Rivers Hayle and Plym

The weather remains dire and yet again my birdwatching plans for Friday 28th and Saturday 29th of February were scuppered due to some more shite conditions forecasted. However after some heavy overnight rain Thursday 27th February was looking good and so despite feeling absolutely knackered after working 2 long days and then a night shift I decided to head to Hayle on the train for a look at gulls.

I have wanted to visit Hayle properly ever since I bought my telescope last December in order to scan through the roosting gulls at low tide but other than a quick look at the estuary back in January on my journey home from Penzance I haven't managed to get down there for a good look around. And with an over wintering adult ring-billed gull and multiple Caspian gull and yellow-legged gull reports I have been really keen to have a look for these 3 species.

I caught the first timetabled train after 9am in order to save half the ticket cost (£11.40 instead of £22.80!) and also to have a little bit of a lie in and I arrived uneventfully in Hayle at around 11am to sunny skies but with a cold and brisk wind.

I began my walk at the Carnsew Pool along a very boggy and muddy footpath but I did see a little grebe in the harbour and 2 on the pool along with an adult Mediterranean gull moulting into summer plumage, a very smart looking Greenshank and a redhead Goosander asleep on the mudflats.

Greenshank, Hayle Estuary

Greenshank

Greenshank

Greenshank

Ryan's Field was very quiet with 3 Snipe asleep in the reeds the only birds of note and from the causeway a few bar-tailed godwit were feeding out on the estuary with curlew, redshank, oystercatcher and 4 grey plover. Teal, Wigeon and Shelduck were noted along with a male Goosander asleep on the mudflats and I had a brief fly past view of my first kingfisher of the year.

Buzzard, Lelant

Numbers of gulls roosting on the estuary were noticeably lower than usual and most were on the other side of the estuary between Lelant and Lelant Saltings train stations and so I walked around the estuary to get a slightly closer look at them, starting at the station at Lelant. I scanned through the gulls but couldn't find anything unusual amongst them and the same was true at Lelant Saltings Station, it seems I am too late to the party as a lot of the gulls seem to have moved on already although Caspian gulls and yellow-legged gulls were reported by other birders present.

It was enjoyable though to scan through the gulls with my telescope despite the birds being distant, the bright light harsh and heat hazy and the breeze keeping the gulls mostly hunkered down and asleep. I did however manage to find another 4 adult Mediterranean Gulls along with a 1st summer bird amongst the Black-headed, Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Common and Great Black-backed Gulls present but there was to be no rare gulls for me today (although typically all 3 gull species were reported on the internet as present on the estuary that day!).

Saturday 29th February was windy again with squally hail showers but I decided to have a walk along the River Plym anyway. I caught the bus to Marsh Mills and walked along the Plym and around Saltram before returning to Marsh Mills for the bus journey home and it wasn't too busy with people in the breezy conditions.

On Blaxton Meadow there were 36 Curlew and 34 Shelduck roosting on the high tide along with 4 Little Egret and a mixed flock of gulls containing a noticeable increase in adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Common Gulls.

Lesser Black-backed Gull, Blaxton Meadow

On the river a Common Sandpiper and a Greenshank were seen along with Redshank, Dunlin and Oystercatcher and with the Mallards were 3 male and 4 female Goosanders and 2 male and 3 female Red-breasted Mergansers.

 Goosanders, River Plym

Red-breasted Merganser, River Plym

A Stock Dove and 2 Jay were seen in the woods along with a noisy Ring-necked Parakeet and Blue, Great and Coal Tits coming down to feed on seed put out on the wall by the hide.

 Great Tit, Saltram

Coal Tit, Saltram

I was very pleased to find 2 Jack Snipe which flew up silently and settled again quickly nearby while Skylarks were heard singing overhead and 12 Roe Deer were seen grazing on the nearby grassy slopes.

A Grey Squirrel was chewing the bark off a tree and snowdrops, daffodils and primrose were all in flower too, Spring is on the way.

 Grey Squirrel, Saltram

Primrose, Saltram

Storm Damage at Wembury and The Dowitcher at Topsham

The weather continues to be vile with what seems to be continuous strong winds and heavy rain but with a windy but dry window of weather forecast for the morning of Wednesday 19th February I headed out to Wembury for a walk. As expected the coast path at Wembury was a complete and utter mudfest but I did manage to get back to Plymouth before the rain arrived.

