Skua-less Spring

Spring 2020 will go down as my worst in history for seawatching in Seaton Bay.

You'd have thought being in the midst of a global pandemic, and a forced lockdown limiting all outdoor activity, would be the main contributing factor right? Wrong.  It's all about the weather - and it's been completely pants for seawatching all spring with way too much north wind and nowhere near enough cloud or rain.  Just look at sites like Portland that have had daily coverage all spring and how many Pomarine Skuas they've reported, very few. Look at all the skua species in fact, there's not even been a good Arctic or Bonxie day.  So ironically lockdown probably didn't make a blind bit of difference to the seawatching story here this spring, there was nothing to miss.

Yesterday offered one final (half) chance for some spring sea action. Although it wasn't overly windy it was from a south westerly direction, backed up with a decent coverage of cloud just not enough of the wet stuff.  I set my alarm for 5am and watched 05:25 - 08:25 from the Spot On Kiosk.  I was joined by Phil for a chunk of it- at a distance greater than 2 meters of course  I only really wanted him there to open up the Kiosk but he didn't get the hints!

Anyway, back to the seawatch and although there were no skuas, at times it was actually quite busy even if it were just the commoner species. In the three hours I was there I noted (west unless stated);

Great Northern Diver 1 at 08:15
Diver sp. 1e
Gannet 155w, 13e
Manx Shearwater 2
Auk sp. 68w, 3e (c70/30 Razorbill/Guillemot)
Common Scoter 28w, 25e
Black-headed Gull 3
Common Gull 2
Kittiwake 11
Sanderling 2 (flew in and landed on beach)
Swift 3

Highlight of the watch for me, two Sanderling on the beach

Love how they just melt into the pebbles! Nice to get a pale one and a red one.

The biggest single flock of Common Scoter recorded - 19 west

Although not taken yesterday, this Great Northern Diver flew close past the seafront during a beach wander in late April...

I know it doesn't look close but for us it was - full breeding plumage too!

Fingers crossed I can get my skua fix in the autumn...

Black Redstarts

Considering the impressive numbers of Black Redstarts that have shown up at various other south coast sites within the last week, I've spent my last couple of lunch breaks wandering around Seaton checking the usual haunts.  Yesterday this gave me two first-winter Black Reds around Axmouth Harbour (one either side of the river) and today an absolutely corking male on rocks between Seaton Hole and the end of West Walk.  

The two young ones at the mouth of the Axe were quite mobile and skittish, presumably due to the freezing cold north wind blasting down the valley.  Today's male however was far more obliging...

What a top draw bird, and a real privilege to share my lunch break with.  Kev also saw two Black Reds in Beer today including another ad male, so there's at least five about for sure.

This morning saw a nice little influx of winter thrushes too, with a couple of flocks of Fieldfare and several Redwings whirling around my housing estate this morning.  Not very pleasant out in the cold wind though!

Talking of not very pleasant out, rewind to Saturday which was an absolute wash out of a day. We had high hopes for some good sea watching, but in reality 07:40 - 09:10 produced nothing more than (all west);

1 Brent Goose
21 Common Scoter
345 Gannet
1 Arctic Skua (dark juv at 08:20)
1 Great Skua (08:40)
112 Kittiwake
70 auk sp

Yes the Kittiwake and Gannet counts are pretty impressive, and it's always good to see skuas, but the action died down fairly quickly and by 08:45 it had already gone pretty quiet.  And no stand out scarcity sadly.  There were no scarcities on the Estuary either on Saturday despite several checks, but the three Cattle Egrets were still showing around Boshill Cross...

Spot the three Cattle's!

And that's that.  As ever, thanks for reading.

Balearic Bonanza and White Stork Update

This windy weather has brought some seabirds into Seaton Bay, and Ian Mc has done well to keep on top of them - sea watching every morning since the breeze began.

Yesterday morning he reported a fairly decent passage of Balearic Shearwaters prior to 9am, 64 west.  This encouraged me to try a mini-sea watch during my lunch break from Seaton Beach, and sure enough I soon saw a flock of six fly west.  I went back in the evening and was pleased to count 23 in just fifteen minutes from 18:45, giving us a day total of 93. Although that's with the sea not watched for most of the day, so I wouldn't be surprised if the actual day total was 150+.

