Wednesday 9th December and I needed to get out for a day's birding as the frenzy of a weird, COVID-19 Christmas continues to build and so I decided to head out to Broadsands in Torbay for a look around.
It was a very cold and very still day with increasing cloud cover and eventually rain but the sea state out in the Bay was flat calm and mirror like when I arrived at Broadsands.
Scanning offshore and immediately I picked up a Great Northern Diver very close to the beach and further out there were 2 pods of Common Dolphins splashing about, totalling around 20 individuals and showing very well in the flat calm seas.
Walking around the coast path towards Elberry Cove and the Common Dolphins continued to show well before moving off to the other side of the Bay where they remained throughout my visit. The Great Northern Diver also moved off towards Brixham Harbour where it was joined by at least 2 more birds with another bird picked up out in the Bay.
Gannets, Fulmars and Guillemots were noted around the Bay along with Herring, Great Black-backed, Common and Black-headed Gulls. A Peregrine flew low over the water across the Bay towards the cliffs at Goodrington and later it flew overhead towards Brixham being mobbed by a Raven.
At the back of the car park at Broadsands the usual Cirl Buntings were feeding on seed with Chaffinch, Greenfinch, House Sparrow and a Yellowhammer but they were mobile and flighty. In the surrounding trees a male Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Chiffchaff (one tailess), a female Bullfinch and Long-tailed Tits were also seen.
A lone Redshank looked a bit out of place along the sandy beach as the tide came in.
I walked along the coast path to Goodrington and scanned across the flat water from the higher vantage point afforded by the cliffs and picked up a flock of 8 female Common Scoter which showed very well along with a Great Crested Grebe. At least 6 Red-throated Divers were picked up too including 3 resting together on the surface. A distant Diver looked good for a Black-throated, it showed a white flank patch on the right side but not on the left side and did look good plumage wise but too far out to call and eventually lost from sight.
I had better luck with a Long-tailed Duck which I picked up preening out on the water in the company of a Red-throated Diver before it moved off, a dark headed female bird, and later I picked up a much paler headed female which flew across the Bay before splashing down to join the Common Scoter flock.
Another Chiffchaff was found in the trees surrounding the boating lake at Goodrington while out on the water the very confiding first winter male Scaup showed ridiculously well amongst the Tufted Ducks, regularly diving and surfacing with a face full of mud, a nice end to the day.
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