Seaton Hole Gull Roost

Came back from a family day out today (more on that later) at about 4:30pm, and headed straight to the river for a last gasp look at the gulls.  The tide was high however and as a result numbers weren't great, so I nipped to Seaton Hole. Well I say 'nipped' but I actually ended up spending almost an hour there!

This was my first dusk visit to Seaton Hole this winter, and the gull roost was really impressive.  Numbers were constantly building right up to dusk, and the main small gull flock was pretty close in (probably due to the south west wind).

A small part of the flock

Although there were few large gulls (most seemed to head around the corner to Beer), among the small gulls were 680+ Common Gull and by the end of my stint 56 Med Gulls.  There's at least seven just in this shot...

I thought this was a good scenario to test the capabilities of the P900 out, as I was wondering if I did manage to pick something subtle out like a Bonaparte's or Ring-billed Gull, what kind of quality image would I be able to get?

This is a no zoom shot...

This is with about 25x optical zoom (with a single gull circled)...

And this is at about 95x zoom (so using full optical zoom of 83x with some digital zoom as well)...

Yes that's the Med Gull that's circled in the above pic, which is also in theory in the shot above that.  So to answer my own question, yes, I would be able to get a more than identifiable pic if there was a Ross's Gull sat out there with the Black-heads!  Seriously impressive kit. Especially when you consider the poor light conditions as well as the lumpy sea.

Rewinding a few hours, we'd enjoyed a lovely day on Dartmoor and at Stover CP.  As ever it was a lovely walk around the lake, and good to see Mandarin have really made themselves at home here.  A couple of years ago they'd often be around, but hidden away in quiet corners, but today...

Harry feeding the ducks! 

There were nine in total

Love 'em or hate 'em - they are lookers!

There were a few Tufted Duck out on the lake, no Goosanders today but a single female Pochard...

Don't see many of these being an Axe birder!

There were plenty of Siskin around in the trees as well, along with the usual woodland-species that always seem abundant here.

Salty Mandarins

A good storm often produces an oddity or two, whatever the time of year, but Tim Wright took that to a whole 'nother level at about 3pm this afternoon  Not so much on rarity-value, just pure whackiness...

Two drake and a female Mandarin

Yes, that's three Mandarin sat on the sea!!  There's not been a Mandarin anywhere on patch since July 2013, prior to this I've seen four or five here, but none - as you'd expect - on or over the sea. What a bizarre record, and thanks for the message Tim. I would love to know where they woke up this morning!?

They weren't that far out, but the choppy seas didn't help with photography

And here's a 30 second video...

60 Black-tailed and the Bar-tailed Godwit, five Dunlin, 90+ Common and 14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were on the Estuary this afternoon, but I couldn't manage anything better. I've still not seen a summer migrant yet, which in an average year I would expect, but this year I feel a bit cheated.

Macro Mandarin

Enjoyed a family day out to Dartmoor today, despite the brisk north west wind.... Well that's how I described it to my wife early this morning when I suggested we should go to Dartmoor today - blasting freezing cold wind originating from the centre of the Arctic circle would have proved a far more accurate description!

Due to this wind it was an in-car picnic and sheltered spots-only visit to Dartmoor. Our first spot was one of my favourites, Steps Bridge.  Am sure I'm with most people when I say I much prefer a woodland in the spring/summer, when the air is full of bird song and you're surrounded by nothing but luscious and vibrant colours. Saying that though there is something quite charming about the winter woodland, monochrome colours pretty much everywhere you look as the natural world re-sets itself for another busy season...

Something that could never be described as monochrome however was the highlight of the walk around Stover after lunch...

This was one of the six Mandarins that we saw, with this pair being the most obliging...

Here's a few more of the handsome drake...

This female was also fairly showy, among the Mallards in the prime feeding spot...

There were no Goosanders on the lake whilst we were there, with Tufted Ducks being the only diving ducks present...

