Best Job Ever?

On Sunday evening I was delighted to lead a tram of 19 (plus Allan our driver) up the Axe Valley on a Birdwatch special. 

The weather during the afternoon was overcast with some heavy downpours, and the forecast looked a bit iffy for the duration. But in reality except for a couple of spots of rain as we left Seaton Station, everything including the weather was just so kind to us.  The wind dropped to almost nothing and the rain and clouds soon cleared revealing a magical soft golden light across the valley...

The birds were just as kind to us, and I'll start with the punters favourite as always, Kingfisher.  We had four sightings of probably two birds, with one sitting in full view for several minutes which left smiles on everyone's faces.  The hunting Barn Owl that remained in view for about ten minutes was also a firm favourite, this also posed well for the tram full...

Barn Owl

On the other side of the Estuary, one of the lingering juvenile Marsh Harriers hunted over the reed beds before landing distantly in a field opposite...

For the whole journey, low-flying Swallows, House Martins, Sand Martins and (a surprisingly high number of) Swifts showed really well as they fed low on flying insects. Whilst on the subject of passerines, three Wheatears showed well around Sheep's Marsh...

Wheatear - I just love the pale-edged black primaries

What was really special for me was the variety and numbers of wading birds on show.  At the top end of the trip where we turn around by Colyford scrape, as if three Green Sandpipers, a young Turnstone, a Dunlin and 11 Ringed Plovers weren't enough - a Wood Sandpiper took off from the small pools north of the scrape and flew south, calling all the way.

Adult Ringed Plover left and juvenile Turnstone right

Green Sandpiper

Thankfully on the return journey the Wood Sandpiper showed better, unusually feeding on the Estuary with a group of Redshank...

Look at the size difference - juv Wood Sandpiper flanked by two Redshank

Black Hole Marsh showed good numbers of Black-tailed Godwits and Dunlin plus a close Greenshank, with the Estuary giving another three Greenshank, a further three Turnstone (four is a cracking good count for us!), two Whimbrel, a heap more Black-tailed Godwits and at the very least 14 Common Sandpipers.  

Next year I'm going to try and arrange a few more Birdwatch tram trips for autumn, particularly August and September.  Seeing large numbers of wildfowl during the winter is always good, but nothing quite beats the variety, quantity and almost endless possibilities that can be seen during a trip in one of these months.

First-winter Argentatus?

Lots of large and small gulls on the Estuary this evening, they all seemed reluctant to fly out to sea to roost presumably due to the east wind blowing into the bay.  Looking at the forecast they are going to have to get used to it!

Considering the numbers about, surprisingly still no Axe white-wingers for me this year (there were brief singles of Glauc and Iceland (IMc) in January but nothing since). The best among the throng of gulls off Coronation Corner was this strikingly dark and large first-winter Herring Gull-type, which showed unusually solidly dark tertials and plain greater coverts...

In the middle at the back

At the back preening

One big Herring Gull!

Quite a snooty beast

A bit more detail on the wing feathers

Annoyingly throughout the whole time I watched it I didn't see it fly or flap once, so can't add much more to what these photos show.  At the time I thought a first-winter argentatus Scandinavian Herring Gull was probably the best option, but I know there's no way I could prove this. Less moult would have helped my case that's for sure, and possibly a frostier appearance.

If there's anyone out there willing to comment on its ID, or probable ID, then please do. Many thanks to Brett Spencer who has already given his thoughts.

Also on the Estuary this evening, I was surprised to see the wintering Ringed Plover (which in itself is very unusual for the Axe) had been joined by a second bird.  And although I saw neither this evening, the Glossy Ibis and Marsh Harrier have been around during the last few days.

