Dartmoor Double Dose

Thrilled to have spent a couple of days on Dartmoor within the last week. Reaffirming my feelings that this magical place is one of my favourite places on earth...

So picturesque

Last Wednesday was a very special day, as I took Dad up to the Moor for the first time since he suffered a stroke last October.  Thanks to the time I spent working on Moor Than Meets The Eye I feel like I know the Moor pretty well now, but I have to be honest and say I was really scratching my head thinking about where to find accessible birds. By accessible I mean birds easily viewable from a road or by a level and smooth path/track...there really isn't much of Dartmoor that can be described as being level and smooth! I soon learnt there was very little information online about where we could go, so hopefully this blog post will provide others in need with the relevant information.

I asked a few friends for their thoughts, and spoke to some land owners requesting a bit of extra access - and am delighted to say they were all super helpful and very obliging.  Basically it was only for permission to drive down a couple of private drives, but that increased level of access certainly helped make the day the success it was.

Looking down Headland Warren Valley to Challacombe Farm

We started the day by driving slowly down the valley of Headland Warren where Dad's first Wheatear of the year were easy, there were several pairs showing close to the road...

Male Wheatear

A different male Wheatear, this pair were clearly busy feeding young

 And right on cue, Dad spotted this right next to the car. Talk about 'easy' birding...

Cracking male Whinchat

I was a bit surprised that this proved our only Whinchat of the day, considering how densely packed in they are on the east facing slopes just across the valley from the road. The moderate and fairly cold easterly wind probably wasn't encouraging birds to sit out though, despite the blue skies.

At the base of the valley we arrived at Challacombe Farm, a site that always delivers. A good hour and a half here gave us two Cuckoo, three singing male Redstart, a couple of Lesser Redpoll, Reed Bunting, Whitethroat, Marsh Tits nesting in a wall and just plenty of birds. It's never a bad thing seeing lots of birds whatever the species, especially in this day and age.

Male Redstart

Same male Redstart

And again

A quick look in the Sousson's area gave us another singing Redstart and slightly more showy Cuckoo, along with a couple of Tree Pipits...

Distant singing Tree Pipit

After a quick stop in Postbridge and a check of the pines around the Bellever Forest car park (just a few Siskins here) we dropped down to Yarner Wood, our final destination of the day.  

First came lunch, then I managed to get Dad along the small track that runs from the top end of the car park along the back of the wet area in front of the hide.  We were told by a very helpful warden we were in the right place, and after some patience we saw two pairs of Pied Flies.  One of the males in particular showing especially well...

First-year male Pied Fly

And again

And again - what a poser!

Last one I promise! He was just so photogenic...

So there you go.  Accessible birding is possible on Dartmoor, it just needs a bit of forward thinking and planning. A truly memorable day for me, in so many ways.

A few days on, now Saturday, and despite the cloudy skies it was a day on Dartmoor with Jess and Harry - another amazing day. Although the sun wasn't shining it was still bright and there was not a breathe of wind which is unusual. Our first stop was to Holwell Lawn near Hound Tor, a staggeringly beautiful spot especially at this time of year - and an ideal spot to snap your loved ones in...

Literally my favourite photo ever

Here there were singles of singing Garden Warbler and Cuckoo, along with a noisy recently fledged family of Stonechats.  After lunch in Widecombe we came back up the hill for my first ever visit to Emsworthy Mire, another beautiful spot...

Love the barn!

Not only was the view nice, but the soundscape matched it too.  A male Redstart was singing continuously in the trees pictured above, along with Wheatears, two Cuckoos and the amazing sound of two bubbling Curlews.

Stunning, and am already looking forward to my next visit.

Whinchats and Wood Warbler

I wasn't on patch for most of yesterday, but a last ditch mooch around was enough to bump into my first Whinchat of the year - three of them in fact.  They were showing really well in a small sheep paddock between Axmouth and Rousdon, such stunning and charismatic little birds...

Male number one

The other male and a female

Same two but head on

Today I have also not been around for most of it, due to work.  Thankfully though the Wood Warbler that was found along the road near Lower Bruckland Ponds mid morning remained in situ, and at 7:30pm was still trilling away. This represents my third for the patch, with previous records being Beer Head 8th August 2006 and Private woodland near Colyton on 29th April 2013 - so a proper good local scarce.  The light wasn't great when I got to see it, but that didn't stop me trying...

Such clean white underparts - and yellow like no other yellow!

Seems to be an unusually good spring for migrant Wood Warblers on the south coast this year, despite their vast reduction in numbers on their breeding grounds. 