Along the walk from the main beach to the sewage pipe there was a lot of noticeable damage to the coastline with small cliff collapses all along the route and patches of beach that had been scoured clear and washed away. The roots of the small patches of phragmites reeds at the base of the cliffs were showing and I am not sure if the sea kale clump will have survived the onslaught of the waves.

Sadly there was a dead seal pup, a harbour porpoise and a common dolphin washed up along the tide line with the harbour porpoise providing a rather smelly meal to adult and immature great black-backed gulls.

Baby Seal, Wembury

Harbour Porpoise, Wembury

Harbour Porpoise Jaw

Common Dolphin, Wembury

Common Dolphin

It was quiet bird wise in the strong wind but a flock of around 10 nervous and flighty Cirl Buntings was nice to see in the stubble field with at least 2 males heard singing. A female kestrel was hovering over the hillside above the sewage farm and a buzzard was seen being mobbed by 2 ravens from the bus stop.

Cirl Bunting, Wembury

3 Little Egret, 2 male and a female mallard and roosting oystercatchers were seen along the beach with rock pipits and pied wagtails but there was no sign of the water pipit again. There was surprisingly very little seaweed along the beach considering the recent rough weather, presumably it had all been washed out to sea instead.

Oystercatchers, Wembury

Thursday 20th February and with the long billed dowitcher having put in an appearance on Bowling Green Marsh the previous day I decided to have another look for it, my fifth attempt of the year. The weather was as usual foul with wind and rain but with sunny skies forecast for the afternoon and with a high tide due at around 5pm I caught a late train to Topsham, arriving there at around 12:30pm as the rain began to clear.

I started off in the hide as the rain slowly abated and spent some time admiring all the ducks out on the very flooded Marsh, getting some great views of Teal, Wigeon, Mallard, Pintail and Shoveler along with 2 pairs of Tufted Duck and 3 male and 2 female Pochard. 4 Greylag geese were feeding out on the grass with Canada geese and a lone Greenshank was roosting amongst the ducks before noisely flying off.

Pintail and Shelduck, Bowling Green Marsh

Wigeon, Bowling Green Marsh

With the rain clearing I had a look off the Viewing Platform where a few grey plover were feeding with redshank, dunlin and a lone knot. A look off The Goatwalk was more productive with waders everywhere although all were very mobile and flighty across the mudflats, and with the redshank, curlew, knot, bar-tailed godwit, avocet, oystercatcher, black-tailed godwit, grey plover and dunlin were 3 turnstone and 2 sanderling. Lapwing and golden plover were seen flying over Exminster Marshes and a large flock of noisy brent geese flew in to bathe with their calls very evocative in the cold wind and sunshine.

I returned to the hide but there was still no sign of the Dowitcher and so I wandered back and forth along the lane between the railway line and viewing platform with occasional visits to the hide in the hope of catching up with it as the tide headed in. Time was marching on, the light was beginning to fade and I was beginning to give up hope when finally it was found feeding close to the road near the railway bridge. I managed to get some lovely views of it as it fed on the flooded grassy area with 3 Snipe and again I was struck by what a handsome and charismatic looking bird it is.

Long-billed Dowitcher, Bowling Green Marsh

Long-billed Dowitcher 

Long-billed Dowitcher 

Long-billed Dowitcher 

Long-billed Dowitcher 

Wet and Windy Dipping Week Off Work

With a week of annual leave I had plans for some birding trips but the weather pretty much put paid to this with rain and very strong winds courtesy of Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis.

Monday 10th February saw us heading down to Padstow in Cornwall for an overnight stay with the plan being to firstly have a walk along the coast at nearby Trevose Head. However it was incredibly windy with squally hail and rain showers following Storm Ciaras arrival the day before and while David stayed in the car I braved the elements. I managed 30 minutes before giving up and returning to the car, struggling to stay upright on the muddy paths and in the strong winds and getting soaked in the process. I did see a lone gannet offshore struggling in the gales and a few rooks and skylarks in the fields but frustratingly I did see a bunting species fly up from a stubble field with a few skylarks before it disappeared from sight like a bullet from a gun as it shot across the headland in the wind. It gave a difficult to hear twittering call as it flew up from the stubble but with snow and Lapland buntings being seen here recently and being unfamiliar with either of their calls I wasn't sure what it was - probably a Lapland bunting but I didn't get any plumage details on it either, very frustrating indeed.

A Bonapartes Gull had been found at Padstow on Sunday 9th February and so I kept a look out for it during our stay there but without any luck. I did see a noticeably smaller gull than nearby black-headed gulls feeding out on the Doom Bar as the tide receded on Tuesday 11th February but it was too far away to get much on it other than its smaller size and I think it was probably just a runty black-headed gull rather than the Bonapartes gull.