This morning news came through from Ian Mc that there was an even heavier Balearic Shearwater passage going on, he and Mike counted a very impressive 155 west by 09:40. Today was also my birthday, and although I couldn't have made it out for this early watch, when Jess asked me what I wanted to do today my answer was simple.... sea watch!  I watched 10:15 - 12:15, adding another 26 Balearic Shearwaters to the tally, plus five Kittiwake, three Auk sp and a Sandwich Tern. Ian saw another seven Balearics during a mid afternoon watch, and I added a further three this evening during a one hour watch from 17:30, plus a first-winter Common Gull and another Kittiwake.  So adding all these together that's 191 Balearic Shearwaters west past Seaton today, by a million miles our highest ever day count! In fact as far as I can recall this is our first ever three figure, with my previous highest being 71 on 10/9/12. In recent years there's been no decent counts of Balearics here at all, this species seems to be venturing into our part of Lyme Bay far less frequently.  Thanks Ian and Mike for being so helpful with times and counts today, really useful as it's enabled us to work together to get as much coverage on the sea as possible.

Now for an update on the Lyme Regis/Seaton White Stork, and the Sidmouth one which amazingly wasn't the same as ours! The Lyme/Seaton bird (unringed with a tracker and snipped primary tips) was photographed flying over Prawle Point by Pat Mayer on the 19th (the day after it was here), whilst another White Stork bearing a small black ring was stood on the roof of Lidl's in Sidmouth!

Anyway on the morning of 20th I was surprised to get a message from Wild Zoological Park in Bobbington, near Wolverhampton.  Both White Storks were theirs - free-flying display birds that had been whisked away by a thermal the previous day (17th).  And here's a snap of them together...

(c) Wild Zoological

They have names of course, Victor and Violet, and the reason Violet was ring-less was because she came to the zoo with foot and leg problems. Victor is back home now, he flew down from Lidl's roof when he saw his 'keeper', but Violet is still on the loose.  If you see her please let me or the zoo know, she could still be in the South Hams area.

Spring 2019 - Blink And You Missed It

This month (well this year) is going by so quickly!  I cannot believe it is already mid-May, and dare I say it, that spring 2019 is already pretty much over!?

I do though have a few snippets of interest to mention since my last blog post on 5th. As is to be expected with the month of May, this includes some Red Kites! On 6th as I was driving along Cownhayne Lane, Colyford, the sight of a Red Kite flying extremely low overhead caused me to stop dead and leap out of the car. After enjoying some excellent views of this bird, I had a quick scan around and soon picked up another five circling a long way off the east.  Sadly I couldn't stick around though to see if this was the start of a major movement. 

The following morning Axe Cliff gave me my first Lesser Whitethroats of the year, an invisible singing male plus a very much visible pair calling to each other right in front of me. Excellent views.  Still plenty of Common Whitethroats too, I counted 13.  Seems to be more Yellowhammers around this year too which is great considering their general decline.  

Some suitable sea watching weather on 8th produced nothing but disappointment.  Well, there were three each of Manx Shearwater and Kittiwake, nine auk sp. and a flock of 13 Dunlin - but considering the conditions this was pityful.  And probably the last chance of any decent spring sea watching this year. :-(

On Monday just gone a nice pulse of waders dropped in on the Axe. Sadly I missed Ian Mc's three Grey Plovers, but did see the cracking summer plumage Bar-tailed Godwit and one of the two Knot that were around. I had another Lesser Whitethroat too, this one singing at the far north end of Colyford Common.  There's been a few more waders since but I've not had chance to get among them...

I have though had chance to go up to Dartmoor for a day! And to make up for this lousy photo-less post, I look forward to blogging all about mine and Dad's Dartmoor day. I have lots of pics of nice birds to go with it too...

Some South Easterly Seawatching

The raw east wind that's been hammering us for about a week edged more southerly yesterday, and this morning we woke up to a decent south east gale.  I'm not a fan of sea watching here in south easterlies, it's almost always disappointing and every time we are completely trumped by Chesil - embarrassingly and frustratingly so!

I didn't miss much this morning from what Ian Mc and Phil reported, but tonight I was keen to give it a go after work - am dead pleased I did!  An hour at the Spot On Kiosk from 18:50 produced (all east);

2 Teal (why weren't these Garganey!!??)

54 Gannet

128 Manx Shearwater (18 the biggest single flock)

1 Arctic Skua (a sleek pale-phased adult at 19:04)

5 Common Gull

12 Sandwich Tern (6, 4 and 2)

1 Arctic Tern (flew in then over the beach, gained height but then flew back out again!)

11 Whimbrel 

5 Dunlin

So not too shabby at all by Seaton standards, with the two Arctic's being the highlights.  The Tern just kept coming closer and closer, to the point I could even see the bill detail which was nice! And as for the Skua, well this was my first Skua of the year which is always a highlight - but this one looked particularly dinky and streamline and the plumage simply stunning in front of the dull grey sea.

Although I have been at work all day, it's clear there's been a constant arrival of hirundines. Every time I have been outside small groups of Swallows/House Martins have whizzed through quickly north. This evening whilst sea watching I must have seen twenty Swallows arrive in-off too. 

