Friday 8th September and with another day of grotty weather forecasted I decided to head off to Topsham for the morning hide tide wader roost at Bowling Green Marsh where I could at least sit in the bird hide out of the wind and rain. It was raining as I stepped off the train at Topsham at 9am but it stopped shortly after I arrived and it remained dry although mostly overcast for the rest of the day.
As I entered a packed hide I was met by Dave from Daves Diary who was pointing out a juvenile curlew sandpiper in amongst the waders close to the hide on the new scrapes - a very smart looking bird busily feeding with a few dunlin between the legs of sleeping curlews and redshanks.
Curlew, Redshank and Black Tailed Godwit
Curlew Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
I spent a while in the hide as the tide began dropping until the waders began to fly off to the River Clyst and amongst the curlew, redshank, black tailed godwit, greenshank, lapwing and dunlin were a green sandpiper, a female ruff, 2 whimbrel, a bar tailed godwit and a few ringed plover along with the curlew sandpiper. Eclipse plumaged ducks were dotted around the marsh - pintail, gadwall, mallard, teal, shoveler and wigeon - and a female marsh harrier showed very well quartering back and forth over the reeds at the back of the marsh. A few house martins, sand martins and swallows were buzzing over the water and a kingfisher resting on one of the islands was a nice surprise.
I wandered over to the River Clyst viewing platform to watch the waders feeding on the increasingly exposed mud and managed to find a curlew sandpiper amongst the dunlins, presumably the same bird seen earlier on the marsh. 2 kingfishers were fishing from the walls of Rivers Meet House but there was no sign of any ospreys.
Kingfisher
Greenshank
Curlew Sandpiper
Onwards to Dawlish Warren for a quick look around and from the dune ridge I scanned the estuary on a low tide where the only birds of note were a few common terns resting on the sand banks with Sandwich terns. Offshore there was a large mass of birds feeding offshore which seemed to consist of herring gulls and gannets with a few terns while on the sand banks were more roosting Sandwich terns with 2 very smart black terns, my first at Dawlish Warren.
Black Terns
Autumn ladies tresses were still in flower across the site and I also saw a few common darter, a few hawker dragonflies, a male common blue, meadow browns and gatekeepers before it was time to catch the train home just as the rain began to fall again.
Common Darter
Sand Wasp
Autumn Ladies Tresses
Autumn Ladies Tresses
Autumn Ladies Tresses
Tuesday 12th September and I headed down to Falmouth with work colleague Sue for a wildlife boat trip with Orca Safaris, something we have been wanting to do for some time. The weather was looking good for the trip and we headed off from Falmouth Docks out into the bay in grey skies and a gentle breeze. A few gannets and shags were soon found and 2 mute swans close to the beach were a surprise. Eventually we found a small pod of common dolphins much to Sue's delight and we had some great views as they swam around the boat before getting bored and moving away.
Common Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Common Dolphin
Gannet
Also seen were a few guillemot, plenty of gannets, shags and herring gulls, a first winter Mediterranean gull, a few cormorant, great black backed gulls and 3 Sandwich terns but we didn't go far enough offshore to find any interesting sea birds. And on the way back to shore we got involved with a lifeboat rescue of a yacht that had lost its steering - a very enjoyable trip.
Falmouth Lifeboat
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