Saltram and The Plym

Thursday 25th November was a glorious day with clear blue skies and a very chilly start and I headed out on the 8:30am bus to Marsh Mills for a walk around Saltram and the River Plym with work friend Sue and her dog Daisy..

I was due to meet Sue at 9:30 but with it being the high tide I left a little earlier than necessary so I could check out Blaxton Meadow first before meeting up with her at Saltram House.

The tide was still flooding into Blaxton Meadow through the sluice gates when I arrived at the viewing platform and there was quite a congregation of birds roosting and feeding out on the flooded meadow, the most I have seen here for some time now. 

Out on the meadow were 8 Greenshank, 8 Oystercatcher, 24 Wigeon, a Black-tailed Godwit, 3 adult Common Gulls, a 3rd winter Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Grey Heron and around 150 Dunlin along with the usual Mallard, Shelduck, Curlew, Gulls and Redshank. 

A Jay, a Grey Wagtail and a Ring-necked Parakeet flew over and a Goldcrest was feeding in the bushes behind the viewing platform with Blue Tits and Great Tits. Out on the River a Little Grebe and a male Goosander were seen. 

I then met up with Sue and we had an enjoyable walk around Saltram Estate putting the world to rights as we went and it was nice to have a catch up outside of work. 

Along the walk a Red Admiral flying by was a surprise in the cold conditions but even more surprising was a male Teal on the duck pond at Saltram House with the usual Mandarin Ducks and Moorhens, presumably a wild bird but very tame and approachable. 

Teal

Teal

Saturday 27th November was cold and windy with Storm Arwen blowing a hoolie from the North and so we headed out for a walk around Plymouth Hoe. It was very windy but the sun was shining brightly and the walk was quite invigorating. I had taken my travel binoculars out with me but unfortunately I had left my camera at home which was annoying as I found 2 Purple Sandpipers feeding on the rocks below the Pier One Cafe, possibly the 2 birds from last winter returning for this winter and very nice to see. I was also pleased to find a female type Black Redstart on the rocks below Rusty Anchor, they are often reported from here during the winter but I always struggle to find them myself. Hopefully the Black Redstart and the Purple Sandpipers will hang around for a while and I'll catch up with them again soon.