd had lots of fun with knee-deep drifts on Ryder's Hill - but decided the wind would be a bit too toothy [then there were the assorted accidents blocking the roads, so probably still a bit icy, too]. Deciding to play it safe I went for Exminster - Smew on the canal and hordes of Bramblings [maybe] were very appealing - thinking that there was plenty of scenery to shelter from the wind by, and that judging by all the people who've been there, access couldn't be too bad. Oh ho ho ho....

I did expect the lane to be ungritted and basically ice; I've driven interesting roads before and know that as long as I don't stop or maneuvre suddenly I'm fine. I didn't expect the car park to be covered in chassis-deep snow.. I had the nasty feeling that if I stopped I wouldn't be able to start again. Perhaps this was untrue, but I really didn't feel like finding out! Fortunately, my li'l car has a very tight turn radius and I got in and out in one. Parking in the Swan's Nest car park seemed overly cheeky, and the two layby spaces were already taken, so after deciding against Exminster village I went up to Countess Wear. Also an ice rink, but at least I had a reasonable chance of getting help if I needed it.

A long yomp then followed, down the towpath to Topsham Lock. It was quite breathtakingly gorgeous, I have to say. [Ignoring the roadside slush, the whole day was one of spectacular scenery] Not that cold either - second hat and the mitts came off [though back on when I stopped, the wind had sharp teeth]. The ice-free pool at the footbridge duly turned up 2 wonderful li'l Redhead Smew, plus 2 Pochard, 5 Shoveler, 30+ Tufty, 50+ Gadwall, 160+ Coot, 7 Mute Swans and up to 7 Cormorant - they were very in and out - [Also, one was a sinensis with a gular angle of nearly 100 degrees :) ]. I found a nice spot by the bridge where I was far enough back [and not showing a nasty human silhouette] to let the birds relax while still having a clear view of most of the pool. Rather conveniently, this was also out of the wind [[Side note: A folding stool is your friend]]. Getting on for 2 1/2 hours passed, while the Smew sat, preened, dived, and caught some impressively big Perch. It were dead great. Then one [the one with more white on it - a 1w male, maybe?] got out onto the ice right in front of me [so to speak]. Joy.

There were quite a few other birds around, including a couple of Cetti's and some very confiding Wrens by the canal, a Snipe in an unfrozen ditch, lots of thrushes... The usual Exe flyovers flew over; mostly solo Blackwits and parties of larks and finches, though a Redshank came up the canal very low and passed within 15', which was brilliant. A couple of Brambling were some consolation for not getting to Powderham Marsh [I had seriously considered going on there, but then I compared time to do the round trip with hours of daylight and chances of a quick freeze after sunset and thought better of it]. For raptors there were Buzzard, Kestrel and a high female Sprawk [no glorious male Hen Harrier, alas..]. With the way this winter's gone, I was half expecting a Lapland Bunting to fly over, so when one circled quite low overhead before heading towards Exminster, I was almost blase about it... I kid, I was grinning like a fool! :D

Eventually, coffee ran out, and it was time to go. Heading back, you will probably be utterly unsurprised to learn I had no trouble getting going. I maintain that paranoia is your friend. One notable thing more - very large numbers of larks on the snow-free field inland from Labrador Bay. Oh yes... I get home to find that the one day I wasn't on my Patch, another Waxwing's turned up. [[Ancient Devonian swear-word time...]]

*No shocking news to report - couple of sightings of GND on the sea, but most of that stuff's off Broadsands! There were at least 40 auks on the Ore Stone on Tuesday, and a singing Goldfinch was another Patch scarcity this week. Goldcrests and LTTs are surviving, yesterday saw the first Fieldfares of the winter show up, I'm still only on 3 [all male] Blackcaps in the neighbourhood, we had 35 House Sparrows out the back this morning, Chaffinches are down to about 15 from 20+ [due, I think, to clearing snow rather than mortality], our Wren is still going [yay], the Starling mob is still in evidence, fluctuating from about 20 to 80+ and we've still got Redwing all over the place.

