Note.

I haven't re-iterated this for a while [it may be years..] but I endeavour to maintain a proper level of decorum in this blog, avoiding as best I can such delicate topics as politics and religion, to name but two. This care is most especially taken in regards to sensitive species. 

 

Thus you will often get - with varying levels of humour in the delivery - censorship of locations. Likewise, some things I encounter will not be mentioned at all, or only alluded to*. While I prefer to err on the side of caution, I still believe a record should if possible be put out of what can be seen if you apply Patience, Persistence, and Fieldcraft [and the Goddess of Birding smiles upon you. That really helps].

Of course, I am a mere human and [very] fallible, so - and yes, this at last is the point of this post - if anybody feels I have revealed too much - or indeed could say more [ha ha] - please let me know. My comments are moderated, if you have no other means of contact.

Missives will be treated in the manner they are received * ** and not published regardless of their content.

Ok, serious stuff over, back to the fun.

[[* Yes, this is frustrating, but the Ultimate Rule applies.]]

[[** So, for example, Anonymous people will be ignored.* ]]

Weekend Patchwork Post. Pt1b A Patchtastic Interlude

A few more pieces of news from the Patch in days recent.

 

Well, pictures taken on Patch, should be fairly self-evident.

 

A little gratuitous Violet

 

Yes, garden Drowsnops,

but roadside ones are out too.

 And finally...

 

Not my closest or bestest views, but perhaps my best picture?

Sleeping Beauty

Location witheld for the sadly obvious reasons.

[There's too much of this. State of the world, mutter mutter...]

Be Seeing You...

Weekend Patchwork Post. Pt.1 Here, Not There

Shamelessly trying to hoover up yearticks instead of being productive, I was here and there last weekend.

Yet another reported Black Redstart had the inevitable consequences, a trip or two to the Moor both got more interesting as the days ended, and I went somewhere I'd walked past once, many years ago!

 

 

 

Let us begin on Patch with this and that;

 

 

It was Three For Three on Saturday, as the Teacher's Blackstart proved completely invisible to me, and I got rained on. Deja-frickin'-vu. A noisy Firecrest in the usual place was at least some consolation.

 

But vengeance is a dish best served with persistence, so I was back brightish the next morning, and while a long look again gave nowt but a nice Rockit, I tried again after finding nothing else on site and an arsonist on the beach may well have helped push into view this little bundle of joy*;

 

Insert dodgy tail joke here

Female Blackstart

Note absence of any hint of black about the face; which would indicate an immature male.

Having added Grey Wagtail to my Actually In The Garden list, Sunday morning saw me almost run it/one over in the car park! Definitely hanging around, then :)

Scenery

Add time

Zoom in

Grey Seals. They're suddenly back again.

The local sea's been pretty quiet, as others have noted, most likely due to inclement weather [for a given definition of 'inclement'!]. Storms = divers. This is known.

I happened to be passing Blackball on Monday afternoon as dusk grew, so gave the roost a look. 42 GC Grebes [four rafts coalescing to two] and a RTD were visible, nothing particularly close, with the wind NW gusting hard W [?!?]. So not exactly ideal for numbers or observation, really. Gulls didn't start dropping in close until it was getting properly dusky and I didn't have time to linger, so no counts of them.

It has been largely 'looking but not finding', with the Teacher doing the scoring at the Nose ['it's just luck' he mutters...] - he had 2 Firecrests in view the same day he found the Blackstart [which incidentally would be his 4th of the winter, dearie me] - but that's birding..

Elsewhere, a different story, as will be told.

Be Seeing You...

[[* Yes, that's a very long sentence. No, I don't care. ]]

Why We Bird

Why do seemingly rational people go swanning off to cold dank bits of winter countryside - risking life, limb, and laundry bill - in the name of birding?

For this.

Sunday, 'somewhere in Devon', and while normal sane most people were tucked up in their homes with warm drinks, a couple of birders were out in the cold, windy wilds* in the company of;

 

Spirit Of The Moor

Oh.

Hellz.

Yeah.

:D

Hen Harrier on a wall!

