Backward Birding

13 February, 2024

Very Little Very Late

Another weekend, another fatal cocktail of vacillation and apathy strike your brave writer, causing the above title to apply.

I did eventually drag myself around the Patch on Sunday - lugging the Big Scope, no less - but really I could have stayed at home, all the good it did.

In other news,

I'd promised myself no more

Spring flowers, but, well,

Croci*!!

I love a Crocus.

Have some more,

A patch

They come up fast

These are all roadside flowers, springing up in a narrow grassy strip beside a large road 'somewhere on Patch' and so unlikely to last long before getting trodden on [mutter mutter is there no respect etc. etc.], but perhaps their beauty is all the sweeter for its transience?

Right, so, calmer.

Better blogging required;

I did see birds, I even photo'd a few, and while a second trip out - up to the Exe for some reason - on Monday afternoon again saw no yearticks [not even Ringed Plover.?!? This is getting a bit silly now]

I did see some nice birds again and may have had a Little Gull, just too far off [even with Big Scope!] to be sure. You see, there are a vexing number of very small Black-headed Gulls about, so you can't call Little on size. Nope, don't even think about it. I had a Little-sized BHG that very day, in fact.

Right, nice birds, starting with Sunday;

One in the Sun

One in the shade

[ok cloud]

Four aslee-

No, wait, five asleep

At least 10 Purple Sand on the Real Living Coast, with 2 Turnstone [bit of a shift from last time] and here's

Pied Wagtail

[dark rump]

Plus assorted flotsam and plasticsum

Three rather vocal Grey Seals

on Thatcher Rock

More than three hundred Guillemots

on the Ore Stone

[also quite vocal]

Jetscum off Meadfoot

[no grebes, quelle surprise]

No jetscum on the Exe [yet]

Biggest disturbance to

the peace!

Three of the six RB Mergansers present [also two Goldeneye, but they were more camerashy]

Two RBM, two Herr,

and a Greenshank

I mentioned small BHGs. This is the best pic I got, can you see which on I mean? [It's not being helpful, naturally]

In front of that Herring Gull

Another LG-sized gull was with a BHG flock well upstream, so I went after it. Turns out, they were dead opposite Starcross yacht club and so impossible to get a good view from the west bank [you could see the flock, not the gull in question..] Drat. Also, still no Egyptian Geese at any of their usual haunts... Bugger.

And still no owls despite much dusk driving.

Ho hum, we keeps at it, yes we does.

Be Seeing You...

[[* Crocuses my BLEEP... ]]

08 February, 2024

One Out Of Three Gives Three.

No, really it does.

Bear with me.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the best laid plans of mice, men, women, birders, and that guy over there, do go astray.

An interesting work week led to me being too knackered to think straight enough to get going on Friday, and my head stopped me on Saturday, but Sunday saw me awaken filled with a vim and vigour unfamiliar to my poor form recently.

So I headed off to try to pick up That Which Had Been Missed.

As you may have guessed by now, I got three lovely yearticks.

Though not one of them was easy, oh frelling frilly fruitcackes no...

We begin bright and quite early at Slapton,

Torcross

Water levels slightly lower than a month ago..

Stokeley

A lot of combing of Tufties for someone else lurking among them to no avail, though according to another hopeful, the semi-invisible Lesser Scaup had been off Stokeley early morning.

Much to-ing and fro-ing - you need to be thorough, especially with diving duckies quite capable of flying around - before I shifted north a bit;

Outer Ireland Bay

And on the corner between Ireland Bay and the upper end of The Neck, a popular little patch of water.

Male Scaup,

with female Tufted Duck

Gotcha, you varmint!

[In case you were wondering: Male Greater from Lesser Scaup; G is bigger, and also beamier than a Tufty, L is smaller than Tufty {just} and a compact little duck. L has a darker grey back {coarser vermiculation} than G, and L has a point - NOT a tuft! - at the rear crown, whereas G has a sloping rear crown and steeper forehead. Also, Scaup tend to be less likely found in or next to Tufty flocks than Lesser Scaup and prefer deeper water, in my experience.]

I said it was a popular spot,

Closer than usual Goldeneye

Having succeded and having other business to attend to, I didn't head on into Ireland Bay to the viewing platform; where RND and LS were likely lurking. [I know, terrible of me]

Though before I move on, a few more pics from the area;

Eristalis pertinax

Violet

Snowdrops

Over the way, a quick scan of the Kingsbridge ria gave no gebes of any kind, but I wasn't being thorough as I had something else on my mind.

South Huish marsh

It was.. a little windy on the lee shore. But out of the blast [oh Brain, Brain, when will you tell the truth? Force 6 to 7 is not '15mph'....], it wasn't that bad. Not easy either, looking for pipits. When there's cold weather they are very easy, right up close on the warmest wettest bits, but now they can and do range very widely. So it took a lot of work, and patience, and lots of angles, including well up the valley, but eventually I got a couple of looks at the Water Pipit [ok, technically I can't be sure it was only one, but, well...]. My camera is no way shooty enough to get a flyover - which was the only close view I got - so you'll have to settle for this,

"Got any sammiches?"

I was helped by a couple of these,

Buzzard!

Who kept the birds moving about, however futiley, and to the annoyance of perhaps all

Wigeon and Teal

After connecting with my target, I even tried a seawatch; though the wind was right into me and it was not easy finding somewhere I could see the sea and hold my scope at least slightly steady. But I persisted and munched lunch in a half hour of....