The Axe Estuary this evening

With snow forecasted for next week, along with proper cold temperatures, we may well see some cold weather bird movements, especially with so much snow set to dump in the east of the UK. I always find it sad to see birds having to move literally to survive, but there's no argument of just how spectacular this can be. A quick scroll back through my blog reminded me of not just the best cold weather bird movement I've ever seen on patch, but the best bird movement I've ever seen here full stop, back in December 2010; http://stevesbirdingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/cold-weather-birding.html

Wrap up warm folks. But be sure to keep the binoculars around your neck as during cold weather, anything really can turn up anywhere.

Ruff Influx and Spoonbill

Today is the first day this week that I've managed any time out birding on patch. And that's with the whole week off work!  I managed two looks along the Estuary at mid tide (early morning and mid afternoon) and an early afternoon visit to Black Hole Marsh.  It was quite a fruitful day really with my totals being; 

42 Wigeon

50+ Teal

1 Spoonbill

7 Ringed Plover

2 Dunlin

1 Curlew Sandpiper

1 Little Stint

19 Ruff
1 Bar-tailed Godwit

2 Green Sandpiper

5 Common Sandpiper

1 Spotted Redshank

3 Greenshank

There's two stand outs on that list, Spoonbill and the exceptional Ruff count.  The Spoonbill was completely jammy as I saw it with my naked eye from the kitchen window flying south west away from Black Hole Marsh. Doubt soon crept in with such a brief and distant naked eye only view, but sure enough when I went down to Black Hole an hour later... "there was a Spoonbill here about an hour ago, didn't stay long though and flew off towards the Estuary". Presumably this was also the bird that dropped in briefly at Abbotsbury today.

As for the Ruff. Wow. Just wow. I had at least ten early morning on Black Hole Marsh, Dad had 14 mid morning and when I went down there early afternoon there was an incredible 19 on view. All were juveniles, and they were mostly hanging out in two flocks of seven with the rest loosely dotted around.  Not sure if this is a record count for the patch, I highly doubt it as 'back in the day' am sure Phil saw loads together at times, but my previous highest single count here is of 17. Can't remember the date off hand but it was in the winter during a very cold snap with lots of snow and ice around.

Six of the 19 Ruff on Black Hole Marsh this afternoon

The Spotted Redshank was the lingering juvenile on Colyford Scrape, and the Curlew Sandpiper (juv), Ringed Plovers and my highest count so far this autumn of Wigeon were all along the Estuary this morning.

In other news, it's that time of year when I need to edit my mini-bio to the right of this page, and increase my age by one. Though to be honest life is going by so quick it feels like I'm changing this at least three times a year!  At the age of 32, well, I can't even begin to explain just how happy and content I am with life, it would take pages and pages of text. But the source of it all is simple...

My world

Washout

South easterly winds coupled with rain is exactly what you want to see in the forecast when September comes around. Perfect conditions for bringing waders, gulls, terns, wildfowl and seabirds in to the south coast. So no surprise I was up early today and could not get out of the door quick enough!  In reality though by the end of the day I'd got very wet for very few new arrivals. Well there was one excellent new arrival, but I managed to let it get away...

Mid morning whilst sat in the kitchen chatting on the phone to James Mc I noticed a large wader flying towards the house, still a fair way off to the east.  It instantly looked odd.  It continued flying west and as it got closer I literally threw down my phone and ran to my binoculars. Annoyingly they were in the car outside, and when I finally grasped them away went the wader over the roof tops to the west.  Thanks to this species fairly distinctive size, proportions and flight style I know it was a Stone Curlew. But having seen no plumage features with naked eye views only in the pouring rain, it was gone for good... so so so annoying. And what a house tick that would have been!

What I have seen today, and managed to actually conclusively identify, include a drake Gadwall on the Estuary this morning, and the following on Black Hole Marsh at dusk; 

50+ Teal

1300 Black-headed Gull

1 Mediterranean Gull (adult)

130 Herring Gull

8 Great Black-backed Gull

11 Lesser Black-backed Gull

1 Common Tern (adult) 

12 Ringed Plover

c50 Dunlin

6 Greenshank

6 Common Sandpiper

3 Green Sandpiper

5 Snipe

Sadly the Ruff seems to have left us now, but I did manage this pic before he went...

