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