Seaton Wetlands

I consider myself extremely lucky that my daily exercise walk more often than not includes a lap of Seaton Wetlands (Black Hole Marsh, Stafford Marsh and Colyford Common). Living just a three minute walk from the entrance of Black Hole Marsh has never been more appreciated.

Although the aim of this post is summarise some of my highlights from the last couple of weeks, more than ever I am getting so much enjoyment from seeing the commonest species...

Male Reed Bunting

Sedge Warbler - there's at least five singing males on the reserve from what I have observed

Blackcap - good numbers present

Whilst I'm in the bushes and reeds, Reed Warblers are singing in excellent numbers. I counted 11 singing males on 18th April but more have arrived since.  The 18th was a good morning for warbler arrivals, being the only cloudy and damp morning that we've had so far this month (was the same morning I had a Willow Warbler singing from my back garden).  As well as the Reed Warbler count, I noted a singing Lesser Whitethroat (which is still with us today), a Common Whitethroat and four Willow Warblers. Wheatears have been really sparse on the marshes this spring with just the occasional one or two noted, I think they are all heading for higher ground thanks to the sun we've enjoyed.

Wading bird passage has been ticking over, no big arrivals but often something different most days.  Dunlin numbers have been varying between one and seven birds, and two Ringed Plovers keep popping up every now and then - whether they've been the same two all along who knows!?  A lone Knot on Black Hole on 24th was one a pair that had been hanging around a few days, there was a nice but distant summer plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit on 17th, and Whimbrel have been trickling through for about ten days now.  I have already posted a photo of the two Avocets that Phil found yesterday, but today Phil discovered this rather lovely, and fairly late male Little Ringed Plover...

Typical LRP pose

Can't beat a spring LRP

Whimbrel

I know it seems most of my recent posts have included an Osprey - but I'm afraid this one does too!  I was treated to the most amazing views of one hovering right above my head on 17th, before it flew off west over town.  It virtually looked down into my eyes - have been really spoilt rotten for this species this spring.

My recent visits have also shown that we still have at least two black rabbits with us.  For some reason they seem to sporadically appear down here, ever since I have been birding here at least...

Spot the difference!

Bit of a cutey really!

Back at home, the Lesser Whitethroat mentioned above was singing from a green just down the road from my place as I walked back from the marshes today.  I scooped Harry up, legged it home and could hear it from my back garden - taking my lockdown house list up to 82.  The Grasshopper Warbler still reeling well tonight.

Redstart Heralds Restart of Spring

Now we've seen the back of that blasting easterly wind, northbound migrant birds have responded accordingly.  

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it out today, but Kev did ok up Beer Head as the fog cleared mid morning with Grasshopper Warbler, Redstart, Black Redstart and Whitethroat.  I did however cash in on some migrants yesterday, thanks to two visits to Seaton Marshes.

Visit one showed at least ten Willow Warbler and seven Blackcap in the bushes, with my first Reed and Sedge Warbler of the spring on the Borrow Pit.  The rain and low cloud kept 30+ Swallow and half a dozen or so House Martins low over the marsh...

Unfortunately yet again they weren't accompanied but a Red-rumped!

Visit two early afternoon revealed the cherry on top, a cracking male Redstart. It wasn't hanging around however, and within a few minutes had traveled the whole length of the ditch that runs west to east across the marsh just north of the Borrow Pit. I lost it when it flew into bushes next to the tram line.

And that brings this blog up to date for now, although considering the date I hope that by the day there will be more to tell.  To complete this post, although off patch, a visit to Lyme Regis the other day showed the immature drake Eider still present...

Wish it moved a little way west!

That's More Like It!

As the date gets nearer to the 13th (mini-Waite due date!) I am trying to get as much sleep as possible, so this morning with no wind to tempt me out I thought I'd sleep in. So pleased I didn't in the end though!

