Autumn Vis Mig is GO!

Well since my last post the weather has been a right mixed bag.  Lots of wind and rain over the weekend, some more heavy showers during the first half of the week, with the odd clear spell, and then the last couple of days have been a bit calmer.  This morning felt like proper autumn morning, being the first morning I got cold hands! Time to find the gloves!

During the clearer mornings of the last seven days, amongst the Meadow Pipits and Linnets passing over there's been several Skylarks and Siskins for the first time this autumn, but on the other end of the spectrum there's still some Swallows and House Martins going over too.   This morning, Axe Cliff was calling me with the clear skies and light (but cold!) northerly wind.  I didn't have long so didn't do a proper vismig count, but it was enjoyable nevertheless...

Looking west towards Beer Head

 

It was great to see Wood Pigeons on the move, with several 100+ flocks totalling in excess of 1,800 birds flying west.  A few flocks of Jackdaws came through too, love how they often call to each other as they fly through.  Meadow Pipits, alba Wagtails and Linnets were the most common passerines as expected, but several Siskins, Skylarks and a few Chaffinches also went through - I expect number of these three species to increase as the month progresses.   

The soft mournful call of Golden Plover drew my attention to a flock of five that were flying high south.  Pleasingly they circled round and dropped like a stone onto one of the neighbouring fields...

Pity one of them wasn't a bit smaller and greyer!

 

A closer view of three of them

 

When I was leaving, a sixth lone Golden Plover flew over my head calling almost frantically, and a few moments late the five came up from where I'd left them, made a flock of six and flew off east.    Chiffchaffs were present in good numbers, well amazing numbers for Axe Cliff actually (which is never great for bush-based migrants).  There were a few dotted around in the hedges, but in the Undercliff a flock of Long-tailed Tits moved through and were trailed but at least twenty Chiffchaffs!  Quite how none of them had a pair of wing-bars I don't know, so my hunt for a wing-barred phyllosc continues.

Down on the Estuary, Wigeon and Lapwing numbers are slowly increasing, Snipe numbers have shot up and there were 270 Teal together on Black Hole Marsh last Saturday. The two Ruff are still with us as are a couple of Greenshank and Common Sandpipers and at least one Green Sandpiper.  Cattle Egrets have been present almost daily around Seaton Marshes, with at least five present on Monday.

During the stormy days I gave the sea as much attention as I could but returned with very little.  The best was a tern that flew west past the beach on Tuesday morning at about 08:30, and then out south west towards Beer Head.  My immediate feeling was Arctic due to its bouncy and erratic flight and its really dark grey underparts (yes it was an adult bird, which I thought was unusual for this late in the autumn), so I messaged the news out.  However twenty minutes I reevaluated what I'd seen and decided I hadn't actually seen enough of the plumage to claim Arctic, coupled with the fact the wind strength would have probably made even a Caspian Tern (which is huge in comparison) look bouncy and wobbly in flight! So I relegated it back down to a commic tern (just very likely an Arctic). 

Bird of the week for me was a cracking little Firecrest, feeding and calling in a tamarisk bush along the seafront just after 8am on Wednesday morning.  I watched it for a few minutes before it flew west along the cliff-edge, making it feel very much like a fresh-in migrant.   I can honestly say that however common Firecrest get, seeing one will always put a smile on my face. 

 

Adult Yellow-legged Gull

This blog post was on course to be missing a main highlight to talk of from the last week, but a check of the Estuary gulls mid afternoon today changed that.

Historically October is the best month of the year for records of 'older than first-calendar year' Yellow-legged Gulls on the Axe.  Previous October storms have produced multiple birds in a day, although saying that haven't seen that many at all in the last five years.  So I was pretty thrilled to pick up a massive adult Yellow-legged Gull north of Coronation Corner at 2:30pm...

Photos makes it appear a shade darker mantled than it actually was, however sheer size and bright yellow legs evident even on this awful pic

Views were more distant than they had to be, which I will explain why...  In the southerly wind, the main flock of resting gulls just north of the picnic site at Coronation Corner were pretty much all head-on.  I really don't like gulling head-on, so moved myself to the small gateway just north of Axmouth where the views were more distant but all gulls were perfectly side-on, just how I like them. This bird proved that tactic worked for me, as I did scan through the flock a couple of times from Coronation Corner and clearly managed to scope right over this brute of a bird!

Although Yellow-legged Gull is my bird of the week, my species of the week has to be Chiffchaff.  There have been migrant Chiffchaffs all over the place here, with 18 on my walk to work yesterday morning a really good total.  Basically any time I've been outside I could hear at least one calling, even in the middle of town.  I have been trying hard to pull a wing-barred (preferably not Yellow-browed) phyllosc out from amongst them, but nothing yet.  Still, the sight and sound of so many of these olive-green fresh young Chiffs has been really lovely, and very much appreciated in an autumn that has not involved much in the way of numbers. 

