Grey Days

Thursday 4th March was a grey and claggy day with hardly any breeze and as we needed to revisit Tesco at Roborough we decided to visit nearby Roborough Down for a walk beforehand.

The walk along the Leat was enjoyable and interesting as always and as we chatted away putting the world to rights we saw songflighting Skylarks and Greenfinchs, at least 3 male Yellowhammer half heartedly singing and Stonechats perched up on the gorse.

Yellowhammer - a dash of colour on a dull day

With spring beginnig to appear on the horizon my Amaryllis bulbs are starting to bloom as the days get longer, I now have 12 bulbs in total of which 4 are now in flower and looking very colourful and beautiful. 

Amaryllis Flowers

With the Glaucous Gull still being reported around The Mewstone at Wembury I decided to have another look for it on Friday 5th March. It was another grey day, cool in a strong north-easterly breeze but at least it was dry and the footpath wasn't quite as muddy as on my previous visits.

I easily found the Glaucous Gull roosting out on The Mewstone, it's all white plumage was glowing in the gloom like a beacon. It eventually took off and flew towards me, flying past me along the cliffs at The Point before settling on the sea. A small fishing boat then sailed past attracting gulls in its wake and the Glaucous Gull went to join them before returning back to The Mewstone. It was the same bird that I saw on February 23rd with primary feathers noticeably missing on both wing tips when in flight.

Glaucous Gull roosting on The Mewstone

Glaucous Gull on the sea

It was a 6 Gull species day in total - an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull was roosting with Herring Gulls in the horse field above the stables, a winter plumaged Black-headed Gull flew past east, a 1st winter Mediterranean Gull was seen feeding on the sea near the sewage pipe and Great Black-backed Gulls were noted including 2 adults feeding on the decomposing corpse of a small cetacean along the beach.

Mediterranean Gull

Mediterranean Gull

Great Black-backed Gulls

Dead Cetacean (Harbour Porpoise?) along the beach

A very confiding female type Black Redstart was a nice find feeding on the seaweed mass along the beach with a Meadow Pipit, Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails.

Black Redstart 

Black Redstart 

Black Redstart 

Black Redstart 

Other birds of note were a Bar-tailed Godwit and 4 Curlew roosting with 25+Oystercatcher on the rocks at The Point, Gannets offshore moving east, Fulmars around The Mewstone, a male Kestrel and 2 Buzzards over, a male Stonechat along the beach, 2 Ravens over, a female Pheasant in the valley to the beach and songflighting Greenfinch.

Grey (and great) days out but there certainly is a sense of spring in the air, I wish it would hurry up and get here!

Green and Blue Wings

Depending on my shift patterns I am occasionally able to save some money by purchasing a weekly pass instead of buying day tickets to get to and from work on the bus. This week has been one such week so in order to really get my moneys worth from the week pass I decided to get out and about locally on my days off, especially with the weather forecasted to be dry and sunny.

Wednesday 15th January was sunny but breezy and so I caught the bus over to Torpoint for a walk and a look around. I firstly walked out to nearby Wilcove where a male green-winged teal is again wintering (presumably the regular bird returning for another winter stay) and within a few minutes of arriving I found it busily feeding away with some teal along the waterline very close to the road. Unfortunately it was in total shade so the photos with my new Panasonic Lumix TZ80 camera were not that great despite it being so close but the scope views were amazing.

 Green-winged Teal with Teal, Wilcove

 Green-winged Teal with Teal

 Green-winged Teal with Teal

 Green-winged Teal

Green-winged Teal

Green-winged Teal

Also seen were a noisy Whimbrel, a Greenshank, a Common Sandpiper and a Great Northern Diver along with Shelduck, Redshank, Curlew and Common Gull but with the tide receding the Green-Winged Teal disappeared from sight around the point and so I walked back to Torpoint for a look at St. John's Lake from Marine Drive.

