Marvelleous Meds

As we approach July, we are heading towards the peak passage period for Mediterranean Gulls on the Axe.  

Most the big flocks tend to fly past us over sea but we still get our fair share in the valley.  What's best though is how they look, with the adults/near adults often sporting full summer wear, and the super fresh juveniles looking like butter wouldn't melt.  It's still a bit early for the latter (mid July onwards) but at 9am this morning a small flock of Black-headed Gulls on the near shore off Coronation Corner contained these two beauts...

Colour-ringed, awaiting to hear back the details

Its non-blinged mate

The non-ringed bird again to show how brutish it looked - presumably a male

Today's windy weather gave some seawatching promise, and there was some success for those who were able to get out early.  Five Manx Shearwaters and a Whimbrel was all I added to the tally from two short watches during the afternoon, when conditions were less than ideal as the sun decided to put in an appearance.  

With a record June count of Balearic Shearwaters made in south Devon today (425 at Start Point by MD) let's hope it's a precursor for an excellent summer and autumn of seawatching in the English Channel.  Big Shears for me please!

Small Red-eyes and Colour-ringed Med Gull

I never did get round to posting these few dragonfly pics last week, so here you go...

It was great to see Small Red-eyed Damselflies out again at Lower Bruckland Ponds last week, I saw them on four of the ponds - basically where ever there's surface vegetation (whether it's lily pads or algae/weeds)...

Also this lovely Golden-ringed Dragonfly, one of my favourites...

As always Camille Duponcheel has replied in ultra quick time regarding the colour-ringed first-summer Med Gull pictured in my last post, Green RU15.  It was ringed as a pullus last June in a colony at Barbâtre, Polder de Sebastopol, Vendée, FRANCE - which is here:

After fledging it spent autumn and the first half of winter in Cornwall, mostly on the Camel and Hayle Estuary, but it then flew back over the channel and was in Northern France by Feb of this year. It returned to the Hayle in late April and this was the last sighting before I saw it on Black Hole Marsh last week. Many thanks Camille.

Sunshine At Last!

Just as the natural world thinks autumn is upon us, the sun comes out! Lovely it is though - finally the shorts are out!

Looking up the Estuary late last night

I've kept an eye on Black Hole Marsh over the last few days, eagerly waiting for a rare wader to drop in! No luck so far, but there is some wader passage going on.

On Saturday evening there were six Blackwits, three Dunlin, two Greenshank and this Ringed Plover on Black Hole Marsh...

A juv - it should have been a little ringed really!

And this morning, the same counts of Blackwits and Dunlin, one less Greenshank, but two Green Sands and this Whimbrel...

Dropped in all on its tod

Two of the three Dunlin

Before I start boring you with photos of dragonflies, I'll mention the colour-ringed first-winter Med Gull I saw at Black Hole Marsh last week. This one...

E325

It was ringed as a pullus near Terneuzen, Netherlands on 20/6/2011, then spent the winter in France, in the far north west of the county. It was last seen in France at Plonévez-Porzay on 25/1/2012 and there were no more sightings until mine the other day.

Ok, now for a few dragonfly pictures that I've taken today. I just had to take some photos because I have seen so few so far this year...

Southern Hawker

Four-spotted Chaser

Black-tailed Skimmer

And to end this post, a bit of 'natural art', taken this morning at Black Hole Marsh...

Peace And Tranquility Shattered

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...

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!

Crossbilled Blackcap

Had a bit of time to put a net up in the garden this morning. I caught one bird, which was yet another Blackcap!

This one was a quite different from all the others though, because it had a deformed bill, and had been eating something which had made its face go very yellow....

A right weirdo!

It was light compared with my recent Blackcaps (weighing 16.4 grams - the previous five birds coming in at 18.7, 18.7, 23.0, 18.8 and 18.5), but it had a fat score of 25 and a bit of body muscle. If it was summer, and this was a Phyllosc, I would have said the yellow on its face was pollen - but it isn't - so I haven't a clue what it has been feeding on!

Had a couple of looks along the Estuary today, the mid afternoon look revealed 12 adult Med Gulls. One was well on its way to summer plumage - yummy! None of them were today, I think the white colour ringed bird the other day has already moved in.

This bird was white 31A7, and it turns out it was ringed as a third calendar year bird on 24/06/09 at Harlingen Haven, Friesland, Holland. There was an interesting re-sighting of it on 13/05/10 on the Island of Griend (also Holland), where it was seen eating a Black-headed Gull egg! Since then it has been seen only once before I spied it, this was on 20/06/11 at The Wetland Centre for Wales, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.