More Migrants Required!

Well spring really seems to have stalled since my last post, no falls worth blogging about and just a sporadic trickle of wading birds on the Estuary.  Best bird for me being the lingering female Marsh Harrier...

Small numbers of Whimbrel have been showing daily on the Estuary, along with a flock of 20+ Black-tailed Godwits that flew in to Black Hole Marsh a few evenings ago.  I haven't seen any Bar-tailed Godwits on the Axe for a while, but on the last day (25th) one of the two present was in full breeding plumage - nice!  A single Greenshank seems to be lingering in front of Seaton Marshes hide, with the odd Dunlin and Common Sandpiper dropping in.

Several Whitethroats are now in around Axmouth, with good numbers of Reed and Sedge Warblers in the valley.  Firsts for the year for me since my last blog post include a Hobby low east over Primrose Way on 25th and two Swifts this evening over Black Hole Marsh.

A Fulmar Fooling Around

Time for a quick update following the Colyton Cuckoo.  Since then spring migration seems to have slowed down a notch. For example, although I've not made it up to Beer Head recently, all who have report very little to be seen.  I have seen a few bits and pieces though...

Roll back to 19th April, and a female Little Ringed Plover was on Bridge Marsh at dusk, with the reeds full of singing Reed and Sedge Warblers. It's amazing how quickly (about a week?) the reeds went from being almost completely silent, to being crammed full of singing acros. Dusk is much more enjoyable when there's a back drop of chuntering Reed Warblers that's for sure...

Seaton Marshes hide

On the 22nd Chesil Cove recorded an impressive 800+ Bar-tailed Godwits through during the morning, whereas 30 minutes from Seaton Beach showed none!  I did check the Estuary last thing in the evening though and was pleased to see six just upriver from a flock of 12 Black-tailed Godwits.  There are still three here today, this being one of them...

Always look so short-legged!

This morning we had a real April 2019 rarity....rain!  It didn't seem to have done much at first, with just four Dunlin, a Ringed Plover and two Common Sandpipers on the Estuary.  But once the rain stopped during the afternoon things stepped up a gear , and although I missed an Osprey and drake Garganey, I did see the Marsh Harrier over Colyford Marsh, a Greenshank on the Estuary, and from the beach in 20 minutes; 150+ Manx Shearwaters west and a Goosander in-off. 

Looking out to see the visibility was outstanding, with a large container ship crystal clear despite it clearly being a long way off. Thanks to ship tracking website (https://www.marinetraffic.com) I was able to see it was 'Liberty Ace', a Japanese container ship heading for the US, and was about 15 (land) miles out!

The fact this distant ship was so clear wasn't the only surprise this evening.... Whilst I was at Coronation Corner, which is about 1.25km up the Axe Estuary, I looked up to see a Fulmar flying around!...

...it soon realised its mistake and headed back down the Estuary towards the sea.  Now I was not expecting that!!

Going Cuckoo Over a Cuckoo

A major highlight this evening during a dog walk along Cownhayne Lane between Colyford and Colyton - Cuckoo! 

Yes we get them every spring, but only two or three in most years, and they often stay only for something between two minutes and an hour before completely disappearing.  And they are almost always heard and not seen.  I however have never been in the right place at the right time. Not once. In 17 years of birding the Axe Estuary I haven't heard a Cuckoo call, which is even sadder when you hear how common they used to be here. The only Cuckoos I've seen on patch have been in late summer/autumn, with my last patch Cuckoo in August 2013. So hearing just one blast of Cuckoo call this evening made my day, and I sent a message out to alert others.

Twenty minutes later it called a few times again, but closer. This warranted another message out because this meant it was lingering so had the potential to be twitched. Phil soon arrived and it soon called again much to both our delights.  It was close too, really close, so we wandered a short way down the lane and gazed up into some big trees in a garden where we thought the calls originated from. There was no sign after ten minutes of searching, so when it suddenly started calling again somewhere right in front of us we were speechless! 

HOW!? WHERE!??

We then spent half an hour looking into these few trees, from every angle we could find, but despite the fact it would occasionally burst out in song could we find it!?  Could we heck!!  We were going Cuckoo ourselves, and laughing about it because this was just crazy - Cuckoos aren't usually this elusive!

Then finally - although not before the sun had gone down and moon risen high in the sky (it was now 20:30) - I caught sight of some fine barring high in a dense patch of leafage. There it was sat almost motionless...

Gotcha!

A spring patch Cuckoo... well most of one anyway!

  

Am presuming it was pretty tired after a long flight in, but still had just enough energy to burst out the occasional bout of song.  I'm glad it did because no way would it have been found otherwise!

Oh I do love spring, and this has made mine that's for sure.

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!