No photos from today I'm afraid, but here's a dreadful photo of a female Goosander that did a lap of Bridge Marsh in front of me on Saturday evening, with 60 Sand Martins and ten Swallows also on show...

A blur which shares some similarities with a female sawbill!

More of the same please Spring 2019!

More Juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls

A fresh southerly wind and a bit of rain and cloud has encouraged me to look at the sea on a few occasions over the past couple of days.  No rewards as yet with just small numbers of Manx Shearwaters and a few Med Gulls passing, but tomorrow is looking the windiest of all the days so maybe the best is yet to come?

Black Hole Marsh has already proved popular with migrating waders, although I have managed to miss two Wood Sandpipers, a summer plumaged Knot and a Spotted Redshank (although this one is still present so there's hope yet!).  It's also been a good summer for juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls on the Axe, and today I managed to add another four to the tally.  All were on the Estuary early this afternoon...

The closest of the four

There's two here, the one stood up with head tucked in being the darkest of all four, and the bird sat down facing left being classic in all respects (and the most advanced with several 2nd gen scapular feathers already)

And this one was the largest, posing nicely here next to a Great Black-backed Gull which it was the same size as!

All At Sea

Yesterday saw a good shake up in the weather, with a front arriving from the south overnight Tuesday/Wednesday producing strong winds and heavy rain. There was a bit too much rain on Wednesday morning for decent sea watching, but I gave it a go anyway! 07:40 - 08:40 from Spot On was wet and at times quiet, but another twenty minute watch from 09:45 with Phil showed a bit more was on the move once the worst weather had gone through. By mid morning the wind turned and began blowing from the north west which put a stop to any movement.  My totals from both watches came to (flew west unless stated);

2 Great Northern Diver

1 Arctic Skua (dark-phased low west at 08:23)

41 Manx Shearwater

26 Kittiwake

20+ Sandwich Tern (6 west, 14+ fishing close in)

8 Common Tern (all looked like Commons to me anyway!)

12 Auk sp.

2 Ringed Plover (on the beach then flew west)

1 Dunlin (on the beach then flew west)

9 Sanderling (seven on the beach with the above two species, then all flew west joined by two more)

3 Whimbrel

A bit of rain and wind in early May always seems to drop Sanderling on Seaton Beach, my thanks to Phil for texting me about these. The seven settled birds ranged in plumage from full summer to just moulting out of winter wear...

Well concealed among the pebbles!

Enjoying a well earned rest

Wednesday wasn't a complete wash out though and the sun came out mid morning. A dog walk around the back lanes of Axmouth showed several singing male Common Whitethroat and a smart and fairly showy Lesser Whitethroat. I will keep an eye on it as it's a place I've never had one before. Lesser Whitethroats actually seem to be increasing in our bit of Devon over recent years, going against the grain of virtually every other migrant species!

Sadly I missed what was probably the best spring fall of long-distance migrants for several years on Sunday due to work, and it was only Kev who managed to get up to Beer Head and other sites around Beer. During the day he notched up six Redstarts, ten Whitethroats, four Spotted Flycatchers and a Garden Warbler, as well as excellent numbers of Willow Warblers constantly passing through. Who knows what else would have been discovered if more people were able to get out on the day, sadly Clive and Ian Mc were both away and Phil and I were working.

Although I missed all the passerines on Sunday, I was fortunate to luck in on a couple of Red Kites that flew low west over Seaton in the early evening, causing mayhem among the gulls. Tim White had seen them arrive from the east and I just happened to be driving through town when I noticed all the commotion. They really were low, not that you can tell that from my photos, but they did gain height again as the headed off west.

Amazingly my first Red Kite of the year!

Red Kite with the light sadly behind it!

Not got much else to tell really despite this being my first blog post for a week. There are more Reed and Sedge Warblers in now, and Friday 27th saw a truly impressive arrival of Swallows with flock after flock arriving low over the beach. Always so thrilling to see active migration like this. That evening Phil saw an Osprey, or maybe two, fishing on the Estuary - like so many species it's been a poor spring for them.

Even More Sea Passage

Jess had a few cakes to deliver this morning so I didn't get out for an early morning sea watch. If the wind had had a bit of west in it I probably would have found some time, but we rarely do that well in straight southerlies with viewing conditions tricky and birds often far out and flying away.

Phil and Ian Mc did give it a go from Beer, and gripped me off a bit with our first passing Pale-bellied Brent Goose flocks of the spring (49 and 13) but otherwise variety and numbers were pretty poor.

I did manage to get out at 10:50 and have a 25 minute look from Seaton Beach which rewarded me with my first skua of the year, always an exciting event! My totals were (west unless stated);

50+ Manx Shearwater

24 Whimbrel (one flock)

1 Arctic Skua (distantly west at 11am - so good to see again)

1 Kittiwake

5 Sandwich Tern (feeding close in)

12+ auk sp.