House Martins and Swallows have also been around in good numbers, despite their fate in the UK as a breeding species, with some decent easterly passage on a couple of days this week.  Meadow Pipits have been around of course, but not in the numbers I'd expect considering the time of year.

Last night I ended a busy day at Black Hole, and it was wonderful...

Looking south from Tower Hide

 

Sadly I wasn't joined by any of the crake species, one of which I was hoping might appear with the four Water Rails feeding on the lagoon edge, but there were plenty of other birds around.  Most of them were gulls, which is fine by me, with the small gulls including two first-winter Meds and seven first-winter Commons.  There were 200+ Teal on the marsh which were fun sifting through, but wader variety disappointing with just three Snipe, two Greenshank and a Green Sand of any real value.  A lone Cattle Egret spent the entire time I was there huddled down on a grassy island...

May not be the rarity it once was but I am always thrilled to see them!

 

Hopefully I will have a few hours out in the morning. With a strongish southerly wind forecasted am not sure where I'll be heading, but hopefully something will be waiting for me wherever I do end up...

 

Wildfowl Influx and Balearics

I didn't have much time this morning, but found myself on Seaton Beach looking over a fairly flat sea with excellent visibility.  I was only there for about ten seconds when two Balearic Shearwaters came into view and flew west, which I wasn't really expecting.  By the time I had to leave half an hour later I had seen 13 fly west, including a group of six.  I enjoyed some really nice views over the smooth sea, although this video-grab doesn't really suggest that...

An award winning shot of three Balearic Shearwaters flying west

Gannet passage was probably best described as a steady trickle, with 62 recorded in the half-hour, along with 30+ auk sp. also west.  

A quick look along the river valley showed one Bar-tailed Godwit still, two Ruff (juvenile male and female on Colyford scrape, male for second day, female for fourth), three Ringed Plover, three Greenshank, three Shoveler and 51 Wigeon.

On Saturday morning I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of wildfowl in the valley, presumably a result of the north east wind that had been dominating the weather that day and for several days previous.  80+ Teal and 33 Wigeon were accompanied by a female Pintail and a single Gadwall on Bridge Marsh and a flock of five Gadwall and two Shoveler on the Estuary.  The five Gadwall relocated to the Borrow Pit on Seaton Marshes where they showed much better, after being flushed by a boat.

Female Pintail

Four of the Gadwall on The Borrow Pit

Two of them in better light

Can't believe we are only a week away from October!  Except for the sea, this will truly be an autumn to forget. Dismal numbers of common migrants, really quite worrying.

 

So long Ospreys!

Well it looks like the Axe is now an Osprey-free zone! Think this is the third day without any sightings or obvious flushes - it was nice whilst it lasted.  Actually its been really quite something, with multiple sightings of multiple Ospreys most days since the end of August, amazing.  Am sure many of the other local birds aren't so sad to see the back of them though, all that endless esentially pointless flushing-up for a  fish-eating bird of prey!  

I've not had much time at all out this last week, but from work it was nice to see this Great White Egret drop in right in front of me on Sheep's Marsh mid-morning yesterday...

Flew off low north soon after, pausing briefly on the Estuary

 

After work yesterday a look around the marshes revealed two Green Sandpiper (been scarce this autumn) and three Greenshank amongst the usual wader species on Black Hole Marsh, and this lovely Whinchat graced Seaton Marshes...

Never get bored of these, this one was near two Stonechat on the usual favoured fence and hedgeline along the southern boundary of Seaton Marshes

 

Grounded autumn migrants are still few and far between here (except Chiffchaffs), but overhead lots of Meadow Pipits are passing through now and there's even more hirundines about.  There have been many hundreds of mostly House Martins feeding over the valley during the afternoon/evenings over the last few days, with some more sustained easterly overhead passage of House Martins and Swallows during the mornings.  It's been good to see such good numbers following dire numbers this spring.  Incidentally the Swallow pair at work have just seen their second brood successfully fledge, and by the end of my work week (Thursday) there were no adults or juveniles to be seen in the vicinity.  Safe travels all!

