Bonaparte's Gull x2

I said it's been an influx year but I wasn't expecting this!

Following the Axe's first Bonaparte's Gull on 30th April 2007, it took 6,903 days until we had our second.  And the amount of days it took from then to get our third?  One.

I had a quick look around early afternoon today, and my first scan through some gulls on the Estuary from Axmouth revealed the continued presence of the first-winter Bonaparte's Gull, first found yesterday and which I briefly blogged about here.  This was the first sighting of it today so I put the news out as quickly as I could...  

The Boneys...or was it?

 

However, less than ten minutes later I was scrambling for my phone again, as continued scanning along the Estuary revealed the presence of a SECOND first-winter Bonaparte's Gull!

Nothing to compare with this one though!  

 

This all happened prior to 2pm, but when I left at 3pm both were still present just north of Coronation Corner, having both moved down river from where I first found them...

The first photo ever taken on the Axe that contains two Bonaparte's Gulls!  I'd say one bird is fairly easy to pick out but the second not so.  Will post the photo again at end of this post highlighting each

 

The closest that either of the birds came for me - this was the bird that is pictured above all on its own

  

They did eventually get very close to each other, it's just one of them was fast asleep...

This could have been an AMAZING shot!

 

Mark Bailey informs me there's one previous occurrence of two Bonaparte's Gulls together in Devon, back in April & May 1992 on the Plym. So we will just have to go for a trio then!  Thanks for the info Mark.

I will close this post with the photo promised above...

Haze most certainly didn't help!

 

Thanks for reading. Oh and and check your local Black-headed Gull flock for pink legs if you haven't already!

 

Bonaparte's Gull

Well it feels long overdue, following the late winter/early spring influx of Bonaparte's Gull into the UK, but finally today one made it to the Axe, found by Ashley Grove mid afternoon.  

I was delighted to learn it was still around when I finished work, and although the light was a bit harsh I had some nice views from Coronation Corner just after 5:30pm...

That grey nape is a cracking Boney's feature - and overall such a delicate bird

Its underwings gleamed white when it fluttered its wings

And lovely pink legs!  Look how neat the black trailing edge to the wing is

I'll have to compare with the recent Fleet bird when I get more time

 

BBRC may have recently removed this species from the 'rare list', but this is only the Axe's second record following a first-summer on 30th April 2007. Almost twenty years ago - blimey!

I have seen a few other bits over the last few days, but don't have time to blog about them now.  You'll just have to check back soon to find out more...

 

 

Redstart and Whinchat

I enjoyed another hour and a half at Axe Cliff this morning, most of it in sunshine although when I first stepped out of the car the thermometer read just 3c!

Not a mega fall (unlike Portland!) and there were plenty of empty bushes, however plugging away gave me my first Redstart of the year (a bright female), six Willow Warbler, six Whitethroats (all looked like local breeders), ten Wheatear and two Dunlin over east.  

Such a delightful hit of spring! The lemon yellow of this fresh Willow Warbler perfectly complementing the colour of the newly emerged leaves.

The Redstart was one of the brightest females I've seen!  

  

It was very happy picking about on the stubble

We are clearly now in the migration time of the more northerly breeding Wheatears, with the ten today looking larger and more pastel-toned that the birds seen here in March/early April...

Beasty!

I also managed to see (very distantly) my first Whinchat of the year on Seaton Marshes, which had been there all day after Phil found it first thing in the morning.  When I saw it late in the afternoon it was with two more Wheatear, at a range of about 400 meters...

Love how despite the fact this entire photo is a blur, the striking head pattern of a spring male Whinchat still looks so vivid!

 

Last thing today, a short wander near Tower Services gave me two more each of Wheatear and Willow Warbler.  

Yesterday (Saturday) was a family day spent off patch, however before we left I saw my first Swift of the year hawking just south of Tower Services over the edge of Seaton.  Always such an exciting sight.

Saturday evening a walk around the back lanes of Axmouth failed to produce much on the bird front, but it was nice to see my first Painted Lady of the year...

Looking a bit tatty

 

I'll finish this post with a Whimbrel shot, seeing as though I've seen a fair few over the last week.  Saying that though, not many of them have been grounded with the vast majority flying straight through...

The only species of wader I have seen in any number so far this spring

Thanks for reading everyone. Looks like we've got a sunny week ahead, although that's not always a good thing for the birding...

 

Seawatching and Night Heron

Well this mornings seawatch couldn't have been much better!  Well technically that's not true, as there are many birds that would have made it better, but it had the core ingredients that I enjoy so much about spring seawatching - variety and skuas!

I will list what I saw first, then talk about the highlights in more detail below.