The wind was very bracing in the exposed position of Marine Drive and the bright sunshine hampered viewing but I managed to find 4 Great Northern Divers, 4 Little Grebes, 12+Great Crested Grebes, 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls and a distant flock of around 40 Brent Geese consisting of both dark bellied and pale bellied varieties feeding out on the mudflats before it was time to head back home on the bus.

Friday 17th January was the last day of travel available on my weekly bus pass and as it was another sunny but breezy morning with occasional heavy showers I caught the bus out to Wembury, my first visit here since September last year.

It was high tide and with a strong onshore wind and so an Oystercatcher flock of around 40 birds was roosting in the stubble field with a few hardier birds attempting to roost along the beach with a Curlew and 3 Little Egrets. Offshore a Guillemot was seen flying east and 2 Brent Geese were seen flying west while a single Gannet was also seen and Fulmars were noted flying around The Mewstone.

2 Cirl Buntings were singing in the sunshine with 1 bird seen while Peregrine and Sparrowhawk were noted flying overhead.

The footpath as expected was a complete quagmire after all the rain we have been having recently and so with the tide receding I walked back along the beach, a much less riskier option knowing my propensity for slipping over in the mud, and along the beach with the flighty and mobile Meadow and Rock Pipits I found a nice Water Pipit, a smart looking bird strutting around with tail cocked and wings drooped as it chased off all comers to its patch of beach.

Also seen was a mobile and flighty female type Black Redstart feeding along the cliff and often hidden perched up in the overhanging vegetation where it was easily overlooked. It would occassionally launch itself up into the air to catch flies or drop down onto the beach to pounce on a fly but would always return to the bushes to skulk.

 Black Redstart, Wembury

 Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Also spread along the beach were small Portuguese-man-of-war, washed up after all the recent wind and rain and the first I have seen at Wembury.

Portuguese-man-of-war, Wembury

Saturday 18th January and with clear skies and no wind forecast it was time to finally revisit Mansands to look again for the wintering male Blue-winged Teal which is still present. I had a very brief view of it back in November last year and with it now moulting into adult male plumage I was keen to get a better look.

The journey to Mansands went smoothly - train to Newton Abbot, train to Paignton, bus to Brixham and walk to Mansands - and it was indeed a beautifully crisp and cold and frosty and foggy morning. The 2 mile walk to Mansands from Brixham was quite a slog though with a mahoosive uphill walk before the walk down to Mansands, not ideal for someone 50+ and so soon after Christmas, but a pair of Blackcap flitting about in gardens and a small flock of Skylark feeding in a stubble field helped to break up the climb.

The water level of the Ley at Mansands was much higher than it was back in November and walking over the stepping stones across the stream flowing over the beach resulted in slightly moist feet but I quickly settled into position on the hillside by the coastguard cottages overlooking the Ley to begin scanning around with my telescope. 2 pairs of Gadwall, 3 male and 2 female Tufted Duck, 3 male and 2 female Teal, Mallard, Coot and Moorhen were all easily seen and I also quickly found the Blue-winged Teal which showed well for around an hour, busily feeding and preening and looking quite smart in the bright sunshine.

It was quite shoveler-like with yellow legs noticeable as it dabbled and upended. The blue and green and white upper wing feathers were noted when it preened with the blue colouring being very outstanding in the sunshine and the green colouring being very irradescent.. The head had a dusky blue/grey colouring coming through and the white patch behind the bill was very noticeable.

 Blue-winged Teal, Mansands - record shot

 Blue-winged Teal 

Blue-winged Teal and Teal

A Cetti's warbler and a Green Woodpecker were both heard calling and off the beach 3 Great Crested Grebes were sleeping on the sea while a grey seal bobbed around off the rocks and a pod of around 10 common dolphins splashed around distantly offshore. A Chiffchaff and a female type Black Redstart showed very well around the cottages, catching flies buzzing about in the warming sunshine but with the Blue-winged Teal reverting to type and disappearing into the reeds I decided to head back to Brixham for a look around.