The only other bird of note this week for me is one that I don't really want to recall.  Whilst relaxing on the beach with Harry on Wednesday evening, I picked up a falcon flying in-off which I first spied at quite a distance.  As it came closer it became clear it was a Hobby, but as it passed over the beach to my west and made its way north over town there was just something a bit 'off' with it.  I couldn't get any plumage on the bird, but the wing tips were slightly more rounded than a Hobby and flight-style not quite right, slightly more relaxed...  I really think I may have let a patch first slip through the net there.  Despite early morning checks in nearby suitable habitat the following morning, and Kev also kindly giving some time at lunchtime there was no further sign :(

Quick Axe Update

Yesterday there was still at least one Osprey on the Axe Estuary, but today I haven't seen any.  Doesn't necessarily mean they have all gone, but we know for sure the bird with missing primaries on its right wing has beause it is now on the Otter Estuary!

The last few days I haven't been out much, but during my walks to work it's been nice hearing and seeing small groups of Meadow Pipits fly over, a sure sign that autumn is progressing.  Same can be said about the multiple calling Chiffchaffs I'm coming across, doubt I'll see many more Willow Warblers now... not that I have seen many this autumn anyway! 

There's still at least three Bar-tailed Godwits and the Great Crested Grebe on the Estuary, with a dark-mantled gull present yesterday, which I think can only be a Lesser Black-backed x Herring Gull hybrid...

Top left

The short pale yellow legs, weak bill, cute head shape and overall size the main reasons why I think it has Lesser Black-backed Gull genes in it...

Spotting a dark mantle in a gull flock always excites me, so this outcome is very disappointing

Looking forward to getting out a bit more over the next few days... hopefully!

Much The Same

There were still at least two Ospreys on the Axe today, I have seen an unringed bird on two occasions and blue 3E6.  The (or one of the) unringed birds did seem to fly out south west over town at 11:10, although knowing how far these birds can roam without actually leaving, I'm just not sure if this means it has gone gone!? 

The Great Crested Grebe was still on the lower Estuary this afternoon, as was the flock of four Bar-tailed Godwits...

Such a difference in bill size between male and female (compare 2nd and 4th bird!), think we have two males and two females

The obvious male with the short bill came quiet close...

Such stunning feather patterns on these fresh juvs

Yesterday morning Axe Cliff was dreadfully quiet for both grounded and fly-over migrants, but the cattle on Bridge Marsh did a great job at attracting cattle-loving birds, with two Cattle Egret and a small flock of Yellow Wagtails present.  The Cattle Egrets flew off north soon after my arrival, I wonder if these were the same two I watched arrive in-off last week?

It's been so exciting reading about the amazing falls that the east coast have seen over the last few days, I just hope at least some of these birds filter down to us at some point...

Autumn Marches On

It's still Osprey central here, with at least three juveniles remaining today including the blue ringed bird. I had lovely views of one fishing at around midday, but even better this evening watched two circling and interacting with each other (how Buzzards often do) over the Axmouth hills from my conservatory. This went on for about five minutes before they headed off purposely south west, absolutely teriffic to see and they look so much at home here...

Distant but still brilliant to watch!

Thanks to Brian we have heard back about the ringed bird that has been on the Axe since at least 27th August.  3E6 was one of two chicks ringed in a nest just south of Loch Lomand on 10/7/24.

I only spent about an hour out today, late morning/early afternoon, but between the frequent showers it felt really good!  Was fully expecting to come across something decent but looks like I just missed out, I came home about an hour before two Black Tern were reported from Colyford Common, later seen passing Budleigh.  

Still, three Whinchat with two Stonechat in the field just south of Black Hole Marsh were very much appreciated, with hundreds of (mostly) House Martins feeding overhead for most the day helping to make the day feel very 'birdy'.  

There wasn't much to see during two quick looks off the beach except for a few fishing Gannets, but on the Estuary it was good to see my first Wigeon of the autumn...

Often get them in the last few days of August but not this year

 

Also on the Estuary were several Ringed Plover, Dunlin, the usual Redshank and Blackwits dotted around plus four Bar-tailed Godwits.  I first saw three of these drop in on Tuesday whilst I was at work, with a fourth one joining the flock the following day.  They're all juveniles and all looking so fresh - almost sparkling!  Also on the Estuary today, for its second day on the lower Estuary (saw it from the office yesterday) a young Great Crested Grebe...

Showing well!

Humbug face!  Don't get them on the Estuary very often at all.

Another decent bird seen from work this week (ignoring the multiple daily Ospreys!) was a Great White Egret fishing in the narrow channel on the west side of the Estuary on Tuesday, just after 10am.  It was seen on Black Hole Marsh about tens minutes later and again the following morning.

Hoping to get out early in the morning, and hoping to see some more passerines as the scarcities seem to be filtering down to the south west now.

Classic Autumn Axe Birding!

Although passerine migrant numbers are still woefully low, there has been plenty to see on the Axe this last few days. I have enjoyed some terrific birding, topped off with an eventful and varied surprise sea watch this morning!  I have so much to tell you about, but will start with the big and obvious, and the reason why the bird hides are currently crammed full of photographers... Ospreys!