06:22 - 08:22 from Spot On Kiosk produced (all west unless stated): 10 Pale-bellied Brent Geese (eight & two), 27 Common Scoter (two east), 1 Black-throated Diver (s/pl), 3 Red-throated Diver, 1 diver sp., 1 Great Crested Grebe, 88 Gannet, 3 Fulmar, 76 Manx Shearwater, 9 Oystercatcher (eight & one), 13 Whimbrel (six, four, two and one), 58 Kittiwake, 3 Sandwich Tern (one east), Great Skua (singles) and 68 auk sp. (all the identifiable ones were Razorbills).

Eight of the Pale-bellied Brents

 

This adult Kittiwake was just off the beach, the other 57 were about a mile away!

The Great Skuas were really special. I haven't seen a spring Bonxie here since 12th May 2021 (and only two autumn ones in between) and the first one in particular was a delight as it was in view for six minutes as it powered west, pausing briefly on the sea.  They are just such powerful and menacing birds.  The first bird came through at 07:42, with bird two, which was much more distant and always heading out, through at 07:55.

The Black-throated Diver was probably the rarity of the watch.  I am really bad at distant flying divers that aren't Great Northerns, and although I did think this bird was most likely a Black-throated as it flew west at 07:15, I was happy and fully planning on letting it go as a diver sp.  However it then landed on the sea, and although I only managed a few very brief views of it as it rode the waves, each time it appeared its chequered black and white back almost sparkled. I couldn't actually make out throat colour, but its plain grey head and neck sides were visible.  At 07:35 I picked it up again in flight as it flew off west, and Ian Mc saw it soon after on the sea off Beer.

The final seawatch highlight I want to mention is the Pale-bellied Brents, which I was absolutely thrilled with. Every spring, and almost entirely in April, a wintering population of Pale-bellied Brent Geese in Holland migrate along our part of the coast on their way back to Greenland.  However they can come by on any day at any time, and they never ever stop.  After they pass us, they usually end up resting and feeding on the Exe for at least the remained of that day, then they often flying north up the Exe.  So what this means is that any time Pale-bellied Brents are seen on the Exe in spring, we've missed them.  And this year they have already had several hundred birds (400+)  so I really thought I had missed them all, making these ten, an eight (07:20) and a two (at 08:15) very much appreciated.  Mike B had a flock of c30 later in the day too.

After the seawatch I headed up to Axe Cliff as the wind seemed to drop, however I hadn't got far when news came out of a possible Night Heron on Seaton Marshes.  Ten minutes later I was watching this absolutely stunning adult Night Heron, found by Paul Temple...

Showing well!

Unusually exposed and active for a day-time Night Heron

Can't tell you how chuffed I am with this shot.  Probably the best flight-shot I've ever taken!

It remained for the rest of the day, allowing many to twitch it from across the county.  

And this is where I would like to say this is my third patch Night Heron, however on balance I have too many queries with this birds and strongly suspect it's spent some of its life in a cage, making it either an escapee or an introduced bird.

It's got a missing toe and discoloured area on its left foot/leg, which on its own is entirely feasible for a wild bird.  However, looking at my photos I've also noticed its longest primary feathers have very worn tips (and the other feathers don't) and it has a damaged tip to it's lower mandible. These three points, along with the fact as I mentioned earlier, for a Night Heron it was very showy and unusually exposed/active considering it was mid-morning, unfortunately suggest to me that it's may not be all that wild.  Even if the time of year and weather it appeared in are very typical for a wild Night Heron.  A cracking bird to see nevertheless.

Whilst watching the Night Heron, an Osprey could be seen fishing on the Estuary (possibly our lingering bird?) and a Lesser Redpoll over. 

I spent another half-hour out this evening, but other than a Greenshank on the Estuary, no more to add to the day-list from me. 

That's today done with.  And yesterday won't take long as an hour walking around Axe Cliff just after dawn didn't show much at all.  There's a couple more breeding Common Whitethroats in, as well as plenty of Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs.  The one highlight I did come across I didn't really see (just a glimpse) and that was a Garden Warbler singing in bushes alongside the golf course.  Quite a scarce bird for us in the spring, and this is certainly one of the earliest I have recorded on the patch.  As I couldn't see it let alone photograph it, I recorded a snippet of its song...  

Note the fast pace to the song, lack of any high fluty-tones and the bubbling quality to it.

 

I probably won't have any time out tomorrow, but hope to get out for a couple of hours on Sunday if I can, so check back soon for more Axe patch news! 

 

Spring limps forward

It's not proving a particularly exciting spring so far, but still, it's early days and to be honest is still quite cold (except for last Wednesday!).  I've got high hopes for this weekend though when the weather looks to be settling down and the temperature is forecast to rise, although this may well be false-hope and actual do nothing for numbers and/or variety, as is so often the case in spring on the Axe! 

