The Ton

Well I didn't have to wait that long at all!  I ended yesterday's blog post listing some of the easier species I am yet to see this year, but none of them were my 100th PWC species for 2017...

Yes that's our wintering female Tufted Duck at Lower Bruckland Ponds, along with three new friends. Two drake and a female Gadwall, the ton is done.

Earlier today looking down from Axe Cliff I could see a huge feeding flock out in the bay, of at least 280 Gannets and 150+ auks. From the sea front the light and viewing conditions were absolutely dreadful so I couldn't do much more with them, but hopefully they will hang around for a few days and attract some other species. A mid winter Pom Skua would do nicely.

Three out of Three!

I just have to post today, the first day of my big Patchwork Challenge attempt.

One of the best things about doing a year list is the big push on Jan 1st. Everything you see is a valuable year tick, absolutely everything. And spending the whole day out on your patch clocking up as many species as you can is such an enjoyable (but sometimes frustrating!) event. Sadly though I was working today, so no such fun for me.  With limited time it's sensible to prioritise the scarcer species, so this morning my three target birds were Cattle Egret, Tufted Duck and Grey Plover. None of these are guaranteed in a given year on the Axe Patch.

The first two were pleasingly easy. The Cattle Egret was the twelfth egret to fly out of the Axmouth roost this morning at 07:36, and the female Tufted Duck was easily visible in the pre-dawn gloom at Lower Bruckland Ponds. The Grey Plover however, well that wasn't quite so easy. No sign of it anywhere this morning, despite a nice high tide and a mass of waders right in front of the Tower Hide. 

Cue the extra mile. Despite the rain, late this afternoon during a fifteen minute break at work, I jumped into my car, scoped the mud north of Coronation Corner and there was my hat-trick. Grey Plover on the list.

My next target are the two Dippers that I first bumped into a few days ago.  Dippers have been really scarce on patch over the past few years, prior to this you would fairly frequently see them along many stretches of the River Coly.  It was Friday morning when I had two (one singing) just south of Colyton, and Phil has seen them in the same place on the two days since. My problem is they are currently about a field and a half north of my PWC patch, so I just have to hope they wander a little further down river - whilst I'm watching!

Where I'm At Now

I said I would tot my year list up at the end of January, so I have.

I will always keep THIS PAGE updated, which you can also get to it by clicking on '2013 Patch Year List' just above this post.  Here you will find mine and the patches running totals and lists, Steve's Patch Year List Competition and a little bit about the patch and previous patch year listing attempts.

For people who simply can't be bothered to view the other page, the overall patch total for 2013 is 119, and I'm on 112.  Only 88 to go.....

Happy New Year!

Well, I'm afraid there's no huge review post for the year of 2012. To be honest - birding wise it was mostly a bit pants.  Adding Long-eared Owl, Spotted Crake and Crane to my patch list were obviously amazing highlights, but the autumn was without doubt one of the worst birding autumn's I've ever had - in terms of numbers and rarities.  Spring though was great at times for numbers, with two of my visits to Beer Head being some of the best ever spring birding I've had here - migrants EVERYWHERE!  Missing a Kentish Plover was a massive low light but we won't dwell on that.......

Christmas 2012 was brilliant - our first in our new house.  I got some lovely presents (never too old!), and this was a real surprise from Jess.  I took a photo of a Mute Swan last year, she got hold of a copy of the photo and turned it into this amazing canvas...

It looks fab on the landing wall!

And how is the house?  It's brilliant - already feels like home. Yesterday we FINALLY got around to sorting out the last room - the room I'm sat in now.  All I need is a sign for the door that says 'Steve's Office'...

That china cat isn't mine!!

Ok, now to birds again.  I said I was going to give a 2013 year list a go if the Bewick's Swans remained. They have remained so the 2013 year list is ON!  And what do I hope to achieve from year listing I hear you ask?

My target is to see/hear 200 species on the (lesser) patch in 2013.  

This has never been done before, and will prove very hard to do, but it is ever so slightly possible. We just need to have a VERY good year, and I need to see almost all of it!  I do hope all the fellow local birders will help me in my quest.

My January tactic is going to be 'go for the goodies, and let everything else come to me'.  That is why I am not going to do any list totting 'til the end of this month.  I do have several off patch surveys to do, so could well end up missing some winter scarcities/rarities - but I hope not.

I was out at 7am this morning, didn't see any Owls or Red-legged Partridges, added the Bewick's at dawn, then headed over to Beer where no Velvet Scoters were on view.  Pants.  Few Red-throated Divers and lots of auks about though.

After breakfast, Jess and I headed over to Colyton where a wood survey gave at least five Woodcock, a Green Woodpecker, a Siskin but very little else.  

A few hours later we fancied a New Years stroll along the sea front.  There were far too many people about for my liking - and a Black Redstart felt the same way.  It wasn't in any of its usual haunts, but instead down a small cul-de-sac one road inland from the beach.

The last birding action of today was an evening stroll at Black Hole Marsh. This is where my most surprising sighting came.  We were stood on the viewing platform, where I was getting glimpses of two very vocal and mobile Cetti's Warblers, when I could suddenly hear a Dipper calling!  A very out of place looking Dipper then flew right past us, circled around (quite high) over Black Hole Marsh, before heading back NW up the Stafford Brook. So bizarre!  I had checked the more usual Dipper haunts earlier in the day, and the water levels were way too high.  I guess this is why today I saw my first ever Dipper on the Axe reserves!

I hope to have an hour or so out in the morning whilst getting a couple of new tyres. Hopefully I can add some more species to the list...

Christmas Wishes

Well I hope all my blog readers (if there's any left!?) had a great Christmas. I had an amazing one in our new home.  Sad that it is mostly over now - would you believe I am back to work today!!

I had some lovely Christmas presents (many house-related ones!). The birding gods gave me an early present too...

Beauties!

It was pretty much the first time I'd been birding in the valley for about a month  - seriously it's been THAT bad.  And these two Bewick's Swans were opposite Axmouth Football club near Boshill Cross.  These are the third and fourth Bewick's that I've seen on patch - we had (different) singles overwintering with the wintering Mute Swans 2009-2010 and 2010-2011.  So I wonder if these are going to stay for the winter?  Which brings me on to...

I have decided, seeing as I didn't year list this year, that if the (or one of the) Bewick's Swans remain until Jan 1st (and I see them!), then I will be doing a local patch year list in 2013. So, I've left it for the 'birding Gods' to decide...