Catching Up...

Well I had a feeling the blog posts would start drying up, but I won't apologise because spending so much time on Dartmoor is proving an incredible experience. I have seen so many birds and I know you all already know, the scenery is absolutely stunning.  I am delighted to be part of the team that is mapping bird numbers and distributions on Dartmoor for the Moor Than Meets The Eye project (http://www.moorthanmeetstheeye.org/).

Sadly we can't always park this close to the survey areas!

A singing Grasshopper Warbler in silhouette 

And spending so much time out on the moor means we encounter more than just birds...

Adder

I do have a bit of patch bird news to tell, rewind back to 21st May and it was one of those days I was not enjoying missing!  Although not all that much was seen off the patch in the first few hours of the day, Lyme Regis and Sidmouth had seen a nice selection of skuas and a heap of passing waders.  Early afternoon though Dan at Sidmouth really upped the grippage with two Pom Skuas and a Storm Petrel - ouch.   I wasn't home until late afternoon, but immediately made a bee-line for the seafront.

I was really lucky to get down there when I did, about 40 minutes into the watch the weather completely changed. All the cloud and showers cleared through, the wind dropped off and the sea went almost flat calm.  I would have loved to have got here sooner, but I still managed a few nice highlights.  Best of all being a lovely pale phased Pomarine Skua west at 18:25. It seemed to be a full adult, with a long stiff tail but no spoon on the end.  What was best about this was five minutes earlier a pale phased Arctic Skua flew west, albeit much further out.  I am always worried we throw some Poms away here with the distance some of our skuas pass, but seeing these two flying in the same direction in such a short space of time has eased my worries somewhat, the second I picked up the Pom the flight style and wing shape were just so obvious.  

Other than these two skuas, 60 Manx Shearwater and a mixed flock of 35+ Dunlin and Sanderling were all I noted.  

And that's about it. Well except for a Red Kite east over the Donkey Sanctuary on 28th May...

Pic taken with my phone - it really was low!

Exmoor

Instead of filling all in on what I've been up to since my last post in one mammoth blog post, I thought I should split it up a bit and deal with different topics in different posts. The first post, our trip away to Exmoor...

Last week Jess had her first week off work since Christmas, and my month of sitting behind a laptop had really taken everything out of me, so we were both VERY keen to get away.  We really love Dartmoor and this was an option, but we know the place quite well. Exmoor though, I've only been too twice before, so we thought we'd stay here for a few nights.  So last Monday morning off we went...

We stayed just outside Dulverton, at the fantastic Middle Upcott Farm.  It is a beautiful farm house, with a very cosy living area and check out the views from our private balcony... 

We got up to so much whilst we were up here, including a surprise birthday present for Jess. Last year I treated her to some raptor and owl flying and handling at Yarak bird of prey centre (see HERE). There were several people doing it with her though, and although she loved it, it wasn't just Owls. So for this birthday, I booked her in for an Owl evening at Exmoor Owl and Hawk Centre.  So just Owls, and best of all, just the falconer and us two - which meant I got to do it as well!

When we arrived it was clear which Owls hadn't been fed yet. This is Casper before we got to her...

This is Casper and I...

And this is Casper five minutes after she was put back in her cage...

We also fed and flew an Eagle Owl and a gorgeous old Tawny Owl...

They had plenty of other Owls here too which we didn't fly, with these two being my favourite...

Great Grey Owl

A Snowy Owl

And it wasn't just Owls. When I went to Morocco with the Spurn guys and girl in 2005 we didn't get Tawny Eagle (are they still there?)...

And what else did we get up too? Well the Valley of the Rocks near Lynton was pretty spectacular...

 

We had to pay a visit to Tarr Steps...

And this was my first visit to Dunster Castle. I actually found the gardens more impressive than the Castle! (and no, not just because of the Spotted Flycatcher!)...

A trip to Watersmeet on Thursday provided the birding highlight. The 5.5 mile walk showed 14 Wood Warblers (13 singing males), seven Pied Flies (incl. one male taking food into a nest hole), four Redstarts (incl. one female taking food into a nest hole) and two Dippers.

Forgetting the birds, it is a beautiful place in its own right...

Despite the nice scenery I was very happy when we got to Lynmouth, and some food...

And check out these, ice creams dipped in melted chocolate...

Although be wary. Eating too much food like the above may make you look like this after a steep climb at the end of a 5 mile walk...

During the trip we saw lots or Red Deer, lots and lots, even some from our B and B. One allowed stupidly close approach...

Ok, maybe not. We never got anywhere near any of the wild Red Dear. This is the best picture I managed...

There were plenty of other less wild animals around too, with Exmoor Ponies, Sheep and Cattle scattered about the Moor...

Right, I think that's enough for now. I'll finish this post with two photos showing the beauty of Exmoor. What a place, well worth a visit...

Scotland Trip - Day Two

I was hoping to have had this post written last night, but was just too tired! Anyway, here goes....

Monday 11th April - Day Two

After breakfast, and a look at the weather forecast, we decided to head over to the west coast. The drive was absolutely spectacular - driving through glens and past snow-topped mountains. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, there were a few heavy showers (one we sat out in a cafe), but as the afternoon went on the weather got better and was wall to wall sunshine.

At about 11:30 we pulled up in the layby overlooking Gruinard Island - where White-tailed Eagles can be seen roosting on the island.... though not today!

aka 'Anthrax Island'

Over all we spent and hour and a half here without a whiff of an Eagle. The sea was productive though, with 30+ Great Northern Divers, a summer plumage Slav Grebe and 6+ Black Guillemots.

One of the divers gave us a bit of a headache - it was always very distant but showed a pale bill which it held pointing upwards.... White-billed!!!?? The only thing that put me off was how dark its rear neck and mantle looked, but that may have just been down to this distance?? A White-billed has been reported here before and after us, so I reckon this was it. Anyway, here's a diver that was easily identifiable....

Summer plumaged Great Northern... nice!

Also here we added Hooded Crow (4+) and Rock Dove to our trip list.

After we realised our Eagle chances were looking bleak, we continued south along the A832, stopping at regular intervals for a scan. The scenery was just stunning...

Wow!

The view in the lower photo got better when I picked up an adult White-tailed Eagle soaring distantly further up the coast being mobbed my Ravens. Luckily it came our way, and we were watching it for a good five minutes as it kept getting closer - what a bird! We lost it as it went behind some mountain tops to the east of us.

We had another White-tailed a little later on too, right above the road - this one being an immature. It didn't half move; it was right above our car - then in about two minutes appeared to be two miles away! Impressive!!

Other birds we noted during our regular stops were another summer plumaged Slav Grebe, a further ten Great Northern Divers, a couple of Eider and four more Rock Dove.

As we started to head back east, the nearer to Inverness we got, the more regular Red Kites were - awsesome! Better still was an Osprey soaring low over the road, which revealed a nest on a nearby electricity pylon. Crossing the bridge in Inverness, a flock of c1000 Pink-feet made a dull green field a lot more exciting!

By the time we had eaten in Inverness, the sun was setting. We stopped at layby 151 (on A9) briefly, where a mostly white Mountain Hare, and fly over Hooded Crow and Osprey (complete with fish) were the higlights.

Bun and Karen at 'Layby 151'

We decided to take an evening drive up the Findhorn Valley after this stop... bird wise a flock of Golden Plovers and a couple of roding Woodcock were the best, but mammals stole the show with this Mountain Hare...

Still with white bits on its ears

And several hundred Red Deer grazing beside the river...

It was quite a sight!

We headed back to the B and B, preparing ourselves for a very early wake up the following morning... (stay tuned!)