It was onwards to Bude for the day on Tuesday 11th February before returning to Plymouth but the weather was still wet and windy and so I gave Maer Lake and Lower Tamar Lake a miss but I did hear 2 male blackcaps quietly singing in cover in a sheltered area at a garden centre in Wadebridge along the way.

Wednesday 12th February was dry and calm with rain forecast for later in the afternoon and so I headed off to Wacker Quay on the River Lynher near Torpoint for a look around and the hope of seeing spoonbill and spotted redshank being reported here this winter. On arriving the tide was just starting to ebb out but as expected there was no sign of either spoonbill or spotted redshank. I did see 2 great northern divers downriver near the naval school along with quite a few great crested grebes plus the usual teal, wigeon, shelduck and mallard.  Also 2 greenshank were roosting together with redshank, curlew and lapwing and a flock of 12 knot and 6 grey plover flew in to feed on the exposed mudflats.

I returned to Torpoint to have a look off Marine Drive and immediately picked up a flick of 7 pale bellied brent geese feeding out on the mudflats with around 200 dunlin, 3 turnstone, oystercatcher, redshank and curlew.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese, Marine Drive, Torpoint

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Pale-bellied Brent Geese with Common Gull and Mediterranean Gull

Great crested grebes were diving for fish along with a little grebe and a pair of red breasted mergansers and 2 immature male and a female eider were a surprise sighting too. 2 adult Mediterranean gulls were roosting out on the mud amongst the common gulls but with the rain beginning to arrive it was time to head back home.

Thursday 13th February was very windy but dry and we headed off to Exeter for the day before an overnight stay at Exeter Airport. The airport hotel was originally booked before our early morning flight to Edinburgh last November but was not needed when Flybe cancelled the flight and rebooked us on the afternoon flight instead. The hotel was non-refundable but we were able to change the date hence our journey there for the night.

Friday 14th February was calm and dry and after our stay at the airport we travelled onwards to Topsham for me to have some birdwatching time and for David to look around the antiques shops. The tide was ebbing out when I arrived at the hide at Bowling Green Marsh and with the long-billed dowitcher having been reported there that morning I was hopeful of catching up with it at last. However there was no sign of it yet again but I did see 2 greenshank, 2 greylag geese, a male and female tufted duck, a little grebe and 3 male and 2 female pochard amongst the usual waders and wildfowl.

Shoveler and Wigeon, Bowling Green Marsh

Wigeon, Shoveler and Moorhen, Bowling Green Marsh

Stock dove, buzzard, redwing, great spotted woodpecker and a pair of stonechat were also noted before we had a walk over to nearby Darts Farm for lunch where I saw a few more redwings with some fieldfares from the bird hide. Time was marching on and it was soon time to head back home to Plymouth on the train as the gales and rain arrived yet again on what has been mostly a wet, windy and dippy week of birding.

River Exe and Wembury Revisited

Tuesday the 4th February was dry and sunny but with a strong wind and so I decided to visit Exminster Marshes to look for the elusive Long-billed Dowitcher which had recently been seen there along with a reported ruff and spotted redshank. Needless to say there was no sign of the Dowitcher again nor the spotted redshank but the ruff showed very well.

Ruff, Exminster Marsh

The birds on the Marsh were very skittish and flighty due to the attentions of a Peregrine buzzing about but I did see a nice selection of waders and wildfowl - curlew, redshank, dunlin, lapwing, golden plover and black-tailed godwit along with wigeon, teal, pintail, shoveler and mallard.

A few Redwing were feeding in the fields and a vocal chiffchaff showed well in the hedgerow while a snow goose was feeding out on the Marsh  amongst the large numbers of Canada geese.

Redwing, Exminster Marsh

Before catching the train back to Plymouth from Starcross I walked down to Cockwood for a scan of the River Exe on the ebbing tide but there was still no sign of the red-necked grebe nor Herbert the Slavonian grebe but male red-breasted mergansers were displaying to the females and the male and 2 female Goldeneye seen on Saturday were still busily diving close to the sea wall.

It was also nice to see good numbers of Brent Geese feeding on the golf course close to the road at Starcross on the walk back from Cockwood to the train station.

Brent Geese, Starcross

Brent Geese, Starcross

Brent Geese, Starcross

Saturday 8th February was dry and sunny too and so I caught the bus out to Wembury for a walk. I had hoped to refind the water pipit but there was too much disturbance from walkers with dogs and eventually I had to give up searching through the mobile and flighty meadow pipits and rock pipits feeding on the seaweed masses along the beach - a sunny Saturday in February on the low tide is not a good time for birding.

