Some Thrills In The Chill

WARNING!!! THERE ARE SEVERAL REALLY RUBBISH PHOTOS IN THIS POST!!!

After a quick sweep of the estuary first thing, I spent an hour and a half on the seafront - it was thoroughly enjoyable!

It was a little after 9am that my star bird appeared overhead. In the grey skies with light snow flakes falling, a Red Kite looked STUNNING as it drifted west overhead just off the beach, rather quickly making a bee-line for Beer Head. It wasn't until it was circling over Beer Head (between one and two miles away) that I thought I'd try digi-binning it! And this was the best I got...

It IS a bird I promise!!! Although you can't see it at all in this photo, its plumage was immaculate

The sea was good value too, with some duck passage. 17 Pochard was a good count, a flock of ten (8 males) flew in from the west and landed on the sea before continuing east. Then five minutes later another flock, this one containing seven birds (4 males), also flew east. Here's another rubbish photo...

The flock of ten....just!

A single female-type Goldeneye was very notable as it flew west along the beach, a drake Tufted Duck flew in and landed amongst a flock of Wigeon and one drake Gadwall. To finish off the wildfowl for the sea, a Shoveler flew west with 18 Wigeon, four Common Scoters flew west with two on the sea, the Velvet Scoter and Eider remain off Seaton Hole and the two Coot were still looking out of place, as did two juv Mute Swans!

Also on the sea were at least four Red-throated Divers, with another three past west and one more east. Two very distant waders flew east, they were either Ruff of Knot; there was a notable size difference between the two of them so I'd guess at the former.

Apart from the Red Kite, there was much less on the move overhead, though two Mistle Thrushes were notable as they flew west along the beach.

Now to the estuary, and I'll get the ducks out the way first. The drake Goldeneye remains, and at least 11 Tufted Ducks were dotted about, a good count. The five Brent Geese were still near Seaton Marshes, both the Bewick's and Whooper Swan again opposite Stedcombe, and Gadwall offered the 'count of the day'. I clocked at least 21 in all, including a nice flock of 17 feeding on Bridge Marsh....

Another appalling digi-binned photo!! Sorry folks!

Have you had enough of crappy photos yet??? How about a jerky video clip?

My early morning check of the Estuary revealed the Ruff flock had increased from four to SEVEN! It was early so the light was awful - the reason why I went for the video option. Anyway, enough of me rambling about it, here it is...

Although this video it pretty rubbish, I LOVE the sound of it! Listen to all those winter estuary sounds...

A Bar-tailed Godwit was new in and a Common Sandpiper flew past me near the trams sheds. All that's left for me to talk about on the Estuary now are the gulls...

These three Med Gulls were showing mid afternoon...

Ohhh... slightly improved photography skills on show here! :-)

But now it's time to be bored! I came across this thing, which I think is a HerringXLesser Black-backed hybrid. Its legs were dull greeny yellow, mantle shade in between Herring and LBBG and it did look quite cutesy. Here it is anyway.... YAWN....

What do others think?

Early afternoon I went up to Whitford, and walked along a stretch of the Axe between here and Kilmington. The area around the river was rather green, but the hills around still white...

Musbury Castle

This little trip proved a great idea, as towards the end of my walk, a lovely male Goosander flew past me and up river - possibly yesterday's bird found by Phil? Also here, I had lovely flight views of a Jack Snipe which came up from a small stream shortly after three Common Snipe had flown up from the same spot. 11 Teal were trying to remain hidden under the banks of the Axe.

It doesn't feel as cold anymore, so I hope all these struggling birds can start to get back to normal. Tomorrow though, more ducks would be nice.... especially a Smew or two...

More Bittern!

Was out for several hours this morning, and finished superbly when Phil phoned to say he had the Bittern in full view! Just as we (Bun and I) arrived it flew into a hedge and remained here for about half an hour before flying back into the field again.

It looked WEIRD perched up like this!

Poor bird :-(

And the last I saw of it was when it did this...

Walk inside the wood pile!!

