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
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