Glossy Ibis

Friday 5th September was pleasantly warm and sunny after all the recent wind and rain and so we decided to take a walk from Thurlestone to Hope Cove and back. The summer school holidays are now finally over so it was fairly quiet on the people and dog front and therefore a much more enjoyable walk for it.

The walk to Hope Cove was uneventful with the only sightings of note being a Raven flying overhead and a lone Moorhen on South Huish Marsh where Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins were flitting about over the water. 

South Huish Marsh

We had lunch in The Cottage Hotel in Hope Cove, we've never been there before and it was quite delightful with good food and beer, a calm and genteel old world charm and a lovely view of the sea from the terrace from where we watched a Grey Seal poking its snout out of the water just off the main beach before it disappeared beneath the waves. 

The walk back to Thurlestone was more eventful with a Kestrel and 2 Buzzards seen along the cliffpath and 2 Shags seen resting down on the rocks. With Glossy Ibis popping up everywhere in Devon and Cornwall at the moment I checked out a Glossy Ibis type bird flying over South Huish Marsh but it turned out to be just a Cormorant as I expected, however on scanning across the back of the Marsh I picked up an actual Glossy Ibis circling around and as it turned in the sky the sunlight caught the beautiful iridescence of its plumage. It landed and began to feed although unfortunately it soon moved into a ditch and was lost from sight but I was very pleased to catch up with one after having missed the 2 seen on The Plym on Wednesday.

I checked out the toilet block near the golf course, it used to be a good spot for moths but today only a Bloxworth Snout was present. I took a photo of it using my flash but everytime I pushed the shutter button the hand drier came on briefly, very bizarre, but I've often thought butterflies and especially moths can also detect the camera sensor as they will often fly off just as I take a photo.

Bloxworth Snout

It was forecasted to be another good day of weather the next day (Saturday 6th September) so I decided to head out to Wembury on the 7am bus for a look about. It was indeed a nice day but there was a stiff south-easterly breeze which hampered viewing a bit and I really should have had a lie in and caught the 9am bus instead but never mind.

The tide was ebbing and along the beach with the usual Oystercatchers were a Curlew, 3 Ringed Plover and a Turnstone. Also present were 4 Little Egret and 2 Wheatear along with Herring, Black-headed, Mediterranean, Great Black-backed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. One of the adult Mediterranean Gulls was sporting a yellow leg ring but without my scope it was too far away to read, I moved closer for a better look but it had disappeared amongst the roosting flock when I tried to refind it.

Curlew

Wheatear

Gulls

Otherwise it was all much the same with the highlights being a few Gannets offshore, a Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzards and 2 Kestrels overhead, a trickle of Swallows and House Martins moving east along with a Sand Martin, a Whitethroat sunning itself out of the wind at The Point and 9 Canada Geese feeding in the stubble field.

I decided to have another look for the Rose-coloured Starling before heading home although the news had been negative so far that morning. I had seen the Starlings in their usual dead tree earlier when passing by on the bus but on walking up the hill to the dead tree there wasn't a Starling in sight, Rose-coloured or otherwise. A flock of Starlings did fly overhead at one point but the Rosy wasn't in with them and it remained a no show until the bus arrived to take me home.

Rose-coloured Starling at Wembury

Meteorlogical Autumn has arrived and the weather on Monday 1st September was definitely feeling autumnal, all cool and breezy with sunny spells and occassional spits of rain, and with a Rose-coloured Starling having been found at Wembury over the weekend I caught the 7am bus out there to go and have a look for it.

The Rose-coloured Starling had been hanging out with a mobile flock of Starlings and was regularly being seen in a dead tree at the junction of Brownhill Lane and Mewstone Avenue, right opposite a bus stop, but on arriving off the bus there the tree was birdless. I walked to the other end of the lane and met local birder Paul checking out a flock of Starlings perched up on the telegraph wires but the Rose-coloured version was nowhere to be seen amongst them. The flock was very mobile and regularly flew back and forth along the lane but after an hour and a half of a no show I decided to go for a walk around the nearby streets for a look about. There was still no sign of it but on arriving back at the bus stop I suddenly saw it fly in with a few Starlings and land in the dead tree - result!

