On arriving off the train I had a quick scan of the Exe from the nearby carpark but there was no sign of any Ospreys on the low tide and so I continued on my walk to Orcombe Point to look for Yellow Wagtails.
I checked out the fields containing herds of Cows along Gore Lane and eventually found 2 Yellow Wagtails but they were distant and often obscured by vegetation around the Cows feet. I did get some nice views through my scope though before they were spooked by something and took to the air along with the Linnets and Goldfinch also present, 2 Yellow Wagtails became 4 or possibly 5 in the melee and it was lovely to hear their flight calls as they flew overhead. They returned to the field for a short time before being spooked again and I watched 3 of them flying off high to the east, never to return, and I don't know where the other 1 or 2 went either.
There wasn't much else around at Orcombe Point with a Green Woodpecker, a Whitethroat, 3 Swift, Swallows and a Chiffchaff seen before I headed back to Exmouth for a look at The Exe on the incoming tide.
I had a scan of the river from the car park by the train station again and had a very distant view of an Osprey perched on a pole way upriver on the opposite side towards Topsham so I walked along the riverside path to get a little bit closer. I stopped off at a viewing area where 2 other birders were already present and rescanned the estuary, the Osprey had gone but shortly after I picked up 2 Ospreys circling high over Exminster Marshes before they drifed off towards Haldon. Eventually they reappeared and flew downriver towards Lympstone where 1 of them briefly perched up on a pole before they both flew upriver again and I lost track of them.
A Little Tern was picked up by one of the other birders as it flew around over the water before heading upriver while small groups of Common Terns were also seen purposefully flying upriver on the incoming tide. Greenshank, Redshank, Whimbrel, Dunlin, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper, a Bar-tailed Godwit and a Knot where seen out on the mudflats while 5 Wigeon amongst the feeding Mallard were an early taste of the winter to come. There were plenty of Little Egrets about too but a surprise was a Great White Egret flying high and west over Starcross, again picked up by one of the other birders.
I returned to Exmouth and had a quick look for the regular Yellow-legged Gull that is often present around the recycling centre and now in its 5th calendar year plumage. Initially there was no sign of it but eventually I found it and had some nice views but it was a swine to try and photograph.
Yellow-legged and Herring Gulls
Yellow-legged Gull
It had been a very productive (4 year ticks!) and interesting visit, Exmouth behaved itself again and I was pleased to catch up with the Yellow Wagtails and Ospreys, hopefully I'll see some more of them in the next few weeks and this time maybe a bit closer to home.
We had a walk around Stoke Point on Thursday 21st August, it was overcast to begin with but the skies eventually cleared and it became quite warm in the sunshine. It was quiet on the wildlife front but the highlight was a juvenile Dartford Warbler associating with some Stonechats, my first one here for quite a few years now (I think it was 10 years ago I saw my last one here). Other sightings of note were 2 Kestrel, 2 Wheatear, a Clouded Yellow, 2 Small Tortoiseshell, Autumn Squill and good numbers of both Small and Large Whites.
Autumn Squill
Large and Small White, Small Tortoiseshell
With the weather forecast set fair for Friday 22nd August I planned to catch the 6:30am bus again and revisit Wembury for the early morning high tide. Unfortunately I had forgotten about my opticians appointment that morning so didn't get out to Wembury until 11:45am on the low tide but never mind.
On arriving it was hot and sunny and there were butterflies everywhere, I eventually gave up counting the Clouded Yellows as they were flitting back and forth over the fields and I was probably double counting them, it's certainly been famine and then feast with them this year. Again there were Small and Large Whites everywhere too and 2 male Beautiful Demoiselles and a Golden-ringed Dragonfly were seen in the valley to the beach.
Clouded Yellow
Small White
Golden-ringed Dragonfly
I headed out to The Point to look for a Spotted Flycatcher reported yesterday, I passed local birder Graham who had just seen 2 of them there so I kept my fingers crossed. I eventually found them both and had some nice views along with a bonus sighting of a juvenile Firecrest.
Spotted Flycatcher
Along the beach I found 3 Dunlin and 3 Ringed Plover despite the low tide, the usual Oystercatchers and Mediterranean Gulls were present too but best of all was a very smart looking juvenile Common Gull, a plumage phase I rarely see.
Juvenile Common Gull
With a Little Stint having been found on The Plym the previous day and with it still being present that morning I decided to catch the bus home from Wembury, collect my telescope and tripod and head out to Blaxton Meadow for a look about on the incoming tide.
On arriving at the viewing bench I had a scan around and eventually found the Little Stint feeding on its own, I had some nice scope views of what is only my second Plym sighting of one before it went to sleep as the water levels on the Meadow rose.
Also out on the Meadow were Curlews and Redshanks, 2 Whimbrels, a Common Sandpiper, 7 Dunlin, 8 Greenshank, 4 Ringed Plover, 3 Oystercatcher and a juvenile Black-tailed Godwit. A surprise find was a female Shoveler out on the water and the juvenile Great Crested Grebe was still present too.
Ringed Plover
Everything suddenly took to the air and eagle-eyed local birder Sam who had arrived at the viewing bench along with local birder David picked up an Osprey over the Plym. We watched it make an unsuccessful dive for a fish but second time around it caught one and headed off into Saltram Park to eat it's meal, a great end to the day.
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