The walk back to Brixham was a less strenuous exercise and after a restorative pasty for lunch I walked out along the Breakwater for a scan around the Bay. An adult Mediterranean Gull was patrolling back and forth along the Breakwater and 12 Purple Sandpipers were roosting on the Jetty with Turnstones. Grey seals were hauled out on the pontoons in the Marina and fairly close to shore were a showy pod of around 20 common dolphins attracting the attentions of Gannets. Across the Bay were quite a few Guillemots and a single Razorbill and I also found 4 Great Northern Divers but only 1 of which was close enough for a good view. Shag, Cormorant, Kittiwake and Fulmar were also seen before it was time to head back to Plymouth with the journey home being smooth and uneventful again - another great day out and a nice end to a very birdy week.

Mute Swan, Brixham Harbour

The 301st - Pallas's Warbler, Cornwall

Thursday 14th February and a beautifully sunny and bright and still morning saw us walking to Turnchapel via Laira Bridge before catching the ferry back to The Barbican from Mount Batten. It was mild but chilly out of the sun and despite forgetting both my binoculars and camera I did see a common sandpiper with a redshank roosting on a decaying barge in Pomphlett Creek on the high tide and a greenshank, redshank, common sandpiper and turnstones along the shore at Hooe Lake.

Friday 15th February was the first year anniversary of the death of my father-in-law and so we all assembled at the grave side in Ford Park Cemetery to lay flowers, plant bulbs and reflect before heading off for a meal at The Harbour restaurant on The Barbican.

It was bright and sunny and I had a quick wander off to look for a reported male black redstart and I quickly found it near the chapels, locating it more easily as it gave its anxiety call note. It stopped calling but showed very well in the bright sunshine and allowed very close views before moving off amongst the tombstones and out of sight.

 Black Redstart, Ford Park Cemetery

Black Redstart, Ford Park Cemetery

Black Redstart , Ford Park Cemetery

Sunday 17th February and we walked down to The Royal William Yard for coffee and cake on another bright and sunny day and on the walk back home I had a nice surprise with a calling yellow-browed warbler heard in trees along Cremyll Street near the Cremyll ferry slipway at Admirals Hard. It was very vocal and quite loud and at first I wasn't sure if it was a yellow-browed warbler or the squeaky swing in the children's playground nearby but as I approached the evergreen oak trees it quite clearly was a yellow-browed warbler. I couldn't find it amongst the leaves of the tree and it eventually fell silent but a very nice find indeed.

Monday 18th February and the last day of my week off work saw me heading off into the wilds of Cornwall again to look for a bird, this time a Pallas's warbler at a sewage farm at Coverack on The Lizard and somewhere I haven't visited before. After a bad night's sleep with weird dreams and thoughts and regular awakenings a 06:00hrs train to Redruth didn't feel like a good idea but once I was on my way it was ok and I managed to stay awake on the journey this time. While waiting for the bus to Helston from Redruth station a flyover peregrine was a nice surprise and while waiting for the bus to Coverack from Helston a grey wagtail feeding with 2 pied wagtails on a nearby bowling green was nice to watch.

I arrived at Coverack at around 9:45hrs and again it was a bright and sunny day and I headed off along the coast path to the sewage farm on the outskirts of the village. As expected the sewage farm was surrounded by a mass of overgrown vegetation and trees hampering viewing but there were plenty of birds flitting about and amongst the blue tits, wrens, robin's, great tits, chaffinches, long-tailed tits and blackbirds I did get a brief view of a firecrest and better views of a goldcrest and a chiffchaff.

