Rebellious Gypos!

Sorry this blog has been a bit quiet this week, it's been a busy one! It's been a bit of a life-changing one too with some exciting news to blog about in the near future. For now though, the birds...

The wildfowl theme from last month continued, with the Barnacle Goose lingering on, a flock of four Greylag Geese on Colyford Marsh on Thursday, and another two Egyptian Geese on Bridge Marsh today. I have to say I can't ever remember seeing any species of goose perched on a fence post before...

There's also still been regular Goosander sightings, with Tim Wright seeing up to four on several evenings during the last week.

Monday night was great fun. Thanks to news from James Mc at Lyme and Dan J at Sidmouth, just before 7pm I scurried down to Seaton seafront where it was an absolute delight to watch Manx Shearwaters streaming past.  In half an hour I had 254 fly west, along with two Sandwich Terns and a first-summer Med Gull. Early spring evening Manx movements off here used to be an annual thing, often over flat calm seas, but for some reason it's been many years since a movement like this has occurred - presumably a food related change?

I finally saw my first Swallow of the year on Wednesday, and have seen another four or five today. Also today Clive had our first two House Martins of the year over Bridge Marsh, and Kev pulled a bit of a gripper out of the bag this afternoon with an early Cuckoo calling on and off in Couchill Woods. The first (real) UK Cuckoo record of the year?

I might give Beer Head a go in the morning. I won't have long, but hopefully long enough to see some spring migrants.

Two More Geese and a Glauc

The last day of March offered the Axe even more wildfowl variety, with two new geese for the year. 

This morning Ian Mc found a Greylag on Bridge Marsh, which remained in the valley all day. Late March/early April often sees a spike in Greylag records for us, suggesting it must be some sort of spring passage, although from where to where who knows...

Greylag Goose standing proud

Then this evening Tim Wright located a Barnacle Goose, the same one that Dave Helliar has seen recently in the Chard area...

Barnie!

As Barnacle Geese go, well let's just say it's not the best. This bird shows surprisingly grey flanks and belly, some brown in the black of the neck and breast, and a bit more white than usual in the head area. Nevertheless I still think it's a pure bird, just a grubby first-winter individual probably of 'suspect' origin. 

Yesterday, as you'll have probably already seen from other local blogs, Ian Mc scored his fourth white-winged gull of the year on the Axe. Thankfully this one I actually managed to see, a stonking first-winter Glaucous Gull. A proper massive and fairly dark one too - the best type :-)

As we reach to the conclusion of March 2018, some may find it interesting to know that thanks to two cold snaps, a decent flurry of early spring migrants, 11 species of gull and the whole host of wildfowl that we've seen, 136 species of bird have been recorded on the Axe Patch this month.  Pity the sea wasn't busier as that could easily have added another five or more.