Dan J from Sidmouth texted me at about 06:20 to say he'd just had two distant Skua sp. east. Knowing there were at least two skuas in the bay was more than enough to get me up! 06:50 - 07:50 from the Spot On Kiosk produced (flew east unless stated);

11 Common Scoter 

2 Great Northern Diver (see below!)

7 Manx Shearwater

2 Balearic Shearwater (east with 4 Kitts at 07:38)

1 Pomarine Skua (GET IN!!!!)

4 Kittiwake

Three major talking points in the above list. And of course I'll start with the Pom. After five Arctic and two Great Skuas this spring, what a joy to finally see a Pom. Always a rare bird here. It was a stonking fully spooned pale-phased adult, and flew east at 07:10. I've had them closer but it was close enough to see all plumage details and that impressive spoon!  It was nice to watch it chase a Manxie around for half a minute or so too, always amazes me how different a skuas casual migrating flight action is compared with their flight action when in full chase mode, and how quickly they switch modes.

The Balearic Shearwaters were a real surprise, a proper rare spring bird on the patch, and I'd say Devon. It's usually mid summer onward when they appear - but sometimes we don't get many at all in the whole year.  However by a long long way the smartest bird(s) of the watch were the two Great Northern Divers. OH MY WORD.  Annually we see GND's flying west past here in spring, often they are in summer plumage but usually are distant. Not only were today's two both in full summer plumage, but they were also both settled on the water not that far out. Each time I scanned over them I couldn't help myself from stopping and having another gawp - incredible patterns and colours on these amazing plumaged birds. I've no pics I'm afraid as the sea was too lumpy, but flipping heck I won't forget these two beasts for a while. Absolutely stunning birds. And they stayed there for the whole hour.

After the sea watch a quick tour of the valley sites showed a singing Willow Warbler on the Borrow Pit (my first on patch this month!) and on Black Hole Marsh our fourth Avocet of the spring. It was rather oddly upended like a feeding duck so this is the only photo you are getting...

I promise that is an Avocet!

Before today I've done well missing patch year ticks recently. Last night Sidmouth Clive had a Cuckoo fly towards Seaton Marshes from Black Hole Marsh, but there was no further sign of it. And on Tuesday a Ring-necked Parakeet was seen by three different people in three different places in Axmouth during the course of the day. Ok I know that's a bit plastic but for me it would be not only a year tick, but a full fat patch tick too! That's presuming it didn't have any dodgy rings or any other anomalies.

It's been so nice to see the local breeding birds doing so well in this pleasant weather. I am seeing lots of fledglings about, and many adult birds being busy...

Song Thrush Black Hole Marsh

Sedge Warbler Black Hole Marsh

And I keep seeing Hares up Axe Cliff, with two up there on Tuesday morning...

A Hare up close for a change!

And I think that's about it for this post. Well except for the breaking news from the bookmakers that the odds have been slashed for baby Waite being named Pomarine...

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...

 

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.

Spring Trickles On

Although we have some cloud we need more!  My god you must all think I am just always moaning about the weather on this blog.... well I suppose I am. But a good spring on patch is completely dependent on the weather. A bit of rain would be ideal but I can't see that coming, so just some thick cloud would be nice...

Yesterday there was a bit of action, mostly Wheatear-action, and this was probably more to do with the cold NW wind than the bit of cloud. When there's a strong head wind migrants are far more likely to need to drop in for a refuel before heading on, than if there's little/no wind. I guess flying into the wind uses more energy?  It was really nice to see a load of Wheatears again because they've been scarce since my Wheatear binge on 24th March. There were at least 14 in the valley yesterday, with most (eight at least) at Colyford Common, one at Seaton Marshes and five in the ploughed field opposite Colyford WTW.  

