The 'It Is Now Summer' Post

Why?


SWIFTS!!


Back on Tuesday evening, with 6+ from 1855 'til I had to go to work.
Also right outside my window just now - before heading to a nest site I'd missed last year! - which was just wonderful..  :D


This is the latest date since I've been paying close attention; not surprising, given how late everything else has been this year, I suppose.


So, a ray of light in a rather vexing week. [Bloody herons]


Speaking of things summery, my ickle cactus* has gotten into the mood in a fairly OTT manner;

'Overkill'...What's that???

[[* It lives in a pot on a window sill until it gets too big for the biggest pot that will fit on said sill, when one of its babies gets promoted to a new small pot and on the cycle goes. This is has been going on since the last time the tories had a majority!]]

The Weekend

Interesting birding over the weekend proper, with a Home Tick on Saturday; Yellowhammer!

That evening I toddled over to the Nose, hoping for an evening tern passage, but was disappointed. 4 Gannets in 30 minutes. Drat. Nowt else to report.



The following morning was considerably better there; an hour and a half gave 3 lovely s/pl GNDs, 2 Puffin and 8 Manxies [and this with only the li'l scope, too]. Also a flock of about 8 Sanderling south.

A couple of other birders were watching as well; notably Bailey Junior getting a Pom which I missed, though he missed the Sanderling [that's seawatching]. As the early mistyfog cleared away, things died off, with the only other interest being a steady passage of in/off Swallows - 110 were recorded.


In the afternoon, I went over to the Exe to try for Little Tern again, and despite one being seen I managed to miss out. Again. An Arctic Tern [which headed off east] and a very fancy dark morph Arctic Skua made up a little, but not much. Better were the dolphins! A pod of about 11 Bottlenose moving north. First seen off the seawall, they got to John's Watch as I did - so a speed of 5mph. [I don't hang about]. They were not all in one tight bunch, so it is possible there were as few as 5 [most seen surfacing at same time] but there could have been as many as 19. I think 11 is pretty accurate, though [I got a lot of looking in]. This includes one very young and two slightly older calves, plus an adult with what looked like a pale mark on its dorsal fin.

At least 48 Whimbrel were either on site or moving through, with 4 GC Grebe on the sea and a minimum of 35 Sarnies around and about.




So, DevonYear-wise, I am into September!


Just don't mention herons...

Just A Quick Post, Now Updated

Saw my first Swallow from here yesterday. :)



This morning I was down at the Nose early, and while there were only the usual Chiffs and Blackcaps and Whitethroats on land, passing by to sea were a Puffin and a high-flying GND. Otherwise a bit quiet. [I should point out I didn't do a 'proper' watch with the Big Scope, though]


This afternoon I decided to get around to Dipper for the year, so went up to my favourite Dipper site.
This is not the easiest Dipper site, especially as it tends to get busy and the Dippers get elusive and they can fly upstream far more easily than you can follow the increasingly shiny* path.. ::Deep breath:: But, it is a lovely spot, and when they are behaving, the views can be wonderful.

The Dart valley

The weather was an interesting mix of damp and full on rain. This was one of the reasons I went; more rain = less chance of flushing idi civilians. Evidently, the Goddess of Birding was in one of those moods, as there appeared on the other bank a chap with a brolly and a very irritatingly matching pace to me.. Also the psychic habit of stopping when I did. [[I reckon he didn't even know I was there, btw - just one of those things..]]
So I had the choice of 1; stay put and wait for the birds to come back after he'd gone [and before he came back], 2; try to outpace him - which would mean jogging, thus flushing the birds myself, or 3; keep going and hope he ran out of will to go on before I did...

Adding to the fun was the nature of said path, which I knew would terminate in a lovely collapse up ahead [and that after various scrambly bits]. Fortunately, the brolly bloke did eventually give up. But not before I'd gone a fair way further than I intended to.

Still, silver linings and all that; it seems some one has been very busy and built a new path. Unfortunately, it's about halfway up the slope, but at least it looks like you can get up to Dartmeet without risking unfortunate events traversing slip scars. And the views aren't too bad;

The new path - running along the top of the scree slope

Cream teas thattaway!

Please excuse the burnt out sky - its actually hillfog!



Right then, birds.. almost forgot them. Not long after I took those shots, a dozen Swallows seemed to drop out of the cloud base and fed over the trees for 5 minutes or so. Nice. there were more later as I was leaving, too.


I eventually did see Dippers, including a lovely sustained one of a colour-ringed bird. I only had to sit in the rain for an hour too. [It is amazing how close Dippers will come of you sit quietly in the rain for an hour...] Colour rings were on the tarsi; right leg Purple, left leg Light Blue.
Also 4 pairs of Grey Wagtails [I mentioned I got a way upriver] and a couple of Willow Warblers [but nowt sexier].



