Spearmint

Another Plymouth Hoe walk on Saturday 15th January was again Purple Sandpiper-less but there was some recompense with some nice views of Spearmint the female Grey Seal hauled out and having a snooze, totally oblivious to the people admiring her just a few feet away. She is a rescued and rehabilitated seal that has become too habituated to humans and I fear for her safety as eventually some dog-owner with dog shit for brains will probably end up letting their beloved but untrained pooch attack her as has happened elsewhere in the UK.

Grey Seal (Spearmint)

Grey Seal

We first saw her in September last year on a boat trip to Cawsands when she was happily swimming around the ferry but despite her regularly being seen around the Plymouth Sound area we hadn't seen her again until now.

Monday 17th January and a gloriously cold and sunny winters day saw us finally having our Christmas walk around Burrator Reservoir on Dartmoor. It was a beautiful walk with icy paths and stunning scenery in crystal clear air but unfortunately bird life was surprisingly a bit thin on the ground.

A Mistle Thrush and a Song Thrush were heard singing away in an X-Factor style sing off, the Mistle Thrush at the top of a pine tree and the Song Thrush in cover nearby. Out on the water there were 6 Cormorant, a Herring Gull, a Black-headed Gull, Mallards, around 10 Teal and the usual White Farmyard Goose along with 3 Grey Heron along the waters edge. A Buzzard soared overhead, 4 Siskin were feeding in the pine trees with Goldcrests and Blue, Great and Coal Tits, a Stock Dove flew over and 2 Green Woodpeckers were heard yaffling.

Wednesday 19th January was spent doing chores but with sunny skies and no breeze I had a quick walk around Plymouth Hoe in the afternoon to look again for the Purple Sandpipers. The tide was very low but heading in and The Hoe was busy with people enjoying the sunshine including a twat playing his ghetto blaster at full volume so I wasn't very hopeful. However just as I was about to head home I found a Purple Sandpiper on the rocks near Tinside amongst a group of 6 Turnstone and eventually it gave some very good and close views. Presumably it is one of the two birds that overwintered here last year and so is very used to being close to humans

Purple Sandpiper, Plymouth Hoe

Purple Sandpiper

Thursday 20th January and with a perfect day of weather forecast ( sunny, still and cold) and a free day to myself I decided to try and drag myself out of my ongoing malaise and have a good day out birding again. I ended up planning a River Exe day out before I went to bed on the Wednesday night with a train journey to Starcross and a walk to Exminster Marshes and back although again the early start on the Thursday morning nearly saw me turning off my alarm clock and returning to sleep. 

I arrived at Starcross at around 9am to begin my walk to Exminster and it was a beautiful day as forecasted with sunny spells, little breeze and a ground frost although the wind did pick up a little as the day went on. 

Fallow Deer showed well in Powderham Park along with 2 pairs of a Egyptian Geese who were calling and displaying to each other and flying up into the trees. At least 10 Grey Herons were also being noisey in the Heronry trees and a female Reed Bunting eventually showed well in the reeds by the side of the road. 

Fallow Deer, Powderham Park

Onwards towards Turf Locks and Brent Geese, Curlews, Lapwings and Black-tailed Godwits were feeding out on the marshy fields while out on the river Avocets, Dunlin, Grey Plover and 4 Knot were found on the emerging mudflats. 

Brent Geese, Turf

Brent Geese

Avocet

Exminster Marshes were full of birds and it looked and sounded amazing. Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Canada Geese were everywhere with Golden Plover wheeling overhead and Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit feeding on the muddy areas before flying over to the Estuary. Mute Swan, Shelduck, Mallard, Moorhen, 5 Coot and 3 pairs of Tufted Duck were also seen. 

2 Marsh Harriers were regularly seen quartering over the Marsh and spooking all the birds but I did eventually find the Pink-footed Goose amongst the Canada Goose flock (my first in Devon) and a brief and distant view of the Glossy Ibis flying off when a Marsh Harrier flew too near. 

Pink-footed Goose, Exminster Marsh

Pink-footed Goose

A Great White Egret was a nice surprise feeding out on the Marsh and looking very large and very white in the bright sunshine although it was a little distant. 

Great White Egret, Exminster Marsh

I walked back to Starcross and headed under the railway line at Bishops Arch to scan across the river on what was now the low tide. Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebes were diving out in the river channel and I eventually found the 2 Black-necked Grebes as well although they spent very little time at the waters surface. 

Before heading back to the railway station I had a quick look at the field just north of the village which is often flooded and full of birds but the water level was low and only a few Wigeon and Curlew were seen. However a big surprise were 3 Red-legged Partridge spooked by a Carrion Crow from a patch of vegetation around the base of a tree and flying off into nearby fields. 

While waiting for the train back to Plymouth I had a good scan from the railway platform across the River Exe towards Exmouth to look for the juvenile Spoonbill and eventually I found it just as it disappeared along a gulley. Shortly afterwards the Gulls on the mudflats were spooked and flew up into the air along with the Spoonbill which settled out in the open and gave some nice views before it flew back into the gulley and out of sight again - distant views even with the scope but a very nice end to what had been a very good days birding, hopefully my current birding malaise will start to abate a little.