Not seen anything different during two brief looks along the Estuary today, although yesterday's Dark-bellied Brent Goose was still with us in almost exactly the same place.

Cows on the Line!

Just a quick one to update all, having spent a bit of time out over the past few days...

On Sunday morning there had been a notable increase in Common Sandpipers with 11+ in the valley, along with a nice summer plumaged Blackwit on Black Hole Marsh.  On Sunday, and the few days since, several gull scans have failed to give me my first juv Yellow-legged of the year but I have seen three different Med Gulls on the Estuary, two first-summers and an adult...

A distinctively bland first-summer Med Gull

 

The sea this evening was beautiful, but quiet (as expected)...

A flock of 11 Common Scoters flew west, with a group of six sat on the sea closer in. I would have been really gripped by Ian Mcs fly by Red-breasted Merganser this morning had I not seen a pair off here within the first few days of the year. He also had seven Med Gulls fly west today, a usual sight at this time of year but always a lovely one.

I had quite a surprise this morning along the Estuary, with cattle on the salt marsh and tram line...

There were at least 14!

A quick phone call to the tram company scrambled three guys and the maintenance tram. It was quite fun watching them herd the cattle back to where they belonged, but I have to say they did a great job - certainly looked like they had done it many times before!

Now don't all sigh at once, but I have a moth trap out tonight for the first time this year. It's about time really as we've had so much suitable weather. I promise though I won't drown this blog with moth photos - but it would be nice to catch a few immigrants. Fingers crossed!

Stormie

Good sea watching weather in June often doesn't produce much, with most species of sea bird safely on their breeding grounds a long long way away.  It's always worth a look though, especially if you need Storm Petrel for your Patchwork Challenge year list!

Although it's the strong winds and heavy rain that bring Storm Petrels close to shore, I always have better luck finding them off here once the weather has calmed down. Big waves and dark seas are not helpful when trying to pick out a Sparrow-sized mostly black bird that's probably a mile or so out! But when the waves ease and a bit of sun comes out that's when I usually have success, and today was no different...

Yesterday it rained and rained, and a really strong south westerly wind whipped up. These conditions were due to continue overnight until about 4am, when the rain was to ease and wind switch to a north westerly direction - perfect. So at about 05:20 I was setting my scope up in front of a nicely pale coloured and not too rough sea, and about fifteen minutes later my prize came. It wasn't the closest Storm Petrel I've ever seen here, but it remained in almost constant view for at least five minutes as it slowly battled its way west.  I always get such a thrill seeing this tiny sea bird over the huge expanse of the ocean, and I was surprised to remind myself on my return home that the last Stormie I saw here was back in May 2013.

Other than this it was a predictably quiet sea watch with 05:20-06:20 showing just; 

15+ Gannet

7 Kittiwake

7 Swift

I've not seen much about lately, hence the recent lack of blog posts. A flock of c46 Black-tailed Godwits on the Estuary on 2nd June were a real surprise as there have only been single figures present through most of May. I wonder if they were a late spring flock or a group of non-breeding birds?  

I do have some highly gripping news though of an Axe mega seen yesterday, a male Red-backed Shrike briefly on Colyford Common at midday. Despite a very quick and much appreciated text from Sue Murphy, we all managed to miss it. Hopefully it's not gone far though.

I'm sorry this has been a photo-less post, but I think I deserve some credit having written this entire blog post with a baby fast asleep on my left arm!!

Sanderling and a Sooty Slips Through

Despite the clear skies and completely calm conditions at dusk yesterday, this morning I woke up to heavy rain and a pretty hefty southerly wind. It had to be worth a sea watch! 

The conditions were really tough, it was really hard to find shelter from the wind and spells of heavy rain often hampered visibility. But I stuck it out and 06:20 - 07:40 from Spot On Kiosk produced (all west);

6 Common Scoter

2 Great Northern Diver (1 sp 1 wp)

3 Manx Shearwater

1 Shearwater sp. (annoyingly I know it was a Sooty, just didn't get enough on it)

31 Sanderling

7 Kittiwake

It was the Sanderling that were most impressive. Flocks of three and 22 flew in off and then flew low west along the beach, and a flock of six did the same but landed in between (photos below). When the flock of 22 went by the six flew up and joined them, making a single flock of 28 birds. This is easily the biggest single flock of Sanderling I've ever seen here.  There were a further three Sanderling shortly after on the Estuary, along with two Ringed Plover, a Dunlin and eight Whimbrel.  I think I'm right in saying that the peak spring Sanderling passage is usually a bit later than the main Dunlin migration, and today's observations would certainly fit that...