Some South Easterly Seawatching

The raw east wind that's been hammering us for about a week edged more southerly yesterday, and this morning we woke up to a decent south east gale.  I'm not a fan of sea watching here in south easterlies, it's almost always disappointing and every time we are completely trumped by Chesil - embarrassingly and frustratingly so!

I didn't miss much this morning from what Ian Mc and Phil reported, but tonight I was keen to give it a go after work - am dead pleased I did!  An hour at the Spot On Kiosk from 18:50 produced (all east);

2 Teal (why weren't these Garganey!!??)

54 Gannet

128 Manx Shearwater (18 the biggest single flock)

1 Arctic Skua (a sleek pale-phased adult at 19:04)

5 Common Gull

12 Sandwich Tern (6, 4 and 2)

1 Arctic Tern (flew in then over the beach, gained height but then flew back out again!)

11 Whimbrel 

5 Dunlin

So not too shabby at all by Seaton standards, with the two Arctic's being the highlights.  The Tern just kept coming closer and closer, to the point I could even see the bill detail which was nice! And as for the Skua, well this was my first Skua of the year which is always a highlight - but this one looked particularly dinky and streamline and the plumage simply stunning in front of the dull grey sea.

Although I have been at work all day, it's clear there's been a constant arrival of hirundines. Every time I have been outside small groups of Swallows/House Martins have whizzed through quickly north. This evening whilst sea watching I must have seen twenty Swallows arrive in-off too. 

No photos from today I'm afraid, but here's a dreadful photo of a female Goosander that did a lap of Bridge Marsh in front of me on Saturday evening, with 60 Sand Martins and ten Swallows also on show...

A blur which shares some similarities with a female sawbill!

More of the same please Spring 2019!

More Birding Required!

I've not seen loads or been out that much, but I have seen enough to write this...

There's been a refreshing pulse of wader activity on the Axe Estuary since the turn of the month, kicked off by a Ringed Plover north of Coronation Corner on 2nd with three Dunlin.  On 6th whilst sky watching from my bedroom window, I was surprised to see a very high-flying flock of c30 Black-tailed Godwits power in from the north west then drop like a stone into the valley. Frustratingly as they twisted and turned before heading off down river I could make out a smaller, plain-winged wader in their midst. I suspect it was a Knot, but there was knot anything I could do about it. The following evening (7th) it was nice to see our first Whimbrel of the spring with ten Curlew just north of Coronation Corner, and this morning a flock of 18 Dunlin were zooming around at high-tide not knowing where to land.  Hopefully Kentish Plover is next :-)

Axe Estuary at dusk

With the strong winds at the end of last week I gave sea watching a go on Friday 5th.  The direction and strength of the wind however meant shelter was very hard to find on the sea front, so twenty minutes late I gave up and checked elsewhere.  Still, in that time two Pale-bellied Brent Geese flew west and a Manx Shearwater flew east - my first of the year for both.

My passerine highlight of the last few days surprisingly wasn't a migrant species, but a Dipper.  They've been really reliable on our section of the River Coly this year, and yesterday I was delighted to stumble upon an active nest - not where I was expecting to find one either.  I gave them the space they deserved and was rewarded with prolonged views of an adult Dipper plunge-diving. So lucky to be able to watch this on my patch.  

There are more hirundines about now, although I am still yet to see a House Martin.  Sand Martins were well represented during the grim weather of last week, with just under 100 in the valley on 3rd, with small numbers of Swallows seen pretty much every day now.  Willow Warblers are now starting to pass through in decent numbers, tonight I watched six feeding in an isolated clump of Blackthorn in the valley even as the sun was setting. Amazing to think that by the morning they will probably be hundreds of miles away!

A well defined setting sun over Colyford

I saw my first Red Kite of the season from work yesterday morning (7th) thanks to Phil. He had seen it fly east over Beer Head and I happened to be outside when it carried on east over Sheep's Marsh and the Estuary. I wonder how many more (hundreds!?) I will see as the year progresses.

And I will end this somewhat disjointed post with my absolute highlight of April so far. During a morning outing to Black Hole Marsh with Harry on 6th I was suddenly aware of the charming calls of Med Gull.  Two second-summers were flying around calling to each other low over the marsh before landing on one of the islands, both with pretty much full hoods.  An amazing sight and sound, and proof to anyone that gulls are anything but boring!

Nikon Film Number Two!

So it's about time I shared this here...

Yep, this is why I spent a few days in Portugal last June.  It was a real pleasure to work with Nikon again, and the same Camera Technician and Director who shot the Slovenia film in 2016. Lisbon was amazing and the birding top-notch for a such a busy city - and you know the product is good when most the crew left wanting to buy a pair each for themselves! 

PS check out the super-sized Greater Flamingo at 00:46, I couldn't get over how completely massive he was compared to the other c100 present!