[[[Those who keep a sharp eye on this blog may notice this post has been edited.]]]

Three Days on the Patch

After all my naughtiness the last three days have been spent confined to Patch, thanks to a mix of commitments and the weather. Despite regular checks of assorted promising berry bushes, no further Waxwings have been forthcoming.

Brief highlights [and there are, oh yes indeedy :) ]

Thursday morning at the harbour saw a Great Big Crane prevent me from checking all the pier, so I don't know if there really were no Purple Sands or not. There was a Turnstone sitting on a fishing boat, plus a GND out in the Bay and a Razorbill flying north out of it. In the harbour, an adult Herring Gull with very dark pink legs caught my eye.. No, not a Thayer's [Yeah, I wish..], but the darker mantle, large size, plentiful head streaking and extra white on the primaries indicated a good candidate for argentatus. The harbour gulls are very good at flying off the second I take my eye off them, and this one was no exception, so it'll have to go down as a probable.

Friday was a fun day! First proper snow for a very long time indeed - ok, only 2cm, but that's a lot for us! A notable absence of Redwings occurred - I didn't see a single one all day... Bird highlight was a very dark 1w Buzzard, which got a frosty reception from the locals, then an outright hostile one from a couple of Crows. Then it got snowed on. It's tough to be a Buzzard...

Today woke to no less than 4cm of snow! A late morning to early afternoon wander around the north end of the Patch brought a female Siskin [Patch scarcity], 35+ GC Grebe in Babbacombe Bay [good, but nowhere near a record], and a shock flyover - Lapland Bunting heading north just after midday! Pure fluke, of course; I happened to be listening hard [trying to get eyes on some Bullfinches - which are Patch scarcities themselves..] and heard it call, then actually got on it... Patch Tick :D

Also noteworthy, given other reports, was the lack of flyover Skylark; aside from the Lapland, there were a few small groups of Redwing, Starling and Chaffinch, but these all seemed like local movement, with no obvious directional trend.

A late afternoon grebe scan from Corbyn's Head - taking advantage of fairly calm seas and good low light - gave 3 Black-necked Grebe and at least 8 GC Grebe in the Bay, plus three flocks [two ~30 and one ~50] of passerines [looked like larks but too distant to be sure] cutting the SW corner of the bay*, low to the water. In the harbour, a 1w Herring Gull with a bill deformity and unusually dark plumage made me go 'WTF...' Gulls, what are you going to do with them?

*[[Heading away from Paignton, naturally. ;) ]]

I Went Shopping

How's that for a blog post title? :)

Yesterday I went shopping. However, due to Various Entirely Genuine Circumstances I did so in Bath. Yea, freely and of my own will I did get up there early enough to get a space at the P&R, I did pay the horrific price [and I thought Exeter's was extortionate...] and did negotiate the incredibly busy and oddly-laid out streets [[Though the price to actually park in Bath is even worse, plus there's the years of your life you lose through stress trying to negotiate their Escherian one-way system....]] [[[I'm digressing]]]

But yes, I went to Bath. One of the good things about Bath is that to get to it you have to go past some very nice bits of zumerzet birding [or, if you're feeling really masochistic...Brizzle... Eek.]. Setting off before it got light was necessary anyway to get in the P&R, and also let me make a quick and minor detour to Cheddar Reservoir :D

