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.

Exmouth Glaucous Gull

Had to go into Exeter today with Dad for suit fittings and other wedding related things, then afterwards dropped in to see the second-winter Glaucous Gull that's been lingering at the Quay car park in Exmouth.

What a great idea this was, as it is an abosolute stonker, and seems totally oblivious to humans.  As we drove in it was on the rocks below the car park to the left...

What a corker! You can see it's a second-winter due to the pale iris and amount of pale on the bill.  After it spent five minutes sat on these rocks, a Great Black-backed chased it briefly, before re-landing IN the car park...

We finally tore ourselves away from it when it flew up onto this container...

I cannot recommend this bird enough, and its proving a great subject to photograph - won't get many more opportunities to get this close to a Glauc in Devon I can promise you.  Interestingly a photographer present said there were two present earlier today.

On our return home Lower Bruckland Ponds showed a Swallow and three Sand Martins. Sadly the Axe gull flock didn't contain anything exciting though.

Finally A Bird Worthy Of A Blog Post

Just after I completed my once a month woodland bird survey near Colyton this morning (where I had my highest count of Woodcock this winter, four), the phone rang - it was Dad; "Glaucous Gull on the Estuary from Seaton Marshes hide".  Ten minutes later I pulled up alongside the river and was greeted by this...

Not exactly hard to pick out!

I even dusted off my digi-scoping Nikon, although sadly I had it on the wrong setting for the whole time so the pics are far from perfect...

What a beast!

As you can see it's a really pale one. When I first clapped eyes on it I was sure it was going to be a second-winter, but the lack of a pink-tipped bill and the dark eyes make this a first-winter (or more correctly, a second calender year) bird.  Although it does look pure white in the photos, in the field you could see very feint barring on the coverts.

I think there's a good chance it's the bird seen on the Exe Estuary recently, featured on Matt's blog HERE and HERE.  If it is, Dad saw this bird ten days ago from the Stuart Line Cruise on the Exe Estuary!

Sadly it didn't hang about, and just before Sue Smith pulled up, it took off and flew south towards the sea.

I had a further two checks of the Estuary after this white-winged excitement, but three Med (two ad and a 1st winter) and good numbers of Common Gulls were the only other blog-worthy sightings. There was this large Gull though, that made me lunge for my scope as in profile it showed a very Caspian Gull-like head and bill and showed obviously pale and seemingly quite plain greater coverts...

It doesn't look much in this picture, but it looked quite striking in the field

  

Sadly that is where any Caspian similarities ended.

Hopefully the next blog post won't be so far away...

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!)