 Robin, Wembury

Meadow Pipit, Wembury

I did get to finally see my first kestrel of the year (they really are becoming quite scarce now) and it was good to see a small flock of flighty cirl buntings in the stubble fields including a couple of singing males. The gull roost out on the rocks included 2 adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gulls and an adult lesser black-backed gull along with a curlew, a little egret, 2 male and a female mallard and oystercatchers while offshore 2 gannets and a few fulmars were noted.

 Cirl Bunting, Wembury

Violet Sp., Wembury

River Plym and River Exe Trips

Sunday 26th January was dull and wet but as I had been able to buy a weekly bus pass again I wanted to make full use of it and so I headed off anyway on the bus to Marsh Mills for a walk. It was very wet and very muddy underfoot as I began my walk towards Plymbridge from Marsh Mills but it did eventually stop raining.

Stepping off the bus at Marsh Mills and from the bridge I quickly found a dipper feeding along the waters edge but by the time I had gotten my binoculars out of their case it had flown off. However I did get better views later of 2 or possibly 3 birds on the walk back to Marsh Mills, firstly an unringed bird bathing and preening before it flew off upriver and then a sighting of a ringed bird with an unringed bird before they too flew off upriver and out of sight.

 Dipper, River Plym

 Dipper with leg rings, River Plym

Dipper

While carefully negotiating the very muddy footpath along the river I also found 5 pairs of Mandarin Ducks and a female Goosander on the water while in the trees I saw 2 Goldcrest feeding with Long-tailed Tits, a Treecreeper and 2 Nuthatch along with a Marsh Tit heard but not seen.

Goosander, River Plym

Arriving back at Marsh Mills and with the rain having abated I decided to have a wander downriver on the ebbing tide to the Saltram Folly and back. On Blaxton Meadow 7 male and 6 female Wigeon were busily feeding while on the river 2 pairs of Mandarin Ducks were feeding with Mallards and a male and 2 female Goosanders were busily diving for food. Ring-necked Parakeets were squawking in the trees in Saltram Park but I couldn't find them amongst the branches and with my feet wet and muddy it was time to call it a day and head back home for a cup of tea.

Goosander, River Plym

Snowdrops, Saltram

Saturday 1st February and it was off on the train to Bowling Green Marsh at Topsham for the high tide wader roost and a look for the wintering Long-billed Dowitcher which has become a little more erratic in its sightings. The weather was mild and sunny with a brisk breeze, the train journey was uneventful and a flock of around 20 Fieldfare seen from the train flying over a stubble field just outside Topsham was a nice sighting.

The hide was busy on arriving at around 11:15am but it was good to see a large roost of waders out on the Marsh, mainly Black-tailed Godwits with Redshank and Curlew, a lone Dunlin and 7 Greenshanks but alas there was no sign of the Dowitcher.

Teal, Shoveler, Pintail, Mallard, Wigeon, Greylag Geese, Shelduck, Coot, Moorhen and Canada Geese were also seen with 2 pairs of Pochard and 2 male and a female Tufted Duck but a surprise were 2 Egyptian Geese roosting amongst the assorted wildfowl, my first for the Marsh.

 Wigeon, Bowling Green Marsh

 Pintail

 Pintail

 Teal

 Teal

Shoveler and Teal

As the tide receded the waders headed out to the estuary but the only other waders of note seen from the River Clyst Viewing Platform and The Goat Walk were a few Avocets and Bar-tailed Godwits.

I decided to catch the train back to Plymouth with a stop off at Starcross to look for a reported Red-necked Grebe, walking under the railway line at Bishops Arch to scan the river out of the breeze in the shelter of the sea wall. There was as expected no sign of the Red-necked Grebe nor of Herbert the Slavonian Grebe but I did find at least 17 Great-crested Grebes feeding out on the water with a few Red-breasted Mergansers and a male and 2 female Goldeneye.

Dunlin, Starcross

Back at Starcross station and while waiting for the 16:15pm train back to Plymouth I scanned the sandbanks upriver and found a distant pre-roost gathering of 25 Cattle Egrets, the most I have seen together in the UK. It was interesting to watch them foraging along the shoreline and catching small crabs while being harrassed by nearby Herring Gulls who kept trying to steal their catch, sometimes successfully - a nice end to a good day out.

Cattle Egrets, Starcross