Stand Aside March, Hello April!

A raw north east wind encouraged me to start the day at Seaton Beach, there had been a few records of seafaring Garganey along the south coast the previous day so I was hoping to cash in.  It wasn't to be but three much larger ducks ensured it was well worthwhile.

I was just a few minutes in (07:10) when I first picked up three hefty ducks skirting the hazy horizon way off to the west, flying east.  Well they never really came closer just became less hazy as they passed straight out, and two of the dots were easily identifiable thanks to the super distinctive plumage of drake Eiders!  Result.  And seeing as the all dark duck between the two white knights was identical in size, shape and flight pattern - well that will be a female! Nice.

Not a common bird at all here, well scarce bordering on rare in fact, although there does seem to be a few more around the south west coast this spring so there's every chance we may see some more.  Seeing as they are a bit of a patch rare, my desire to obtain some sort of evidence became overwhelming as they powered through east. I stuck my phone on the end of my scope and pressed record. I use the word 'evidence' in the loosest possible sense...

The actual video is a bit better, as you can see they are indeed ducks and not Gannets!

Portland saw a nice bit of Eider passage this morning, three different flocks in fact.  And thanks to Keith Pritchard I was able to glean that a flock of three, compromising two drakes and a female, flew east past the Bill at 08:19.   Well if you compare Keith's tweeted photo below of the trio, with my shot above, well clearly they are the same individuals, the resemblance is uncanny...

Keith's camera time is set to GMT in case anyone is confused

Joking aside, Eiders are scarce enough down here that I'm happy to bet on the fact both sightings do indeed relate to the same flock. Seabird tracking is great fun, it's always a delight to hear when birds have been clocked from other points along the coast.  

Although Keith is clearly a far more competent photographer than I am, comparing the above two photos of the same flock of birds perfectly highlights the challenges of sea watching off here (a bay, deep in the bowels of a massive bay) vs sea watching at somewhere like Portland!  The mind boggles at just how many rarities and scarcities we miss/overlook because they pass us at 'beyond-identifiable range'. Frustrating.  

The rest of the sea watch was a bit of an anti-climax really, although a trickle of Sand Martins and Swallows flying north east, and a group of three Sandwich Terns through east were just enough to keep me awake.

Then followed a flying visit around the river valley which was actually fairly productive.  The cold north easterly was clearly grounding new arrivals making for some pretty exciting birding. Just how I like it :-)

Seaton Marshes housed a couple of Willow Warblers, too busy feeding to sing, and too busy feeding for my focus to latch on to...

That's the wrong willow!

Black Hole Marsh showed two Little Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin, which also didn't want to be photographed as after one click of the shutter, they took off...

They came back later 

Bridge Marsh showed a Wheatear, and among c90 Sand Martins my first four House Martins of the year.  And then came my highlight of the morning, yes even more of a highlight that the Eiders...

I noticed the gulls take flight right down the far end of the Estuary (I was still at Bridge Marsh), then up went the gulls at the top of the Estuary, and shortly after out of the mass of wings emerged a stunning adult male Marsh Harrier!  Marsh Harriers are now annual here and pleasingly appear to be on the up, in fact last winter we had our first ever overwintering bird, present from autumn 2020 through to mid January.  Most records though relate to 'cream-crowns' with adult males remaining few and far between. I think this was only the third full male I've ever seen here. It was stunning, and so so sleek.  It didn't hang around sadly, and within minutes gained height with Crows in hot pursuit before leaving high to the north east.

In line with all other photos in this post (except for Keith's) I only managed a really ropey record shot...

(it's the upper bird!)

Not at all bad for a pre-breakfast foray!