Other than the usual Dippers, Siskins, Marsh Tits, Nuthatches, etc, that was it on the bird front today.  However I always leave Dartmoor looking forward to my next visit...

Pigeon Passage

This morning it finally felt like autumn!  I stepped out the back door just after 6am and was greeted by a distinct chill and a beautifully crystal clear starry sky. A little later, just after the sun rose over Beer Head, it looked and felt equally as autumnal....

I knew the bushes were going to be quiet, but I was hoping for some good vis mig. Well, Pigeons certainly didn't disappoint.  Whilst here, and birding at other sites later in the morning, I had just over 8,000 Wood Pigeons fly west.  Some of the flocks were obviously spooked by something, and came tumbling down from high and continued flying west only just above head height.  Love hearing the 'woosh' followed by the sound of their powerful wing beats...

There were quite a few Stock Doves mixed in, and the odd flock of Jackdaw too.  It's a real shame cloud and rain came in just after 9:30, as it could have been a really big day for them. 

Forgetting the Pigeons, the vis mig was disappointing, with not that many smaller birds moving - although this could have been because they were passing ultra high due to the clear skies and light winds.  I suppose the highlight was a high flying very vocal Bullfinch going west - don't tend to see that many of these on vis mig. Otherwise it was just relatively small numbers of Skylarks, Linnets, Chaffinches, Reed Buntings, alba Wagtails and Meadow Pipits.

I did have a good 'vis mig' bird on Sunday, during a dog walk with Jess.  Whilst walking along Harbour Road in Seaton (the road just inland and running parallel with the sea front), the gulls went up and for a change I could immediately see why - a Kite!  Sadly it was just a Red Kite, but still great to see as winter records remain pretty scarce in Devon.  It flew almost directly above us as it followed the road east, then when it got to the Estuary began to spiral up before I lost it as it circled over Axe Cliff.  My rapid right hand meant the texts got out whilst I was still watching it, and amazingly Bun managed to see it from Seaton Hole!

I'll finish this post with a couple of off-patch photos.  We took the dog to Stover CP last Saturday, and I was pleased to see a pair of Mandarins in one of the arms of the main lake...

An Exotic Couple Of Days

...is one way of putting it. But I suppose you could replace the word 'exotic' with 'plastic' or 'desperate'!!!

Whilst at work yesterday I got news of a Laughing Dove in a private Seaton garden. It's not a species I've really though about before in the UK - so phoned Phil to have a chat about its vagrancy potential. This was followed up by a tweet asking the same.  The conclusion I drew from all the comments was although there is a chance, the probability is overwhelmingly in favour of it coming from a cage. Oh well. I could spice it up a bit by saying "it's behaving wild","no rings", "elusive", but that's all meaningless.

I managed to see it after work, well I heard it first, singing away not far from my house...

Looking rare

Shortly after I saw it I was sent a few pics from the couple who first spotted it in their garden earlier in the day. Here's one of them...

(c) Peter and Lesley Clarke

It know it looks like it only has one foot, but it does have both, it's in mid step.

So how could it get any more exotic/plastic? Well a text this morning from Ian M that informed me of a female Mandarin on the Estuary. Now this is a less than annual bird on patch, and unlike the dove, is fully tickable for the patch year lister. So without hesitation I went down there to get my first patch year tick in over a month...

Naff record shot of a grey brown lump of feathers

So some mild excitement in mid summer. No where near as exciting as this though...

Yes, despite the fact Jess has spent time with me immediately after some horrendous patch dips (Garganey, Glauc and Caspian Gulls), and spent the whole entire last winter with the only patch birder in the whole of the UK who couldn't get Waxwing on their patch list (so a pretty miserable and frustrated chap!) she said yes.  And then there's all the early mornings/late nights/quick trips around the river/urgent patch twitches/last minute diversions/repetitive walks around certain sites... God the list could go one! To say Jess is understanding is the biggest understatment of the year!!

I can reveal it's not going to be a long engagement either - 2014 will be our year and we are really looking forward to our future together.