3 Herring Gulls and 3 Common Gulls South, and 1 Med Gull north.

Really.

Not even a Gannet, not even an auk.

Look to the left [Bolt Tail]

Now look to the right

[Burgh Island]

Oh well.

Here's

More Snowdrops

More madness ensued as I relocated again. Far to the north, in search of more birds that have eluded me.

Exminster. Take 3

[No comments on the definition of madness]

Water lower here, too. So I got through all the back way, and have to note that this needs advertising,

The view from the blind.

The raspberries, in their infinite wisdom, took away a nice bench along the railway path that I was quite fond of, and have improved the view from the only place you can sit down and actually look at birds. Isn't it brilliant? And if you're a smaller person - say a child - you literally can't see any birds on the ground at all. This blind is also down an unmarked and very muddy path, so unless you're very curious or already know it's there, you're not finding it. The calculation it must have taken to get it so totally wrong is impressive.

But you can look out here!

You see them? They see you.

They no be there.

So it is perhaps not entirely surprising that the closest thing to a non-Canada I found was this

I suspect just seeing that head

sticking up in the distance

is the source of a lot of

'Snow Goose on Exminster'

[am I being cynical?]

While I'm ranting,

Viewing platform being

used as campsite by anglers

Let's get back to birds, shall we?

Avocet

Redshank and Greenshank

But no Spotshank.

Or Ruff 'in with Curlew' [there were 2 Blackwits, though].

More Wigeon

[no Americans]

Closest of three

Marsh Harriers

Another long yomp for nowt new, though a few nice moments [largely involving watching that Avocet].

Bugger.

And too windy for a reasonable chance at owls.

I tried Powderham on my way home, despite dying light, well, because you have to.

No Egyptian Geese at any of their haunts, of course.

But.

Now THAT is a Snow Goose.

And before anybody starts going, I should point out that a) no plastic ring and b) they are feral breeders at a couple of sites in the country. So no different to Canada Goose, Mandarin, Little Owl... *

Don't go near the castle...

And finally,

"Why do they always

go after me..?"

A long day and far too many miles, but that's the madness of yearlisting! And I'd never have seen that gorgeous thing if I hadn't been out.

Be Seeing You...

[[* You cannot have any claim to scientific rigour and apply different standards to different birds. ]]

05 February, 2024

Right Then.

Sunday.

[[That's last Sunday, not this Sunday. I mean, come on, what blog is this? You're not expecting punctuality or anything now, are you???]]

So, yes, last Sunday; after spending an hour watching the birdies, I got myself out and after stuff.

Yarner was both cloudier and windier than I hoped, and it took a fair lot of stomping about to find anything much. I then took a moment or six to employ the Big Scope I'd dragged along to scan the environs while I had a cuppa, before heading West[ish], with Revenge on my mind.

Oh yes, here we go again.

A nice tree at Yarner

Enjoy this.

[I hope you're not expecting any good bird pics, as eeech, you ain't getting' none.]

I do have some nice pics, though. [Just not of birds] [[Ah, what's new?]]

So, another go at that duck.

I remember when the famous RCP was easy. Sitting on Saltram duckie pond, usually. But even when up at Portworthy Dam, she wasn't exactly elusive. RCPs being big things, too, and hard to hide. Or so you'd think.

Not this year.

Lots of looking about said water body and, well,

Sleeping something

I honestly don't know what that is, but there's a male Teal behind it, so it's quite big.

I eventually found the Red-crested Pochard on the north pools. Just. There are two, one by the road, viewable if you are careful about the traffic, and one over the way, viewable with great difficulty. [Or very easily if you feel like trespassing on the Mine's property, which I didn't.] She was of course on the eastern pool, tucked right in to the southern end and only visible legally from one point. Also 12 Canada, 1 L Grebe, and 9 Tufty on that pool.

I was focussing through a line of Willows, and camera? Hah!

I stomped off in a 'Gotcha. It's done. I'm done with you.' kinda way. It was far later in the day than I'd hoped, and I reluctantly scrubbed my intended third stop due to time. But Crownhill Down was just up there. I could use a good walk for more than one reason. There might be a sexy gull up there? [There sure weren't ANY on Portworthy...]

Off we go!

Coobeasties.

[There are some winter thrushes,

you can't see them]

Did I mention the weather? Sideways mizzle. Bugger.

First glimpse..?

But... Gulls!

The view.

[Again, no trespassing here!]

Gulls!

Zoom applied

High counts [there was a slow but constant turnover ongoing];

116 Herring, 57 Common, 22 LBB, 11 GBB, with a 2cy YLG

Also at least 15 alba Wagtails around the shoreline.

Closer to, and much easier to get the camera to focus on;

Velvet Shank

Orange Mosscap

Yellow Brain

Turkeytail

The day after, I hit Broadsands.

The divers are out there.

Yes, beyond the Mussel beds...

Lots of Razorbills and Guillemots scattered across the Bay in ones and twos, but divers?

Up there you have three in a row, all BTD! [Yes, really]

Totals; 3 BTD, 2 RTD, and 9+ GND

Not bad. Though not one grebe or duck could I find. It was a bit choppy and afternoony [work limitations, you know], but you would have thought at least a GCG or two..?

The marsh was very quiet bar a lone [though vocal] Blackcap - I suspect the warmer weather has a lot to do with that - and the only other bird of note was yet another croaking flyover Grey Heron [seems like every visit, these days].

Med Gulls were better behaved;