The Axe is well known and loved for its lingering autumn Ospreys as they often show well, but this has to go down as one of the best autumns we have had for them.  Over the last week we have had at least three birds on site, often at the same time too!  I have only seen juveniles (including a blue colour-ringed bird we are waiting for details on) but there has been reports of an adult too.

Juvenile Osprey in hover

Aside from the frequent fishing trips they are making on the Estuary, which is always brilliant to see (they are getting so much better at fishing now compared to when they first turned up!), it's not unusual to see one or more perched out on dead trees/fence posts/stumps in the river valley, or in larger trees up above Axmouth.  

They are flying all over the place too! Birders last week watched two fly west over Beer Head, but they both reappeared on the Estuary about twenty minutes later.  Yesterday I had one fly in from west that seemed to completely ignore the Estuary and kept flying east over the hill behind Axmouth, but ten minutes later one fishing at the lower end of the Estuary was presumably the very same bird! 

Osprey eating a fish with Axmouth Church behind

This morning, shortly after watching one catch a fish then fly to a large dead tree on the Axmouth slopes to devour it, whilst at Seaton Marshes another Osprey flew in from the west.  Due to some feather damage on its right wing I thought it was going to be an adult, but no it was another juvenile.  

This one looked like it was going to fish on Borrow Pit but was chased off by Crows and flew a little further north, it then did hover over what can only be described as a small ditch, then weirdly perched on a telegraph wire!  I have seen many Ospreys on telegraph poles, but never wires!  The Magpies weren't happy...  

Such an odd sight!

 

I got a little video of it too, showing the gap in the primaries on the right wing... 

 

I think that is enough about Ospreys (for now!), but I may as well mention the other raptors I have seen on patch lately.  A cream-crowned juv Marsh Harrier showed briefly over Colyford Marsh on 29th, I had an amazing view of a Hobby low over the A3052 on the same day and saw (and heard!) a Peregrine take out a flying Great Spotted Woodpecker right above my head earlier in the week. I have also enjoyed two sightings of Goshawks recently, a pair and a lone adult (probably one of the pair) which afforded great flight views.  

I'll mention Barn Owls in this section of my post, with a local pair fledging three young which can often be seen hunting in the valley at dusk. I also had amazing views of one hunting at Axe Cliff the other morning which made the early start worthwhile...

On the deck views were nice but gave some super close fly pasts too

 

I stumbled across a nice day roosting Tawny Owl the other day too, which is always a treat.  This was at Lower Bruckland Ponds...   

I can see you!

I am probably not even half way through this blog post I am afraid, although it is a delight to see so many birds that warrants a post this long.

Now to waders...

It has been a really poor autumn here for wading birds, with low low and next to no variety.  For several weeks Black Hole Marsh water levels haven't been ideal, however the week before last the plug was pulled and since then has been getting better by the day.  Variety was still not improving though, well until yesterday.  The dropping water levels, increasing wader numbers and easterly winds finally did the trick with single juvenile Little Stint and Curlew Sandpiper among the mass of waders from the Island Hide yesterday...

 

 

 

 

There must have been about twenty each of Dunlin and Ringed Plover, with Snipe and two Greenshank with the big flock of Black-tailed Godwits, Redshank, Lapwing and gulls.  A couple of Water Rails were showing on the edge of the marsh, raising hopes of a Spotted Crake (or rarer!) but nothing yet.

Another area of autumn that has been poor is passerine migration.  Most years by now I've seen flocks of Yellow Wagtails in three figures, but apart from the odd fly over, and a flock of ten with the Bridge Marsh cattle this morning, they have been few and far between.  

 

It's not just wagtail numbers that are low, I haven't seen Whinchat, Redstart or any numbers of warblers or Wheatears yet.  I tried my first Vis Mig session of the autumn at Axe Cliff last Thursday, hoping for a big session, but came away with just 4 Grey Wagtail, 2 Tree Pipit, 1 Yellow Wagtail and the highlight, my first Golden Plover of the autumn.  Grounded migrants were restricted to singles of Wheatear and Reed Bunting. 

Wheatear trying to blend in on Axe Cliff Golf Course

I never did capture the Golden Plover visually on video or camera, but if you want to listen to its call turn the volume up and play the YouTube video below.  There is something that I really love about Golden Plover calls, they make me feel proper 'autumny'...

 

 

And I am still not finished!  Almost there...

