A Kentish Plover - in Somerset

With Russian White-fronted Geese and Tundra Bean Geese being reported at Slimbridge I started to plan a visit there for Saturday 10th January, however with the arrival of Storm Goretti on Thursday 8th January causing chaos with train services across the country along with the arrival of a nasty COVID-like cold making me feel quite crappy my plans were unfortunately shelved.

I'm not sure what my cold was all about, I had one at Twixtmas although it never really got going and quickly fizzled out but this one was a different beast. It started at 5am on the Thursday morning with constant sneezing which felt like hay-fever or some other kind of allergic reaction and just like my first experience with COVID back in 2022. As the day wore on it got worse and I felt achey and shivery, I did a COVID test using the last one from my NHS working days and it was negative although the test was 2 years out of date and probably not sensitive to current COVID strains in what is now a very mutated virus. I still felt crap the next day (Friday 9th) yet by the evening I felt OK, just tired and foggy headed, and the snotty nose and sneezing had stopped. By the Saturday I felt fine and the trains post Storm Goretti were also running pretty much to schedule too so a trip to Slimbridge would have been do-able but never mind.

I still had a hankering for a further-afield birding day out though and with a Kentish Plover overwintering again at Burnham-on-sea in Somerset for its 7th winter I decided to finally go and have a look for it although it can be a very tricky bird to catch up with. Being a Saturday I could use my Railcard at any time and so I bought a return ticket for £29.75 using the Split Ticketing website instead of the full £49.30 ticket price while catching exactly the same trains - ridiculous!

I have visited Burnham-on-sea just once before way back in December 2020 to see, of all things, a Russian White-fronted Goose and a Tundra Bean Goose which were associating with a flock of Greylag Geese at Apex Park, both juvenile birds of unknown provenance and ridiculously tame. The Kentish Plover had also been present on the nearby beach that day too but instead of going to look for it I decided to head back to Exeter to try and see a Dusky Warbler there and which I failed miserably to do.

Tundra Bean Goose and Russian White-fronted Goose at Apex Park, Burnham-on-sea, December 2020

Anyway, back to January 2026 and it was a cold and icy morning as I caught the 6:27am train from Plymouth but as the sun rose it became a beautiful and sunny, wintery day. The trains all ran smoothly and I arrived at Highbridge & Burnham train station at around 8:15am to start my walk along the River Brue towards the sea wall at Burnham-on-sea where the Kentish Plover is frequently seen along the beach.

The River Brue heading towards the beach at Burnham-on-sea - mobile phone shot

The Beach at Burnham-on-sea

On arriving at the seafront a report came through on Birdguides that the Kentish Plover was present and after a good lookabout I eventually found it roosting along the shoreline with Ringed Plovers where it gave some wonderful views (and what Doughnut had forgotten his camera today?!). It's a female bird sporting assorted leg bling after being ringed in Germany in 2021 and only my second ever sighting of one in the UK after a distant, heat-hazy view of a male at Minsmere in May 1981!

Kentish Plover with Ringed Plovers, 10/1/26 - photo courtesy of @paganbirder on Bluesky

Kentish Plover, 10/1/26 - photo courtesy of @paganbirder on Bluesky

As the tide headed in the Plovers moved closer up the beach towards the sea wall and the Kentish Plover showed beautifully, it was a nervous looking, crouchy bird but it did stay on the beach when most of the Ringed Plovers had flown off until it eventually left too.

Other sightings of note on my visit were 2 Sanderling, Lapwing, Golden Plover, 6 Avocet, Wigeon, Teal, Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher, a female Reed Bunting, Linnet and Collared Dove and with the Kentish Plover in the bag and it being such a glorious and calm day I decided to head home and stop off along the way at Dawlish Warren for a walkabout and a look for Divers offshore.

On arriving at Dawlish Warren the sea looked flat calm but there was a little swell which was especially noticeable further out as birds on the sea bobbed up and down and disappeared and then reappeared. I scanned about from the Lifeguard Hut and there were good numbers of Great Crested Grebe scattered across the Bay, most were further out with just a few closer in. Eventually I found some Divers with at least 2 Great Northern Divers and 3 Red-throated Divers seen but they were very mobile and spent little time at the surface. A Guillemot and 3 Common Scoter were also picked up along with a Grey Seal moving west close inshore and at least 2 Common Dolphin moving east distantly offshore.

The View from the Lifeguard Hut towards Exmouth

Dawlish Warren Pronenade towards Exmouth

The water levels were high at the Main Pond but there was a Snipe feeding on the mud amongst the reeds and a female and 2 male Shovelers feeding out on the water. A look at the Estuary from the Dune Ridge revealed the usual birds with a single Grey Plover out on the mudflats bringing my tally of Plover species for the day up to 5. The best though was a Slavonian Grebe in the main river channel, busily diving away and moving upstream, distant but very distinctive in the strong sunshine.

The Main Pond, Dawlish Warren

It was soon time to head back to Plymouth but it had been a very good birding day out and I was very lucky to have seen the Kentish Plover so well and on my first visit too, many birders have had to visit multiple times to eventually catch an often distant sight of it - the Birding Gods certainly smiled on me today.

Tristis Chiffchaffs and a Wild Goose Chase

It was cold, clear, calm, icy and dark when I stepped off the bus at Wembury on Monday 5th January, the footpath and road were quite treacherous on the walk up to the church but I managed to get there in one piece as the sky gradually lightened. I tried my poor Tawny Owl impression again along the way but was unsuccessful this time - I guess it's a case of fool a Tawny Owl once, shame on you, fool a Tawny Owl twice, shame on the Owl.

