With a day off on Sunday 23rd January we had a morning walk around Plymouth Hoe before the crowds descended on what was a grey and claggy and cold day. It was fairly quiet bird wise but I was very pleased to see a flock of 6 Turnstones with 3 Purple Sandpipers flying low over the water and out of sight past Tinside Pool, the highest count of Purple Sandpipers I've had this winter
With a Knot having being reported on the River Plym I decided to have a look for it on the high tide on Monday 24th January before a duo of night shifts. It was grey and overcast and cool and Blaxton Meadow was covered in birds on the high tide as the water levels were somewhat lower than on my previous visit, hopefully the sluice gates are now unblocked and the water flow has improved.
The Knot was found roosting amongst a flock of Dunlin and Redshank, my first sighting of one for the Plym, and it eventually showed well before being spooked along with the other waders by a low flying Buzzard. Also of note here were Curlew, 12 Oystercatcher, 7 Greenshank, 26 Wigeon, a male Teal and the female Red-crested Pochard.
Out on the River a male Red-breasted Merganser, a male and 4 female Goosander and a Little Grebe were seen along with 2 Turnstone on The Embankment wall and a Grey Wagtail and a Common Sandpiper at Marsh Mills.
A look at the wet wood was Water Rail free again but a Goldcrest was found near the sewage farm and a female Sparrowhawk cruising over the Sainsbury's car park was my first of the year.
Thursday 27th January and we drove out to Stoke Point for our usual coastal walk despite the grey and mizzley skies. As we approached Newton Ferrers the weather worsened and it was very murky and misty and with David's Omnipod pump throwing a wobbly we returned home for him to renew it before driving out to Saltram for a walk instead.
It was high tide and I managed to see a few nice birds along our walk despite the occasional drizzly spells, the highlights being 3 female Goosander, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush (1 singing), around 40 flitty Redwings feeding on Ivy berries, 4 noisy Ring-necked Parakeets and 7 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
Friday 28th January and it was an early start on a frosty morning to catch the bus to Torpoint to meet Mavis, the first time we have met up for some time now. It was very cold and overcast and on the walk to Royal Parade a flock of around 30 noisy Ring-necked Parakeets were getting ready to leave their night time tree roost at Charles Cross Church.
I met Mavis at Torpoint at around 9am and we were soon in position along Marine Drive with scopes at the ready to start our birding day although it was strange to hear the military band at nearby HMS Raleigh playing the theme tune from The Avenger movies interspersed with gun fire while we were birding!
Out on the water we quickly picked up 2 male Red-breasted Merganser busily diving away along with Great Crested Grebes and 4 Little Grebes. Eventually we found the wintering Red-necked Grebe and enjoyed some lovely views of it and we also found the wintering Black-necked Grebe which was unfortunately a little more distant. A Great Northern Diver showed very nicely too and we also managed to see a male Pintail, a Grey Heron, a Ringed Plover, a Common Gull, a Rock Pipit and 3 Brent Geese (2 pale bellied and 1 dark bellied) along with the usual Estuary birds.
Onwards to nearby Whacker Quay and with the tide now almost high we managed to find the 2 wintering Spoonbills on the opposite side of the river, an adult and juvenile which occasionally awoke for a brief preen before returning back to their slumbers. They were roosting amongst a small flock of around 40 Avocet which were restless and mobile but their fidgeting didn't seem to disturb the Spoonbills at all.
We sat on a bench along the footpath where some stocked up bird feeders were attracting an assortment of birds and we enjoyed some lovely close views of Coal, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, a Nuthatch, Robins, Dunnocks and Chaffinches. A female Bullfinch was also seen briefly in flight and a few skulky Redwings were also seen feeding on Ivy berries before we headed back to Torpoint for the journey home after having had a very enjoyable mornings birding.
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