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.

Glonk Makes It 17

This morning I was going to have a gander at the American Robin, after I'd enjoyed a rare lie-in. So up I got at 08:30, saw that the Robin was still there thanks to a couple of received text messages, had breakfast, then headed out the door.... to the sea front!

Yes, for some reason I decided NOT to go to Exminster, but chose to have a look around the patch instead (as per usual!). Am bloody glad I did though, as after a rather uneventful sea watch, I had a look up the Estuary and this was the first Gull flock I came across...

Click on the photo to make it bigger - and see if you can spot the 'odd one out'. If you can't, I'll post directions to the opticians later ;-)

Yes - there sat a stonking first-winter Glaucous Gull! THIS stonking first-winter Glaucous Gull...

OH MY WORD - what a BEAST! Lock up your children - they just aren't safe with this brute around!!

You would not believe how over-joyed I was/am. Glauc is my favourite of all the large Gulls, and it is my biggest 'boggy bird' on my self-found list.... sorry, was! Wryneck now has that accolade.

What made it even better in a 'self-found' context is that this Glauc represents the 17th species of Gull I have found on the Axe since 2007. Hmmmmm, I wonder what will be next... Great Black-headed please :-)

Ian M saw it as it flew out of the Estuary and westwards, but unfortunately no one else got to it. Hopefully it lingers - it is about time we hand one hanging about. These weather conditions yet again prove to be our best for Gulls - blustery winds with some south in it, low cloud and rain.

There's a rather amusing note to add to this find... I first clapped eye on the Glonk through bins whilst sat in the car. In the excitable few moments that followed I jumped out the car without doing something. It was only when I was knelt on the ground looking at the bird through my scope, with one hand leaning on the back of my car that I realised this...

...my car started to roll forward, OH CRAP - handbrake! Luckily, I was able to lean in the open window of the passanger door and pull it up!

As for the American Robin, what a stunning bird it is, check out Karens pics of it HERE! A cracking county record - the first 'confirmed' mainland sighting in fact. Lundy has had all three of the previous Devon birds. If it stays in to next week I will trek over and see it, but I'm not in an urgent rush as I saw the Cornwall bird in 2004. Like this bird, that was a smart thing too!

In fact that was one of my 'top three' twitches of all time, because we also connected with (how's that for 'twitcher jargon'): American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Surf Scoter, Ring-billed Gull, Lesser Yellowlegs, and on the way back, Devon's first Lesser Scaup (which funnily enough was at Exminster Marshes!)