Rose-cloured Starling

Rose-coloured Starling with Starlings

Rose-coloured Starling with Starlings

It showed very well but was quite mobile at times, flying off and out of view before eventually returning to the dead tree and I enjoyed some good views of what is only my 5th sighting of one and my 2nd at Wembury, the others being seen at Exminster, Penzance and Paignton.

Rose-coloured Starling 

Rose-coloured Starling with Starling

I then headed out to The Point for a look about, there was a big feeding flock of Gulls close to shore in the choppy seas but I could only find Black-headed, Mediterranean, Herring, Great Black-backed and 2 Lesser Black-backed present. Gannets and Kittiwakes were more distant offshore and a single Auk species was seen heading west.

A Clouded Yellow, a Comma, a Common Blue, a Painted Lady, Meadow Brown and Large and Small Whites were seen despite the windy conditions and the only other sighting of note was a poorly looking juvenile Mediterranean Gull along the footpath which seemed unable to fly despite vigorously flapping its wings.

We had a walk around Saltram on Tuesday 2nd September, it was warm and humid with occassional mizzle spells in cloudy skies and the neap tide was heading in but with no water coming through the sluice gates into Blaxton Meadow. The usual birds were seen on our walk with the highlights being 9 Greenshank on the Meadow, a Common Sandpiper and a Kingfisher from the railway bridge, 4 Mute Swan along the river and the female Wood Duck on the duck pond.

Wood Duck

It was forecasted to be wet and windy overnight and so I decided to try a seawatch on Wednesday 3rd September. I did think of going to Berry Head but couldn't be arsed with all the faffing about to get there and I also considered trying Penlee for the first time but again the faff of getting there put me off and so I headed out to good old Wembury instead, that well known mecca for seawatching (not!).

I had heard heavy rain falling at times during the night but there seemed to be very little wind and when the alarm clock went off at 5:30am the rain was beginning to ease off and it was all very quiet. I caught the 6:30am bus out to Wembury and the rain had stopped by the time I arrived, the wind wasn't very strong either as I headed out to The Point to meet local birder Jenny. We began to scan about, the seas weren't as choppy as I was expecting but there was quite a swell and frequent heavy showers rattled through in the grey skies. We easily found Gannets moving about offshore as well as Kittiwakes, Mediterranean Gulls, at least 2 Fulmars and "Commic" Terns along with the usual Shags and Gulls but otherwise it seemed very quiet.

I did pick up a small Shearwater feeding closer in to shore, it flew short distances away from me before ditching down on the water and I eventually caught a glimpse of its dusky underparts indicating it was indeed a Balearic (or Mediterranean) Shearwater. A group of 3 Balearic Shearwaters were then seen feeding together in the same style and then later another single bird was seen a bit further out. There were also 5 Manx Shearwaters seen flying west, a pair and 3 singles and showing off their white underparts as they sheared over the waves.

I also picked up a pale phase Arctic Skua moving west but quickly lost sight of it, shortly after I picked up another pale phase bird harassing a Kittiwake, this one was darker looking than the first one I saw but I eventually lost sight of it as well.

The birds offshore started to fizzle out and Jenny headed home as I started the walk back towards the bus stop. Along the way I saw the usual birds with a Sanderling, 6 Sandwich Tern (3 adults, 3 juveniles), at least 120 Mediterranean Gulls and 5 Lesser Black-backed Gulls of note before another hefty shower arrived and I sheltered in the lee of a hedge to avoid the worst of it. After it cleared through I had another scan offshore and picked up a feeding group of Gannet and Kittiwake and flying past behind them was an immature Great Skua which was a nice but sadly all too brief surprise.

I decided to go and have another look for the Rose-coloured Starling before catching the bus home, it was still being reported as present in the same area as on Monday and on arriving I quickly found it perched up on telegraph wires with the Starling flock and flying down into nearby gardens to feed on Elderberries. Suddenly everything took to the air and the flock flew off high to the south, probably due to the overhead prescence of 2 soaring Sparrowhawks, and the flock hadn't returned by the time my bus back to Plymouth arrived but at least I'd had another view of it.

Rose-coloured Starling with a Starling

Rose-coloured Starling