Roll on April!

Thought I best bring you all up to speed before we get into April, when it will probably all kick off on the migration front...  mind you it looks like it already has!

I was at work most of today, so missed Bun's male Redstart on Beer Head and the Osprey that flew up river mid afternoon (seems to have been several of these arrive on south coast today). A quick look around as the sun set though showed a big increase of hirundines in the valley, with 70+ Sand Martins and about five Swallows feeding over Colyford and Bridge Marsh.

Yesterday morning I enjoyed leading a tram trip along the Estuary, with six Sand Martins north, a Wheatear (my first female of the year), a Greenshank, a Dunlin and two male Shoveler the highlights...

Female Wheatear

Redshank and Greenshank (now in summer plumage)

Male Stonechat on the tram overhead!

Don't get many Wren photos so thought this was worth posting!

A couple of evenings prior to this I spent some time at our only remaining reliable Little Owl site. Great to see at least one still hanging on...

The distinctive shape of a Little Owl with a stunning orange sky backdrop

And that brings me up to date with my local bird news. April it is over to you...

Dartmoor Day

Will post a local update in the next day or two, but in the meantime here's a few pics from a stunning family day trip to Dartmoor yesterday...

At least four Crossbills spent lunchtime with us, along with numerous Siskins, a couple of Dipper and a Wheatear.   Had one of those moments too of really appreciating a common bird. We all go nuts for spring Yellow Wagtails, especially the colourful headed varieties. But have you looked closely at at Grey Wagtail lately? Stunning...

Little Ringed Plover

There was a fine end to this fine day, with our first Little Ringed Plover of the spring gracing Bridge Marsh...

The distance didn't make it any less of a delight to see!  Still present at dusk.

A Galling Gull

A quick snoop around the patch early this morning showed a flock of 15 Sand Martin feeding over Colyford Marsh, but not a lot else...

I had two more trips out today, late morning and late afternoon, with gulls being the main focus. Among the 120+ Common Gulls on the Estuary were five Med Gulls (one first-summer, two second-summer and two adult summers). There weren't big numbers of large gulls on show today, but they did include this first-summer Caspian Gull*...

First views showed exactly what can be seen in the above pic. A strikingly white headed and breasted first-year gull, with extensive (almost complete) grey saddle, solidly faded dark brown tertials, plain (although very faded) greater coverts, and narrow pink legs with comparatively long tibia.  Overall it was a sizeable bird too, larger than the surrounding Herring Gulls.

My views of it were shocking mind, as you can tell from the below pics...

Frustrating I had to go before I'd even picked this bird up, so after ten minutes of watching it I really had to go!  But when I finally and begrudgingly did drive away, I suddenly realised how I may be able to get a closer view...

Oh yes much closer and clearer, but not the most helpful of angles. And now I really really really had to go!!

I desperately hope I or someone sees this bird again, because currently I'm just not quite happy with it.  I reckon if I'd been able to give it the time it deserved then I would have come away happy, but the bill size and shape, and dull grey mottling on flanks and belly are unsettling me... 

Is it a big male Casp, or do these features suggest some Herring influence?  Any comments as ever gratefully received.

A Good Gull Day

I am sure being with/married to a birder is not an easy thing at the best of times, but it can get treacherous on particular occasions that's for sure...

There are four birding events that make my wife shudder to the core - and I don't blame her.  If I'm not birding when any of these four things are taking place, then I am not a nice person to be with. And that's not something I have any control over. Shocking but true. The four 'birding events' being; 

A patch first/lifer

A good fall day (spring or autumn)

A good sea watching day

A good gull day

What I don't think the non-birder truly understands is that to create three of the above four events everything has to be exactly right - like a complex jigsaw puzzle that fits together probably only for a single day, and then possibly not again for months/years. The weather needs to be right, the time of year needs to be right, and the birds need to be there - but sometimes even when those three do marry up it still doesn't happen, so when it does happen it is not to be missed.  If it is being missed then I simply don't want to be wherever I am at that time, I want to be birding.

And why have I written all of the above? Well today one of my four 'birding events' happened... Gulls!  Mid March, a strong south west wind with plenty of rain and 100% cloud cover - all absolute classic conditions for big numbers of Gulls on the Axe.  Miraculously once I'd seen the forecast last night, our plans for a 'lovely Saturday out' suddenly changed to us enjoying more of a 'stay at home' day.... funny that :-)

My first look along the Estuary mid-morning showed about 210 Common Gulls, two Med Gulls (second-summers) and best of all this lovely second-summer Yellow-legged Gull...

Don't be put off by the dull yellow legs - completely usual for a YLG of this age. Note the lovely bright bill, red orbital ring, square back of the head and the vast amount of grey in the wing - it's well advanced.