The Waning Wolf Moon

I carried onwards from the church towards The Point to check out the high tide roost on the ebbing tide but my attention was diverted along the way as I again saw 2 Fox up on the hillside by the Pheasant field being watched by 2 Roe Deer and nervous looking Pheasants. The 2 Fox were keeping together and at one point had a bit of a spat with each other, rearing up on their hind legs and sparring together before continuing on their way. The Pheasants all flocked together and followed them from a safe distance, like Gazelles do with Cheetahs on the African savannah, and the 2 Roe Deer were equally as nervous with one of them eventually rushing towards the Foxes and chasing them away.

At The Point there were around 40 Turnstones feeding on the seaweed mass by the sewage pipe along with a Redshank and the usual Gulls while a Curlew, 5 Little Egret and Oystercatchers were roosting nearby but there was no sign of any Purple Sandpipers. A Grey Seal was seen offshore with 2 adult Gannets flying east and 3 Fulmars flying around The Mewstone. 

Great Black-backed, Herring and Black-headed Gulls

Amongst the Blackbirds and Song Thrushes feeding on Ivy berries nearby were a few skulky and skittish Redwings and 2 male Blackcaps while a Green Woodpecker and a Mistle Thrush were seen flying away over the trees. A Dartford Warbler flitting about in the Gorse showed very well but did not stay still for a second.

Dartford Warbler

Kestrel

I spent some time looking for the Water Pipit along the beach and eventually found it after a bit of a search although it remained distant, it really is a subtle looking bird and it has now found its feet as it gave chase to any Rock Pipits that came too close. The Rock Pipit with the white head feathering was also seen again amongst the feeding Rock Pipits, Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails and along the cliffs a Firecrest, a pair of Stonechats and around 10 Chiffchaff were noted.

Water Pipit

Rock Pipit - a distinctive looking bird with white face feathering, first seen on 8/11/25

Amongst the obvious collybita Chiffchaffs was a Siberian tristis type, its silvery grey undeparts were especially noticeable along with its washed out brown upperparts with a hint of greeny- yellow in the wing feathers.

Siberian Chiffchaff - tristis

Chiffchaffs - collybita (l) versus tristis (r)

Chiffchaff - tristis

As I headed back towards the bus stop for the journey home I was pleased to see a straggly flock of around 60 Golden Plover flying over heading west and 2 Lapwing feeding together in the upper horse field. At the bus stop a further flock of around 70 Lapwing were seen flying over heading west followed by a another flock of around 20 birds that headed west before returning east.

Lapwing

The White-fronted and Bean Geese obviously reappeared at Bowling Green Marsh the day after my visit (!) but disappeared again the next day before reappearing at Exminster Marsh the day after and so I decided to try again to see them on Tuesday 6th January.

I wasn't very hopeful that the Geese would show so I caught the earliest train I could using my Railcard which was at 09:27am and it cost me just £7.65 return but I decided to treat myself and catch the bus to Exminster from Starcross for a change, arriving at the Marsh at just after 11am. It was another beautiful day, all cold and clear and crisp and I set off with my fingers crossed but as expected it didn't work as I failed to find any White-fronted or Bean Geese. I did see 2 Greylag Geese though amongst the Canada and Brent Geese present along with the Swan/Mucky Geese seen last week at Bowling Green Marsh and showing how mobile the Geese are around The Exe.

It was an enjoyable walk around the Marsh anyway despite dipping the Geese and the highlights were a male and female-type Marsh Harrier quartering over the Marsh, a pair of Pochard and a female Goldeneye on the lagoon where a Red Fox was spooking the ducks as it trotted around the lagoon edge and a Chiffchaff (collybita) flitting about along the railway line.

Marsh Harrier

Ice Skating Mute Swan, Turf Canal

While waiting for the train back to Plymouth I had a scan about from Starcross railway station where the highlights were 6 Red-breasted Mergansers (4 males) diving away and 2 Greenshank and a Bar-tailed Godwit feeding out on the mud.

The River Exe from Starcross Train Station

With the Yellow-browed Warbler at Efford Marsh in Plymouth still showing well and obviously surviving these freezing temperatures I decided to have a quick look for it on Wednesday 7th January. It was still feeling cold but warmer than of late and I quickly found the Yellow-browed Warbler busily feeding away in the same area I saw it in back in December. It was very feisty and regularly chased off any Chiffchaffs that came too close and despite it being constantly on the move I had some excellent views of it, certainly the best I've ever had of a Yellow-browed Warbler, and again I was surprised at how smart and bright it looked.

Yellow-browed Warbler Habitat

Yellow-browed Warbler 

Yellow-browed Warbler 

Yellow-browed Warbler 

Yellow-browed Warbler 

There were at least 2 Firecrest amongst the numerous Goldcrests also present along with at least 1 tristis type Chiffchaff amongst the numerous collybita types flitting about.

Siberian Chiffchaff (tristis)

Chiffchaff (tristis)

A Grey Wagtail, 2 Little Egret, a Nuthatch, 4 Redwing, a female Blackcap, 11 Teal (8 males) and a white farmyard type Mallard with the Mallards (probably the one seen on The Plym recently) were also of note along with some decent-ish views of a skulky Water Rail.

Water Rail