A Few More Spring Migrants and Pale-bellied Brents

I enjoyed an hour and a half out birding at each end of the day today, which produced a few more nice little highlights.  

A pre-dawn wander around Black Hole Marsh revealed, at last, my first Reed Warbler of the year chuntering away. I then headed down to the Spot On Kiosk for an hours sea watch from 6am, the conditions were far from perfect though with blue skies and almost no wind by the end of the watch! Still it wasn't a complete write-off, although I'm yet to decide whether it was truly worthwhile!? All west unless stated; 

34 Common Scoter

5 Manx Shearwater

3 Kittiwake (all east)

5 Whimbrel

3 small wader sp. (in off)

During a wander along Seaton Beach with the family a little later in the morning, I picked up a flock of about 40 Pale-bellied Brent Geese flying west offshore, although only just before they disappeared around Beer Head. This was at 09:38, and precisely 29 minutes later they seen off Dawlish Warren where they continued to follow the coast south, which is slightly unusual as most spring Pale-bellied flocks fly in to the Exe. 

Tonight's trip out starting very frustratingly. There was no passage over the sea this evening but there was a group of 6-8 'Commic' Terns feeding some distance out, viewing conditions though were atrocious with a blurry haze offshore.  Three of them came above the horizon in a tight group for about ten seconds, revealing a clear cut Arctic Tern with two Commons, but as for the other three or more am not sure. I did get the feeling there was more than one Arctic in there though.

Once I'd got completely fed up with straining my eyes I had a look up the river valley. Two Whimbrel and the Dark-bellied Brent Goose were on Estuary, singles of Wheatear and White Wagtail were viewable from Bridge Marsh gateway, and on Axe Marsh our first Whinchat of the year - a cracking male.  To say it was distant though is something of an understatement...

It was on the fence posts in the middle of this pic

There it is...just!

Off-patch, during a family trip to Budleigh early this afternoon, it was nice to see a Yellow Wagtail bombing around on the beach just east of the fishing boats with a couple of Pied Wags. It didn't really settle though and headed off north soon after I first noticed it.

Yellow Wagtails Galore!

It's proving to be an absolutely stonking autumn for Yellow Wagtails. We always do well for them here in late August/early September, especially at Beer Head, but this year there are stacks more than usual. 

For the last few days up to 100 have been present in the valley (they can be found wherever there's cattle or on Black Hole Marsh) and most mornings Beer Head goers have been seeing upper double figures flying west. Plus this morning I added a load more with a visit to Axe Cliff, which I will happily write about now...

Beer Head has been pretty well covered so far this autumn by the usual gang; Ian Mc, Phil A, Bun, Clive W and Dad. This gang would usually include me, but this autumn I've decided to really concentrate on Axe Cliff which usually plays second fiddle, hence why Axe Cliff is within my Patchwork Challenge patch.  I went up there a few weeks ago but it was before the autumnal rush, and for the last week Harry has been suffering with a cold so our nights have not been too good (to say the least!). Thankfully though I finally made it up there this morning for a good walk about, albeit later than I would usually visit. An hour and a half from 08:30 produced;

6 Tree Pipit (two grounded, four west)

7 Meadow Pipit (grounded - my first of the autumn)

140+ Yellow Wagtail (all grounded in the stubble fields, I reckon I would have seen 200+ had I walked more fields)

1 Wheatear

3 Whinchat

1 Stonechat

3 Blackcap

2 Whitethroat

5 Willow Warbler

The bushes never do that well at Axe Cliff, but oh my word the stubble fields were amazing. I don't think I've ever seen Yellow Wagtails like it - they were everywhere!

This is what the Axe Cliff stubble fields are looking like at the moment

If you enlarge this photo, all the dots flying above the stubble are Yellow Wags!

Two Yellow Wags - they weren't easy to photograph as they spent most their time feeding in among the stalks

One of the Whinchats

Down in the valley, Black Hole Marsh is pretty samey wader wise but it's nice to have a juvenile male Ruff with us, which has been here since the afternoon of 23rd. There are a few more Snipe (11) and Teal (25+) about as well, and I'm sure a scarcity or rarity is only a matter of days away.

Which leaves me just to say goodnight...

Tonight about twenty minutes after sunset on the lower Axe Estuary looking towards Seaton

Birdfair 2017

This year I was able to spend two days at the Birdfair at Rutland Water, and was proud to be representing Nikon once again...