Earlier on in the morning, a few of us were gathered at the seafront watching even MORE cold weather movement...

It was actually very pleasant here in the sun

A Brent Goose in-off was the highlight with Lapwings, thrushes and a few Linnets and Goldfinches on the move overhead. Up the estuary the drake Goldeneye was still showing well, along with several Gadwall, a Pochard and a Tufted Duck. The four Ruff were still knocking about too.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow...

Booming Marvellous!

The freezing dawn saw four Backwater birders on the edge of Blackhole Marsh, hoping for a glimpse of a patch mega! We did better than that.... We enjoyed two really good flight views of yesterday's Bittern as it tried to find ice-free water.

The last view we had of it was when it landed somewhere along this ditch...

But...

...we waited and waited and waited, and looked and looked and looked, but it had vanished! For now anyway.....

Whilst here, Lapwings were piling south with at least 12 Golden Plovers. A Jack Snipe was a nice surprise as it rose from a wet ditch and flew west, and the cold is now taking its toll on Woodcock with at least four seen, including one which landed briefly on the track behind us. A species which I'm sure is struggling more than others at the moment is Cetti's Warbler, so it was nice to see one here briefly. The five Brent Geese remain in the fields north of Seaton Marshes.

I've had a couple of checks of the sea today. This has shown one Red-throated Diver, 13 Great Crested Grebes, the Eider, the Velvet Scoter, nine Common Scoters, six Teal, 20 Wigeon and weirdly two Coot!

I spent quite a lot of time along the river/farm gate early to mid afternoon today. At the farm gate just before 13:30 I was suddenly aware of the Bittern flying about over Colyford Marsh with two Crows in hot pursuit. The trio gained height, but shortly after the Bittern dropped down into an area of reeds just NW of the gate. Another excellent flight view, fantastic stuff! I hope it stays.

Now to ducks, and a nice gathering from the farm gate included three Pochard (two drakes) and a/the lady Tufted Duck. Three Gadwall flew up river and near the tramsheds this fella was much more obliging than he was yesterday...

What a looker!

Also the Estuary Coot flock has increased...

Now six! There are still several at Lower Bruckland Ponds plus the two on the sea

The four Ruff flew south past me at the farm gate, one of them looking noticable smaller than the others....which is weird because yesterday I could have sworn they were all males!

Still lots of thrushes about, in fact there seems to be even more Redwings! They are starting to look like they are really struggling, any ice/snow free patches of grass I've come across today has been covered in them! The bank opposite the back entrance to Co-op was littered with them this afternoon, along with a female Black Redstart - a belated work tick - belated cuz I wasn't at work!!!

They're getting worryingly tame too...

Back to work tomorrow after a nice couple of days off, but I have a week off soon so I don't mind :-)

The Big Freeze Continues

Wow - the weather is doing INCREDIBLE things! This is better than autumn, though I do feel so sorry for the birds, they have no chance. Please KEEP KEEP KEEP chucking apples, bread, whatever on your lawn, and keep de-frosting those bird baths and garden ponds!

Nearly all day Fieldfares, Redwings, Skylarks and Lapwings have been flying west over patch, several thousand of each easily would have passed over the patch today....probably tens of thousands. Truly remarkable stuff!

I'll split this post into two; Garden Birding and Out And About. There's LOTS of photos!!

Garden Birding

What a day for the garden! This is our front garden...

Admittedly looking a bit whiter than usual!

As well as some cracking birds in the garden today, the sheer numbers of birds has AMAZED me, especially Fieldfares! At one time over a hundred were on the lawn and in the trees, and there has been a constant turn-over of them too so we've probably had nearer 300 in the garden throughout the day! There were much fewer Redwing, probably only c20 all day and just the one Song Thrush. Here's a few Fieldfare pics...

Have only had a couple of singles of these settled in the garden before today

They loved the berries!

One a little closer!

Aren't they such stunning beasts!

This one was in the middle of Durley Road!

And finally, a little video....



So, what else has the garden given today? How about this corker...

