The good weather continued as did my tooth pain and general feeling of crapness but after 2 more visits to the dentists I felt so much better on waking up on Thursday 20th March and so I decided to head off to Paignton on the train to look for the Surf Scoter wintering in Tor bay. I had planned a visit to look for it last Friday but felt so awful I gave it a miss and annoyingly it was seen well that day. It was also seen well the previous day (Wednesday) and so I was quite hopeful and with the sun shining and only a £7.15 return rail fare I set off.
The trains ran to time and on arriving in Paignton I decided to ditch the bus and walk along the coast towards Broadsands instead as it was such a beautiful day. It felt very warm with blue skies and hazy sunshine on what was probably the warmest day of the year so far and there were plenty of people out and about enjoying it. There was a bit of a swell out on the water though and the visibility and light weren't great with all the haze but I arrived at the headland near Shell Cove and set up my scope for a scan offshore.
I soon found a female Common Scoter just as it dived underwater and after a while I eventually refound it in the company of the male Surf Scoter. They were unfortunately distant and the Surf Scoters white nape patch wasn't always obvious depending on the light and angle of view but I was very glad to have found it.
A big surprise were 4 Velvet Scoter which then flew across the Bay further out before landing on the water and diving to feed. Occassional wing flaps revealed their white wing patches which had been obvious in flight but were unseen when at rest on the sea and eventually I lost track of them which was a shame although I was pleased to have had a 3 Scoter day in Devon. Later I thought I had refound them in the company of the Surf Scoter and the Common Scoter, all were still distant, but 2 of the 4 birds eventually wing-flapped and there was no white to be seen, presumably all 4 were in fact male Common Scoters (or at least 2 of them were).
Other birds of note out on the water were singles of Great Northern, Red-throated and Black-throated Diver, a rare opportunity to see all 3 together on a day out in Devon but all a little distant too. The Black-throated Diver was very active and constantly diving before I lost track of it but the Great Northern and Red-throated Divers were lingering at the surface with the Red-throated Diver flying off when 2 kayakers paddled towards them while the Great Northern Diver casually swam away. Also seen were 8+ Great Crested Grebe, all in summer plumage, 7+ Guillemots (1 still in winter plumage), Shag and Cormorant, while over the water Fulmars, a Gannet and my first 2 Sandwich Tern of the year were noted. I also thought I caught a glimpse of 1 of the 2 wintering Red-necked Grebes being reported in the area but it dived and I couldn't refind it.
A Chiffchaff was heard singing, a Buzzard mewed and 2 Ravens croaked overhead, a Brown Rat was eating the peanuts in a hanging bird feeder at a caravan park and at least 7 Peacock butterflies were flitting about along the clifftop path. Also of note were a Muscovy Duck, 2 Coot, 6 pairs of Tufted Duck, a Mute Swan and a Canada Goose on the lake in Goodrington Park.
I felt like crap again the next day (Friday) and had to turn down an offer from my mate Mavis to go and look for a reported Great Grey Shrike on Dartmoor the next day. However on waking up on Saturday 22nd March I felt a little better again and so decided to make the most of this window of opportunity and head out to Wembury for a quick look about.
It was sunny and warm when out of the strong easterly breeze but as I stepped off the bus at Wembury it didn't feel very birdy (as I didn't either) and so it proved to be although it was good to be out in the sunshine and fresh air.
The highlight of my walk was my first Speckled Wood of the year flitting about under the pines by the radar station. Another good sighting was of 5 Black Oil Beetles together with the single female dwarfing the 4 males in attendance.
There were now at least 8 Chiffchaffs singing away along with a presumably newly arrived Blackcap while the Cetti's Warbler was also heard just once calling in the valley to the beach. A Goldcrest flitting about at the pines and 4 Stock Dove flying over heading east were also of note.
There was no sign of the Scandanavian Rock Pipit amongst the Rock Pipits along the beach and all the Alba Wagtails present were Pied. Also along the beach were 20 Turnstone, 22 Oystercatcher, a pair of Mallard and a Little Egret while offshore just 1 adult Gannet was seen flying east.
Unfortunately the bus back to Plymouth broke down at The Odd Wheel in Wembury and so I ended up having to walk to Staddon Heights to catch a bus from there instead, it was a bit of a trek but a silver lining was seeing my first Swallow of the year chittering away overhead at Hollacombe along the way. It was also good to get a closer look at the Cowslips coming into flower along the roadside verges as well.
I've also received my annual summary e-mail from Bird Track for 2024, a little bit later this year than usual. I can't believe only around 12000 birders use it as it's such a useful wildlife recording app and resource, it's free and it's also so much better than E-Bird with it's Americanisms which seems to appeal more to younger birders and world listers.
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