Spring is Coming!

It's been a weird winter, mostly mild and wet and windy and this has been reflected in the birding, but now we are into March, the promise of Spring is in the air and I can't wait for it to finally arrive. 

Thursday 10th March started off cool and grey but I headed out to Wembury for a walk anyway to look for signs of spring. As the morning wore on the skies eventually cleared and it became pleasantly warm in the sunshine and signs of spring there were.

I managed 2 brief views of a flyby butterfly, probably a Small Tortoiseshell, but a singing Chiffchaff at Wembury Point and 3 Common Lizards basking in the sun were much more obliging.

Common Lizard

Common Lizard

The tide was high but with the strong onshore wind it was relatively quiet along the beach with just 4 Little Egret, 5 Mallard (3 male) and Oystercatchers trying to roost. Rock Pipits were feeding on the seaweed mass with some looking very Scandinavian-like with hints of pinky washed breasts, blue tinged heads, minimally streaked bellys and bold supercilliums.

Overhead 5 Buzzards were displaying and calling including a very pale looking bird along with a hovering male Kestrel and 2 Raven carrying beakfuls of sheep's wool. 

A Cirl Bunting was heard singing and I had some nice views of 4 birds (2 males) feeding together in the stubble field. A Song Thrush and 2 Coal Tit in the wood behind the stables were firsts for Wembury this year and 2 male Bullfinches showed well in the valley to the beach before flying off into the village gardens.

Cirl Bunting

I had some distant views of probable Sparrowhawks soaring and I thought I heard a Tawny Owl "tu-wu-ing" near the church but I couldn't be sure. I also had a brief and distant view of a probable Great Crested Grebe flying west before it disappeared around the Point, all very frustrating as they would all have been a Wembury year ticks but there is always another day!

After working a long day and then 2 night shifts I was a little cream crackered when I settled down on the settee to watch TV on the afternoon of Tuesday 15th March but when news of 3 male Garganey present on the Plym Estuary along with a female came through I decided to head out for a look. I was on site at 5pm, within 30 minutes of getting the news, and as expected I unfortunately failed to find them in the fading light. I did however get a distant view of a Great Crested Grebe, my first for the Plym this year, plus views of a female Goosander, 5 Greenshank, a Redwing and a Lesser Black-backed Gull along with the usual birds.

It was all blue skies and sunshine on waking up on the morning of Thursday 17th March and despite a cool start it soon became a pleasantly warm day even in a somewhat chilly breeze.

I caught the bus out to Wembury to meet up with Mavis for a walk and we were hopeful of catching up with our first Wheatear of the year but we were out of luck although we did see a good selection of wildlife.

Wembury Church

Comma, Peacock and 3 Small Tortoiseshell were all seen basking in the sunshine along with 3 Common Lizards, a Bloody Nose Beetle and 6 Black Oil Beetles.

Comma

Peacock

Small Tortoiseshell

Common Lizard

Black Oil Beetle

Cirl Buntings showed very well in the stubble field, at least 3 males and 2 females, with the males looking stunning in the bright sunshine. 

Cirl Bunting (Photo courtesy of Mavis) 

Overhead a pair of Kestrel, a pair of Sparrowhawk, 8 Buzzards and 2 Ravens were noted while along the footpath Stonechats and Linnets were seen. 2 Chiffchaffs were heard singing too. 

All in all a very lovely springtime walk along the coast, it's finally feeling like winters grip is very much loosened.