Juvenile male Ruff

And I couldn't help but snap this juv Ringed Plover showing at stupidly close range...

Really hope I've not missed the Black Tern boat for the year - thought that was virtually a dead cert today. Oh well, maybe tomorrow?

Black Hole Update

Morning visits to Black Hole Marsh today and yesterday have shown the following; 

47 Little Egret

1 Cattle Egret

12 Teal

14 Oystercatcher 

20 Ringed Plover

c50 Dunlin

c50 Black-tailed Godwit

5 Greenshank

8 Common Sandpiper

4 Green Sandpiper

1 Mediterranean Gull

4 Wheatear

20+ Yellow Wagtail

10 Willow Warbler

This morning's Wheatears were my first of the autumn, simply because I haven't managed to get up to Axe Cliff/Beer Head much in the last few weeks. There had clearly been something of a small fall this morning as some of the bushes and reeds were hopping with Willows and Chiffs, especially around Stafford Marsh.  In local terms it was an impressive count of Little Egrets early yesterday morning near Tower Hide, suggesting they've enjoyed a good breeding season.

Although tundra Ringed Plovers are probably very common migrants, among yesterday's (most distant) Ringed Plovers was probably the best tundrae example I've ever seen here...

The middle bird, a compact Ringed Plover with a strikingly dark mantle and crown

At the Birdfair I learnt a lot more about the fantastic Nikon P900, so am going to really try and get to grips with its various different settings and features. Sure should be fun...

Yesterday's sunset on the lower Axe Estuary, looking towards Seaton

More Yellow-legged Gulls and More Waders

Had a really enjoyable hour and a bit in the Tower Hide with Phil and Clive this morning, oh and Harry of course who as usual slept through all the chit chat and excitement. There were lots of birds about on the rising tide, including a couple of local scarcities which was nice.  

So that most of you don't switch of now I'll start with the wading birds and end with the gulls. Even if I do say so myself though, you would be a fool not to look at today's Yellow-legged Gull helpings as they are a bit good.  But for now the non-gulls; 

3 Teal
2 Ringed Plover
12 Dunlin
2 Whimbrel
20 Black-tailed Godwit
5 Common Sandpiper
1 Turnstone

Turnstone with Dunlin and two Redshank

Two adult Ringed Plover

At least one of the two juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls on show was an additional bird to yesterday's four - the more distant of today's two had more pale notching on its tertial tips than the average Yellow-legged and any of yesterday's. Still within variation though and all other features ticked the right boxes...

Bird one. Classic pale ground colour to underparts, large size and hefty bill, square head shape, long pale legs, dark centered scapular and coverts and mostly black tertials just with some pale notching on tips of the upper two.

Bird one. A lovely thick set bird and looked quite long necked at times.

Bird one in flight. Pale head contrasting with darker breast streaks, pale inner primary window also visible but no tail detail on this shot sadly.

And then there was bird two, which may or may not have been one of last night's four. It was unquestionably though an absolute stunner and was almost always the closest gull to the Tower Hide...

Bird two. An even paler bird and another chunk.

Bird two. Tertials much better on this bird, all black with narrow white edging. Note the brown cast to the mantle and scapular feathers, another trait of juvenile Yellow-legged.

Bird two. This shot shows really well the classic Yellow-legged Gull (irrelevant of age) head and bill shape. This bird had a really striking dark eye mask, almost hiding the eye.

Bird two. A swimming shot - looking suitably long winged and long billed.

Bird two. Can just about see the tail here, which is really white with a neat black tail band. This bird has a little bit of extra black on at least one of the tail feathers just above the tail band.