A male Brambling, present all morning

Wow!

A new for the garden (settled anyway, I've had hundreds fly over) was a Meadow Pipit. It was running about on our patio pecking away at the base of the house, weird.....very weird! It just shows what this weather does to birds, and how it changes their behaviour. Two female Bullfinches and a female Blackcap finishes off this section of today's post.

Out And About

Durley Road was still too icy this morning to get my car out, so mid morning I went for a walk down to the seafront. Here I bumped into Ian Mc. Offshore there were several Great Crested Grebes, two Red-throated Divers, two Eiders and a Velvet Scoter, but sadly no Smew! Behind us, two female-type Black Redstarts were feeding along the West Walk with a female Stonechat. Wandering back home, large flocks of Fieldfares and fewer Redwings were in several gardens, we kept looking for that Black-throated Thrush but no luck!

At 14:00 I took the plunge and got the car out. After a bit of skidding and sliding I got myself to the Estuary, and there was plenty to see! It was from Coronation Corner that the main prize was awaiting me, though it was VERY hard to photograph.

Most photos turned out like this....

Oh!

A couple of pics came out like this....

Its bum!

But one or two looked like this....

A distant, but STUNNING drake Goldeneye

Other wildfowl included a female Tufted Duck (which SHOULD have been a Scaup!) and at least twelve Gadwall dotted about. The Bewick's and Whooper Swan were still in the valley, the former landing on the river late on. You know it's cold when you see these on the Estuary...

Coot!!

A nice quartet on Colyford Marsh were four male Ruff, presumably three of these were the ones seen by Ian Mc a short while earlier on Colyford Common. There were loads of thrushes and Skylarks in all the fields in the valley too....I couldn't even begin to estimate the numbers of these species on patch today!

On arrival home, I heard about a gripping patch mega seen by a local at 16:20. A Bittern was watched in flight from Blackhole Marsh and landed in a nearby field. Hopefully a dawn raid will do the trick tomorrow.... wish us luck!

Just A Quick One..

...to say the snow has kick started a MASSIVE cold weather movement!

I haven't been able to drive anywhere this morning, but there has been almost continuous large flocks of Fieldfares and Redwings passing over the garden. Most flocks going SW, but they have been going in all directions. Some very low just above tree height, others much higher in the sky. A few of both species have been landing in the garden too.

Also several Skylarks going over, a few Meadow Pipts and Lapwing and a lone Snipe. I feel very sorry for the birdies at the mo..... keep putting food out people!

We Have Snow!

The coldness turned into white stuff this morning....

Even if it was only a little more than a 'light dusting'

The sea was my first port of call, six Red-throated Divers and two Common Scoters flew west. On the sea were ten Great Crested Grebes and two ducks.... One was the first-winter drake Eider.....

In a couple of years he'll be a stunning white beast!

The other duck was a little further out, but it was a Velvet Scoter! Result!! As it was slightly more distant my attempts at snapping at it were pants, see....

You can still ID it though!!

The estuary looked stunning this morning, Snipe and ducks EVERYWHERE! 28 Dunlin was a good count, and I saw singles of Water Rail and Water Pipit from the farm gate. The five Brent Geese were still on Seaton Marshes. A little further up the road the two decent Swans were still showing....

Mr Bewick's

Mr Whooper

And to complete the white trio, and this post....

The Queen's bird!

Global Warming My Ass!

It's proper bloody cold still....and I LOVE it! Just what winter should be like....ice everywhere!!! This was Lower Bruckland Ponds at 9am....

Pretty much the only ice-free bit of still water anywhere on patch at the moment!

Today, on the estuary there were five Brent Geese and a male Gadwall with Mallards by the tram sheds. Redwings and Wood Pigeons were flying west in small flocks this morning, and early afternoon from the farm gate a flock of 21 Golden Plovers did the same. I could see the Bewick's Swan distantly from here too.

This weather is set to continue apparently..... BRILLIANT!

What A Start!

