Holiday-less Holiday - Yet Again

After an awful week at work I was feeling totally frazzled to the point of being burnt out by the time I headed home at 8pm on Sunday 7th February. I was however very pleased that I now had a weeks leave to look forward to even though we had no plans due to the continuing lockdown.

Monday 8th February was sunny but bitterly cold in a biting Easterly wind as the east of the country was getting a deluge of heavy snow.

My Mums Garden in Suffolk, 8th February

I felt washed out but decided to head out to Wembury for a walk to try and clear my head and to see if any birds were on the move in the cold conditions. The footpaths were still very muddy but frozen over in places making it slightly easier to navigate them and there were fewer people around too. 

The only signs of birds on the move were a single Lapwing flying over and heading west and 2 Dunlin and 3 Bar-tailed Godwit along the beach with a Curlew and Oystercatchers (Lapwing is less than annual for me at Wembury, Dunlin are uncommon at Wembury outside of spring and autumn migration time and I have never seen Bar-tailed Godwit at Wembury in February before).

Dunlin

Dunlin

Bar-tailed Godwits

Bar-tailed Godwits

It was also unsurprisingly relatively quiet bird wise along the walk as birds were keeping themselves hunkered down out of the wind but I did see a female Blackcap, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, a Long-tailed Tit, Stonechat, a male Pheasant, a Little Egret out on the rocks and a few Gannets offshore. 

I also spent some time just sitting or standing out of the wind and looking out to sea while listening to the waves lapping the shore and feeling the sun on my face and it was very, very restorative to my battered psyche. A very tame Robin also kept me company as it hopped around my feet looking for any crumbs I may have dropped while I was eating my cereal bar, a gorgeous little bird that made me smile inside.

Tuesday 9th February and the biting East wind was still with us but now the skies were grey and overcast and there were occasional light snow flurries. We had a walk around Plymouth Hoe but it was very quiet with the highlight being 2 Lapwing flying over heading west. 

I kept an eye open for the Chough I saw a few days ago in the very slim hope of seeing it again but there was unsurprisingly no sign of it. However on checking the sightings news on the Internet when I arrived back home I was very pleased to see a Chough had been reported at nearby Noss Mayo just a few miles east of Plymouth, presumably my Plymouth Hoe bird. 

Chough, Noss Mayo (Photo courtesy of Devon Birds website)

Wednesday 10th February and I was feeling more like my usual self, it's amazing what some sleep, not going to work and some wildlife watching can do to me. I decided to walk to TR2 on the River Plym again for a look around in grey skies and freezing temperatures and with the continuing bitter easterly wind.

The tide was low and out on the river I found 2 Little Grebes and 2 Canada Geese with the usual Cormorants and Herring Gulls. 3 Grey Herons were fishing along the shoreline and Oystercatchers were feeding amongst the weed covered rocks.

An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was roosting out on the water amongst the Herring Gulls and a Peregrine was seen briefly flying over as it unsuccessfully stooped at a very lucky Feral Pigeon.

Lesser Black-backed Gull with Herring Gulls

I carried on my walk towards Plymouth Hoe, noting a male Kestrel flying over the quarries at Cattedown and a distant flock of probable Golden Plovers wheeling over the cliffs at Staddiscombe along the way.

From Plymouth Hoe a few Gannets were seen flying around past The Breakwater and a female Sparrowhawk glided overhead. A Great Northern Diver was diving close to shore and the Purple Sandpiper was again feeding on the rocks below the Pier One cafe with 3 Turnstone and giving some lovely views.

Great Northern Diver

Purple Sandpiper with Turnstones

Purple Sandpiper 

Purple Sandpiper - I love their feet!

Purple Sandpiper 

The highlight though was a Red Kite flying over The Hoe being noisily mobbed by Herring Gulls, it was heading east and seen around 10 minutes later over the River Plym by local birder Pete - another excellent sighting for Plymouth Hoe!

Red Kite

And on a more sombre note there were some pom-poms hanging up on the railings overlooking the sea in memory of a young lady named Holly who sadly committed suicide 2 years ago, a reminder to look out for those around us in these continuing difficult times.

Holly's Pombombs

Holly's Story