Spooning at Night

Well Tuesday night ended not how I was expecting it too!

Whilst I was at work (until 10pm) Mr White texted with news that two Spoonbills were on Black Hole Marsh.  For an Axe year lister Spoonbill is a bird you want to see, some years you will get several, but other years you may get one or even none. I had to see these birds...

The skies were clear, I knew it was a full moon, and Spoonbills are big and white... I had come up with a cunning plan! At 22:10 I pulled into Black Hole Marsh car park where Tim met me, and we walked up to the Tower Hide. The view from the Tower Hide with my naked eye at 22:15 was this...

Now I really don't praise my optics as much as they deserve, but wow, just wow. My Nikon Monarch Binoculars and Telescope literally brought the marsh alive, and there as clear as (not quite but almost) day were the two Spoonbill. I was expecting them to be fast asleep on one of the islands, but in fact they were constantly feeding, which I guess explains why Spoonbills so often sleep for hours upon end during the day!  Watching two Spoonbills sieve the water for food with those long sweeping neck movements, surrounded by numerous Shelduck and Grey Heron at 22:20, with just the slightest of natural light from the full moon was an absolutely awesome experience.

The next morning (Wednesday) we had cloud! And lots of it, so I was out early hoping to cash in on the surely guaranteed mega fall of spring migrants.  Well no, there was no mega fall, there was definitively a bit of a fall, but it was just Willow Warblers and Wheatears, and not many of them. There was enough to keep me walking around the next corner hoping for something better, but the best I managed was our second Sedge Warbler of the spring, this one singing on Stafford Marsh (with the Borrow Pit bird still in situ). Both Spoonbills were still present and one Cattle Egret (which I think is the only one left?) was with the cattle on Colyford Common - making this a four Heron species day for me!

 Here's some pics (and I won't ever make any excuses for too many Wheatear photos!)...

Male Wheatear Seaton Marshes 12/04/17

Male Wheatear Seaton Marshes 12/04/17

Male and female Wheatears Seaton Marshes 12/04/17

Day Spoonbills... so boring compared with night Spoonbills!

A nice Devon Red and our last remaining Cattle Egret?

There was one last surprise for me on Wednesday, an even flukier Osprey than my first of the spring! I was out driving the work's van up Colyford Road, could see the gulls making a fuss and my eyes locked on to an Osprey in with a bunch of spiraling gulls somewhere above the Estuary just south west of Tower Hide.  I had to put my eyes back to the road, and by the time I'd found somewhere safe to pull in I couldn't pick it up again, although could tell it was probably still around as the waders and ducks on the Estuary were now going nuts.  Turns out from others already in the Tower Hide that it then spent the next half hour on our little Estuary, before flying off east. Yes I would have liked better views but pleased to have seen it nonetheless.  I understand our third Osprey of the spring was seen this afternoon, although I couldn't pick it up from my house so no such luck for me today.

This morning I had virtually no time, just half an hour for a quick scoot around the marshes. Couldn't find anything obvious new, except for a second singing Sedge Warbler on the Borrow Pit. One male seems to be happy on the island, with another along the back edge where a small line of reeds are (this is the one that's been there since Monday). No Reed Warbler yet for me.

Dusk Delights

I have been away since Sunday so was eager to get out today to enjoy some more spring action. Sadly though I woke up to fog, which completely smashed my enthusiasm to pieces and I went back to bed.  When I did finally get up I noticed on twitter that Portland was experiencing something of a fall, so I headed down to Seaton Marshes.

It was foggy.

I did eventually stumble upon some migrants, they were (amazingly!) another two House Martins with eight Sand Martins.  I really don't know what is going on with House Martins this year but several have already been seen in the UK, which by mid March is so unusual. I wonder if something has happened where they winter? Maybe some got mixed in with wintering Sand Martins and they've headed north with them?  All I do know is pretty much every year I don't see my first House Martins until the first week of April, weeks after my first Sand Martins and Swallows - but I'm yet to see one of the latter!

I was tied up for the rest of today, but headed out again at about 16:30.  All seemed quiet, including nothing with the gulls on the Estuary, but a distant scan of the gulls roosting on the sand by Tesco revealed something darker mantled.  At first I was really excited as I thought it may be a sub-adult Caspian, but when I got closer I could see it looked more like a particularly cute headed fourth calendar-year (third summer) Yellow-legged Gull...