Bird two. As with most juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls at this time of year, this bird is already starting to moult in to first-winter plumage. There are several second generation feathers coming through here, but the most obvious two are smack bang in the middle. They are more rounded feathers, not pointed, worn and brown like the juvenile ones, but white, grey and black. You can see why they are called 'anchor-shaped'.

Bird two. To complete the photos a flight shot, which was mostly ruined by the Herring Gull in the foreground! Still the pale ground colour and typical juv YLG wing pattern can be seen well.

Ok no more gull pics...well not today anyway!  

Oh I almost forgot, I've heard at least four Willow Warblers today, hooet-ing from various different places on patch. Numbers of these will rapidly build up now as autumn rolls on...

Black Hole Beckons

With storms and rain showers overnight, and wader-inviting water levels, I knew Black Hole Marsh needed a thorough look over this morning. So at 06:00 I whisked Harry down there and we stayed until about 07:50.  It was so worthwhile - today has proved to be the best wader day of the autumn so far.

I was amazed at how quickly the water levels had dropped, this was taken at 13:00 yesterday...

And this at 06:50 today...

This was another part of the marsh this morning - lots of lovely (and lovely plumaged) wading birds...

My totals were;

3 Teal
32 Little Egret
1 Ringed Plover (autumn first)
1 Little Ringed Plover (ad)
20 Dunlin (also had six flying over the Estuary, unsure if they joined the Black Hole flock so maybe 26 present)
3 Greenshank
53 Redshank
12 Black-tailed Godwit
7 Common Sandpiper
1 Green Sandpiper
1 Med Gull (juv)
2 Kingfisher
 

When the marsh is in this condition birds seem to constantly trickle in, so expect these totals to be way off by this evening, especially after a high tide. Exciting times!

The Ringed Plover and Little Ringed Plover stayed close to each other, this allowed for some nice comparison shots. Ringed Plover upper bird in both shots, just look at the overall difference in size (particularly bulk) and shape...

The two Greenshank that remained together, although both adults, looked completely different to one another (left bird still very much in summer plumage)... 

And I simply cannot get enough of juv Med Gulls, enjoy them before they moult...

If you ever find yourself in the Tower Hide with a camera, do make sure you keep an eye on the post just underneath the hide on the Black Hole Marsh side. This little fella can easily sneak in and out without being noticed...

In the voice of a stern tennis umpire... "More rain please!"

Iceland Gull

I think gull flocks get over looked when it gets to May, everyone seems too preoccupied with spring migrants and over shooting rarities.  But if you go back through the county records mid May often brings a little pulse of white-winged gull records to the south west. There was a Glaucous Gull at Slapton at the beginning of the month and I was really hoping for one of these, but I'm certainly not complaining at seeing my fourth Iceland Gull of the year at 9am this morning...

Ian Mc found this bird at about 08:30. I didn't rush out for it but on the way to walking the dog I thought I'd drop by Coronation Corner in case it was still about. I'm glad I did.

Yesterday was a very wet day. I only had a few spare hours in the morning, and I spent most of them walking up and down Seaton Beach with wading birds in mind. The only waders I saw though were a flock of 30+ mostly Ringed Plovers that flew in off and quickly vanished in the gloom. When I later looked along the Estuary gladly they were there, 26 Ringed Plover and ten Dunlin.  The biggest group of Ringed Plover that I've seen here so far this year, just a pity there wasn't a Turnstone or two tagging along...

Slow Going

I don't think it is just here that spring seems to have stopped for the time being. Although I've not had much time out this week (an hour or so in the field both first thing in the morning and last thing at night) it's clear that it's really quite quiet.  In fact I hadn't had a year tick at all this week (so unusual for the last week in April) until just before 7pm tonight...