I did also manage to add Sedge Warbler to mine (and the Patch's) year list yesterday, not before time, with one singing on the Borrow Pit. Plus there was a Common Sand flying around here which would have been another new-in migrant.  The final spike of interest for me yesterday were two Goosanders on Black Hole Marsh at dusk, but not the two from the previous night as one of these was a fine adult drake.  This makes me think that the run of Goosander sightings over the last couple of days stem from the same four birds I had drift down the river late on the 27th March (a drake and three females).

This morning I was up and out early again, despite the lack of cloud, and again overall it was quiet but there were a few snippets of interest. Even if I see nothing though being out and about here is ALWAYS a pleasure, especially early in the day when there are few other people to ruin it about...

The Borrow Pit (pictured above) produced the singing Sedge Warbler again and the six Cattle Egrets having another lie in. A Willow Warbler singing here was one of five that I've seen/heard this morning, which is five more than I noted yesterday!

Black Hole Marsh gave a couple of surprises, with our first Green Sandpiper of the year dropping in calling at about 06:45...

And from the Tower Hide my 11th patch Pintail of the year, which is tons by Axe standards! Ten of them have been drakes which is nice...

I ended my last post with Venus, so I will end this one with Jupiter which was showing just below the moon last night...

And here's basically the same pic just with a different shutter speed, as I wanted to try and capture some of the cloud...

I struggled to get a good photo of Jupiter on its own, this is my best effort as you can see three of its largest moons...

And roll on tomorrow. Spring is great as with each day comes a whole lot more potential...

Photo Poll Results

For the last two mornings we've been plagued by the dreaded fog. It's mostly affected high ground so I haven't even bothered with Beer Head and Axe Cliff, the valley however has been a bit clearer at ground level so I have put all my effort in here...

A lot of stomping and scanning has failed to produce the goods. The wader variety and numbers seem to be dwindling as each hour passes, except for an usually high number of Bar-tailed Godwits (my highest count being 12 on Black Hole Marsh yesterday morning). I've really been hoping for a Wryneck but as yet I've not fallen over one. At least this morning there was clearly an increase in Sedge Warblers (15). This gave me the encouragement to work extra hard for an Aquatic but alas no pale central crown stripes, although there was one scarily yellow juvy Sedge (not the one pictured below)...

Seeing as though things are still quiet, it's time for me to waffle again.  And today's waffle is about the results of last week's Spotted Flycatcher photo poll.  I'm delighted to announce that my favourite won with an enormous 75% of the 96 votes cast...

I know there will always be a market and a desire to get the cracking full frame bird photos, and like anyone I absolutely love to see a pin sharp close up of a nice bird. But very rarely do these photos actually excite me or stay with me for long. Personally I am all for flying the flag for the 'record shot'. You know, the photos that show you more about the moment than the cost of the photographers lens. Let's look at those Spot Flies again.

This is a Spotted Flycatcher....

 

This is a migrant Spotted Flycatcher that's pitched down on top of a blackthorn bush on Beer Head, hoping to refuel on insects flying in the early autumn sunshine before continuing on its long migration to Africa...

OK, the photo doesn't necessarily tell you all of that, but hopefully you get what I mean.

 

I mean come on, how many full frame Wheatear photos do we have to see each year... oh yeah, that reminds me...

 

In my defence there is plenty of habitat detail in the shot giving it some atmosphere!

Back to record shots, this Whinchat photo (showing one of three Whinchat on Seaton Marshes yesterday) is dreadful, but I love how vivid those supercilia are and how charismatic the bird looks...

Long live the record shot! 

A New Toy

For some reason I had low expectations for today, not sure why because it is getting on for mid April, but I just thought it was going to be duff.  I spent half an hour on the beach looking out to sea from 8:30 and didn't see anything of note at all, which wasn't a great start. We never seem to do well here in easterlies, annoyingly the Chesil side of the bay do very well in this wind direction.

Home for a quick coffee and then it was down to Black Hole Marsh for a quick pre-recorded interview with BBC Radio Devon. It was during the drizzle here that suddenly the day felt better...

