I walked through Ford Park Cemetery on the way to the park, seeing coal tit, song thrush, jay, nuthatch and goldcrest for the year list but there was no sign of any black redstarts. Onwards into Central Park and on arriving at the berry tree there was quite a group of birders watching the waxwing which again gave some amazingly close views. It allowed very close approach again but did not like any dogs that came too close, flying off into the top of a nearby tall tree before returning when the dog moved off.
Waxwing
Waxwing
Waxwing
Waxwing
Waxwing
Waxwing - my best shot, cropped and retouched
Having dipped on black redstart at Ford Park Cemetery I was very pleased the following day while having a cup of tea in the staff room at work to see a very smart male black redstart flitting about the rooftops - I have seen them here before over the years but usually female types so to see a male was very special.
Saturday 5th January was grey and cold and claggy again and with the day free I decided to catch the bus out to Wembury first and then have a walk along the River Plym on the way back home. On arrival at Wembury it was very quiet but by the time I left at 11:30 it was getting busy with walkers and families as the Christmas school holidays have still yet to finish.
Bird wise it was quiet too with the highlights being a male bullfinch, a flighty flock of around 15 cirl buntings feeding in the stubble field, 2 adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gulls roosting on the rocks at low tide, a few gannets offshore, fulmars circling along the cliffs of The Mewstone and a flyover raven.
The footpath along the coast has been improved further with hard core having been put down to the memorial bench by the 2nd horse field but it has meant a lot of clearance has been done to the vegetation alongside the path, hopefully this won't affect the insect life found here too much.
Wembury Footpath
Another sad sight was a large grey seal corpse washed up at the top of the beach near the sewage pipe, it has been there a while by the look of it and looked quite eerie with its pale fur and empty eye sockets.
Grey Seal Corpse
Grey Seal Corpse
I caught the bus back to Laira Bridge for my walk along the River Plym to Marsh Mills, expecting it to be very busy again but it was actually ok, much quieter than Wembury had been. It was low tide so I wasn't expecting good views of any waders but I did see a greenshank and a distant flock of around 100 dunlin along with curlew and redshank. Shelduck and mallard were also seen along with 7 little grebe, 2 male and 3 female goosander and 3 male and 3 female wigeon.
The woods in Saltram Park were devoid of any firecrests, stock doves and ring necked parakeets but I did see goldcrest, long-tailed tits, 2 mistle thrush, a great spotted woodpecker, Canada geese, a male pheasent, a chiffchaff and a sparrowhawk. There was no sign of any dipper or common sandpiper at Marsh Mills either and so I caught the bus back home where I was glad to get warmed up after a chilly but enjoyable walk.
Sunday 6th January and another grey and gloomy day but with the waxwing still showing well I decided to go and have another look at it. I started off in Ford Park Cemetery first where again there was no sign of any black redstarts but I did see a flyover male kestrel, 2 ravens and a female pheasant.
Pheasant
There were a few birders in the cemetery who had already been to look for the waxwing but there had been no sign of it so I wasn't sure if it would still be present. However on arriving at the cotoneaster tree it was sat there busily gobbling down red berries and again gave some lovely views. There has been the usual Twitter/Blog spats about getting too close to the bird but from my experience the bird has been quite unperturbed by the people watching it although it is definitely wary of any dogs that get too close - and anyway, why is it that birders with no binoculars or telescopes but with massive cameras have to get so close to the bird?
I watched it for a while and at times it gave a lovely trilling call as it scarfed down berries and constantly pooped - a very lovely looking bird indeed even in the gloomy light.
Waxwing
Waxwing
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