There is a Pallas's Warbler in there somewhere! - Coverack Sewage Farm

I eventually found the Pallas's warbler feeding in the branches close to the footpath before it moved deeper into the trees and out of sight and as expected it did not stop moving for a second as it flitted through the branches. Good views were had though although it was mostly obscured by twigs and ivy leaves but I did get flashes of its yellow rump as if flew between branches. I watched it looking uphill and from below but did get a few brief views of its yellow central crown stripe at times and overall it was a very handsome and bright looking bird and my first lifer of the year.

I managed to get a few more brief views of the bird as it moved through the trees before just seeming to disappear and before I had to leave I managed my best views as it called for some time in the trees right above my head before moving off again - a very smart and characterful bird but no chance of any photographs by me so a few below from the CBWPS Website.

Pallas's Warbler - Courtesy of Linton Proctor, CBWPS Website 

Pallas's  Warbler - Courtesy of Dougy Wright, CBWPS Website 

Pallas's  Warbler - Courtesy of David Collins, CBWPS Website

I had a brief look offshore while waiting for the bus back to Helston and picked up a few gannets, shags and cormorants along with a female eider, a distant great northern diver and a very distant group of 5 probable black- throated divers snorkelling and diving together but too far out to call.

I had an hour in Helston before the bus back to Redruth so walked down to the boating lake for a quick look around. A ring-billed gull had been reported a few days previously but as I scanned through the herring and black-headed gulls I could only find an adult lesser black-backed gull and 8 Mediterranean gull amongst them (7 adults moulting into summer plumage and a 1st winter bird moulting into 1st summer plumage).

I also found the long-staying male ferruginous duck feeding out on the lake with tufted ducks, a presumed feral bird but nice to see and looking very smart in the sunshine.

 Ferruginous Duck, Helston

Ferruginous Duck, Helston

 Ferruginous  Duck, Helston

Tufted Duck, Helston

Back to Redruth by bus for the train back to Plymouth and it had been a very successful and enjoyable day and on arriving back home and checking my notes I realised that the Pallas's warbler was my 301st British bird - unbeknown to me I had finally hit the 300 mark with Pomarine skua at Penzance before Christmas!

A Surprise on a Birding Day in Cornwall

Monday 17th December saw myself and Mavis heading down to Penzance on the train for a birdy day out, much needed by me in order to escape the pre-Christmas madness.

It was cold and sunny as we set off on the 09:20 train to Penzance but we soon passed through misty patches and then into cloud and by the time we arrived in Penzance it was breezy and overcast but thankfully dry. With high tide due around midday we headed off first to the Jubilee Pool to look for roosting purple sandpipers and quickly found 23 of them asleep in grooves along the harbour wall. They were all asleep with bills tucked under their wings but occassionally one would wake up briefly allowing Mavis to get a better view of what is a new bird for her.

Purple Sandpipers

A small group of dunlin and sanderling were roosting on the rocks with a few turnstone before flying off but later 4 dunlin returned and were joined on the rocks by a couple of turnstones and purple sandpipers.

Dunlin

Turnstone and Dunlins

Dunlin

Purple Sandpiper

The sea was very rough and choppy and scanning offshore into the strong wind was difficult but we managed to pick up a few gannets flying around, shags on the sea and an adult kittiwake feeding with some herring gulls before I picked up a very dark looking gull like bird offshore heading west and out to sea - a skua! I managed to get my telescope onto it and tracked it across the bay - no white wing patches and broad based wings with angular tips, a pomarine skua no less and my first in the UK. A dark phase/juvenile bird, it was too distant to get any real detail on and I couldn't pick up any white wing flashing as it flew low across the water with powerful and purposeful wing beats and the occasional glide and it was soon lost to sight around the headland towards Mousehole.

While tracking the skua I picked up a great northern diver on the sea but couldn't refind it later but a single bird and then 2 birds were seen flying west across the bay with the 2 birds flying up quite high before being lost from view. A small group of around 5 scoter were also picked up distantly in the swell but were very difficult to observe along with the odd auk which were also difficult to view between frequent dives.