I love seeing waders downed on the beach during spring rain - so so thrilling! Resting on the beach in front of you one minute, then off on their way to their breeding grounds the next...

More Poms and Pretty Polly

Yesterday I just happened to time my only hour out birding with the arrival of some heavier cloud late afternoon, so after a quick look along the Estuary I thought the sea would be worth a look.

No more than three minutes into my watch (17:50) the delightful shapes of two Pomarine Skuas flew into view. They were fairly high, always remaining above the horizon, and were fairly distant (well standard Seaton skua range to be honest!) but I could see the usual plumage features easily enough, and both were boasting very impressive spoons.  They flew south west so it was nice to be able alert people to the west that they were on their way, sadly though no one picked them up until they flew north over Dawlish Warren and up the Exe Estuary at 19:25. There was a heavy rain shower between the two sightings so maybe they spent this time settled on the sea somewhere?

These were my 11th and 12th Pom Skuas of the spring, which is double my previous highest Seaton spring total (six in 2012, which were all in one watch on 26th April).  I do hope there are more to come though as it's impossible to get enough of this fantastic species.

A couple of posts ago I mentioned a Ring-necked Parakeet that was seen several times in Axmouth last Tuesday, but sadly missed by all the local birders. Well the 'grip factor' was turned up several notches this morning when these photos dropped into my inbox..

These were taken last Tuesday by an Axmouth resident who'd like to remain nameless. Thanks so much for letting me share these super photos, it's certainly a sight I would loved to have seen. Hopefully either it will reappear or another will drop in in the not too distant future.

Pom Porn

Where we are here in Seaton, deep in the bowels of a bay, in a bay, in a bay, sea watching spectacles really are few and far between. But today, one of the highlights of my 17ish years birding here occurred...

I was going to go sea watching this morning, and my alarm sounded at 05:30. But a brief look out the window (clear skies and no wind) and the prospect of starting work a few hours later encouraged me to laze in a bed a bit longer... Then my phone started bleeping, it was Gav, and a few texts later he let me know he'd had a skua distantly off Burton Bradstock. With skuas about that's more than enough to get me out of bed (as we know from yesterdays blog, deja vu!).

I was surprised to see a shape already sea watching at the Spot On when I arrived at about 06:20, it was Charmouth birder Richard.  He told me what he'd seen, and finished with "a flock of about nine birds flew in distantly, I thought they were Whimbrel but then they landed on the sea"... 

It took me about two or three minutes to pick up these settled birds among the waves, and when I did was completely gobsmacked to see they were Pom Skuas!  I quickly fired some texts out, but about a minute later the most incredible thing happened. They took off and flew right at us. They kept coming, and coming, and coming... and all of a sudden they were quite literally right above our heads!!!!!  Oh my word. A flock of nine spring Pomarine Skuas (most fully spooned) right there.  This is Seaton not the Outer Hebs - this DOES NOT happen here.  WOOOOOOOOOW!

I thought they were then going to fly inland, but they then turned and quickly flew out south east.  Which meant it was time to alert watchers (including Gav) to the east of us. This sight needed sharing, and share it we did as you will read below. But before that, why not enjoy this little video that I managed to record...

And a few pics...

Within the flock there appeared to be an intermediate phased bird (not completely dark, bur far darker than the other eight), and I reckon seven had full spoons, with two showing only 'stumps'.  And now for the sharing...

I'm so pleased both James Mc at Lyme Regis and Gav at Burton Bradstock saw these birds, then Portland, and then amazingly Hampshire several hours later. I thought I'd quickly throw a map together showing where they were seen and the times they were seen there. The final sighting of the flock (at Hill Head in the Solent) was of eight birds and a single shortly after. The single bird was seen further east but the eight vanished.  For a clearer view of the map click on it to enlarge...

Tracking a flock of birds like this reminds me how incredible bird migration is. I wonder how long before they land on Arctic tundra, and what route they will take north?

It was of course also great to share this with Richard - a lifer for him. And what a way to life tick Pom Skua!! Am so glad he was here as so often I'm sea watching alone at the Spot On. It was a shame that Dan J from Sidmouth missed them (he dropped in here on his way to work) but it was great to finally meet him - a person I've had numerous communications with but never actually bumped into.

So is that enough about Pom Skuas? Well no I don't think so, but I best mention what else I saw during this one hour sea watch; 

11 Common Scoter

1 Manx Shearwater

12 Sanderling (flew east then west along the beach)

1 Med Gull (first-summer)

1 Common Gull

An unusual shot of the Med Gull  - showing a yellow colour-ring too!

I went to work a very happy boy this morning...

That's More Like It!

