A Cold Snap

The cold weather continues and it looks like it may stick around for a while, hopefully it might move a few more birds south and west after what has been a very mild winter so far and one that has also been low in winter bird numbers.

I wasn't feeling great on Monday 8th January but I wanted to make the most of the cold and sunny weather so we took a gentle walk around Saltram. It was a low high tide and the water levels on Blaxton Meadow weren't very high but the usual waders were coming in to roost although I didn't stop to count them.

The highlight was a Great Northern Diver out on the river off the Rowing Club building and busily munching away on crabs it was bringing to the surface. A pair of Goosander, 2 Mute Swan and a Common Sandpiper were also present along the river while in the Park a lone Redwing feeding on Ivy berries, a very smart male Bullfinch and at least 4 Ring-necked Parakeets were the highlights.

It was cold and grey on Tuesday 9th January as I headed out to Wembury for a walk, there was a strong easterly breeze and snow flurries in the air and it felt very gelid indeed. I still wasn't feeling great but it was nice to be out and about and the cold conditions kept my mind off of my ailments. I had hoped the below freezing temperatures overnight might have frozen the footpaths and indeed they were icy but it was still a complete mudfest and I even slipped over and fell on my ass, something I haven't done for a long time now.

A Chilly Wembury

Frozen Twigs

I had hoped for some cold weather movements on the bird front but other than a flock of 11 Lapwing flying over heading west and a Redshank along the beach there wasn't much evidence of movement going on.

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank and Turnstone

Redshank, Oystercatcher and Turnstone

Turnstone

I easily found the Water Pipit along the beach although it was very flitty and flighty and easily lost amongst the numerous Rock and Meadow Pipits. They were all frantically searching for food on the seaweed mass by the sewage pipe in the bitingly cold wind and were quite tetchy with each other and showing lots of aggressive posturing.

Water Pipit

A flock of around 40 Stock Dove was an interesting find as they occassionally took to the air from the fields above the sewage farm before settling back down out of sight. I'm not sure if this high count is due to the cold weather as I saw Stock Doves in this area at the end of last year but not in such numbers. Also of note were a Kestrel over being mobbed by Carrion Crows, a flock of around 10 Skylark feeding in the wheatfield stubble, around 14 Turnstones along the beach, Gannets passing by offshore and a Great Spotted Woodpecker in a village garden.

Blonde Ray? Egg Case

Wednesday 10th January was yet again another cold day with a biting easterly wind but it was mostly sunny as I headed out to Torpoint for a look about. There have been reports of all 5 Grebes being present here recently but it was not to be for me as I only found 3 Little Grebe and 8 Great Crested Grebe out on the water.

The conditions were a bit challenging in the wind again and as lovely as it was to see the sun it was difficult viewing the birds while looking into it. It was also a high low tide, I arrived at low tide but it was almost in again just over 2 hours later and so I packed up early and headed home - I'll have to visit again another day.

Despite this I has an enjoyable time with the highlights being a Great Northern Diver, 11 Knot, around 40 Avocet, 27 Grey Plover and unusually a male Tufted Duck. The usual waders and wildfowl were present too and I had good views of Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits, Dunlin (one of which was in full summer plumage!), Redshank, Curlew, Turnstone, Oystercatcher, Wigeon and Shelduck. I also picked up a distant group of 18 Brent Geese out on the mudflats, eventually 4 flew in closer and were dark-bellied types although pale-bellied types have also been seen here recently. 

Dunlin, Knot and Bar-Tailed Godwits

Dark-bellied Brent Geese