Anyways. Earlyish night, and hopefully a Blue**-crowned Treat for the 'morrow?  ::Looks upwards in devout supplication::

EDIT: Or maybe not..
OTHER EDIT: I'm not saying any more about small herons.





Be Seeing You..



[[*Old Non-PC joke about hidden twisted shining paths...]]
[[**As I said when I saw my first NH; "Black-crowned my arse, that's royal blue!"]]

Seawatching, And Not For Nuffin'

Looking back at my records, it seems that I spent most of this [lovely long] BH weekend seawatching at the Nose.

This does not really reflect the truth of the matter, as I only got three proper watches in and spent far more time doing other things, but still. 'Hope's Nose' again and again. I even spent my time at the Traditional Seawatching Spot, as the Steps are not exactly hospitable in an easterly of any flavour above 'moderate breeze'...



The fun proper began on Saturday, when three hours in the late afternoon misty gunk and a SE - SSE best described as brisk produced only 52/12* Gannets and 17/3 Kittiwakes. Not much doing? Well, apart from the 159 Manxies, 2 Balearics, Bonxie [a 2cy or so - yup, nice and close] and 2 Puffins!

Also 45 Razorbill [mostly immature], 16 Fulmar, and 2/7 Whimbrel. Plus hundreds of Guillemots to-ing and fro-ing. [It's just not practical to even try counting Guille passage this time of year in an easterly - as you can't see enough sea from the Traditional Spot to be sure birds aren't heading to or from the Ore Stone. It is of note that they will circle quite widely around the far side, sometimes...]



Sunday evening, despite the onset of a strong SSW with squally showers, gave not much at all. A few Manxies, a nice flock of Sarnies...



Yesterday was supposed to be a calm sunny morning, with a frontal system coming up mid to late afternoon.

Yeah, right.


It started like that, and I had lugged the Big Scope up onto a big hill on Dartmoor, hoping for drifting raptor-y things. In fact, I got 5 Buzzards, 2 Ravens, and a Kestrel before the wind and cloud made it clear it was time to go.

On the plus side, a Cuckoo or two [plus three pairs of birders!] on the way down was some recompense. Also a few couples; of Wheatear, Tripit, and Yellowhammer. Loads of Stonechats and Mipits, a few Skylarks. It was nice. I even came within half a second of a singing Wheatear shot, but a pesky Mipit came charging in on him and.. ouch! [Right where it hurts, too...]


I repaired home and re-equipped, then on to the Nose.


The stiff wind was wandering from SE to E and as the rain bands got heavier and heavier, those lovely little Puffins just kept on coming!

Final score was 18. Biggest group a 4, and they got closer and closer in, too.


Not bad.


Not a lot else, mind; 48/18 Manx, 35 Kittiwake, 16/9 Gannet, 7/1 Fulmar, 2 Whimbrel, 12 Sarnies, 19 Razorbill.



I had considered going back again today, but there are things that have needed doing, and aside from the very odd squall, it's been horribly sunny here despite the wind. Oh well, I look forward to some lucky bugger's report of WISP** or something...






[[*As ever, South passage is listed first]]
[[**Kidding - wrong conditions - but a Barolo's is not inconceivable. Insanely unlikely, yes..]]

Belated Godwiting Post

Betcha can't guess where I was on Saturday afternoon?


The still-horrifically-cheery-after-three-days grin I'm sporting may be a small clue.


As would this awful offering;

Hudsonian Godwit

Tank 2, Meare Heath

[Please note the time stamp [if you can be bothered to look at the exif]. It is [if I recall] 1623. But more on this later.]


I say afternoon, as I was bashing the Patch in the morning and didn't find out the news until I sat down with my lunch. Tsk tsk.

I did find a singing [albeit briefly, due to assault by Common] Lesser Whitethroat at the Nose, by the way, plus some other nice things, so considered myself thoroughly vindicated in proceeding at a brisk yet legal speed up the M5...


The bird was hiding in the near left corner when I got there, but at half three - after a wait enlivened by a lovely Wood Sand plus low-flying Bittern, GWE, and Marsh Harrier, it flew out [oh, what a lovely sight!] and proceeded to first preen and then feed for 45 minutes or so. Then it and a half dozen others suddenly took off and headed high west [Dun-dun-DUN!] for what was probably seconds but felt like minutes, before equally suddenly making a hard bank and spiral into what looked like Noah's. Yes, I had bins on it the whole time.


Cue panda-monium as the crowd mostly headed off after it.

