A Cold Snap

The weather has finally turned colder after what has been a very mild Autumn so far and typically it's arrived just as we are having our leaking gas boiler replaced. The boiler was eventually due to be replaced on Tuesday 18th November and with the day before being a beautiful and sunny day we headed out to Stover for a walk. It was noticably cooler but feeling quite pleasant and fresh and it was surprisingly fairly quiet around Stover considering the good weather.

Out on the Lake amongst the Tufted Duck, Coot, Moorhen, Mute Swan, Mallard and Canada Geese were a pair of nervous looking Shoveler, a female Teal, 4 Pochard (3 male) and a Great Crested Grebe but I couldn't find any Mandarin Ducks.

Shovelers

Pochards

Mute Swan

The feeding station as viewed from the tree top walkway was very busy with birds and there were plenty of Coal, Blue and Great Tits dashing about along with a few Nuthatch. Eventually I found a Marsh Tit which dashed in to the feeder, grabbed a Sunflower seed and flew off to eat it in a nearby tree. Also present were Robin, Chaffinch, a female Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Stock Dove, Woodpigeon and a male Blackbird along with some very portly looking Grey Squirrels feeding on the ground underneath the feeders but everything scattered when a female Sparrowhawk dashed through in full hunting mode.

The air felt chilly but it was pleasant when in the sunshine and despite the late date there were Common Darters flitting about around the Lake edge including a few mating pairs.

Common Darter

Common Darter

I had earmarked the Tuesday and Wednesday as boiler installation days but with it all going smoothly on the Tuesday I had Wednesday 19th November unexpectedly free and so I headed off to Dawlish Warren to look for the 5 Velvet Scoter being seen there. It was a beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine but a cold northerly wind kept things very cool indeed.

I arrived off the train at around 10:30am and headed straight to Langstone Rock where the Scoters have been showing but I didn't venture up onto the Rock due to the strong wind and the lingering bad memories of my last visit up there in March 2022 when I nearly broke my telescope. 

On a quick scan offshore from Buddys Cafe I found a flock of 17 Common Scoter (2 males) quite close in and as I scanned through them the 5 Velvet Scoter flew in and landed on the sea nearby. I enjoyed some good views of them but they were very unsettled and flighty (unlike the Common Scoters) and with a distant view of a Red-throated Diver off the main beach towards The Point I walked back to the lifeguard hut for a closer look.

The View from The Lifeguard Hut

I refound the Red-throated Diver but it had moved further towards The Point and with it spending very little time at the surface between dives the views were brief and distant. A Great Northern Diver was even further away and just as active along with 4 Great Crested Grebes and with the wind chilling me down considerably I headed back to the relative shelter of Langstone Rock for another look at the Scoters.

The Velvet Scoters were still showing well along with the Common Scoters, they were bringing up Mussels to the surface to eat before continuing their diving. A Red-throated Diver then appeared amongst them and gave some great views as it had a good preen before continuing its diving and a second bird also flew in and instantly disappeared under the water as soon as it landed.

I decided to have a quick look around the main pond before heading home, it was relatively sheltered amongst the trees from the worst of the wind and out on the water were a Mute Swan, a Moorhen, a Little Grebe and 8 Teal (5 male). A Water Rail and a Snipe flushed from the waters edge and disappeared into the reeds and a second hidden Water Rail was heard squealing away. In the trees 2 Chiffchaff and 2 Long-tailed Tit were feeding while out on the nearby grassland a pair of Stonechat were seen but it was soon time to head back to the station to warm up on the train back to Plymouth.

The Main Pond

Mute Swan

Stonechat

It was frosty, clear and still on Friday 21st November as I headed out to Wembury on the 7am bus, it was a beautiful morning but it felt very cold with temperatures just above freezing and I had to tread carefully on arriving off the bus as there were icy patches on the pavements and roads.

The Rarest Thing seen all day - a Frost at Wembury

I had hoped the cold weather may have moved some birds in but in these days of global warming a few frosty nights doesn't illicit a bird movement response like it used to. However a Redshank along the beach and a Redwing in the Ivy bushes at The Point were probably cold weather arrivals and a surprise Red Kite flying across the fields behind the radar station towards Plymouth and a Black Redstart on the roof of the Church (although it had been reported a few days previously) may also have appeared due to the chilly conditions.

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

The usual birds were otherwise on view with a male Blackcap, a Chiffchaff, a Dartford Warbler, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Goldcrest and Cirl Buntings the highlights and after a good search I finally found a Water Pipit feeding on the seaweed mass along the beach, it was hidden in plain sight amongst the numerous Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails also present but it was very flitty and flighty, hopefully it will stick around for a while yet.

Dartford Warbler

Pied Wagtail

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

I'm always surprised to find Water Pipits along the beach at Wembury as they supposedly prefer freshwater environments but November is always a good month to find them at Wembury, maybe they make good use of the rich food source here on their way through to less saline habitats.