Quiet

My Birding Mojo is currently a bit flat (along with the rest of my life) which is just as well as things are pretty quiet on the birding front at the moment. 

Monday 20th February was cold, grey and claggy but we decided to head out anyway for a coastal walk from Hope Cove to Thurlestone and back. It was quite mizzley over the course of our walk and it came and went in the gentle breeze and as a result not a lot was seen with the highlights being 2 flitty and vocal Chiffchaff (1 at Hope Cove, 1 at South Milton Ley) and a sleepy Black-tailed Godwit with Teal and Wigeon at South Huish Marsh.

Tuesday 21st February was cold and grey again but the mizzle had cleared and there was very little breeze and so I headed out to Wembury for a walk. The footpath was a bit muddy but not too bad and the tide was dropping as I started my walk.

Along the beach there was quite a gathering of Gulls on the rocks, mostly Black-headed Gulls with 200+ present along with Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls, a 1st winter Common Gull and at least 9 Mediterranean Gulls (6 adult, 1 2nd winter and 2 1st winter). A Grey Heron was getting regular hassle from nearby Herring Gulls but the 2 Little Egret present were left alone. There were also 9 Mallard present (4 male, 2 female and 3 domestic male) along with a pair of flighty Shelduck which regularly flew back and forth along the beach. A lone Curlew was seen amongst the noisy Oystercatchers. 

I had a look for the Water Pipit around the seaweed mass by the sewage pipe but there was no sign of it this time amongst the Rock Pipits and Meadow Pipits present. However I did find a very nice Scandinavian Rock Pipit, a bit scruffy as it moults into summer plumage but very distinctive looking. The pinky flush to the breast and blue tones to the head were variably noticeable depending on the angle of the bird and it was quite dominant amongst the other Pipits, regularly chasing off any that came near to it. 

Scandinavian Rock Pipit

Scandinavian Rock Pipit

Scandinavian Rock Pipit

There were at least 3 Chiffchaffs along the beach, all yellowy green toned collybita types with brief and quiet singing heard at times, but there was no sign of the pale and brown toned bird seen on my last visit. 

2 Grey Wagtails were also present along the beach with the Pied Wagtails and in the stubble field there were at least 11 Cirl Buntings but they were skulky and flighty. The hedgerow near the small water treatment works had been cut back and there was some interesting looking bright orange Sap Yeast growing on the cut branches. 

Sap Yeast - Cryptococcus/ Cystofilobasidium macerans? 

Sap Yeast

It was an enjoyable walk but fairly quiet although there is a definite sense of Spring in the air and a feeling that birds are on the move at last. 

It was cold and grey and breezy on our usual Plymouth Hoe walk on Thursday 23rd February, the tide was very low and there was no sign of any Purple Sandpipers but I did find 7 Turnstones. No Black Redstarts were seen either but the Little Grebe was still present on Sutton Harbour and looking very smart in its summer plumage and occasionally heard trilling. 

Friday 24th February was cold and grey again but less windy as I headed out for a River Plym walk. It has been very quiet on The Plym so far this year with the internet sighting reports being very Groundhog Day-like but with news coming through of a Cattle Egret being seen on Blaxton Meadow on Wednesday this week hopefully things are on the up. I wasn't expecting to see any Cattle Egrets on my walk and indeed I didn't but I had a good time anyway. 

It was cold and grey and the tide was high when I arrived at the viewing platform overlooking the Blaxton Meadow roost. The usual birds were present including 6 Snipe, 9 Greenshank, 1 Turnstone, 42 Wigeon, 1 Kingfisher and 19 Common Gull while out on the River there were 8 Goosander (3 male), 1 Mute Swan, 1 Red-breasted Merganser and 4 Little Grebe with 16 Turnstone and 1 Common Sandpiper roosting on The Embankment with Dunlin and Redshank. 

Goosander 

There were 24 Moorhen on the Duck Pond with 2 pairs of Mandarin Duck and a female Red-crested Pochard and a single Moorhen was also seen along the ditch at Longbridge. 

Mandarin Duck

I spent some time in the Wet Wood looking for the Water Rail with no luck but I did see a Treecreeper, my first of the year, along with a bathing Mistle Thrush and a Kingfisher which was a bit of a surprise. A Grey Heron was quietly fishing in the small pond by the wood. 

Grey Heron

A Firecrest and a Goldcrest were seen in the Park with Coal Tit, Nuthatch and Stock Dove while on Chelson Meadow a Snipe, singing Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, around 20 Starlings and 7 Roe Deer were seen. 

Roe Deer

It was an enjoyable if fairly quiet walk but again there is a sense of expectation in the air and hints of Spring being on its way despite the chilly weather.