Firstly.... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

So 2009 is over, and my patch total was 185, not bad, but far from the 198 I was after! I would write a post about the past year, but I've spent the last two days writing the review of the year for the 2009 patch bird report so have kinda lost the will!

2010 will not be a listing year for me, though I have had a SUPERB start! I really have missed birding, I've virtually had no time in the field during the last month due to work and other commitments, so today I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed myself :-)

I started today surveying my bit of woodland near Colyton. Overall it was actually very quiet, but twelve Woodcock was an excellent total. After this I spent most of the next four hours out and about, I'll start with the sea off Seaton Hole....

This is where one of the big surprises of the day was, sat on the sea with eight Great Crested Grebes were six Tufted Ducks! I think this is the biggest single flock ever recorded on patch!? Three drakes (one adult) and three females...

This is certainly a 'record shot!'

Also here, the first-winter drake Eider, a species which can be tricky to see in a given year here.

Opposite Stedcombe, at first only the Bewick's Swan was present, but late morning the Whooper came flying down the valley and joined the fun. Around the fields here today there's been excellent numbers of Lapwings and winter thrushes, I was surprised that I didn't find a Golden Plover.

A sweep of the estuary gave my ears a treat, with the atmospheric calls of Brent Geese ringing out. I soon found them at Coronation Corner, a nice group of eight (three juvs). I presume this is the Seaton Marsh family of five plus three new ones. Otherwise the river produced just the usual Blackwits, two Dunlin, a single adult Med Gull, etc....

The final treat of the day came when I was shuffling around in fields between Axmouth and Rousdon... nine Woodlark! They came out of field stuffed full of Yellowhammers and thrushes and gave some lovely flight views as they 'tu-lued' past me and landed in a neighbouring field. Cracking stuff!!!! The fields around Farway were much quieter, but I did see a nice flock of 35 Stock Doves.

I look forward to 2010, and one can only wonder what treats we are going to get....

Who's Nicked Our Swans?

Today I checked every Swan in the Axe Valley from Seaton beach up to the Axminster by-pass just north of Kilmington....they were ALL Mutes! That's buggered up a few new year listers plans I guess....

I started today in Exeter, wandering around a piece of land I've not surveyed for a couple of years. Nothing mega but a nice Brambling and a few Reed Buntings made it rather pleasant. I was home a little after 10am.

Although the valley didn't give me any decent Swans, it did give me a cracking pair of Pintail. They were on Bridge Marsh late morning, but late this afternoon I saw them fly south down the river. Nice to see a smart male for a change, just wish it was closer....

A lot closer!!!!

Two adult Med Gulls were on the estuary late on, but grilling the Gulls produced nothing more. Couldn't see the family party of five Brent Geese today which have been in fields to the north of Seaton Marshes for the past week or so.

I Am Still Here!

The build up to Christmas is always a horrible time at work - and this year proved no different!! I worked the two weeks up to Christmas without even a half-day off, lucky me! This meant I had no birding time, as any non-work time I did have I had to get on with Crimbo preparations. Hence why no blog posts.

I was very gripped to miss our second Caspian Gull, but very pleased to cash in on the Bewick's Swan. It wasn't until today that I have got round to getting some snaps of it though...

I LOVE wild Swans....so to have both species in one flock is just BRILLIANT!!!

I couldn't get a pici of the four swan species in one frame, so went for a video to capture them all instead....



The only other birdie news I have to offer is of loads of Golden Plovers alongside the A3052 on Christmas Day morning; at least three flocks were in roadside fields between Tower Services and the Hontion turn-off.

The highlight of my prezies (aside the smellys, chocs, socks, pants, etc....) is the totally brilliant BWPi I now own! What a MASS of info!

Finally I'd like to wish all blog readers a late and belated HAPPY CHRISTMAS :-)

2009 Becomes A Five Grebe Year :-)

After spending most the day Christmas shopping, I was well up for some birding from mid afternoon. As the sea was rather flat that was where I looked first.

Beer was poor with just four Common Scoters, a Teal and a Great Crested Grebe.