The bird right of centre

Presumably a female - you can see why I was thinking Casp at first with that lovely little eye

This is my third, and the Axe's fourth Yellow-legged Gull so far this year, which is three or four more than you would usually expect to see by mid March. They are a rare bird in winter here (and in Devon) despite their ever increasing occurrence in late summer/autumn.

Last thing tonight I went back to Seaton Marshes, where the egret roost has recently relocated too.  And in with the Little were SIX Cattle Egrets - yeah we've gained at least one more!  I say at least one because I could only properly go through about a quarter of the Axe egret roost, I could see at least 30 egrets in the distance with the Heronry behind Axmouth Church and I didn't have my scope!  I will try and get down there again tomorrow night and see how many Cattle Egrets we really have...

March Wakes Up

I've never been a fan of March when it comes to birding, so much promise and hope, but in reality you see a few Wheatears and Sand Martins mid month and often very little else.  

The first ten days of this March were just as disappointing as I was expecting. The sea has been absolutely dire with watches most mornings showing nothing on it and nothing over it, and there's been no summer migrants for me despite a few Sand Martins and Wheatears turning up elsewhere. There's not even been any early March wader passage on the Estuary which often occurs (Greenshank, Ruff, Knot, etc). It's the gulls that have kept me going, with a couple of days of triple figure Common Gulls and the odd Mediterranean Gull still coming through.  There's been nice numbers of big gulls too, but even these have disappointed with no more white-wingers or anything better.

There was one thirty minutes of slight delight on the 9th, when the warmth of the sun in Axmouth encouraged my first Blackcap of the year to sing, along with - at last - my first PWC2017 Nuthatch. It was nice to see a Brimstone too, this helped make it feel really spring-like...

Today though spring really did step up a gear. The low cloud/fog dropped some migrants in the Axe valley, and it all started with a text from Ian Mc mid morning reading "Short-eared Owl Seaton Marshes". Twenty minutes later this was my view...

Can you see it?

Dreadful pic I know!

Yes it was day roosting in a tree - quite unusual for a Short-eared. And it stayed here for the whole of the day too!  I saw two Short-eareds last year on patch, but they are only just about annual in the valley and often don't stay for long, so it's nice to get this one on the year list early.

About half an hour after seeing this beaut, news filtered in from Lesley Clarke of an Avocet on Black Hole Marsh.  Perfect. And bang on cue, March is by far and away our peak month for Avocet on the Axe, you would be unlucky to go the month without seeing one - but then again I have gone a year without seeing one here, so it's another handy year tick...

It was showing really well from the Tower Hide, although I didn't have time to venture up there.  It's bound to have woken the local wader photographers from their winter hibernation though, and hopefully they will have many more subjects to aim their lenses at this year. Another good Black Hole Marsh wader year would be greatly appreciated by me that's for sure!  Interestingly this bird was colour-ringed, and I will post the details here when I find out about its life history. Be great to know where it wintered last winter that's for sure.

Later on today I had another hour out, and was delighted to see Sand Martins had suddenly arrived.  There were ten over Colyford Marsh and 18+ over Lower Bruckland Ponds between 16:00-17:00. I wouldn't have been that surprised if I'd seen a Swallow amongst them, I didn't, but I was really surprised to pick up a House Martin with the flock at Lower Brucklands.  My earliest ever in the UK by just under three weeks (31st March being my previous earliest). Amazing.  I knew I had to get a snap of it to save face, but sadly couldn't do any better than this...

March Mega!

It may be dreadful, but it is identifiable. Mind you the same could be said for any of my above pics!

Quiet, But Who Cares...

Even when I spend almost two hours walking around Beer Head in late April and see nothing better than four Wheatear, three Whitethroat and a Willow Warbler, I simply cannot justify a moan...

Absolutely stunning views, this is looking west

Looking east, as usual Portland was viewable, but looking west you could see all the way down to Start Point which is a whopping 40 miles away! Well, you could just about see it...

If you squint you can make out the white lighthouse at Start Point, just to the right of that boat

I'm pretty sure this is Brixham with Berry Head to the left

Hope's Nose and the Ore Stone

Dawlish, Langstone Rock and Sandy Point

Ladram Bay

We really do live in a beautiful part of the world!

And although the migrant birds I saw weren't exactly special, if you think about the journey they have just undertaken then really they are ALL special.   Three of the Wheatears I actually saw arrive, and I can't put it into words how amazing it is to see them make landfall into the UK for the first time this spring. Simply amazing...