Chilled, precipitated-on, out well after dark [!]... Ecstatic!

Be Seeing You...

[[* For reasons that should sadly be obvious, no specifics... ]]

A Little Moor

After all the nonsense chasing things about the Exe on the previous two days, I spent some of Sunday messing about up on t'Moor.

I didn't walk an enormous distance, and I didn't see what I was hoping for [say a nice Woodcock flushed by somebody else?], but it was nice to be up there, despite the hordes of 10Ts all over the place...

Indeed, it was quite quiet, birdwise, with only one raptor and one wader [a Snipe, flushed by your truly], 3 Skylark and a mighty 5 Mallard on Venford Reservoir*. Yes, Venford, for it was the Holne Moor area I was ambling about, and I sat for a good 90 minutes overlooking the back of the Venford compound, from whence Woodcock have been known to fly, when loose dogs go gallumphing about. And there were very loose dogs around [of course....], but no Woodies. Drat. [They may well disagree on that point, of course]

Venford's backside

But you deserve a bird, and one did pose quite well for me;

"Keep down, he's got the camera out!"

Mistle on a wire. :)

Yes, this post is this short.

Be Seeing You...

[[* There were other birds.]]

Exebashing

I went into the weekend with yearticks and vengeance on my mind. Appropriately, it was rather nippy.

The Exe area caught the focus of my attention, from Dart's Farm [ok, technically the Clyst, I suppose] arcing down to Powderham. Having given it a good go at the start of the month [with rather mixed results], I needed to go back and get everything I'd missed on my wild swan and goose chases....

Hmm, where to begin?

Spotshank, third bite.

Not bad? Yeah, not bad viewing at all. :D

This off the Goatwalk, after v.2 on Bowling Green and v.1 from Turf!

[When they show, they show...]

 

ZzzzzzZZZzzzzz

Not only Spotshank showing nicely,

Avocet, Turf

Not a yeartick, but so wonderful to see so close.

Unlike,

Flushing Machine

Marsh Harrier

I had had a few birds in particular on my mind, escapees from the first day's attempts.

Many were... Recalcitrant.

The Great White Egret which has been lurking about the area avoided me totally, and the Ruff proved quite ridiculously hard to spot, with a vigil from the Middle gate finally getting it on the second day - in flight! - while the even more elusive Merlin proved just that.

The Pink-footed and White-fronted Geese, and even the Glossy Isbis [which I scoped close to the railway path from the towpath; on the other side of Exminster!], all already yearticked, all showed to me, though. 

As to those bleeping Egyptian Geese, which had caused me such grief on the 1st.... Well, they were perhaps even naughtier. Eventually I used the whole 'double back twice' trick to catch a couple out, right off way way at the back of Powderham Castle's grounds. Vengeance!

So way way back they were, that even I won't inflict blobs on you. Aren't I considerate? 

Instead, some other sights;

Not the big white bird I was looking for...

Brian's grandson was into Sepultura

[yes, this was the most interesting thing at Dart's..]

 

Much prettier than a Gyppo

It was good to see the odd familiar face around and abouts, too. Most notably cooing over the Spotshank off the Goatwalk.

After that, we have one day to catch up on. In a radical shift, I decided to stop chasing yearticks in particular and put some time in up on t'Moor [where, of course, assorted birds do lurk...]

Until then,

Be Seeing You...

TreeFinch III. I Happened To Be In The Area...

Having things to do in the vicinity, I happened to wander by a location that must alas remain nameless, where I found an awful lot of finches with white bits on.

 

Super Bright Brambling!

 

Thought that wasn't doing too badly, then...

Not quite as camouflaged

as you think you are...

Wow! Right? I was on one side of a lane, this little beauty the other. Couldn't believe it.

At least 25 Brambling with a flock of well over three times as many Chaffinch, down into a brassica field and up into surrounding trees in glorious habitat.

How many can you see?

A few closer-to.

I couldn't stay long, but I will be back, oh yes. Lovely area.

Also of note, was this;

Daffydowndilly!

Not in a garden, either.

Be Seeing You...