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.