This morning I really didn't know where to go, it was overcast and there was a chilly north east wind blowing. I still couldn't make my mind up after leaving the house so found myself on the beach and was absolutely shocked by the amount of birds passing offshore!  Although tradtionally southerlies or south westerlies are our best sea watching winds on the south coast, I have noticed before that anything with east in, even north east, can encourage some really good passage.  I guess it's because birds are flying into the wind so it brings them right up into Seaton Bay, which is of course at the very top of Lyme Bay.  

 

It really was a thoroughly enjoyable and surprising hour, the sea was flat and light excellent although at times the horizon was a a bit murky.  07:25 - 08:25 from Spot On Kiosk on Seaton Beach produced (east unless stated):

1 Common Scoter, 200+ Gannet, 3 Fulmar (1 east, 2 west), 1 Great Northern Diver (west), 15 Balearic Shearwater (3 east, 12 west incuding a very close flock of six), 10 shearwater sp. (v distant west in two flocks, either Manx or Balearic), 2 Cattle Egret (in/off at 08:20, first picked them up miles out!),  65+ Med Gull (at first all flying east at, then for last twenty minutes loads flying west so think they were just lingering and following the food, mostly first-winters), 2 commic Tern, 3 Whimbrel, 9 Ringed Plover (6 in/off, 3 along beach), 1 Dunlin, 1 Sanderling (in/off with the 6 Ringed Plover), 18 small wader sp. (one flock) and 1 Common Sandpiper (right along beach).

Might not seem like much for birders who watch migration hot-spots, or where the sea is always good, but I could not have had more fun!  Masses of birds and surprises throughout the watch.

I bloody love autumn.  

Guess What.... Sea watching off Seaton again!

Well yesterday turned out to be yet another terrific day watching the waves in Seaton Bay!

It was an odd mix of what felt like an underwhelming, under delivering and at times frustrating morning sea watch (so a typical Seaton seawatch!) and then an over achieving evening sea watch which I was absolutely thrilled I took a gamble with.

The hours of darkness before saw a strong south westerly wind blowing for most of the night, which continued throughout Thursday, although the wind turned a bit more to the west as the day went on.  The clouds also cleared, with heavy cloud and a few rain showers during the morning watch but almost uninterrupted blue skies and sunshine for the evening watch.  In between, a wet weather front came through late morning/early afternoon which instigated the change in the weather. 

You can see from my weather summary of the day why I was fully expecting to have a brilliant morning and not so much in the evening.  But this is how my two watches turned out, both from my prime spot of The Spot On Kiosk on Seaton Beach. It was nice to be joined by James Mc for most of the morning watch.

06:10 - 08:10 (west unless stated): 13 Common Scoter (10 east) 300+ Gannets (estimate), 7 Fulmar, 2 large Shearwater sp (ultra distant passing in quick succession at 06:55 just before visibility dropped, we both felt they were probably Greats), 13 Balearic Shearwater, 10 Manx Shearwater, 10 small Shearwater sp., 2 Arctic Skua (d/ph chasing Kitts heading east, then a slender juv west which both had us worried about LTS!) and 19 Kittiwake.

17:30 - 19:30 (west unless stated): 120+ Gannet, 9 Fulmar, 2 Cory's Shearwater (absolutely epic!  They flew west together at 18:55 just after a good flurry of shearwater passage, turning south about half way across the bay. The feeling when the first one came into view with that distinctive wing shape will be etched on my brain for a long time!), 14 Balearic Shearwater (some fairly close), 70+ Manx Shearwater, 1 Arctic Skua (pale sub-adult lingering for half an hour, on sea and chasing gulls), 243 Med Gull (***patch record*** and not expected!  At the start of the watch a feeding flock way to the east seemed to contain lots of Meds, then about half-an hour later they started pilling through west in flocks of up to 60 birds until I finished, although they slowed down for the last thirty minutes. I would estimate the flocks were made up of about 60-65% juvs, most showing a lot of 1st-winter feathering now. An absolutely phenomenal passage), 60+ Black-headed Gull and 45 Kittiwake (many of these came through mixed in with the Med Gulls).

 

One of the closet Kittiwakes passing, a lovely fresh juvenile

 

So in short there were two stand outs from the day, both from the evening watch - two Cory's Shearwater and a mind blowing passage of Med Gulls which was an absolute privilage to witness.  More of this please!

 

Still Watching the Waves

We've had some reasonably good sea watching weather since my last post.  At bit more rain at times would have been good, but the wind on some days has been pretty much spot.  There's some more to come too which I am hopeful about!

I will start with the most recent watch whilst it is still fresh in my mind, this morning.  Conditions were far from ideal, but yesterday ended with heavy rain and a strong south westerly wind so I wanted to chance it incase anything was reorientating or still hanging around.  Desite the lack of wind there was a good amount of cloud cover at the start of the watch, however by the end of it I don't think the conditions could have been worse for this pastime...

