Birdy Returns (Briefly) and Green Sandpipers at Bowling Green Marsh

Thursday 26th July and while tidying up the back yard we were visited by Birdy who dropped in to have a preen, a drink of water from the bowl we had placed on the flat roof for the young birds and a snooze while also watching intently what we were doing and making lots of noise. He did get a feed from one of the adults who flew in and yakked up something very unappetising looking and it was nice to see Birdy again but he had disappeared by the evening and has yet to return again.

Friday 27th July and after all the hot and sunny and dry weather which has been good for butterflies I needed a bird fix and so I decided to fork out the cash (£20.80!) and head off to Topsham on the early train for the high tide roost at Bowling Green Marsh.

Grey skies and mizzle on the train ride to Topsham were a welcome surprise and at times there were some heavy showers during the course of the day which were actually very pleasent to be out in. On arriving at the hide at 08:45 hrs there were plenty of waders roosting on the marsh and amongst the curlews and black tailed godwits I picked out a redshank, a few lapwing, a bar-tailed godwit and a few whimbrel. The highlight though were 2 green sandpipers, surprisingly my first of the year, which gave some great views in front of the hide.

Black-tailed Godwit - Winter Plumage

 Black-tailed Godwit - Summer Plumage

Also seen were a winter plumaged adult Mediterranean gull and an adult lesser black backed gull amongst the herring and black headed gulls, 4 young tufted duck, a little grebe, 3 grey herons, a wigeon, a few teal and 4 stock doves.

As the tide dropped I headed over to the River Clyst viewing platform where redshanks, greenshanks and dunlins were seen with whimbrel, oystercatcher, curlew and black tailed godwits along with 2 shelduck and 5 fluffy chicks. I scanned around for the osprey which has been hanging around the Exe for a while but with no luck.

Onwards to Dawlish Warren for a quick look around and from the train on the journey there I saw Herbert the Slavonian grebe diving off Cockwood. At Dawlish Warren in the misty gloom offshore I picked out a few gannets and Sandwich terns while in Greenland Lake there were a few marsh helleborines in flower and six spot burnet moths feeding on thistle flowers.

 Marsh Helleborine

Marsh Helleborine

The weather worsened and so I headed home, seeing 4 common sandpipers together along the River Teign from the train and enjoying a complimentary ice lolly on arriving off the train in Plymouth which was very enjoyable despite the cool and wet weather.