I've not been there in the morning before, and the better light even counteracted the cold wind howling down off the Mendips [bringing unforecast rain, too]. Being the only largely unfrozen body of freshwater in the area [Chew and the Levels are still mostly solid] there were thousands of birds. Mostly Coot, of course - this is Cheddar in winter - but a whole lot of Tufty and Pochard too [plus Mallard and Mute Swans]. Present were Cormorant, GC Grebe, Little Grebe [4], Gadwall, Shoveler, Teal, Wigeon, Goldeneye [8], Red-crested Pochard [17], Scaup [1] and RD [2] ['RD' being my way of avoiding the government Death Squad's search engines]. I'm quite pleased that this poor persecuted little duck was my 250th species of the year. I stayed there longer than I intended, not least due to a drake Scaup showing quite cripplingly well, but not only got into the P&R [even with a lightning stop at Chew in case of tarty Bittern at Herriot's {In one very quick bin scan there wasn't}] but managed to park next to a gorgeous white Aston DBS too.. :)

Stomping through Bath I quickly did what I went to do, stopping only long enough to have lunch at the french cafe version of my favourite coffee shop, before heading home. Via the Levels. :)

As I was driving from Bath to Wells it would have been rude not to stop off and see the Tree Sparrows, wouldn't it? I've not seen one for more years than I care to remember, and they were evidently offended by this as I only saw the one, and it flew off immediately.. Undaunted by their snub I pressed on, and still with an hour or so of good daylight left I arrived at Ashcott Corner and headed over to Noah's, where there was some open water. I met a few birders, all of whom had stories of ice-skating Otters, Bitterns, Water Rails etc.. I did see an ice-skating Cetti's; quite wonderfully, actually, but none of the above, alas.

From Noah's Hide the open water contained, yes you guessed it, a lot of birds! There were the multitude of local Cormorants; all hunched around the edge looking pretty disconsolate. As well as Mutes [including 2 ex- ones..] I counted 5 Bewick's Swans, upending in a line and still looking much prettier and cleaner than the bigger locals. I only saw 1 Goldeneye, but at least 8 Little Grebe and a single GC. Again lots of sheltering ducks; Teal, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pochard, Tufty, Gadwall, Mallard, and 5 Pintail. Plus Coot. A Pink-footed Goose had been seen there, consorting with a fairly big Greylag flock, but no geese were present when I arrived. This changed after about 20 minutes, when much honking presaged the arrival of 77! My second sweep through them then revealed there were only 76 Greylag and one Pink-foot :) Having been seen, it then decided it might as well show properly and so climbed out onto the ice for a preen.

After a very brief period of umming and ahhing, I decided to stay for the Starling roost. The sunset was a very pretty one, and things looked quite promising. A Cetti's right in front of the hide spent several minutes in open sight, working along the reeds and even on the ice [with much flicking and spreading of tail to keep it's balance!] - I've never seen one for so long.. A female Sprawk that came haring past, and a Buzzard trying to do a Marsh Harrier [not as well as the Slapton one the other day, though] were the only raptors. Yeah, no Harriers either. Still, it was gorgeous and not too cold - especially as I had cunningly brought a flask [oh, you'd almost think I'd planned the whole thing, wouldn't you?]

As it turned out, the Starlings were naughty and came in quick, over at Ham Wall. I saw some nice flocks passing me, but was too late for the main display. [Having too much fun counting Li'l Grebes and watching for Marsh Harriers, that's my problem...] They were very close to the main track - just to the south of the first platforms - and clearly visible to the naked eye as a long black line in the reeds. You could easily hear them; the birds in the reeds chattering and the susurration of the later groups as they arrived.

So; the shopping is done, I've gotten [nicely past] 250 for the year and had a great day to boot. All I need now is a job... Every silver lining and all that.

Input.....Input...Input.....Input!

I wasn't going to post again, but seeing as I'm suddenly gaining popularity* for some strange and unaccountable reason, I thought I'd go on and burble anyway...

Today I had an Appointment of the GissaJob variety, conveniently in the middle of the day. Either side I did diligently bash the Patch, gaining precisely no Waxwings but a gorgeous passing 1w male Sprawk in the morning and 2 male Blackcaps in the same tree in the afternoon. So not at all bad. Redwings and Starlings still hammering the berries and still no Fieldfares joining them. Lots of Blackbirds and Chaffinches [now at least 15 coming to the Garden] but no Bramblings with the Chaffs [A real Garden Mega, that'd be...]. Plenty of LTTs showing adorably, cute little fluffballs on sticks that they are.. [Aww...]