Pants!

 

It was so worth the effort though.  1.5 hours from 06:10 gave probably the strongest passage of Gannets that I've seen this year (including plenty of juvs) and an impressive eight Arctic Skuas!  

Full totals (west unless stated):  11 Common Scoter (1 east), 3 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Manx Shearwater, 9 Shearwater sp. (distant), 1 Great Crested Grebe, 450+ Gannet, 3 Fulmar, 8 Arctic Skua (5 west together after chasing Kitts at 06:25, adult pale and dark-phased west at 06:40 and finally a pale immature persistently chasing a Kitt away to the east at 07:30), 35 Kittiwake and 2 Yellow Wagtail (over the beach).

Yesterday, when the rain and real winds were happening, I had time for an evening seawatch from Seaton Hole 17:30 - 18:45.  A nice passage of Balearics and three Arctic Skuas the highlight of this watch, with full totals (west unless stated): 26 Balearic Shearwater, 18 Manx Shearwater, 70+ Shearwater sp. (going both ways further out), 22 Gannet, 1 Fulmar, 3 Arctic Skua (all appeared to be dark-phased, flew in from south, landed briefly then got swept away east with the wind) and 41 Kittiwake.

Back on 14th we had another day of nice blustery southerly winds, building as the day went on.  I missed a patch Cory's Shearwater by about twenty minutes, but a 40 minute sea watch from 13:00 showed 90 Manx and 6 Balearic fly west.  Nice to see so many shearwaters out there, even though they were only small ones for me.  A Sooty few east not long after I left too, so not very well timed at all by me!

Away from the sea I have been lucky enough to see three Ospreys on the Axe in the last ten days, all juveniles and all from my office! One on 12th had several fishing attempts on the lower Estuary and remained for at least the rest of the day and possibly into the following day.  On 18th one came low down the Estuary, then gained height and circled up high above Axe Cliff, presumably then leaving the UK for the summer.   The third was today, and seemed to be as brief as Sunday's as it flew high down the Estuary and looked like it then went straight out to sea.  

Since my last post I have managed my first bit of autumn vis mig too, with a few hours at Axe Cliff on the morning of 17th giving me a Tree Pipit and three Yellow Wags west overhead.  Hardly busy but it's nice to get off the vis mig line for the season!  

Oh and I cannot forget to mention I've had another juv Yellow-legged Gull, a lovely tall and pale bird from a Birdwatching Tram on 11th...

As expected, plenty of first-winter scaps visible

 

And there we have it, you are all caught up!  Hopefully I'll have more skuas to blog about soon. 

More Seawatching

With Cory's Shearwaters reported off Portland on multiple days within the last week, showing they have made it this far up the channel, I have been keen to get down to the sea whenever I've had the chance.

My usual sea view from my favoured sea waching point in Seaton, the Spot On Kiosk

 

An evening sea watch on 2nd August was completely speculative as there wasn't even any wind.  But three Balearic Shearwaters, my first of the year, flew west together at 8pm and made the visit worthwhile. Also 11 Med Gulls west, including nine juveniles.

Yesterday morning (8th) two hours from dawn in more promising conditions gave me a nice little haul, but again no big 'uns.  The shearwaters I did see were two Balearic and one Manx, all west as single birds. 

The main highlight of the watch was a surprise pair of Garganey, including a male (either juv or eclipse adult) which flew west at 06:25.  Another pair of small duck flew west about half an hour later, but neither of these was a male Garganey so they were definitely a different pair and I saw nothing to suggest they weren't Teal.  Also three Common Scoter west.

Another nice highlight was a close dark-phased Arctic Skua which flew slowly west at 06:20.  It came through within the Gannet passage that started up at about 6am, in all I logged 130 fly west including a decent number of juveniles - a promising sign after the bird flu tragedies they've endured in recent years.  Also three Med Gulls west and a half-a-dozen Kittiwake.  A Ringed Plover called a few times but I have no idea which way it was going as it remained invisible.

Finding myself glued to the weather forecasts even more than usual at the moment, longing for some hefty Atlantic storms...

Spring, Summer and Autumn in one post!

Well I did promise I would complete my summer sightings in a blog post, and here it is, with a bit of previously unposted spring action too...

As usual the post breeding passage of wading birds started not long after the northbound passage of wading birds came to an end.  Here were some of the best spring waders I saw this year, only posting now because I didn't blog about them earlier in the year.  It was a shockingly poor spring here, for basically all migrating birds, but especially waders with no big wader days at all.  This lovely Grey Plover on 14th May was probably wader of the spring for me...

Such a smart wader, with a couple of Whimbrel behind

And who doesn't love spring Bar-tailed Godwits.  There were nine on Black Hole Marsh on 24th April, including this group of six...