A direct comparison with a similarly aged Herring Gull - note the difference in bill colour!

With two adult graellsii Lesser Black-backed Gulls

Note the complete black tail band - a good feature for a second-summer Yellow-legged, other species usually show a weak or broken tail band by this age

A fluky flight shot - all perfect for a second-summer YLG

Last one I promise! With two Herring Gulls

The Yellow-legged Gull remained on the Estuary all day, as I saw it during both the afternoon Estuary scans.  Mid afternoon there wasn't much else to add, but a look along the Estuary from 17:30 showed a massive increase in smaller gull numbers - now six Med Gulls (ad, 4 2s and 1 1w) and an impressive 620 Common Gulls.  The mind boggles at how many of these have probably passed through the patch today!

All but about 11 of these birds are Common Gull!

So many Common Gull - but sadly no Ring-billeds (that I found anyway!)

Adult and second-summer Med Gull

Another second-summer Med Gull

And just to finish this post, so I can reclaim some brownie points by doing the dishes, I saw my first Sand Martins of the year today. Three were feeding over Lower Bruckland Ponds mid afternoon.

Right, must dash...

Hybrid Gull (no please do still read this post!)

Now I'm not ashamed to say I've described many gulls using words like 'stunning' or 'cracking',  but I confess to hitting a new low late this morning...

I was actually mildly impressed by how smart a hybrid Herring x Lesser Black-backed Gull looked. My word I can't believe I'm even writing this!

Mantle colour actually not that far off a Yellow-legged Gull, but look at the wide white tertial crescent. The consistent feature with these hybrids (which you can just about make out in the above pic) is the pale washed out yellowy-pink legs.

Similar view but a little more zoom. A short-legged and compact bird but a bit longer-winged than surrounding Herring Gulls.

See doesn't it look smart!  The fine bill, clean white head and small eye, combined with mantle colour giving it an almost Caspian feel.  Nice!

Oh look - a fluky open wing shot!  What a mess though; sizeable window on P10, a little dot of white on P9 on right wing at least... I do like those narrow white bands that separate the grey and black on P5-P7 though.

What is nice is that this shot clearly rules out a small argentatus Scandinavian Herring Gull which would show far more white and far less black in the wing-tips.

So to summarise this post... No there were no decent gulls on the Axe Estuary today despite several scans.

First Wheatears

A message from Clive mid afternoon yesterday alerted me to the presence of our first two Wheatear of the year on Colyford Common. Yeah finally some spring migrants - I really do not know how we've missed out on all the early hirundine action here!  

I got to Colyford Common just before 5pm, and was greeted by the soul-lifting sight of three gorgeous male Wheatears. Here's one of them...

These early ones are always so strikingly small, dumpy and pale compared to the tall orange breasted Greenland/Iceland birds that move through from mid April. Over the course of a year I'm sure we actually see many more of the larger brighter birds than these small presumably UK breeding birds.

It was clearly a fairly good migration day yesterday, as there were also a few new Chiffchaffs dotted around the Marshes. And today Ian Mc has seen our first Sand Martin of the year, so hopefully this means the flood gates have opened... 

Salty Mandarins

A good storm often produces an oddity or two, whatever the time of year, but Tim Wright took that to a whole 'nother level at about 3pm this afternoon  Not so much on rarity-value, just pure whackiness...

Two drake and a female Mandarin

Yes, that's three Mandarin sat on the sea!!  There's not been a Mandarin anywhere on patch since July 2013, prior to this I've seen four or five here, but none - as you'd expect - on or over the sea. What a bizarre record, and thanks for the message Tim. I would love to know where they woke up this morning!?

They weren't that far out, but the choppy seas didn't help with photography

And here's a 30 second video...

60 Black-tailed and the Bar-tailed Godwit, five Dunlin, 90+ Common and 14 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were on the Estuary this afternoon, but I couldn't manage anything better. I've still not seen a summer migrant yet, which in an average year I would expect, but this year I feel a bit cheated.

They're getting closer!

This is a sight I have longed to see on patch...

Bottom right hand corner

Yes it's a Cirl Bunting, a stunning male at that.  Truth is though I am still longing to see one on patch, but since a small number have been found just a few miles outside our patch boundary by Clive and Dan, there's a real sense it could happen any day now!

Such smart bird, with a head pattern to rival any American sparrow!

In the glorious blue skies of this afternoon, things were looking really promising with one or two singing males and a pair keeping themselves very much to themselves.

Enjoyed some super views, perched and on the ground

Female Cirl Bunting on a not quite so natural setting!

I love the russet on the sides of their breast

It's clearly a good spot for buntings, with at least nine Yellowhammers present too...

Three Yellowhammers - interestingly none of these were singing

Surely it's only a matter of time now...