As the date gets nearer to the 13th (mini-Waite due date!) I am trying to get as much sleep as possible, so this morning with no wind to tempt me out I thought I'd sleep in. So pleased I didn't in the end though!

Dan J from Sidmouth texted me at about 06:20 to say he'd just had two distant Skua sp. east. Knowing there were at least two skuas in the bay was more than enough to get me up! 06:50 - 07:50 from the Spot On Kiosk produced (flew east unless stated);

11 Common Scoter 

2 Great Northern Diver (see below!)

7 Manx Shearwater

2 Balearic Shearwater (east with 4 Kitts at 07:38)

1 Pomarine Skua (GET IN!!!!)

4 Kittiwake

Three major talking points in the above list. And of course I'll start with the Pom. After five Arctic and two Great Skuas this spring, what a joy to finally see a Pom. Always a rare bird here. It was a stonking fully spooned pale-phased adult, and flew east at 07:10. I've had them closer but it was close enough to see all plumage details and that impressive spoon!  It was nice to watch it chase a Manxie around for half a minute or so too, always amazes me how different a skuas casual migrating flight action is compared with their flight action when in full chase mode, and how quickly they switch modes.

The Balearic Shearwaters were a real surprise, a proper rare spring bird on the patch, and I'd say Devon. It's usually mid summer onward when they appear - but sometimes we don't get many at all in the whole year.  However by a long long way the smartest bird(s) of the watch were the two Great Northern Divers. OH MY WORD.  Annually we see GND's flying west past here in spring, often they are in summer plumage but usually are distant. Not only were today's two both in full summer plumage, but they were also both settled on the water not that far out. Each time I scanned over them I couldn't help myself from stopping and having another gawp - incredible patterns and colours on these amazing plumaged birds. I've no pics I'm afraid as the sea was too lumpy, but flipping heck I won't forget these two beasts for a while. Absolutely stunning birds. And they stayed there for the whole hour.

After the sea watch a quick tour of the valley sites showed a singing Willow Warbler on the Borrow Pit (my first on patch this month!) and on Black Hole Marsh our fourth Avocet of the spring. It was rather oddly upended like a feeding duck so this is the only photo you are getting...

I promise that is an Avocet!

Before today I've done well missing patch year ticks recently. Last night Sidmouth Clive had a Cuckoo fly towards Seaton Marshes from Black Hole Marsh, but there was no further sign of it. And on Tuesday a Ring-necked Parakeet was seen by three different people in three different places in Axmouth during the course of the day. Ok I know that's a bit plastic but for me it would be not only a year tick, but a full fat patch tick too! That's presuming it didn't have any dodgy rings or any other anomalies.

It's been so nice to see the local breeding birds doing so well in this pleasant weather. I am seeing lots of fledglings about, and many adult birds being busy...

Song Thrush Black Hole Marsh

Sedge Warbler Black Hole Marsh

And I keep seeing Hares up Axe Cliff, with two up there on Tuesday morning...

A Hare up close for a change!

And I think that's about it for this post. Well except for the breaking news from the bookmakers that the odds have been slashed for baby Waite being named Pomarine...

Year Ticks Hard To Find

May hasn't started well for my Patchwork Challenge year list. With the exception of Swift, year ticks have not been coming my way at all. And I have been looking in every corner of my patch I can assure you...

Following on from the my evening sea watch on Friday, a text from Gav shortly after 6am on Saturday got me down the sea front again in record time - he'd had a staggering twelve Pom Skuas heading our way from his vantage point in West Dorset (despite the north east wind!).  I waited and waited, but no Skuas came through our part of Lyme Bay during the couple of hours I was watching. It later transpired this epic flock of Poms flew east through Chesil and past Portland Bill mid morning so they must have U-turned somewhere. All I did see was;

3 Great Northern Diver
2 Common Scoter
1 Whimbrel
1 Med Gull (a gorgeous second-summer flew in off)

Sunday was mostly another day of work, but I did have a singing male Lesser Whitethroat just north of Coronation Corner mid morning. This was my first decent migrant of the year in a hedge line that in previous years has produced numerous 'scarce' spring migrants - the clear weather that has dominated this spring has not been good for grounding migrants in the valley at all.

Today I had a bit more time out. It was clear that there has been a mass emergence of damselflies, most Large Reds and Common Blue, so I spent a good deal of the mid afternoon looking up hoping for a Hobby or two. I saw plenty of Sparrowhawks (including a pair in full display) and Kestrels, plus a Peregrine, but not the species of falcon I was hoping for.  

Later on tonight it was nice to come across eight Wheatear and a female Whinchat on Bridge Marsh, with a decent sized flock of Swallows, Sand Martins and Swifts flying above them. Still no Hobby though. On the Estuary were singles of Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Lapwing and five Whimbrel. And that's where my day ended...

