I headed out to The Plym for a walk on Monday 30th October, it was a bright and sunny morning with just the one very heavy shower while I was there (and fortunately when I was near the bird hide so I could seek temporary shelter) and while I had a very enjoyable walk it all felt very Groundhog Day-like.
It was high tide and a very high tide indeed with Blaxton Meadow totally flooded, the most flooded I've ever seen it and as a result there was nowhere for the waders to roost and only 7 Curlew, 2 Redshank and 2 Snipe were seen. The usual Canada Geese and Mallard were present with 12 Shelduck and 22 Wigeon and the usual Black-headed and Herring Gulls were present too but only 3 Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron. A male Bullfinch was also feeding in the hedgerow near the viewing platform and a Raven flew overhead.
A bizarre sight was of a Little Egret eventually snaffling down a Vole/Mouse down along the river near the gas pipe, I don't know whether it had caught it or had found it dead but it took a while for it to get it down as it regularly dunked it in the water before trying to manoeuvre it into the right position to swallow it.
Around the Park a pair of Stonechat, 2 Grey Wagtail, 5 Curlew, at least 3 Ring-necked Parakeets, a Skylark and 3 Meadow Pipit were seen and a Green Woodpecker was heard. The highlight though was a Firecrest which showed very well as it fed in the trees near the sewage farm in the company of Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits.
It was a very pleasant walk but it all felt very like Deja Vu with everything seeming static and the same, hopefully things will get shaken up a little bit soon.
Tuesday 31st October was going to be sunny again but with rain forecasted for late morning I headed out to Wembury on the 7am bus for a walk before the rain was due to arrive. I did get caught out in another heavy rain shower while I was there but I sheltered in the lee of some bushes and it fortunately passed over very quickly so I stayed relatively dry.
It was a very high tide with little beach on show and near the sewage pipe there were a group of 10 Little Egrets trying to roost with the Oystercatchers, I think the highest number I've ever seen at Wembury before. A Turnstone and a Curlew were also present along with 5 adult Mediterranean Gulls.
Offshore the usual Gannets were flying around and diving for fish with a few Mediterranean Gulls also present and a Peregrine was seen buzzing around The Mewstone in the strong breeze.
All the usual birds were seen along the walk - a Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk, Stonechats, Cirl Buntings, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, etc. - and it was feeling very Groundhog Day again, interesting and enjoyable but very samey - and then things stepped up a gear.
I had a look around the Radar Station and found a Chiffchaff flitting about in the pines but a scan over the fields inland revealed a flock of 5 White Doves circling around, I rarely see any Feral Pigeons/Doves at Wembury so I was quite pleased to see such a relatively common if plastic bird here.
I then found an adult Common Gull flying along the beach, another species that is not exactly common at Wembury and one I see quite infrequently here. Even better was a Water Pipit that flushed off the beach near the sewage pipe and flew over my head calling and showing remarkable white looking underparts. It landed on some rocks where it showed even whiter looking outer tail feathers before dropping out of sight. I managed a few more good but brief views of it as it flitted about along the foreshore, it was as twitchy and as mobile as Water Pipits always are along the beach at Wembury and was regularly engaged in aerial spats with any nearby Rock Pipits until I finally lost track of it amongst the rocks. It was very distinctive looking with very white underparts and hopefully it will stick around for the winter.
To top things off I then found a Firecrest feeding in the bushes by the footpath near the horse field in the company of a Goldcrest, it showed very nicely before disappearing deeper into cover and was a nice end to my walk as I headed back to the bus stop to catch the bus back home. It began to rain as I headed up the valley from the beach to the bus stop but a flyby Red Admiral didn't seem to mind too much.
And so October is done - hoorah!
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