We had a really successful show with so much interest on both the optics and camera side.  I really enjoyed chatting to people visiting the stand and was thrilled at how many people introduced themselves to me.  We saw plenty of birds from our view point too, with numerous Ospreys and Hobbies, a Great White Egret, Greenshank, few Yellow Wagtails and an array of wildfowl.

As ever with Birdfair it's great bumping into familiar faces...

Nathan from Spurn - he had just told me all about the male Bluetail he saw a few years back!

Jonny of Blyth's Pipit fame! Along with his better half and their beautiful new addition

But it's also about making new friends. I can't tell you the respect and admiration I have for this chap..

Tom Mason

Tom Mason is a freelance wildlife photographer. He hasn't even reached 25 but has been on photo expeditions to locations such as the Falklands, the Amazon, etc... At the age of 16 he took a Friday off school to attend the UK Photography Show, where he tracked down someone in particular (a marketing manager I believe), managed to entice them to a sit down and a coffee and basically walked away with a job.  For a 16 year old that takes serious balls!  What he doesn't know about cameras and photography isn't worth knowing, and what's so refreshing is that he knows his wildlife too.

I was also delighted to see first hand the work of one of my favourite wildlife photographers Rebecca Nason. I've always found her work to be something of a mixture of photography and art, and I just had to shake her hand when we met. Seeing her photographs up close made them look even better!

Sadly I had to leave the fair at 2pm on the Saturday, but obviously couldn't leave Rutland without a quick stop off to look at this bush...

Surely quite famous now?

Yes on the south shore of Rutland Water a healthy population of Tree Sparrows survive. And it looks like they've had a good breeding season as there were plenty of young'uns about...

During my absence Phil seemed to be keeping a close eye on things around here, he wouldn't let anything rare slip through. I tried to retweet as many of his tweets as I saw but the signal at the Birdfair was mostly pants. To very quickly summarise though thankfully I didn't miss anything major.

I did manage to grab an hour out this morning at Black Hole. There had clearly been the first semi decent pulse of Yellow Wagtails with up to twenty between Seaton and Colyford Marshes. A lone Whinchat just south of Black Hole Marsh was my first of the autumn.  On the marsh itself the variety is still poor (no doubt due to the lack of easterly winds), but overall numbers are looking good with 60+ Black-tailed Godwit, c50 Dunlin, 12 Teal and smaller numbers of the usual suspects.

Oh, almost forgot, I saw some really bright juvenile Willow Warblers today. They were nice and yellow... one could say they were yellow warblers in fact...

Wheatears and a Whinchat

Early morning yomps around the Marshes have been very quiet over the past couple of days, very quiet indeed. Both early wake ups have been somewhat saved by sea watches afterwards, although neither produced any year ticks. 

Yesterday morning 45 minutes of looking over a flat calm sea gave (west unless stated); 

1 Great Crested Grebe (flew in from miles out and landed on the sea - so should have been a Red-necked!)

1 Shelduck 

4 Common Scoter (east)

4 Whimbrel

1 Knot

And an hour this morning gave (west unless stated); 

3 Great Northern Diver (my first of the spring - one in summer plumage)

10 Common Scoter (east)

18 Sandwich Tern (including a lovely close fishing flock of 11)

1 Common Sandpiper

1 Kingfisher (flew west about 20m offshore - a weird sight!)

1 Wheatear (flew in off)

Portland have had a stormingly good day today for migrants, which you'd expect considering the cloudy weather and date. But most places here have been quiet, except for Colyford Common which was hopping with birds!  Thanks to a text from Dad I was pleased to enjoy our first Whinchat of the spring and 16 Wheatear mid afternoon...

A distant but very attractive male Whinchat!

The Wheatears showed such an amazing variety of plumages and sizes, in particular the males. There were small dark ones just like the birds we see in March, and other really pale and absolute monster Greenland fellas. Some of these have such restricted colour on their front that they almost look like Eastern Black-eared Wheatears. 'Wheatear of the day' for me was the bird in the bottom left of this pic...

Some of the females were clearly Greenland-types too, as they looked large and leggy...

The few other interesting bits and bobs from today included a Green Sandpiper on a pool near Boshill Cross, four Whimbrel on Colyford Marsh and at least three new singing male Reed Warblers in. I did see/hear the odd Willow Warbler this afternoon, but nowhere near enough to claim a fall.  It was nice to finally see all seven Cattle Egrets together, on the Estuary early this morning...

   

Autumn Adjourns

The blog posts have dried up because autumn has...