Migrants Flood In

...just a pity I've not been able to see any of them!

Actually that's a lie, a visit to Seaton Marshes today showed 13 Wheatear and a Whinchat (a patch year tick so a worthwhile visit) but I have been missing out on all the goodies in the Beer area.  I know I'm always moaning about this, but it's amazing how decent falls nearly always coincide with the weekend!  Beer Head has been a real struggle over the last two weeks, a lot of looking for the odd migrant.  Oh well, at least I've not missed a year tick.

I did see a few passerine migrants last week that I've not had chance to blog about. Wednesday I had a Tree Pipit over Colyford Common, and on Friday Yellow Wagtails were suddenly seemingly abundant, with multiple birds over several locations.  Also on Friday Little Stint made it on to the year list after Phil found a juv on Black Hole Marsh - there's now two and a Curlew Sand. What a place!

Brief sea watches on Friday morning and today both showed single juv Med Gulls, with Friday giving two lovely close Balearic Shearwaters east.

In other birdie news, Wood Sand has made the house list.  On Saturday evening (about 19:30) what I presume to be the lingering juvenile was very vocal and easily audible from my back garden.  

I was very pleased to be able to get the moth trap out last Thursday night, as it gave me 231 moths of 52 species. Amongst the haul was a first for the garden, an eagerly awaited one as I love the Prominent moths...

Coxcombe Prominent

I had several garden scarcities too, the best of these being two Hoary Footman (my third and fourth for the garden)...

Quite a local species

And these...

Dark Spectacle

Flame Carpet

Lime-speck Pug

Sharp-angled Peacock

Finally there was this.  The Kittens are part of the Prominent moths, and they are stunning, but I do find them (well two of them) quite tricky to ID. I think the ones I catch are mostly Sallow Kittens, but one I caught the year before last looked like a Poplar to me (see HERE). This one though I'm really not sure about, it was a large one, but the markings look almost a bit of both to me...

Kitten help required...

Magic May

Well except for sea watching, April was pretty forgettable. But I am very pleased to say May has already proved a much better month!

On 1st May (Tuesday) the south coast experienced an amazing fall of migrants. Beer Head gave nowhere near the number of birds as other sites, but I still had an excellent couple of hours up there.

Seaton Bay from Beer Head

It was a bit of an odd one. Some parts of Beer Head were dead - literally nothing to see or hear at all. But every now and then I came across pockets of activity. Whilst walking along one hedge a male Redstart caught my eye, it flew along the hedge a little and perched up beside a Whinchat. I wandered closer, a couple of Whitethroats flew out and then a Lesser Whitethroat started singing!

The full totals of this enjoyable spring fall look like this:

15 Pale-bellied Brent Goose (flew west)
3 Whimbrel (flew west)
5 Dunlin (flew west)
12 Yellow Wagtail (some amongst cattle, others north over)
1 Tree Pipit (flew north west)
16 Wheatear (all together)
1 Whinchat (female)
3 Redstart (2 male)
2 Grasshopper Warbler (both reeling)
15 Blackcap
20 Whitethroat
1 Lesser Whitethroat (one singing along hedge from farm, showing on and off)
35 Willow Warbler
6 Chiffchaff
2 Spotted Flycatcher

As well as the above, there was a strong passage of Swifts, Swallows and House Martins flying north east. None of the 'decent' migrants stayed put long enough to allow photos, except for this Spotted Flycatcher...

A well behaved Spot Fly

After Beer Head, a wander around the Beer Cemetery Fields showed another Lesser Whitethroat (a silent male), six Whitethroat and this female Redstart...

Crap photo - sorry!

A little later in the day, a sweep of the Estuary revealed 20+ Whimbrel, 10 Barwits and 9 Dunlin.

Yesterday (2nd), I set the morning aside for a spot of bird ringing in a private wood near Colyton. First I'll mention the birds I saw and didn't catch. Two Crossbills spent about an hour in the wood feeding in conifers, and a couple of Lesser Redpoll and Siskin flew over. Sounds like autumn doesn't it!!!

I had four nets up, and had great rewards for my efforts. A nice load of warblers included 7 Chiffchaff, 5 Blackcap and this Willow Warbler...

They really are long winged, the longest winged Chiff measured in at 65mm, this Willy measured 73mm

I was quite surprised (maybe I shouldn't have been?) that one of the Blackcaps was a 3J. '3J' means it is a recently fledged juvenile! A quick calculation indicates its mother must have laid her eggs within the first eight days of April!

