Caspian Gull and Sand Martins

I feel like they were a week or two overdue, but good to finally see Sand Martins today, with at least six over Bridge Marsh this morning.  There were two still present mid afternoon.  

A look along the Estuary at about 2:15pm revealed a sight I have been hoping to come across for a while now, a lovely first-winter Caspian Gull.  It was with a flock of about 80 large gulls just north of Tower Hide.  Unfortunately I wasn't in Tower Hide but on the Axmouth side of the river, so views remained distant, but that didn't make it look any less striking!  A very pale fronted, long-legged, narrow-billed, tall, lanky and lean beast...

Despite the distance a nice comparison with a 1w Great Black-backed Gull in the water swimming right, and in front of it a 1w Herring Gull, the 1w Caspian Gull next to the right and then another 1w Herring Gull. Such a different looking bird to the Herrings as you can see!

 

This photo shows bill length and shape well, and that is mostly pale especially at base.  It really was a big but lean bird - classy!

 

Just looked ridiculous side-on!  Lovely dark tertials with pale tips and plain greater coverts.  Neck shawl obvious in this shot too.

Gull x Giraffe?

 

This afternoon I was actually hoping for a Blue-headed Wagtail or Hoopoe, what with the current influx west of us, but could never be disappointed coming away with a cracking Casp like this. The Axe's first of 2025 as well, right on cue when you look at previous spring records.

 

Wheatears and Orange Egrets

Delighted to see my first Wheatears of 2025 today, with three (two males and a female) at the very north end of Sheep's Marsh this afternoon.  They remained distant for me, but that didn't hamper my enjoyment of them...

Seeing that shape again gave me instant happiness

Managed to get the second male in shot - just!

 

Although the wind was as cold today as it has been for the last week - which is probably why the early spring migrants have been few and far between - today it seemed to be coming more from the east than north.  Presumably it was this slight change that has encouraged a noticeable pulse of migration into the UK today.

The only other sighting of local interest I have to post about is that the wintering flock of Cattle Egret clearly felt lazy on Saturday morning, as nine were sat alongside the Estuary at 8am.  Thanks to their laid back attitude I was able to see that a couple of them were well on their way to summer plumage...

Two of the nine, one orange one not-so

Thanks so much for reading. Do check back soon, hopefully for more migration updates!   

LRP and Whacky Wildfowl

I have missed another two Wheatears over the last few days, however early this afternoon I finally managed to connect with my first proper spring migrant of the year. Just after 1pm I was delighted to see a pristine male Little Ringed Plover on the main scrape at Bridge Marsh...

Distant views from the road, but still clearly a cracker

A slightly better shot of it. Clearly been a nice little arrival of these into the UK today.

 

Also on Bridge Marsh, having first been found yesterday by Mike B, were three Egyptian Geese.  They were as distant as the LRP, however as they are much bigger and uglier there are a few more pixels of them...

Reminded me of my first ones on the Axe, which we are about two weeks off being 19 years ago!  These were also a three, I watched them fly in on 29th March 2006 and land on Bridge Marsh.

 

Anyway, I thought Egyptian Geese was as whacky as it was going to get today. However as I was watching these I got a text from Phil to say there were two Mandarin on the sea off Spot On!

Note the two dots bottom right!

 

Pelagic Mandarins (in dreadful light conditions!)

As crazy as these were they also reminded me of a former March sighting.  Tim Wright found three Mandarin on the sea off the beach on 4th March 2019, which I twitched and posted about HERE.  It can't be a condidence surely, is March the time of year to see Mandarins at sea!? Any other patch birders out there with records to support this?  It would make sense that they are moving to breeding sites around about now I presume.

A small flock of Mandarin flying past on a seawatch would be even more bizarre looking. One for next March maybe? 

Wanting Wheatears

I'm yet to see my first Sub-Saharan migrant of the spring, and have missed the first couple of Wheatears of the year. 

Kev had the first one of 2025 on Beer Head on 6th, with another just north of Seaton Marshes on 8th.  I don't think anyone has seen a Sand Martin yet, however no doubt some have passed through as they're pretty widespread now.  A Little Ringed Plover or two is surely only a matter of days away.  Looking at the forecast I wouldn't at all be surprised if we see a bit of reverse migration this coming week, with a cold weather front sweeping in from the north from tomorrow.  This can sometimes be fairly devastating for these early migrants but hopefully it won't last too long.

A cool migrant I did come across, whilst peeing the dog in the drizzle at 10:30pm a couple of nights ago, was an Oystercatcher calling from the darkness above.  It seemed to be flying around a bit too so presume the mizzle was disorientating it.  A nice garden tick.

Following the previous weeks five Red Kites, I had one flew low north east over Seaton on Friday.  Managed a couple of photos before it dropped below the rooftops...

Love that shape

Gulls in hot pursuit!

 

Am stumbling upon more and more singing Chiffchaffs now which are always nice. And am seeing Black Redstarts a bit more frequently too, but it is hard to know whether they are wintering birds or new spring migrants.

Check back soon, we are nearly there!!   

Blue Skies, Red Kites, Insects and Sparrows!

Well the weather has taken a turn for the better.  Lots of lovely unbroken sunshine over the last week, and although it might still be cold at times, the warmth from the sun is very much appreciated.  And not just by me but by the natural world too.

Birds song has increased in volume and variety in the last few weeks, several species are carrying nesting material around and our female Blackbirds have suddenly disappeared. Our heather has been absolutely rammed with bees during the warmest hours of the day, and on the butterfly front I have seen three Red Admiral and most unexpectedly, a Small White!  I've never even seen a March Small White before, so one on 28th February in our front garden was noteworthy...