My first Sedge Warbler of the year was singing strongly just inside the entrance gate, with a few Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs in the bushes above.  Overhead Swallows and a few Martins were streaming over NW, with two Ringed Plovers that circled over the marsh also my first of the year (it really has been a dreadful spring for wader passage so far).

A look along the Estuary then showed my first two Whimbrel of the year, but Seaton Marshes produced nothing new.  I was out again later with Bun which revealed the continued presence of our lingering Marsh Harrier and a smart White Wag beside Colyford WTW.

And now to the post title.  You will notice this has been a photo-free post, well that's because I've been videoing!  I've always wanted to own a camcorder, and Sean Foote (@PortlandNature) and his fantastic monthly vlogs (video-blogs) tipped me over the edge. So I purchased one of what he has, a Panasonic HC-V250. It's cheap but seems to do the job well, and boasts a superb 90x zoom.  I am not going to be vlogging, but I thought it would be good to film what I see as much as I can.  You cannot beat a good photo, but being a realist, unless I spend several thousand pounds on a long lens, I'm not going to take good photos and be able to compete with the pros. Not to mention that everyone takes photos now, absolutely everyone, so I thought it would be refreshing to go off in a slightly different direction.  Don't worry there will be some pics still, just expect (and hopefully enjoy!) some videos too.

To start the ball rolling, it just has to be our long staying rarity...

Yes I have got a lot to learn, but still, what a nice subject to start with.  I also managed a quick vid of today's White Wag...

Looking forward to the rest of the week now - hopefully it won't disappoint. 

Puzzling Garden Warbler

Enjoyed a superb ringing session yesterday morning with 43 birds trapped at Lower Bruckland Ponds.  I never knew this place was such a fuel station for migrating passerines, but clearly it is.  As ever with ringing I wouldn't have had a clue half these birds were there without the nets. The more ringing I do the more I realise field counts are way off the mark, especially when it comes to migration.

It was mostly Warblers; 11 Chiffchaff, six Willow Warbler, one Blackcap, one Whitethroat, one Sedge Warbler and best of all a Garden Warbler.  Garden Warblers are scarce around here, so it was a complete surprise!

What a beaut!

This is only the second Garden Warbler I've ever handled (the other a spring bird) so am not experienced in ageing them. In fact I thought it was a 3 (this years young) at first, until I looked closer at its eyes...

The reddish tones to the iris makes this an adult (age code 4), would be more grey-brown if it was a 3.

Another look at the tail showed that although the feathers were quite pointy tipped, they're broad and abraded...

Not too sure what's going on with the tail though to be honest...

The main reason why I thought it was an young bird was because of that darker and obviously fresher central tail feather.  Many first-year passerines moult the odd or a few tail feathers during their post juvenile moult, which is what I thought had happened here - but other features make this an adult bird so that can't be the case!?  Also look at the middle tertial at the top of the photo, that's another darker and newer feather.  I keep looking at the other central tail feather too because to me that looks almost like a juvenile feather, much browner and narrower than the rest of the tail. Could this be a '5' (born last year) that failed to moult its two central tail feathers in Africa during the winter, but has since replaced one of them!?  

I really hope someone experienced with the moult cycle of Garden Warblers reads this and gives me their thoughts. I am probably way of the mark but surely it can't be a younger bird with an iris that colour and so much wear on the feathers??

Thankfully having handled many ten's of Sedge Warblers it was easy to age this bird as an adult (age code 4)...

Sedge Warblers didn't breed at the Ponds this year so it's definitely a migrant.

Looks like we are in for a few wet days now....

This Week

It's been a frustrating week. I've had two 5am wake ups with the hope of ringing on Beer Head, and both morning's I've gone up there with good intentions.  Tuesday though it was far too foggy with clear skies above, so I knew it wasn't worth it and came straight back home, and then today, the promised cloud cover came over too late and there was quite a breeze which would not have been good for mist netting.  I did have a walk around this morning instead of ringing, and am pleased I didn't bother with the nets as it was very very quiet. So basically it's now Friday and I am completely knackered for no good reason. Got an even earlier wake up tomorrow, but at least I know this one with be worthwhile...

