Sunday 17 March 2024

Bramblings, a Little Bunting and a Waxwing

Wednesday 13th March was forecasted to be grey but dry and so indeed it was as I headed off to Dartmoor to do some birding with Mavis. It was chilly in the breeze and a bit misty and mizzely at times but we had an enjoyable time.

We started off at Postbridge to look for the reported Bramblings and while I went to the machine to buy a parking ticket for the car Mavis was enjoying views of 2 Bramblings on the bird feeders in a nearby garden! We both then enjoyed good views of at least 3 Bramblings (2 males) coming into the feeders along with Chaffinches, Coal Tits, a Goldfinch, 2 Nuthatches, a Robin, Great Tits and a Marsh Tit.

Brambling, Postbridge

Brambling

Brambling

Brambling

We then headed off to Burrator Reservoir for a walk where we had good views of another Marsh Tit along with Siskins, Coal, Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits, a Grey Heron, a Cormorant, a female Goosander and a Sparrowhawk.

Wild Daffodils were coming into flower and we found a few Scarlet Elf Cups on pieces of rotting wood.

Wild Daffodil, Burrator

Scarlet Elf Cup

Scarlet Elf Cup

Mossy Trees, Burrator

It was grey and claggy yet again on Saturday 16th March, I can not recall such a wet, miserable and seemingly endless winter ever, but with a Little Bunting having been found at Broadsands near Paignton I decided to ignore the wet weather and head out for a look. Unfortunately there were no trains running between Plymouth and Newton Abbot due to a week long schedule of engineering works and so I had to catch a bus from Plymouth to Paignton instead, it actually didn't take too much longer than the train and it worked out cheaper as well.

I arrived at the car park at Broadsands at around 10am and immediately found the Little Bunting feeding on seed put down over the winter period as supplementary food for the local population of Cirl Buntings which were also present. It was a very distinctive and smart looking bird and it showed very well for a few minutes before flying off, it then didn't reappear for almost 2 hours as a growing number of increasingly anxious birders began to assemble.

Little Bunting

Little Bunting

It finally reappeared and again showed very well but with the weather continuing to be drecky and the Bunting eventually disappearing again most of the birders present dispersed. I decided to hang around for a bit longer and despite increasing levels of disturbance from dog walkers and children on bikes it eventually showed very well again before it was time for me to leave and head back to Plymouth. 

Little Bunting - courtesy of @billcoulson3 on Twitter/X - a fabulous image

I have seen Little Bunting only twice before,  brief views of a bird at Wembury over 2 days back in 1997 and distant views of a bird at St.Germans in Cornwall in 2010 so todays bird was a very welcome sighting. The weather and lighting weren't great but the views of the Bunting were very good especially now that I have a telescope to view through unlike back in 1997 and 2010. 

While waiting around for the Little Bunting to show I also saw 2 Buzzards and a Sparrowhawk overhead and a feeding flock of around 40 Linnet feeding in a weedy field. A Cetti's Warbler and 2 Chiffchaff were heard and a quick look offshore in the misty conditions revealed a Great Northern Diver and a Great Crested Grebe out on the water with a Little Egret and an Oystercatcher along the rocky shoreline.

Despite getting great views of the Little Bunting it was all a little bit too twitchy for my liking, the birding crowd were mostly a friendly and amiable bunch but I'm just not overly sociable when it comes to my birding time!

Sunday 17th March was actually a dry day, we even had glimpses of sunshine and blue skies and it felt quite warm and so despite being Sunday we decided to make the most of it and headed out for the day. I had casually suggested a trip to Killerton House near Exeter, luring David with the promise of tea and cake in the cafe there and the fact that a Waxwing had been showing in gardens in nearby Cranbrook did not have any bearing on my plans (much!).

We drove to Cranbrook first and after navigating the joys of the soulless estate roads we arrived at where the bird had been reported as showing and before even getting out of the car I could see the Waxwing sat atop of a bare tree with a gaggle of Toggers staring up at it.

Waxwing

Waxwing

I enjoyed some good views of the Waxwing either perched up in the treetops or gobbling down rosehips in the nearby gardens but it was often tricky to get a clear look at it amongst the branches. Apparently it had nearly been taken out earlier by a cat as it came down to drink in a nearby stream.

Waxwing

Waxwing

Waxwing

David's patience limit was reached after half an hour and so it was time to move on but I was glad to finally catch up with a Waxwing in what has been a good winter for them here in the UK. An added bonus while watching the Waxwing had been a male Brimstone flitting by, my first of the year and as always a surprisingly bright yellow colour.

We ended up visiting nearby Poltimore House instead of Killerton, we had a quick look around the gardens but it was incredibly waterlogged and difficult to navigate and so a repeat visit later in the year will be on the cards. The house itself is a bit of a ruin and unvisitable but the cafe was very good with very nice cakes which we enjoyed before heading home.