Slow Going

I don't think it is just here that spring seems to have stopped for the time being. Although I've not had much time out this week (an hour or so in the field both first thing in the morning and last thing at night) it's clear that it's really quite quiet.  In fact I hadn't had a year tick at all this week (so unusual for the last week in April) until just before 7pm tonight...

Whenever I've been around in the evenings over the past few weeks I've been checking the little pre-roost gathering of up to twenty Pied Wagtails that can usually be found either on Bridge or Colyford Marsh. A White Wagtail would have been nice enough (still not seen one this year) but a pair of Yellow Wagtails on Colyford Marsh this evening were way more exciting!  Hard to beat a spring male Yellow Wag if you ask me - I just love 'em! And a year tick too :-)

Otherwise today has been poor, as was yesterday. Tuesday was a little better though with the increased water level on Black Hole Marsh at dawn offering 16 Dunlin, six Ringed Plover (both notable increases), a Greenshank and a Common Gull, plus five Cattle Egret over north and seven Whimbrel on the Estuary (been this many pretty much all week).  Walking back from the Island Hide I briefly caught sight of a large yellow bunting and crossed everything that it was going to turn out to be a Cirl Bunting...

...It was a Yellowhammer. Still really notable though, I can't recall seeing many/any Yellowhammers on the deck in the river valley. I have had a few fly over, but not perched up in a bush which is promising, it would be great if they started nesting here. It was nice to see a Sedge Warbler quite well too for a change...

At both ends of Tuesday there were at least 200 hirundines feeding low in the valley, by far my biggest gathering this year and no doubt congregating low due to the bitterly cold north wind. They were mostly Sand Martins and Swallows with the odd House Martin mixed in.  It was fascinating watching them during the evening, because when a huge dark cloud came over and the light level dropped instantly, they all flew up and started behaving like a murmuration of Starlings...

I have been keeping an eye on the sea since my Great Skua, but it's been as quiet as the land. I had four Sandwich Terns fishing offshore on Tuesday, a Ringed Plover flew east on Wednesday and today the lingering Common Scoter remains...

I'm actually well impressed with the above photo, as the Scoter is at the very least half a mile out!  

Having moaned in my last post about the lack of sea watching weather this spring, I am literally salivating at the forecast for Saturday evening/Sunday.  I've asked Jess to keep our imminent arrival in there til Monday at least...

 

Great Surprise Skua

A key component of a good Axe year list is plenty of good sea watching. And for good sea watching you need the right weather... this is something we've not had at all so far this spring!  In fact all year the sea has been poor, dire in the winter months for divers, grebes and ducks, and dire this spring for anything because the weather has been so far from right (we need Atlantic storms - there's been none!). It's 24th April and I haven't even seen a Manx Shearwater yet, in previous years by now flocks are streaming by during the evening.

Amazingly I have managed to see a skua though! On Saturday afternoon I noticed that although the sea was flat calm, there seemed to be quite a few Gannets and gulls feeding out there - which could only mean there must be some food.  So later that evening I went back expecting to see a few Manxies, but instead bagged a jammy Great Skua! My first skua of the year :-)

It flew west, and was the closest bird of them all, but it was unusually high up. The further west it flew the higher it went, and I lost it as it seemed to fly west over Beer Head.  It was so weird watching a skua off here in blue skies with no wind, but I have seen a few Arctic Skuas over the years behaving similarly in similar weather conditions. I once saw an adult dark phased Arctic fly straight in from miles out, gain height by soaring up a bit like a raptor, then fly in off over Seaton and away inland.  

Other than this Bonxie, I've not seen too much since my last blog post, although haven't had that much time out really.  Many places have seen some wader passage over the past few days, but all I've noticed here is an increase in Whimbrel numbers...

Little Gull Interrupts Sea Watch

With a passage of Velvet Scoters through Portland over the last few days (but nowhere else - not seen anything off here at all lately!) the increased southerly wind meant I was back at the seafront this morning. Well as soon as I could be anyway as we had a new washing machine delivered this morning, which amazingly arrived prior to 07:30 - impressive!

The sea watch was briefly interrupted when Ian Mc rang at about 08:45 with news of a first-winter Little Gull on Colyford Scrape.  The last year I did a year list I missed out on this species, so I hot footed it straight to the Farm Gate at Axmouth where the Little Gull was viewable distantly on the scrape - exactly where I saw my last one last year...

Distant phone-scoped pic

Also saw my first two Swallows of the year here, which I picked up whilst scanning for the Little Gull that briefly went missing when I first arrived.  There's got to be a slight chance the Little Gull is the same one that's been on Bowling Green Marsh (Exe Estuary) for a few weeks, as there's no sign of it there today. If it is hopefully that gorgeous Bonaparte's Gull will follow it east...