We decided to head back to the train station to have a look off the sea wall and quickly found an immature male and a female eider feeding close to shore with a further 2 immature males feeding further out with bizarrely 2 female goldeneyes, my first sighting of this species in Mounts Bay.

Eiders

We had a good look around the rocks and boulders by the sea wall and found a few rock pipits and pied wagtails feeding along with a female type black redstart which gave some very good views.

Black Redstart 

Black Redstart 

Black Redstart

We grabbed a pasty for lunch before catching the 14:00hrs train to St.Erth, walking down to the Hayle estuary causeway for a look at the mudflats on the outgoing tide. As we arrived at the bridge we quickly found 2 male goosander busily diving for food before having a preen and a brief sleep on the waters edge. While out on the mud it was interesting to see how peachy looking their underparts were, not the white that I was expecting.

Goosanders

Golden plovers and lapwings were wheeling around overhead before settling on the mudflats but there was no sign of any predator around. They remained nervous and unsettled and regularly took to the air along with a small flock of dunlin. Curlew, redshank, oystercatcher and a single black-tailed godwit were also seen along with wigeon, teal and shelduck and a single little egret.

We eventually found the wintering spoonbill busily feeding along the waters edge and along the small creeks and at times it gave some nice if distant views, showing its yellow tipped spoon bill occassionally as it paused briefly in its search for food.

 Spoonbill

Spoonbill 

There were lots of gulls roosting and bathing out on the estuary and amongst the herring, black-headed  lesser black-backed and great black-backed gulls were a sprinkling of Mediterranean gulls too, difficult to keep track of as they moved around and either 1st winter or adult winter birds with the 1st winter birds looking very smart and distinctive and the adults pale and ghostly. Unfortunately there was no sign of the recently reported Caspian, Iceland and ring-billed gulls but the wind, dull light, distance and the large number of gulls present were all against us.

It was soon time to head back to St.Erth to catch the 16:10hrs train back to Plymouth but it had been a very enjoyable day out and the perfect antidote to the pre-Christmas stress going on in the world and with a surprise UK lifer to boot.

Plymouth Birding Day

Sunday 22nd January and I had planned to visit Dawlish Warren on the train but a lack of sleep after my night shift and a thick head from a night out with friends from work on the Saturday evening meant I ended up having a lie in and a days birding around Plymouth instead.

I headed off to the River Plym and Saltram on a bright and cold day but the tide was high and so the highlights along the river were 6 turnstone roosting on the water ski pontoon by the recycling centre and around 100 dunlin roosting on the foreshore below Blagdons boatyard.

I managed to find 4 snipe and a Jack snipe, the views of the Jack snipe were not as good as those before Christmas though - it flushed at the last minute and flew off silently and low over the ground before disappearing behind some small trees but its small size was instantly noticeable after having already seen the snipe to compare with it.

I had a look for treecreepers in the woodland but with no luck, my eyes were just too tired, but I did find a nuthatch and 2 goldcrest amongst the usual woodland birds, while out in the grassy fields I found 2 mistle thrush, redwings and Canada geese but there was no sign of the cattle egrets.

Best bird though was a woodcock which flew amongst the trees while I was searching for treecreepers, I think it had been flushed from the woodland floor by dogs - it flew over my head and through the trees before flying off along the woodland edge by the grassy field and out of sight. Very nice to see, my first sighting of one in Plymouth.

I headed off back home on the bus before walking over to Ford Park Cemetery for a look around. Two female blackcaps feeding on ivy berries with blackbirds were a nice find and I easily found 2 ring necked parakeets feeding on the bird feeders while a third bird called nearby, they were quite tame as they munched away on peanuts.

Ring Necked Parakeet

Ring Necked Parakeet

Ring Necked (or Rose Ringed) Parakeet

Ring Necked Parakeet

I wandered around amongst the tombstones and I eventually found a male black redstart which gave some great views, a very smart looking bird, and a nice end to a Plymouth birding day.

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Black Redstart