It's been nearly 4 weeks since I last visited Wembury and with a dry but cloudy day forecasted for Monday 16th December I decided to head out there on the bus for a walk. I caught the 9:05am bus as the earlier buses at this time of year would see me arrive at Wembury in darkness and with my recent bone graft and tooth implant placement I'm still feeling a bit sore, tired and not firing on all cylinders so I had a bit of a lie in instead.
It was very quiet at Wembury as is usual pre-Christmas and there were only a few walkers, dog walkers and runners along the coast path despite the dry and occassionally sunny conditions. It also wasn't too muddy along the coast path either so my new walking shoes had a gentle baptism before the full quagmire horror of a winter Wembury path arrives.
As the bus headed down into Wembury village the skies above the nearby fields were full of Woodpigeons, easily 1000+ birds were present, but on the return journey not a single Woodpigeon was seen.
It was good to be out birding at Wembury again after a bit of a break, the usual birds were seen but again it was no less enjoyable for it. A look around the village gardens on the walk down to the main beach was productive with a female Blackcap, a male Pheasant and a Grey Squirrel noted while on the walk back a Chiffchaff, 7 Long-tailed Tits, a female Bullfinch and a Coal Tit were seen with 2 Jays and a Great Spotted Woodpecker also heard.
It was quiet offshore with 4 adult Gannets seen but it was good to see around 20 Fulmars back on the nesting ledges on The Mewstone after their autumnal feather moult.
Along the beach on the ebbing tide were 2 Turnstone and a Curlew feeding with the Oystercatchers, Mallards including 2 male farmyard types, a Little Egret and 3 adult Mediterranean Gulls but a surprise sighting was a single Dark-bellied Brent Goose out on the rocks looking a little lost and forlorn (presumably the same bird as reported on Birdtrack on the 14th December).
Along the footpath the usual Cirl Buntings and Stonechats were seen while overhead 3 Buzzards noisily displayed and a Sparrowhawk was mobbed by a very vocal Black-headed Gull.
I walked back along the beach from The Point as the tide was low, I carefully checked all the Pipits feeding on the washed up seaweed but failed to find a Water Pipit amongst the Rock and Meadow Pipits present. A Song Thrush feeding on the seaweed mass with the Blackbirds was an unusual sighting.
It was a very pleasant walk indeed and probably my last visit to Wembury this year as Christmas stuff takes over and Wembury becomes overrun with Christmas visitors. I've finished my year list for Wembury on 108 species, 6 less than last year but still a pretty good showing and I'm looking forward to what next year will bring.
With news of a Yellow-browed Warbler at Efford Marsh Local Nature Reserve in Plymouth reported on Sunday 15th December I decided to head out there for a look on Tuesday 17th December. It's been a while since I last visited the site so I had to do some research regarding buses and access points but I managed to get there easily enough. It was a grey and claggy day with a few brief sunny spells and with rain forecasted from 1pm I arrived at the reserve at just before 10am with fingers crossed.
As I walked back and forth along the footpath through the reserve I kept my eyes and ears open for any feeding flocks of small birds in the trees and bushes. The light was poor and there was a constant noisy hum of traffic from the nearby A38 but I regularly encountered groups of birds although they were very active and mobile amongst the branches. Amongst the Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits present were a few Coal Tit, at least 3 Chiffchaff, a Firecrest, at least 3 Goldcrest, a Nuthatch and 2 female Bullfinch but there was no sign of the Yellow-browed Warbler. I thought I did hear it call once but I put it down to wishful thinking as I carried on my search.
Along the stream I saw a male Teal, a Little Egret, a Kingfisher, a Grey Wagtail and a Moorhen while a Water Rail was heard squealing away. A Jay, Blackbirds, Robins, Wrens and Magpies were also seen around the woods along with quite a few Grey Squirrels.
The skies were beginning to darken and spots of rain were beginning to fall so I decided to concede a dip and began my walk back to the bus stop but just as I started off I found the Yellow-browed Warbler feeding in the Willows just a few metres away from me where it gave some great views despite not keeping still for a second. It was very bright and smart looking (and silent) but after a few minutes it headed off deeper into the Willows and was gone and I just managed to get to the bus shelter as the rain properly arrived, very jammy indeed.