Seaton Hole was miles better. 230 Wigeon were sat in a raft off the river mouth with eight Shoveler. Singles of Red-throated Diver, Great Crested Grebe and Common Scoter were diving in the bay, but the big treat came when I was scoping west towards Beer.

A small Grebe appeared in the middle of my view, I zoomed in and was ecstatic to see it was a Black-necked Grebe! By far the rarest of the Grebes on patch, and the recent records have all been very brief. This was my third for the patch, but I know of another local lister who is yet to see one here....

Ian M, Bun and Karen soon joined me but it had quickly drifted much further out....giving Karen a right conundrum!! Am pleased to say they all got on it though, I hope it sticks for everyone else to see.

After this a look along the estuary revealed something which had been a bit of rarity so far this winter, a Med Gull! They have just been so scarce, weirdly so! The light was crap but I had to take a snap....

Unbelievably my first one this month!!!

....then it got dark!

Today was my last day off before Christmas, how rubbish!

Colyford Common Ringing

There was one mega highlight for me this morning, a ringing tick in the form of this....

But what is it?......

(scroll down for answer)....

What a beaut!!!!

And again! Lovely :-)

It was a very enjoyable outing, not only was there a steady trickle of birds to ring, I also had some great views of Water Pipit.

Most importantly though, I had the oppotunity to stuff my face full of mince pies and other Christmas-related cakey things....then there was the stilton and crackers (yes, how posh!!!) and home made sausage rolls. This was all washed down nicely with two glasses of VERY lovely Mulled Wine. Now that's MY kind of ringing outing!!! :-)

Finally I have a couple of recent bird sightings to mention.... nothing earth shattering though! On Tuesday morning the lone drake Gadwall was floating on the estuary by the tram shed and a lone Brent Goose was sat on the sea with the Wigeon flock. I saw four female-type Black Reds on Beer beach on both Tuesday and Wednesday morning.

'If Only It Were October'

I said this on more than one occasion today.... mind you August/September would do also!

There were more strong south westerlies blowing all last night and for most of today.... just a bloody shame it's December!! Mind you, if there had been more northerlies before today I guess Little Auks would have been on the cards...

A sea watch from Beer 08:30 - 09:45 produced: 3 Brent Geese, 63 Gannet, 67 Kittiwakes and stacks of Fulmars. The latter were both passing through and lingering so I didn't even attempt to count them. On the sea were two Great Crested Grebes and plenty of Common Scoters. I can't wait for the sea to flatten out so we can give this ever-growing scoter flock a darn good grilling... we could do with a Black Scoter.

Again the estuary - albeit it well and truly flooded - produced nothing. Great news with the Black Swans though!

When they first turned up they kept themselves to themselves, not mingling with any of the 'more usual' white ones, this made some people (including me I have to say) a little sceptical about their origin. Well that was until today, they were in the Mute flock opposite Stedcombe this morning. Look....

Wow - don't they look so much more wild!

All we need now is for them to start mingling with the two Whooper Swans....then we are really on a winner!!!

Finally I've also seen five Black Redstarts today, all female-types. A single bird near the Yacht Club and four together on Beer Beach; at least one of these looked like a young male.

As Smooth As Velvet

Last Wednesday I saw Ian M's car parked up in Beer, so wandered along to the shelter where I thought he would be....he was indeed! Before he could finish saying "hello" to me, a drake Velvet Scoter flew through his scope view!

We watched it as it flew west before plonking down on the sea near to the semi-resident flock of Commons Scoters. This is the second record for the patch this year, the first being a pair that flew west past me on Jan 26th. Also saw singles of Red-throated and Great Northern Divers.

Now to today...and the highlight is the continued presence of these plastic beauts....

Still on Bridge Marsh

The two Whooper Swans are still with us (on Colyford Marsh), but I haven't seen anything else noteworthy today.

Evening update: I've just put the bins out and a flock of Wigeon called from the nights sky above. Not sure which way they were flying but it sounded like there was quite a few of them.... movement!!! Could well be a garden tick too : )