A Rainy River Plym and Sunny Goshawks

With another 2 night shifts due to start on Tuesday 22nd February I decided to take a walk along the River Plym and around Saltram that morning before trying to get myself suitably psyched up for them. It was sunny when I left home to catch the bus to Marsh Mills but by the time I had walked from Longbridge to Blaxton Meadow unexpected rain arrived hampering viewing and curtailing my walk around Saltram.

The tide was high and Blaxton Meadow had plenty of birds roosting on it despite them being temporarily spooked by a low flying helicopter. The Knot was still present, hidden in plain sight amongst the Dunlin and Redshank, and there were also 5 Greenshank, 28 Curlew and 9 Oystercatcher present. 

Dunlin, Shelduck and Curlew, Blaxton Meadow

A female Teal and 32 Wigeon were also noted and amongst the copious Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls were 7 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 7 adult Common Gulls and 8 Great Black-backed Gulls (7 adults and 1 1st winter) but no Mediterranean Gulls were found.

Lesser Black-backed Gull with Herring Gull and Black-headed Gulls, Blaxton Meadow

A Common Sandpiper and a Grey Wagtail were seen along the river bank at Marsh Mills while out on the river itself 2 Little Grebes, a male Red-breasted Merganser and a male and 2 female Goosander were seen.

I decided to cut my losses and head home earlier than planned but by the time I had walked back to Longbridge the rain had stopped and so I decided to walk upriver towards the Riverside Caravan Park to look for Dippers. I was out of luck but I did see a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 3 Coal Tit and around 30 noisey Siskins feeding in the trees. 

With my night shifts duly completed and a sunny day forecasted for Friday 25th February I headed out for a walk to look for Goshawk, a year to the day since I saw my first ever UK Goshawks. It was a beautiful day, sunny and mild with occasional cloudy spells and short rain showers but only a gentle wind although this didn't hamper my viewing.

I managed to get some good views of at least 3 Goshawks overhead, 2 females having a go at each other and a male being harrassed and harangued by a brave Carrion Crow. I also briefly saw a female flying along the woodland edge before darting in and out of the trees in hunting mode and disappearing from sight.

Goshawk up high in a Blue Sky

Goshawk - zoomed in

Also seen overhead were numerous soaring Buzzards and Ravens and 2 very small looking male Sparrowhawks plus 2 Stock Doves, a Great Black-backed Gull, a Cormorant, Jackdaws and Carrion Crows. 

A female Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Jay, skulky Redwings, many Pheasants and a few Red-legged Partridge were also seen and along with flowering Snowdrops I found my first flowering Primroses of the year.

Primrose