Such stunning birds - with lots of sleep to catch on clearly!

 

And now to autumn.  Well, 'wading bird autumn' anyway...

No massive rarities as yet but there has been one major highlight for me, with my first (very nearly complete) summer-plumaged Spotted Redshank on the Axe - in well over 20 years of birding here! Thank you Clive for finding it on the Estuary early on the morning of 24th June (never gives up does Clive!). I saw it on Black Hole Marsh once the tide had risen, it did wake up a few times but the only photos I managed were of it asleep...

Absolute beauty.  A rare bird in any plumage here so this was something else!

Otherwise wader-wise during the last month or so, it's been the usual selection of birds including the odd Green Sandpiper, Little Ringed Plover and Whimbrel, with Black-tailed Godwit and Reshank numbers already up to the 50 mark.  I was surprised to see 11 Lapwing too a few days ago, usually only get the odd one until much later on. There has been Sanderling and Ruff recorded as well, but not by me.  Sadly no Avocet breeding success this year, after what was presumably the pair from last year had their eggs predated by a Fox back in the spring  The adults, and a third bird, did hang around for several weeks after, even mated again and looked like they were beginning to settle down on a new island, but this was all for show as nothing came from it.  A realy shame but that's nature.

In the gull department, as expected Mediterranean Gulls have been passing through for about a month now.  My biggest count was 16 on 20th July which included nine juveniles.  Although I havent been looking through the big'uns with the same frequency as in other years, I have still managed two juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls so far...

The first bird on a wet and windy 15th July seemed to be regretting its life choices!

Bird two, already showing some first-winter scaps, taken during a birdwatching tram trip on 28th July.  A lovely 'smooth' and pale bird.

 

I even got my moth trap out a few nights ago for the first time this year, but I will save that for the next post so this one can remain strictly birds-only.  Check back soon...

Unseasonal Skuas

Been glancing at the sea as often as I've been able to over the last couple of weeks.  The weathers not been right for sea watching not by a long way, but the prospect, however slim, of a Red-footed Booby is worth every spare second I have!  Although I must admit, I feel like the opportunity has slipped through the net now...

An immature Red-footed Booby, photographed on Monday 24th June briefly off Portland Bill and then seen and photographed perched on a boat further east off the Purbeck coast the same evening, seemed to then disappear.  Until...

A lady waiting for a bus at Sidmouth sea front at about 5pm on 2nd July took several photos of an odd-looking bird close in off the beach circling with Herring Gulls.  Thankfully she then sent the photos to Paul Bolden's website (www.wildlifeindevon.org.uk) allowing Paul and Mark to raise the alarm, it was the Red-footed Booby! I spent most of the next afternoon/evening looking off here from various different vantage points, checking cliffs, bouys, boats and even the large crane that has been over Seaton for the last 12 or so months!  However no reward that night, and no Booby since but it has to be somewhere...

My unseasonal sea watching hasn't been without highlights though.  As ever, if you put the effort in you will get rewards, even if it's not the main prize you were hoping for.

Best of all was on the evening of 7th July, in pleasant weather with excellent viewing conditions, when I was shocked to pick up a near adult pale-phased Pomarine Skua powering west.  I watched it for almost five minutes as it flew through the bay and then around Beer Head.  A treat in any year, but particularly so after such a poor spring for skuas and sea watching in general here.  No spoons but that didn't take away from its pure awesomeness.

A still taken from a phone-scoped video. Looks miles out but wasn't that bad a view at all by Seaton standards!

Have also had two Arctic Skuas, both pale-phased adults or very near-adults, these flew high east together at 20:40 on the evening of 13th.  The sea was completely flat with a light northerly wind and there wasn't much else moving at all (as you'd expect in those conditions!).  Like the Pom, these were my first of the year.

To have these skuas around (plus a Long-tailed Skua in the Exe last week) in such still conditions means there must be plenty of food around. Promising for the next few months ahead.

Med Gulls are to be expected at this time of year moving offshore, and I have seen a small number moving west including my first juvenile through on the 13th.    Two Teal bombing around on 3rd were less expected, as have been the few small flocks of Common Scoter either on the sea or flying west.  Not seen any Balearic Shearwaters here yet, but a few Manxies have been passing by. 

Cetaceans have been OK too, with several sightings of Common Dolphins (although always small numbers) and on 13th three Harbour Porpoise showing well, including a calf.

A typical Porpoise view!

Check back soon for some more updates from the patch, including news of two of the best looking wading birds around...

Patch Tick - Aurora Borealis!