3J Blackcap

The highlight for me though was trapping and ringing a Jay. I often hear Jays whilst walking around this wood, but I didn't think one was going to end up in one of my mist nets! A simply stunning bird...

I wasn't going to hold it the way I'm holding the Warblers above because I'm sure it would have loved to eat my fingers!

And now to today. And this morning the weather looked good for a beach walk - so that's exactly what I did! It was worthwhile too, and Seaton Beach offered 9 Dunlin, 7 Wheatear and a Grey Plover...

It just wouldn't face me!

After this, a look along the Estuary and up the valley, and a second visit later this afternoon (incl. Black Hole Marsh) gave totals of:

6 Gadwall
2 Shoveler
4 Grey Plover (2 stonking summer plumage males)
14 Ringed Plover
22 Dunlin (so a total 31)
52 Whimbrel
7 Bar-tailed Godwit
5 Black-tailed Godwit
1 Greenshank
2 Common Sandpiper
1 Yellow Wagtail (flew over Coronation Corner)
3 Sedge Warbler

If there's a bit more rain today, I fancy a Turnstone. It certainly feels like a Turnstone-day for us! One the year listers no doubt would like.

Also, whilst driving, a Tawny Owl flew low across the road near Boshill Cross. A bit of a surprise!

And that's that. A great few days :-)

Brilliant Bank Holiday Birding

What a fantastic day - and I normally really hate bank holidays cuz people are just bloody everywhere! I started the day at Beer Head, nice and early at 6am...

Even by 06:05 I knew it was going to be good, as in the gloom I'd already seen four Tree Pipits and two Wheatears! I stayed up here until 09:20, and could have stayed much longer if Blackhole Marsh wasn't beckoning me so much!

As always, Beer Head offered superb scenery...

Look! The moon is still out!!!

And about twenty minutes in, I turned around to see this...

It's Bun! (I tried to hide but he had already seen me!)

These were my totals by the end of my three plus hours here, plus a few hopeless pics...

Redshank - one heard flying over
Great-spotted Woodpecker - two juvs, notable for beer head
Yellow Wagtail - 61 flew west, though many landed with cattle west of the look out

you can just about see six flying west...if you really squint!

alba Wagtail - 18, including at least twelve grounded
Tree Pipit - a good total of nine included (unusually) three grounded birds. Like the others, these flew off NW

A very poor photo of two of the settled Tree Pips

Meadow Pipit - two west
Wheatear - at least 48, some moving through very quickly
Whinchat - one west of the look out

Sorry, I know I really shouldn't post a photo of this quality!

Stonechat - one juvenile near the head
Garden Warbler - two (Summit and The Hollow)
Blackcap - at least eight
Whitethroat - four
Sedge Warbler - one in The Sheepwalk
Willow Warbler - 37+, in reality there were probably twice as many!
Chiffchaff - six
Pied Flycatcher - one in hedge east of Sheepwalk, showed well
Spotted Flycatcher - three
Bullfinch - one at The Summit

Am very pleased with this haul, well worth the early start! And it wasn't just birds that were plentiful at Beer Head this morning...

...this is Bun again

...now this elusive one IS a tricky ID, if the subject was in winter plumage you would see red with this view :-)

Three more distant birders - one being 'old man' Waite

At 09:20 I hot footed it to Blackhole Marsh, hoping that a certain stint had joined our Dunlin flock (this Stint in case you didn't know!). Well it hadn't, in fact nothing had - all looked very samey in the wader department to me!

I had a bit of shock though whilst kicking about in some ditches and reeds, not what I was hoping for but still much appreciated... (by the way it didn't coming out of the ditches, just flew south west over the marsh from Colyford Marsh direction)

I sent a text out saying what I'd seen, but was pleased to re-locate it a few minutes later a little to the south of me, so sent another round of texts out. If you can't work out what it is from the video, this should help...

...say what you see!

It's our first of 2010, but at least the eighth I've found on patch. Isn't it funny how a few years ago everyone was like "they are doing a Little Egret - they will be everywhere soon!" and now they've gone back to being scarce again!

The only other few bits of news I've got to tell for today is of singles of Whimbrel and Wigeon on the Estuary, and three Greenshank and 18 Teal on Colyford Marsh.

What an excellent day - bring on more like this :-)

ps it is a Cattle Egret and remained in the area all day!!