I have managed some year ticks since my last post, although all are run-of-the mill and fully expected considering it is now mid April...

A birding tram trip on 11th gave me my first couple of Reed Warblers and first Sedge Warbler of the year.  There were also at least four singing Willow Warblers along the track, suggesting there had been some sort of fall, even if it were a small one.  Unfortunately I couldn't pick out the female Redstart that Phil and Clive had seen on Colyford Common earlier in the morning, which would have been a tram-based first for me!

My first Sedge Warbler of 2026

 

Wader passage has been as light as passerine passage so far this spring. My early April Turnstone remains the highlight for me, but I have at least now seen Whimbrel with two on the evening of 14th and nine this morning, which included eight west over Seaton Beach and another on the lower Estuary.  I have also seen two single summer-plumaged Dunlin in the last week, but other than varying Black-tailed Godwit numbers I have nothing more to add here!

Ospreys on the other hand have been performing well for me.  One caught a fish right in front of me yesterday afternoon on the lower Estuary, with presumably the same bird out fishing along the same stretch again this morning off and on for an hour. It was unsuccessful on this occasion though, and I last saw it being chased away to the east towards Axe Cliff by Herring Gulls, which may have been it departing for good?  Time will tell I suppose!

A fine shape - however much you see it!

  

Another nice sighting today was my first Caspian Gull since February (and I have been looking!).  This second calendar-year bird showed nicely on the lower Estuary from 15:45 for just over half an hour... 

My first view - second from right.  Cracking shape with very long and pale bill, very white fronted, lots of grey on  mantle, plain greater coverts and solidly black tertials - the full house really!

Such a striking shape - especially when it stuck its neck out like this!

Those little grey flecks on the rear neck are a really distinctive Casp feature

I am the last person to begrudge a nice Casp but I am longing for a white-winger and have been so hopeful for a spring bird. Spring remains the best time of year to find one (especially an Iceland) on the Axe, so I will keep trying but it is getting late now. 

Hopefully, if my predictions come true, my next update should contain a lot more action...

 

Axe Cliff

A clear and still morning yesterday encouraged me to head to Axe Cliff for the first time this spring.  I wasn't expecting a large fall as the conditions were far too nice, but at this time of year somewhere like here is always worth a look...

 

It was a gorgeous sunrise

I was right, no fall.  But there were some migrants, with the highlight being a somewhat surprising tristis Siberian Chiffchaff. 

It remained stubbornly silent, but it couldn't have been drabber, with the only green on it being its Bonelli's Warbler-like green edging to its primaries. It was amazing to watch it behaving just like any migrant Phyllosc, feeding low along the edge of a hedge line, gradually moving inland with a colybitta Chiffchaff...

Quite a highly cropped photo, but shows colour and tone well

 

Nice dark legs and bill too.  A striking bird that stopped me in my tracks.

 

Unfortunately I managed to completely fluff what could have been an excellent photo.  I hadn't seen it for a minute or so when I suddenly noticed it low down just a few meters in front of me.  By the time I lined my camera up, and took one photo which the auto-focus failed me with, it hopped off...

At least it shows colour and bareparts well... just a bit fuzzy!

  

Something else I have read about spring tristis, I think on Portland Bird Obs blog, is that they are tatty looking things in spring. Quite different from all the other fresh-looking warblers passing through.  This bird certainly had that tardy appearance, as can be seen in the above photos. 

More expected warblers present during my wander were three singing Willow Warblers and my first Whitethroat of the year, which looked to be one of the local breeders as opposed to a passing migrant...

It was singing well in one of the usual spots for this species here

 

Singles of Swallow and Wheatear complete my list of migrants for my 90 minute wander here...

This migrant looked at home on the recently spread muck!

 

More of this please. Although it looks like the temperatures will be dropping off again sadly, which is ashame as I really want to find a Hoopoe!

   

Little Ringed Plover

Well the day after my post in which I ask 'where are all our Little Ringed Plovers?' of course I see a Little Ringed Plover!

Yesterday (Monday) was a really good migrant day. I think the south easterly wind and clearer/sunnier conditions encouraged everything to get moving, with many south coast sites reported a bit more variety amongst a fairly good arrival of migrant birds.

I was in work all day sadly, but a rapid look around during the evening showed the aforementioned Little Ringed Plover, a male distantly on the scrape at Bridge Marsh.

One of the best sites for this species on patch during the spring

I also saw three Wheatear, two Willow Warbler and for the first time this year a three-figure count of Sand Martins (only been 20-30 before).  So, not loads for me, but still a welcome uptick in variety and numbers.