Orange-tip and Green-veined usually come before Small White!

 

On the bird front I will start in the garden and the male Blackcap is still here, although presumably not for much longer.  House Sparrows have done the right thing and since my last excitable post am seeing up to ten in the garden regularly, which I am absolutely chuffed about! 

Same bird as it has a grey fleck above and behind its left eye

They seem happy with the available bush cover

In the river valley, Lapwing and Wigeon numbers have plummeted, although I did count my winter high of Curlew in the last week of February, with 74 on Bridge Marsh.  Gull numbers have also dropped since the turn in the weather, but on the final day of the worst weather (24th) this Kittiwake was taking shelter on the lower Estuary...

Riding the waves of the Axe

 

Although Red Kites have completely changed in status here, winter records remain scarce.  So during a sky scanning vigil from my garden on 28th, I was really surprised to pick up a single spiral of five Red Kites over Stedcombe Vale, which is about two miles to the east.  As I was sending a message out I lost four of them, and could only see a single bird flying north up the river valley. However about ten minute's later the four were right over the garden, flying west low and slow. 

I didn't have my camera to hand, however Tim C wasn't too far away and soon watched them drift over his garden.  I did point my phone camera at one of them but managed nothing better than this...

Exciting to see this mini flock clearly on the move - just as they do later in the spring during spells of sunny weather

 

I have not seen any Wheatears or Sand Martins yet, although a singing Chiffchaff on 3rd was not in a place I would have expected a wintering bird to be, so likely a migrant.   

As always, thanks for reading!

Big News!

Well it won't be big news for anyone else but it is for me!

In our old house, although our front garden was not really a garden at all, just a small bit of concrete and shingle between the pavement and the front door, it contained my most successful wildlife-friendly project of the house.  Back in 2013 I planted some roots of a Privet hedge which were dug up from a garden in Exeter.   

Our old front garden in 2012...

White door

 

And again in about 2022, the same white door!.  It got even bushier than this, far exceeding the darker neighbours hedge in height by the time we moved out...

So happy with it!

 

This hedge gave the garden a new lease of life, and after hanging a fat ball feeder near it, it soon became a focal point for the local House Sparrows.  We would get so much enjoyment watching up to twenty at a time from our sofa, and grew really fond of them.  There were even a couple that would tap their beaks on the front window when the feeder became empty...honestly! 

So, now we are in our lovely new house, which as I have already blogged about has a lovely garden. Lots of green, lots of shrubs and bushes, and as a result a much more varied list of visiting bird species - completely different to our old place.  However one species that I have really been missing is House Sparrow.

Frustratingly, from our back garden I can see to the next street behind, where a small colony of House Sparrows seem very content and are pretty much always audible from the garden.  My goal from day one has been to tempt them 30 meters south west to our back garden, but despite a mass of fat balls they have proved reluctant to move.  

Well that was until I relocated one of my feeders so it would be visible to the Sparrows from their current favoured spot, and on Saturday just gone...

Well hello there, what kept you so long!?

 

So that was two male House Sparrows visiting, and Jess has seen two males and female briefly drop in on another day.  Neither times have they stayed long, but both times they've used the feeder and on the second visit one of the males dived into one of our bushes for cover.  So am now confident it is only a matter of time until we feature on their routine feeding circuit. 

So thrilled!

 

Mighty Meds

Well my plea for more gulls in the last post has been answered as it's been a nice week of increased gull numbers on the Axe, as expected for the time of year.  

I have not had anything unusual as of yet, however that's not really mattered as it's been the numbers that have been making me happy.  Friday's stormy weather produced the most, with an particularly exciting hour or so late afternoon watching large flocks of mostly Common Gulls heading down the valley to roost, although gull passage was evident in the valley throughout the day.

At my first stop of the day, the make-up of the large gull flock resting by the main scrape on Bridge Marsh immediately informed me passage was under way.  Only in the months of Feb-Apr would a large gull flock on the Axe be made up of 70% adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, as this one was...

In the winter, Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the Axe are actually surprisingly few and far between

And as predictable as the late winter/early spring Lesser Black-backed passage at this time of year is the Med Gulls.  I had a minimum of 19 on Friday, 16 of these in the hour pre-dusk.  Mostly adults showing a variety of hoods with just one first-winter and two second-summers.  It has been a particularly poor winter for Med Gulls on the Axe (seems to be the norm now) which made these even more enjoyable...

What a trio of beauties, with three Common Gull in foreground

A not-so immaculate trio, but still looking awesome in the rough estuary at high tide

 

The most dapper of them all, alongside a full summer Black-headed Gull

Same bird looking equally impressive on the water.  Ten points if you can spot the other Med Gull in shot (just!)

And finally, Mr Dapper in flight

 

My final totals for Friday were 19+ Meds, 45+ Lesser Black-backs and 1,700+ Common Gulls.  However it wasn't just Friday that Med Gulls and Lesser Black-backs were obvious, I had seven Med Gulls on the Estuary on Monday with birds present every day, along with daily Lesser-Black backs.

Gulls are pretty much all I have to talk about in this post to be honest, except for a little, well Great surprise which popped up on the Estuary on Friday whilst I was of course watching gulls.. 

A summer plumaged Great Crested Grebe

Great Crested Grebes are usually regular winter visitors here, with birds on the sea often towards Seaton Hole.  Double-figure counts were not uncommon at all, except in recent years.  Like everything else numbers have dropped off a cliff with just low single figures wintering with us in last few years, but this year it has been even worse.  I saw one Great Crested Grebe in the bay several times at the end of 2024, but this bird on the Estuary yesterday was my first of the year as I haven't seen a single one in the bay in almost two months.  Depressing really.

Oh well, at least I have gulls...