I see that the Colyton Yellow Wagtail sp/ssp has been trapped, ringed, and 'volunteered' a DNA sample to the authorities. I expect therefore to be told in a few months' time that it's an argentatus Herring Gull... ;)

*[ <-- Look over there! 5! I've got 5 real actual people who'll publicly admit to reading my blog! Woohoo!]

Being a Bit Naughty

Readers forgive me, for I have sinned; Since failing to find the Waxwings' resting tree yesterday I haven't tried again. Nor have I bashed my Patch in a thorough manner [or indeed any manner at all excepting out the window...]. {{In my defence I plead that for those who wish to see Waxwings on my Patch, there are 5 very showy ones at Torbay Hospital [also very.... er, umm... very security guards...] }} Instead yesterday I went out for a walk on't Moor with the folks, and today I did apply for jobs and then was very very bad indeed, oh yes....

A winter wander around Vitifer and Sousson's was very pleasant, though as usually happens with t' Moor in winter, there weren't many birds around. [Of course, sometimes one of the few is something superb and begins with M, H, S, R etc....] At least 6 Fieldfare were hanging around the top of Vitifer, a very showy Green Woodpecker around the bottom, but not a great deal in between. Sousson's held a few Crossbill and 2 GSW, which were heard only, plus some nice Goldcrests [he says, reaching a bit] and lots of deer slots. Buzzard, Raven and Kestrel overhead were the best of the rest, with not even Siskins [let alone Redpoll] about. It was a nice walk, and the sun when it was out was lovely.

After doing much job search-related business this morning, I had intended to give the Patch a going-over. 'Had' because a Certain Birding Site held news of Bearded Tits at Slapton! Having become The Only Birder in Devon To Still Need Buff-breast for the County, I wasn't going to let a possible Devon Tick elude me again, oh no. Filthy twitching time.

I'm going to be kind and keep this very brief; birds heard calling in reedbeds at north end of Southern Ley [either side of the channel] intermittently between 1205 and 1230 and one female seen in flight from east side to west side at 1258. Far better performers were not one but two Water Rails, which swam the channel [both going east] an hour apart, much to my amusement. [[Ok, could be the same Rail doing a loop, I know]]

Also 2 male Goldeneye [including one on the 'bridge pool'] and single Little and GC Grebes [also on the bridge pool], 8+ Shoveler, 10+ Pochard and all 5 species of gull in Ireland Bay. Perhaps due to the north-easterly, which was brisk, there wasn't much on the Southern Ley at all, and apart from a single Shag and a very distant diver sp. nothing noted on the choppy sea. A Buzzard tried impersonating a Marsh Harrier over the Northern Ley - doing quite well for flight action, though the plumage was off and it really needed to find some tail extensions [ ;) ] - and only succeeded in flushing a Grey Heron.

Waxwing Update

Mixed news, I'm afraid...

Went over to Waitrose this morning and staked out the Rowans. And waited. And waited. Just after 9-00 3 Waxwings flew over low and headed east on the same line they took yesterday - towards Plainmoor [that's the Torquay United ground, btw, as opposed to the area Waitrose is in, which is also called Plainmoor; when we like a name we use it a lot! ;) ]. I checked back where they'd come from but no sign of number 4. I then followed their course and with better light checked every tall tree and berry bush I could find but no joy. From the way they've been consistently heading on one flightpath [and low, skimming the rooftops] I think what they're doing is returning to a resting point between feeding on multiple small sites, but where that resting point is I can't discover! [I assume a tree - the thought occurred that they might be using the floodlights at Plainmoor, as Starlings often do, but no] It's really very frustrating...