It has been really stagnant out there for the last week and a bit (but boy have I been trying!). We had a sudden and surprising influx of Grey Plover at the end of last week, Phil had a staggering nine on the evening of Thursday 22nd, with one still present for me the following morning. On Sunday morning another couple had arrived/returned to make three...

A true record shot!

Bar-tailed Godwit numbers seem to be dwindling now, but other wader counts have been very samey with less than ten Dunlin, a couple of Ringed Plover, five Common Sandpipers and not a lot else. I'm hoping the upcoming new moon along with some wind and rain will encourage a bit more variety, but it's looking like the Black Hole Marsh autumn is done now, as the marsh often seems to largely lose its appeal to wading birds by the end of September.  

The clear skies and light winds this morning meant there was only one place to go, Beer Head...

It's getting towards my favourite time of year for weather - I just love cool, crisp and blue late autumn mornings.

Overall it was pretty quiet, but it was nice to see a few different bits and pieces - this list is a mixture of grounded birds and fly overs;

14 Skylark 

200+ Swallow

80+ House Martin

11 alba Wagtail

2 Grey Wagtail

100+ Meadow Pipit 

1 Whinchat

2 Stonechat

3 Blackcap

5 Chiffchaff

1 Spotted Flycatcher

c30 Chaffinch

1 Siskin

1 Yellowhammer

In brief, the bushes were quiet and overhead a little less quiet!  The lone Siskin I think confirms my suspicions that this isn't going to be one of those amazing Siskin autumns - hopefully this won't be the case for all the finch species though.

Annoyingly for some reason all the subjects I tried to photograph this morning were in some way obscured...

Whinchat - the clearest of them all.

A hiding Spotted Flycatcher.

Even this Small Copper suffered from a blade of grass!

It was nice to see Ian Mc at Beer Head this morning back fresh from his holidays, he ventured further west than I did and saw another two Whinchat and a Reed Bunting.  It's great to have another pair of eyes back on the patch, I get the feeling coverage has been pretty poor on weekdays this month - there's only so much ground one pair of boots can cover!

Birds aside, I've been seeing the odd Clouded Yellow around which is nice, including a male on Beer Head this morning.

Let's hope the next blog post is a bit more exciting...

Autumn Returns

You may have picked up on some frustration in my recent blog posts that despite daily visits, Black Hole Marsh has remained very samey - except for the lovely juv Sanderling on Friday 9th that is.  

Thankfully though, yesterdays frequent thunder storms and heavy rain showers seem to have got things moving again.  A flying visit mid afternoon yesterday showed a nice due of Curlew Sandpiper and Ruff new in... 

Juv-1w Curlew Sandpiper

I was back down there for dawn today, and saw;

1 Avocet

6 Ringed Plover

22+ Dunlin

1 Curlew Sandpiper

1 Knot (juv)

14 Black-tailed Godwit

6 Bar-tailed Godwit

2 Ruff

3 Common Sandpiper

1 Green Sandpiper

2 Snipe

Out of that list the Avocet is the stand out bird.  Although they are annual on the Axe, this is the first that I've ever seen on Black Hole Marsh. I'm also pretty sure this is our first of 2016 following a blank spring.  I didn't have time to walk to the Tower Hide so you will have to make do with an ultra distant record shot...

Good job Avocets aren't little brown things!

The second Ruff and the Knot were also new arrivals, as was a second Knot on the Estuary about half an hour later.  

It's not just been a wader day, seems to have been a good one for passerines too.  Colyford Common mid morning showed six Wheatear and two Whinchat...

Love autumn Whinchats!

Whinchat on the baordwalk

A Wheatear and Ruby Red Cattle

A late morning visit to Axe Cliff was also fairly rewarding, despite the heat and the time of day. 

What a view!

10:45-12:10 here produced;

1 Golden Plover

12 Wheatear

7 Whinchat

50+ Meadow Pipit

1 Tree Pipit

1 Sedge Warbler

3 Whitethroat

1 Willow Warbler

3 Chiffchaff

90 Linnet

The Golden Plover was my first of the autumn, and flew over west. Thankfully I picked it up on call so didn't need to worry about the Lesser varieties. The Whinchat count was decent (a five and a two) and the Tree Pipit I flushed out of long grass.

I'm not sure if it is good to see so many Meadow Pipits. When they replace Yellow Wagtail as the most frequent fly over migrant you know you've moved into the next phase of autumn migration. I've been hearing them going over fairly often now for the past three of four days, and have only had one Yellow Wag. Autumn rolls on...