And so it's been quite the birding week this week despite the iffy weather with some very nice sightings and a definite feeling of spring being just around the corner.

Tuesday 12 March 2024

Burrator, Plym and Exe

We had a walk around Burrator Reservoir on Wednesday 6th March, it was a beautiful day and surprisingly warm in the sunshine when sheltered from the brisk wind. We did our usual walk around the whole reservoir and it was dry and relatively mud free along the roads and paths and there was plenty of water still rushing over the Dam after yet more recent heavy rain.

There were actually some birds around this time too with the highlight being 3 Crossbill that flew over the treetops calling before disappearing from sight, my first of the year.

A Mistle Thrush was heard singing, 5 Buzzard mewed overhead, 2 Green Woodpecker were heard yaffling and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming. Ravens and Siskins were also displaying overhead while out on the water 2 male Goosanders, 2 Great Crested Grebes, an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and the White farmyard Goose were seen.

Thursday 7th March was sunny again but still breezy and so I headed out to The Plym for a walk, starting at Laira Bridge and finishing at Marsh Mills. The tide was heading in when I arrived but it had been a high low tide and the mudflats were rapidly disappearing under water.

I was very pleased to finally find my first Plym Red-breasted Merganser of the year, a male bird busily diving away off the Rowing Club. This winter has been poor for Red-breasted Mergansers locally with odd reports here and there of a pair on The Plym or The Tamar so I was glad to catch up with one of them before they head off north to breed. The only local record I have this winter is of an immature male on The Plym at the beginning of December, maybe today's adult male bird is that same one now all grown up.

Otherwise all the usual birds were present today on my walk with the highlights being a Common Sandpiper, a Snipe, 2 Turnstone, a Little Grebe, 3 Mandarin (2 males) and 2 pairs of Goosanders along the river near the gas pipe, 18 Curlew, 10 Oystercatcher, 3 Greenshank, 6 Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron roosting on Blaxton Meadow as the water headed in through the sluice gates, 3 Greenshank and 28 Common Gulls (27 adults, 1 1st winter) with Dunlin, Redshank and Shelducks out on the mudflats and 6 Ring-necked Parakeets, 3 Stock Dove and a singing Chiffchaff in the Park.

Mandarins

Blaxton Meadow Roost

Stock Dove

Wood Anemones

On the morning of Friday 8th March news of 7 Dark-bellied Brent Geese on The Plym came through on the bird news channels, unfortunately I was busy at the time but we had a walk down to Laira Bridge that afternoon for a look. The tide was now high and as expected there was no sign of them but there was a nice adult Shag in its breeding finery out on the water just above the bridge. 

Brent Geese are only occassionally seen on The Plym, I've never managed to see any there before so missing today's birds was a shame but there's always another time.

With reports of Wheatears arriving along the South Devon coast and the weather for Monday 11th March set fair I had planned to visit Wembury but I had a hankering for something different for a change and so I switched plans and headed up to The Exe instead. I caught the train to Starcross and then walked up to the viewing platform at Exminster Marsh and back and I had a very enjoyable time.

It was indeed a beautiful day with some nice sunny spells and feeling warm in the very gentle breeze, 2 Chiffchaffs heard quietly singing and a brief view of a flyby Small Tortoiseshell on my walk made it feel even more spring like. 

Despite signs of spring there were still plenty of winter birds around with the Brent Geese noisely feeding in the grassy fields close to the footpath before decamping to the estuary mudflats when the tide receded. 

Brent Geese

There were still good numbers of waders feeding out on the estuary too - Dunlins, Oystercatchers, Curlews and Redshanks with Grey Plovers, Knot, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshank and around 35 Avocets along with a distant roosting flock of Golden Plovers. Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck and Canada Geese were also present.

Avocets

Teal

The Fallow Deer were showing very well in Powderham Park with a pair of Gadwall, 4 Stock Dove, a Raven and a Kestrel also of note here and both a Green and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were also heard.

Fallow Deer

Kestrel

Mallard - resplendent in the sunshine

A hunting immature male Marsh Harrier spooking all the wildfowl and 2 female Pochard on the lagoon with 4 male and a female Tufted Ducks were the highlights on Exminster Marsh with 2 male Reed Buntings also seen here my first of the year.

Reed Bunting

Reed Bunting

A Cattle Egret was found in the flooded field just outside Starcross when I first arrived off the train, it looked a little sickly but it had disappeared on my return walk.

Cattle Egret

Before catching the train back to Plymouth from Starcross I spent some time scanning the river from the station platform as the tide headed in. An immature male Eider was picked up diving off Exmouth, distant views only through the scope, but 2 Great Northern Divers, 7 Great Crested Grebes and 3 pairs of Red-breasted Mergansers showed a little closer.

Red-breasted Merganser