I have spent many hours looking up at the night sky hoping, and sometimes even expecting to see the Northern Lights.  Over the past couple of years the prospect of seeing Aurora on the south coast of England has increased, I can recall at least three nights being out knowing Aurora is a real possibility.

On two of those nights I could see nothing.  On the third night I could again see nothing, but my phone camera revealed a light green hue in the sky.  I felt cheated.  And reading some more into it I realised this is what most/all 'sub-optimal' Aurora experiences are like... not an experience at all! Such a disappointment.

Still for some reason that didn't put me off going out on the evening of Friday 10th May, as this was reported to be one of the most severe solar storms possible...

I went out at about 10:40pm, and from my vantage point west of Colyton, just above the clouds that sat low in the sky to the north, I could see a faint green hue.  It was much more extensive through my phone camera, but at least I could actually see some colour with my naked eye this time!  

Distant Aurora! A wispy green hue.

 

I honestly thought that was it.  I stayed for half an hour admiring this whiff of green, but just as I was about to leave... well what happened next will stay with me forever...

The only way I can explain it is that the sky quite literally lit-up.  A bit like being in a dark theatre and the spot lights suddenly turn on, with bright lights piercing through the empty blackness. But these spot lights were coloured and on a scale of epic proportions!  

The night sky, up to directly above me, was suddenly a mix of blue, green, purple and pink, in these huge and mightly impressive towers of light...

A night-time rainbow

I cannot tell you how impressive these beams were - literal towers of light.

 

I am not ashamed to say it moved me.  Seeing something so mind blowing on such an incomprehensibly epic scale completely knocked me off my feet.  I immediately phoned Jess who I knew was in bed, and got her up and out in the back garden (where light pollution is an issue) and she couldn't believe it!  When I got home 20 minutes later we swapped over so she could go out and admire the Aurora at a darker spot.

It varied in intensity up until when I went to bed at 1am, and at one stage I could see movement in the light.  These were my views from the back garden at about mightnight...

The beams got even more striking and bright!

So many beams!  Filled so much of the sky.

Only included this pic as it actually includes my house!  My house and the Northern Lights.

 

Many people are saying this was a once in a life-time show of the Aurora Borealis.  I sure hope not, but if it turns out to be I am so glad I witnessed it.  

Cirl Bunting - The Seaton Story

Finally, finally, finally... bloody finally!

When I was starting out in birding in the late 90s and early 00's, enjoying frequent weekend birding trips out with Dad, the rule was you had to go west of the Exe Estuary to see a Cirl Bunting.  Sometime in the mid to late 00's, Budleigh and Otter Head became home for an isolated small population, which has steadily increased in numbers since.

In 2019, just a few miles from our patch boundary, Cirl Buntings appeared around Weston and towards Sidmouth (see blog post HERE). They've remained in the area ever since but haven't obviously spread out, with no records within approx two miles of our western patch boundary at Branscombe.  With them being SO close though we have been on the look out. 

However our efforts have proved nothing but frustrating, despite seemingly having plenty of ideal habitat.  They've even leap-frogged us, as are now present and breeding at several sites along the south coast of west Dorset, as far east as Portland Bill.  They've even gone inland of us too, with a single male (possible two) present for a second year near Axminster.  You really cannot blame us for feeling like we have some sort of Cirl deflective force field around our patch!  Well that was up until eleven days ago anyway...

I really have not been out at all much this year, it has been extremely busy at work opening a new attraction in town.  However on the morning of Monday 8th April I had a spare hour, and spent it traipsing around Axe Cliff Golf Course in the hope of turning up a Hoopoe or Woodchat Shrike.  No such luck, but on the east side of the Golf Course as I was walking along a narrow hedge-lined track, a familiar rattle sounded out.  It took me a while to see it, but there perched on the opposite side of the hedge right in front of me was an absolutely knock-out male Cirl Bunting, singing proudly. A patch tick!

Unfortunately however, as I went for my phone to grab a record shot/video it slipped away. I was convinced it was just going to pop up again somewhere nearby, but there's been no sight or sound during the ten days since! Gutting for everyone that missed it, but am sure it or another will surface soon.  Well actually, another one already has, the very next day...  

Local birder Leon came across a female Cirl Bunting on Beer Head on the 9th, and unlike me actually managed a pic, which I hope he doesn't mind me sharing here...

Female Cirl Bunting at Beer Head (c) Leon on 9th April 2024

So it looks like the force field is down! Hopefully it remains down and within a few years we will have breeding Cirl Buntings.  I did always think that as soon as one shows up the flood gates would open.

I won't leave it so long before the next blog post.  I have the whole of this spring to date to recap on, not that it has been anything that special - yet.  For now though, have this Wheatear shot, a nice Iceland/Greenland male too...

Colyford Common - 14/4/24