Dedicated to Kevin J Hale aka Bun

What a team player that man is. Even if he isn't playing, he's with you on your team. Legend.

There he is! Showing well in a striped hat.

Woodcock are pretty reliable at a few sites on patch, but within my PWC patch, or anywhere in the river valley, they are very VERY hard to come by. That's unless of course there's a seriously cold snap with plenty of snow, then they start to behave like Blackbirds and pop up everywhere, but that weather is rare here. Bun suggested the valley at Seaton Hole for me, as he's had them several times in the past in Couchill Woods just to the north. So on two occasions so far this month I have endured evening vigils here, but neither with any success.

Tonight though I was joined by the man himself, and he kindly offered to have a rummage around in nearby woodland as the sun set, whilst I stood within the boundary of my PWC patch. What a top man.  At times he was up to his waste in brambles, climbing up steep banks, slipping back down those steep banks, he just kept plugging away and all for my potential gain. After about five or so minutes I was feeling guilty so shouted out "let's call it a night"... But no, he was going nowhere "I'm just going to check down here by the stream".

Sadly though, despite all his hard work, it didn't have the desired effect. 

But as we walked back to our vehicles, moaning about how daft it is that a bird as beautiful, small, and rare as Woodcock can still be legally shot, something truly magical happened. At 17:15 I looked up towards the first few emerging stars of the night, and there one was!  It had just flown out of the strip of woodland in the Seaton Hole valley, did a couple of laps over the small field in front of us (almost looking like a gigantic bat!) and then disappeared off north.  Absolute result!!  And it's all thanks to Bun. If it wasn't for him I would have left ten minutes earlier.

My 98th bird of the year on my PWC patch. Hopefully the ton is just a few days away...

Beer Head

Enjoyed another good morning with Peter up Beer Head this morning.  It was windier than I expected, which really affected what is usually my most successful mist net (it was like a sail on a boat!), but thankfully the second net is in a more sheltered location.

There was a different 'feel' to the session, with the first hour or so being all about thrushes, a family of birds I don't usually catch many of at this site.  Smaller birds started dropping in to the mist nets once it had warmed up a little, which took a while!

In about four hours we caught 32 new birds, as follows:

9 Blackbird
2 Song Thrush
1 Redwing (my first for the site - what a cracker!)
1 Blackcap
6 Chiffchaff
11 Goldcrest
1 Great Tit
1 Chaffinch

What a gorgeous bird.

The first Redwing I've handled for years!

Two male Blackbirds, a bird born this year (age code 3) on the left and an adult (age code 4) on the right.

Same as above.

As well as the 32 birds ringed, we re-caught three that I had already ringed.  One was a resident Robin (there aren't many resident birds up here) and interestingly the other two were Goldcrests, one that was ringed on 8th Oct and the other on 14th Oct.  So some of these migrants are lingering and not just going straight though.

We very nearly caught a Woodcock too!  As we were walking up to one of the nets about an hour and a half into the session, completely unexpectedly one took off about 3 meters from the net but flew the wrong way. If only we had walked in from behind it we could well have ringed a Woodcock this morning - now that would have been nuts!  This is actually the first Woodcock I've ever seen at Beer Head, a rare bird for the site.

Overhead passage was quieter than I expected, although four low flying Golden Plover were nice to see.  Didn't see much more in the bushes either, and no further sign of the Dartford Warbler that Ian M saw.

All Quiet

Well I say it's all quiet - but this morning I have seen at least nine Woodlark (location witheld) and the Snow Bunting which is still present on Seaton Beach. It was nice to see the Snow B in sunshine for a change...

I wonder where her mate went!?

Otherwise, the sea produced just two Great Crested Grebes, three Razorbills and a Guillemot. The Estuary showed four Barwits and two Med Gulls. And Colyford Marsh, nothing but Canada Geese!

I have just remembered though that I forgot to post how I got on with my latest woodland survey (carried out on 30th Nov) - in private woodland near Colyton. A single Crossbill, three Marsh Tit and several Lesser Redpoll were nice to see. But the main talking point was the Woodcock. The most I've ever had here is 11 (in the middle of last winter). Bearing in mind how mild it has been so far this winter (no frosts) and how early it is in the season, I was very surprised to see a total of ten! I had some excellent views too - one day I WILL get some pics!

The Seasons Are Changing

I've got a fair bit of survey work to do before the end of this month, and this morning it was the woodland near Colyton that I survey on a monthly basis that had me stomping through it! Normally I don't enjoy woods much, but this morning I did - the colours were just gorgeous...

Autumnal colours on the ground, spring green colours up above

It is definitely still winter, as I had 14 sightings of at least nine Woodcock - some excellent flight views and a really good number. Five Lesser Redpolls were also good to see.

Spring is in the air though, with Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming and many other species of bird in full song - including two male Marsh Tits. And it's not just the birds that are hinting the change in seasons...

What a warm feeling these images give me - it is nearly time!!!

Later on in the day, a quick look out over the sea showed the 12 Velvet Scoters still, all fairly close in - which was nice!

A little later again, a look through the Gulls on the Estuary showed a decent (for this year anyway!) count of five Meds. Four were adults - one in spanking full summer plumage, two part way there, and one in full winter wear. The fifth bird was a first-winter, which is certainly the first non-adult Med I've seen this year on the Axe, possibly even this winter!! Also c120 Common and 15 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

With the first few immigrants about, and the mild weather, tonight is the first night of 2011 that my garden looks like an airfield from above! Oh yes - the moth trap is out! This year I am taking part in the Garden Moth Scheme (see HERE) so thought I'd best warm myself up for the start of it Friday week.