There were actually some birds around this time too with the highlight being 3 Crossbill that flew over the treetops calling before disappearing from sight, my first of the year.
A Mistle Thrush was heard singing, 5 Buzzard mewed overhead, 2 Green Woodpecker were heard yaffling and a Great Spotted Woodpecker was heard drumming. Ravens and Siskins were also displaying overhead while out on the water 2 male Goosanders, 2 Great Crested Grebes, an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and the White farmyard Goose were seen.
Thursday 7th March was sunny again but still breezy and so I headed out to The Plym for a walk, starting at Laira Bridge and finishing at Marsh Mills. The tide was heading in when I arrived but it had been a high low tide and the mudflats were rapidly disappearing under water.
I was very pleased to finally find my first Plym Red-breasted Merganser of the year, a male bird busily diving away off the Rowing Club. This winter has been poor for Red-breasted Mergansers locally with odd reports here and there of a pair on The Plym or The Tamar so I was glad to catch up with one of them before they head off north to breed. The only local record I have this winter is of an immature male on The Plym at the beginning of December, maybe today's adult male bird is that same one now all grown up.
Otherwise all the usual birds were present today on my walk with the highlights being a Common Sandpiper, a Snipe, 2 Turnstone, a Little Grebe, 3 Mandarin (2 males) and 2 pairs of Goosanders along the river near the gas pipe, 18 Curlew, 10 Oystercatcher, 3 Greenshank, 6 Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron roosting on Blaxton Meadow as the water headed in through the sluice gates, 3 Greenshank and 28 Common Gulls (27 adults, 1 1st winter) with Dunlin, Redshank and Shelducks out on the mudflats and 6 Ring-necked Parakeets, 3 Stock Dove and a singing Chiffchaff in the Park.
Mandarins
Blaxton Meadow Roost
Stock Dove
Wood Anemones
On the morning of Friday 8th March news of 7 Dark-bellied Brent Geese on The Plym came through on the bird news channels, unfortunately I was busy at the time but we had a walk down to Laira Bridge that afternoon for a look. The tide was now high and as expected there was no sign of them but there was a nice adult Shag in its breeding finery out on the water just above the bridge.
Brent Geese are only occassionally seen on The Plym, I've never managed to see any there before so missing today's birds was a shame but there's always another time.
With reports of Wheatears arriving along the South Devon coast and the weather for Monday 11th March set fair I had planned to visit Wembury but I had a hankering for something different for a change and so I switched plans and headed up to The Exe instead. I caught the train to Starcross and then walked up to the viewing platform at Exminster Marsh and back and I had a very enjoyable time.
It was indeed a beautiful day with some nice sunny spells and feeling warm in the very gentle breeze, 2 Chiffchaffs heard quietly singing and a brief view of a flyby Small Tortoiseshell on my walk made it feel even more spring like.
Despite signs of spring there were still plenty of winter birds around with the Brent Geese noisely feeding in the grassy fields close to the footpath before decamping to the estuary mudflats when the tide receded.
Brent Geese
There were still good numbers of waders feeding out on the estuary too - Dunlins, Oystercatchers, Curlews and Redshanks with Grey Plovers, Knot, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshank and around 35 Avocets along with a distant roosting flock of Golden Plovers. Teal, Wigeon, Shelduck and Canada Geese were also present.
Avocets
Teal
The Fallow Deer were showing very well in Powderham Park with a pair of Gadwall, 4 Stock Dove, a Raven and a Kestrel also of note here and both a Green and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were also heard.
Fallow Deer
Kestrel
Mallard - resplendent in the sunshine
A hunting immature male Marsh Harrier spooking all the wildfowl and 2 female Pochard on the lagoon with 4 male and a female Tufted Ducks were the highlights on Exminster Marsh with 2 male Reed Buntings also seen here my first of the year.
Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting
A Cattle Egret was found in the flooded field just outside Starcross when I first arrived off the train, it looked a little sickly but it had disappeared on my return walk.
Cattle Egret
Before catching the train back to Plymouth from Starcross I spent some time scanning the river from the station platform as the tide headed in. An immature male Eider was picked up diving off Exmouth, distant views only through the scope, but 2 Great Northern Divers, 7 Great Crested Grebes and 3 pairs of Red-breasted Mergansers showed a little closer.
Red-breasted Merganser
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