The other reason this has been a frustrating week is because despite all my efforts, I haven't seen anything remotely scarce. Hoopoe's are flooding in to the UK at the moment, along with a nice assortment of other spring overshoots,  I have looked looked and looked....and seen nothing of note.

Wednesday morning I almost killed myself (and the dog!) by flogging Beer Head to Branscombe and back in the scorching heat. Ironically the best bird I saw during this three hour slog was the Yellow Wagtail that flew over me as I stepped out the car right at the start! Otherwise all I saw were half a dozen Willow Warblers and a couple of Wheatears.  At least the Wheatears were kind to me...

At least I saw a few butterflies, with two Clouded Yellows, two Specked Woods, a Holly Blue, a Brimstone, an Orange-tip, a Red Admiral and several Peacocks and Small Tortoiseshells.

There has been a few more waders about on the Estuary this week, since midweek I have seen Common Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Dunlin, Greenshank and four Ringed Plover. There's also been two Ruff kicking about since Tuesday but I haven't caught up with them as yet.

The only other notable birds I've seen this week include my first Sedge Warbler of the spring (a singing male) on the Borrow Pit, Seaton Marshes, on Tuesday morning, and this morning yet another Red Kite.  This one had clearly roosted in the valley, because at 06:50 it circled up from the woods above the Estuary and flew off west.  Also six Manx Shearwaters flew west during a quick look at the sea just prior to the Kite.

I'll sign off with a dawn photo from Lower Bruckland Ponds taken late last week. Let's hope next week is a bit kinder to me...

Beer Head

So I've been able to give Beer Head two more visits with the mist nets, last Friday and Monday just gone. Both sessions were fairly brief (dawn until mid morning), and both involved just two mist nets (a 60ft and a 40ft).

Friday started breezy and clear, but thankfully the wind soon died down and the session turned out to be quite a success.  Although the variety could have been better, I was more than pleased with 37 new birds trapped and ringed;

My able helper for the morning Peter, with the haul from the second net round (all two nets!).

Pleasingly, 18 of the 37 birds were Willow Warblers (4 ads, 14 juvs), with the other migrant birds trapped being six Blackcaps, four Chiffchaffs and a surprise juvenile Swallow.  I think most/all the Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs were probably Beer Head (or nearby) breeding birds, and the Swallow could even have been too, but the Willow Warblers would all have been on their southward migration.

Later that day I was pretty chuffed to learn the ringing team operating at Durlston Head (a migrant hot spot in south Dorset) that morning caught fewer birds than me (29). Sorry chaps, but to a backwater ringer at a new site which attracts far less migrants - that's very pleasing to hear!  It will probably never happen again though.

Monday morning was even windier, and sadly the wind never dropped. Wind + sun = not good mist netting conditions.  A nice bonus thanks to the early start was seeing Venus and Jupiter low to the east...

Venus is the brighter looking dot

This is the closest they've been to each other (looking from Earth) since 2000

Only caught ten birds in the couple of hours we were ringing - not the best session for local C ringer Doug to have joined me for the first time!  There were clearly very few migrants around, with singles of Willow Warbler, Whitethroat and Sedge Warbler trapped and ringed...

The Sedge Warbler (a young bird) was the first I've trapped up here - so made the session worthwhile.

Interestingly, amongst the ten birds ringed were five 'new' young Robins (all had completed their post juvenile moult), which i think were migrant birds. We didn't catch any during the Friday session which would also support this theory.

Birds that I saw but didn't ring during these sessions included on Friday a surprise Green Sandpiper over, along with a Ringed Plover and a Yellow Wagtail. And on Monday my first Tree Pipit of the autumn lingered for about half an hour before flying west, with two more Yellow Wags over.