With a new moon last night, and a morning high tide, I thought a wander around the marshes this morning would be a good idea with wading birds on the forefront of my mind. Well, someones got to find the Axe's first Marsh Sandpiper :-)
One of the pros of going down to Black Hole Marsh/Colyford Common early is that you are often alone, and when I arrived the car park was empty. So as you can image, my wander around was nice and peaceful. Well it was until this happened...
One of the pros of going down to Black Hole Marsh/Colyford Common early is that you are often alone, and when I arrived the car park was empty. So as you can image, my wander around was nice and peaceful. Well it was until this happened...
Note the shape below the flying Curlews!
It was an adult Osprey, and so great to see too, though I guess it could well be a failed breeder - so not so great for the Osprey! I was fortunate to watch it for about ten minutes hunting over the upper Estuary until about 08:55 when it caught a fish (albeit a small one!) and flew north towards Musbury/Whitford. I'm sure it will be back, if it hasn't already returned for more food.
Sorry for the shoddy photos - still you can see what it is!
The wader totals were actually very disappointing, no Dunlin at all, and only eight Common Sands, two Green Sands, three Blackwits and a Whimbrel...
The Blackwits
A Water Rail was very vocal on Colyford Marsh somewhere (they can't have had any breeding success this year with all the floods), and the gulls offered some interest. Amongst the 280+ Black-headed Gulls on Black Hole Marsh were three Med Gulls. This adult...
Well on it's way to winter plumage
And two first-summers, including this colour-ringed bird...
'E325' - I have emailed off the details
So although poor for what I was hoping, I still had a very enjoyable few hours out. Especially when considering the date!
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