I decided I might as well be off - having had said 45 minutes, after all - when [again suddenly] half a dozen godwits arrived and dropped back amongst the main flock.


Oh look, it's back.

Gone less than 5 minutes. As I said at the time: "It's a sneaky one..."



Here's another shot;

"I won't be seen with the likes of you"

Hudwit scuttles away from Blackwits.

It was still there when I left at 1630, on the left edge of the flock of 215 Blackwits [and 2 Redshank]. I didn't keep it a secret, including telling two groups I passed who thought they'd arrived too late.

Anyway, hair-splitting over rarity behaviour aside...


Oh what a lovely day! It may have rained on me, more than once, but I cared not. I do so love a happy twitch. I do so like it up there. Even better now that the RSPB have built a car park [though not perfect; there are loos - gasp, loos! - on the signs, but they're not built yet! :( ]. As well as 3 GWE, 2 Bittern and male and female M Harriers, a hatful of warblers - including my first zumerzet Wood - and my first Cuckoo of the year to boot.



Here's an earlier Hudwit;

Like a mini Blackwit painted as a Stilt Sand

Ok, ok enough with that...



Sunday saw day-bracketing Nose visits, with the evening trip doing much better. I even got a seawatch in! There were terns and a very confiding Whimbrel [which came in/off onto the rocks below me for a quick rest, before heading on north].


Saturday morning also saw Whimbrel - two this time, sitting about on the grassy end - very odd! Even odder that a couple of dog walkers seemingly turned aside to avoid flushing them.. Will wonders never cease? They did then flush the 4 Wheatear that were around the top of the Quarry, so maybe not an actual Sign Of The Apocalypse.

Awful pics;

Female Wheatear, honest.*

Two Whimbrel, even more honest

[The one on the left is preening, on the right is asleep!]

Sunday's Whimbrel is..

..a hell of a lot closer. 

[Please excuse the gubbins on the phone lens..]



Finally...
Forgot to mention on Friday, but I managed to miss the Little Terns at Dawlish Warren somehow - despite thoroughly scanning with the Big Scope and everything. I suspect SEO-related brevity may be the cause. That and them hiding up the estuary mouth, maybe? I did see at least 3 Common Terns among the Sarnies, so not all bad. Also a way-out Bonxie, the V Scoter, 2 C Scoter [past south!] and a small group of Razorbills.
Perhaps I should have stayed longer, but a [HORRIFIC PUN DELETED FOR THE SAKE OF DECENCY]



For Devon's Year [now lagging a bit further behind Britain..! ] I'm into August!




[[*Sat right by the Ledge Of Doom, btw.]]

Gotcha!

Patience. For birds are unpredictable and tend to fly off.

Persistence. For when your patience runs out.

A really big scope. For when the bladdy thing shows up half a mile away.


The last helps turn a brown blob into.. A bigger brown blob. [Ahem.]

Here you go;

Indeed a very dark SEO

While I was waiting for it to materialise, I had a look about the place. A cloud of mixed hirundines were hard work to check thoroughly for Red-rumped interlopers - needless to say, none were found. A s/pl Barwit was nice, but I couldn't help but look at the assorted manky gulls on the river..

Yuck.

But enough of that. Earlier I'd been to Dawlish Warren for terns and the Nose for.. Well, not as much as I'd hoped when I'd seen how good it looked and so got there before work. There was a nice singing Garden Warbler, and a flyover Yellow Wag, so definitely not wasted time. But only a minor fall of Blackcaps gave anything like numbers. And those were single digits.


Finally.. Yet more thanks and kudos to Bun; without whom there would be no awful excuse for an owl pic.

You Know It's Monday When...

You get in from a merry working day to find that miraculously you have another chance at SEO at the Backwater, burn over, and despite there being many people getting all sorts of pictures, see absolutely nothing.


Before I get going, thanks in great profusion to Bun for gen above and beyond the call of duty - cheers mate!



Right. This owl. Sat in the open all day, viewable from the Farm Gate. Great, right? Easy. [Once you know where to look].

Except birds do tend to move, and it seems that by the time I got past the traffic, it was in fact sitting on a post at Black Hole, getting dive-bombed by a Kestrel.

I saw nothing of this. Not even the Kestrel and I was up there 'til dark.



I did see a cracking male Whinchat - hanging around the area of posts and fencing more or less opposite Colyford Common - and the redhead Goosander. Not the yeartick I was hoping for. [Though still gorgeous].

Oh, and not a single one of the myriad of Red Kites, either. Though to make up for it, there were about 10,000,000 midgies all keen to keep me company...


Birding, eh?




The day before was much better, with things like this;

Pied Fly going old school

[phonescope in x-ray mode]

I like Yarner.