I was keen to get back to the sea as quickly as possible, although the first half hour of the sea watch was completely dead, the wind turned from south to south west, and after that a few more bits and pieces began passing.  Full totals for 08:00 - 08:45, 09:00 - 09:45 were; 

31 Common Scoter 

1 Red-throated Diver

1 Diver sp.

1 Razorbill

1 Curlew

11 Sandwich Tern

So although it wasn't a big haul, the regular small groups of passing Common Scoters were more than enough to keep me there. Sadly no white secondaries in with them though. It was nice to see my first Sandwich Terns of the year too, with a further four west at 13:45 this afternoon.

Yesterday Knot was added to my Patchwork Challenge year list, with one keeping the Grey Plover company on Black Hole Marsh in the morning. Good to get that one on the list nice and early in the year.

Dusky Dipping

Well this wasn't the blog post I was expecting to write today...

I'm usually pretty early to bed every night, guess it's because I'm an early riser. But for some reason last night I was still up gone midnight, and just before I headed up to bed I had a quick look at my phone for any new posts on the blogs that I follow. I clicked on the latest post on the Axe Estuary Ringing Group blog - detailing their captures during their most recent catch on Tuesday of this week - and honestly I thought I was suffering with some sort of sleep deprivation, or that I'd just gone delusional. In front of me was a photo of a Dusky Warbler, the first Dusky Warbler ever recorded on patch!

Here's the pic that was posted, thanks very much to Doug Rudge for a copy of it...

Here's the same pic, but with a few notes pointing out the features that make it the rare that it is (click on the photo to make it and the writing bigger)...

The short primary projection really is striking, although Chiffchaffs have shorter wings than Willow Warblers, they never look this short.

Doug Rudge kindly sent me another photo today, sadly still no legs on show but it's nice to see the bird in different light... 

What a thoroughly gripping photo. Naturally this morning I was out on Stafford Marsh hoping and hearing, but it was so windy I wasn't expecting any joy, and I didn't have any. Whilst out there though I did find out exactly where it had been caught, in this net ride (between two small reed beds)...

There is every chance it is still around, we just need a day of calm weather so we can have a proper look.

This morning actually felt good, the first morning this month with some decent passage. I only gave the dog a quick walk along the beach, but in that time I had four Pintail, four Wigeon and two Starling in off the sea, with four different ultra distant duck flocks flying past and a constant stream of gulls on the move. If I didn't have a Dusky Warbler to look for I would have set my scope up and had a proper sea watch.  Also saw the four Gadwall again this morning, they were on Black Hole Marsh. 

Well what a surprising turn of events. I have always dreamt of finding the first patch Dusky Warbler, but identifying it without seeing the bird was most certainly not in the script!

Catching Up...

Well I had a feeling the blog posts would start drying up, but I won't apologise because spending so much time on Dartmoor is proving an incredible experience. I have seen so many birds and I know you all already know, the scenery is absolutely stunning.  I am delighted to be part of the team that is mapping bird numbers and distributions on Dartmoor for the Moor Than Meets The Eye project (http://www.moorthanmeetstheeye.org/).

Sadly we can't always park this close to the survey areas!

A singing Grasshopper Warbler in silhouette 

And spending so much time out on the moor means we encounter more than just birds...

Adder

I do have a bit of patch bird news to tell, rewind back to 21st May and it was one of those days I was not enjoying missing!  Although not all that much was seen off the patch in the first few hours of the day, Lyme Regis and Sidmouth had seen a nice selection of skuas and a heap of passing waders.  Early afternoon though Dan at Sidmouth really upped the grippage with two Pom Skuas and a Storm Petrel - ouch.   I wasn't home until late afternoon, but immediately made a bee-line for the seafront.

I was really lucky to get down there when I did, about 40 minutes into the watch the weather completely changed. All the cloud and showers cleared through, the wind dropped off and the sea went almost flat calm.  I would have loved to have got here sooner, but I still managed a few nice highlights.  Best of all being a lovely pale phased Pomarine Skua west at 18:25. It seemed to be a full adult, with a long stiff tail but no spoon on the end.  What was best about this was five minutes earlier a pale phased Arctic Skua flew west, albeit much further out.  I am always worried we throw some Poms away here with the distance some of our skuas pass, but seeing these two flying in the same direction in such a short space of time has eased my worries somewhat, the second I picked up the Pom the flight style and wing shape were just so obvious.  

Other than these two skuas, 60 Manx Shearwater and a mixed flock of 35+ Dunlin and Sanderling were all I noted.  

And that's about it. Well except for a Red Kite east over the Donkey Sanctuary on 28th May...

Pic taken with my phone - it really was low!