The long range weather forecast for Thursday 21st October had been looking promising for a Berry Head Seawatch but as the day drew nearer the forecast kept changing and eventually a storm blew threw overnight on the 20th and the 21st was clear with a North West wind. I had considered heading down to St.Ives again but after working a night shift I didn't fancy a very early start and a long (and more expensive) train journey so headed to Berry Head anyway for a look around, more in hope than expectation.
It was a breezey morning with a cool North Westerly wind but the sun was shining and it was nice to finally get to Berry Head on what is my first and now probably my only visit of this year.
I arrived down in the quarry at around 09:30am and a lone birder was perched up on the rocks at the usual seawatching platform. It was too exposed and cold for me in the wind and so I hunkered down on the rocks below a nearby cliff.
I scanned around offshore with my scope and found a large and strung out mass of feeding birds consisting of Gannets, Kittiwakes and Herring Gulls with a few Mediterranean Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls, Common Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull amongst them. Guillemots were whizzing across the waves in small groups and pitching down on the sea and a few Shag were also picked up amongst the waves.
The light was harsh and the birds distant but I did eventually pick up a pale phase Arctic Skua which flew in to attack a group of feeding Kittiwakes, scattering birds everywhere including the Kittiwakes resting on the sea, but it quickly disappeared around the headland and was lost from sight. I also picked up a Great Skua which came quite close in, it was chasing Kittiwakes as it moved closer to shore before seeming to change its mind and heading back out to sea.
The only other birds of note offshore were a Swallow flying west and 5 Common Scoter (3 male flying east, 1 male flying east and a female flying west) while in the quarry itself a Raven, a pair of Stonechat and a few calling Chiffchaff were noted.
I decided to call it a day on the seawatching front and walked back to Brixham to catch the bus back to Paignton but on arriving back in Paignton I decided to have a look for the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling being seen on a nearby Paignton housing estate. I had bought a day rider bus ticket anyway and there was a bus stop right at the spot where the bird was mostly being seen and so off I headed.
Armed with Google Maps on my phone and the information gleaned from bird news on the internet I soon found the right place and immediately saw the Rose-coloured Starling perched on a roof with some Starlings. They were hanging out on the roof of a house near a garden with bird feeders full of fat balls and I was pleased at how quickly I had found it.
I watched it for a few minutes and even got my scope out for a better look but a noisey car drove past and spooked all the birds and off it flew. I then spent the next hour and a half wandering around the area checking out all the small groups of Starlings that were flying around, perching up on wires and roofs or feeding on the fat balls but unfortunately I never refound the Rose-coloured Starling.
It was soon time to catch the bus back to the railway station but while waiting for the bus a small looking falcon flying high overhead caught my attention and on checking it out I realised it was a female/juvenile Merlin, a very smart looking bird and a complete surprise as it headed off inland.
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