Whenever I've been around in the evenings over the past few weeks I've been checking the little pre-roost gathering of up to twenty Pied Wagtails that can usually be found either on Bridge or Colyford Marsh. A White Wagtail would have been nice enough (still not seen one this year) but a pair of Yellow Wagtails on Colyford Marsh this evening were way more exciting!  Hard to beat a spring male Yellow Wag if you ask me - I just love 'em! And a year tick too :-)

Otherwise today has been poor, as was yesterday. Tuesday was a little better though with the increased water level on Black Hole Marsh at dawn offering 16 Dunlin, six Ringed Plover (both notable increases), a Greenshank and a Common Gull, plus five Cattle Egret over north and seven Whimbrel on the Estuary (been this many pretty much all week).  Walking back from the Island Hide I briefly caught sight of a large yellow bunting and crossed everything that it was going to turn out to be a Cirl Bunting...

...It was a Yellowhammer. Still really notable though, I can't recall seeing many/any Yellowhammers on the deck in the river valley. I have had a few fly over, but not perched up in a bush which is promising, it would be great if they started nesting here. It was nice to see a Sedge Warbler quite well too for a change...

At both ends of Tuesday there were at least 200 hirundines feeding low in the valley, by far my biggest gathering this year and no doubt congregating low due to the bitterly cold north wind. They were mostly Sand Martins and Swallows with the odd House Martin mixed in.  It was fascinating watching them during the evening, because when a huge dark cloud came over and the light level dropped instantly, they all flew up and started behaving like a murmuration of Starlings...

I have been keeping an eye on the sea since my Great Skua, but it's been as quiet as the land. I had four Sandwich Terns fishing offshore on Tuesday, a Ringed Plover flew east on Wednesday and today the lingering Common Scoter remains...

I'm actually well impressed with the above photo, as the Scoter is at the very least half a mile out!  

Having moaned in my last post about the lack of sea watching weather this spring, I am literally salivating at the forecast for Saturday evening/Sunday.  I've asked Jess to keep our imminent arrival in there til Monday at least...

 

Spring Wader Passage?

Just a couple of snippets of interest from the past few days to tell in today's blog post

Friday morning last week saw a slight surprise in the form of a Ringed Plover on Seaton beach. This was probably our first true sign of spring passage as there's not been a Ringed Plover on patch since October 2016. With the temperatures turning mild later this week I wonder if any other signs of spring will emerge?

On Thursday of last week it was nice to see two good-looking tristis Chiffchaffs at Colyford WTW.  The first bird was ringed (presumably the bird ringed here by Mike Tyler on 28th Dec 2016) and came straight in to a recording of tristis song. The second bird was along the lane just north of the WTW, and looked even smarter than the ringed bird with proper 'Daz white' underparts, but it never called. Sadly neither posed well enough for photos, but if they stick around some more hopefully I'll get some shots.

It's been great to see far more Med Gulls about recently. In the first winter period they were so scarce here, but in the last few weeks I've been seeing ones and twos far more frequently. Adults in all stages of head moult and a couple of second-winters too, probably over ten different birds in the last two weeks, including sadly one with a damaged wing by the tram sheds.

The only bits of interest from today include the wintering Grey Plover still on the Estuary, a drake Gadwall for its second day hanging out below the Tower Hide, and the Brent Goose that has been around since Saturday on Colyford Marsh.

I hate posting photo-less posts, so have a token Kestrel from mid January.  There seems to be a few more of these about than the last few years, with at least five wintering on patch...

Black Hole Marsh

Black Hole Marsh was much the same over this mornings high tide, if anything there were slightly fewer birds than the weekend. Hopefully though this rain will drop a few more bits within the next couple of days...

5 Teal
1 Water Rail (juv)
7 Lapwing
12 Black-tailed Godwit
2 Ringed Plover (ad and juv)
4 Little Ringed Plover (juvs)
43 Dunlin
1 Wood Sandpiper
5 Common Sandpiper
1 Snipe
2 Mediterranean Gull (juv and first-summer)

Little Ringed Plover at 06:20

Little Ringed Plover at 7am - a bit more light can make all the difference!