More of the Ross's Gull on the River Plym

I had a days annual leave on Friday 13th March and had plans for a birding day out but they went out of the window after I spent the night before regularly running out to the toilet. I didn't feel unwell but had very little proper sleep and felt a little bit sore in the morning and after spending the morning making sure that the world was no longer going to fall out of my bottom I tentatively ventured out on the bus to Wembury. It was a grey day, still windy and with rain forecasted for the late afternoon and as expected the footpaths were a mudbath but I enjoyed my 2 hour walk along the coast apart from the stink of the Common Dolphin corpse rotting away on the beach.

It was quiet bird wise with the highlights being Gannets and Fulmars offshore, singing Cirl Buntings with some nice views of a couple of males and a flighty mixed flock of around 10 birds, a hunting female Sparrowhawk, a displaying Buzzard overhead, a flock of around 20 Linnets in the stubble field and 2 Little Egrets with Oystercatchers and a male Mallard along the beach.

I had hoped to see my first butterfly of the year, there have been lots of reports of butterflies already but I still haven't seen one so far this year in what has been one of the mildest winters ever, but I guess it was too dull and breezy for them. I did however see my first Common Lizard of the year along with Bloody-nosed Beetles and 4 Oil Beetles.

 Common Lizard, Wembury

 Bloody-nosed Beetle, Wembury

Oil Beetle, Wembury

Heading home and on checking the internet sightings pages while on the bus the Ross's Gull was reported as showing well on the River Plym near Laira Bridge and so I decided to stop off and have a quick look for it but as expected it had flown off downriver a few minutes before I arrived. It was beginning to rain, earlier than forecasted, and so I decided to head off home instead of walking down to Oreston Quay to look for it - it really is proving to be a tricksy bird!

Saturday 14th March was grey again but less breezy and so I decided to stay local again and make full use of a rare bird a mile away from my house. It was being reported again just north of Laira Bridge and so I jumped on the bus and then walked along the river to the Recycling Centre where I picked up the bird feeding mid channel on the dropping high tide before it flew off towards the opposite shore. I then walked back across the Bridge to the footpath between Blagdon's Meadow and Laira Bridge where various birders were assembled and I managed to get some great, closer views of the bird feeding on the water with Black-headed Gulls as it picked at the surface. Occasionally it would fly around, dipping down to pick at the water and showing off it's beautiful pinky flushed underside and diamond shaped tail. Interestingly the pink flush was only really noticeable when viewing the bird head on when it was sat on the water but in flight it was quite obvious.

 Ross's Gull with Black-headed Gull, River Plym

 Ross's Gull with Black-headed Gulls

 Ross's Gull with Black-headed Gull

 Ross's Gull with Black-headed Gull

 Ross's Gull 

 Ross's Gull 

 Ross's Gull with Black-headed Gulls

 Ross's Gull with Black-headed Gulls 

Ross's Gull with Black-headed Gulls

It was very mobile, often flying off upriver and out of sight before suddenly reappearing, and regularly flying around the river to feed in different areas, sometimes quite close to the shore. Some Toggers were throwing bread out onto the water but as expected the Ross's Gull was not the slightest bit interested with noisy Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls the only gulls coming in to feed.

Also seen were 2 pairs of Red-breasted Merganser, a male Goosander and the usual Shelduck, Redshank, Little Egret and Oystercatcher but it was soon time to leave for lunch at the nearby Morley Arms pub with David and Mother-in-law and before the mizzle drizzle arrived yet again.

What a great bird though and hopefully it might stick around for a little while yet, very attractive looking and great to watch, I hope it's not another 32 years before I see another one on the Plym. And what a great time to have bought my new telescope, I had some fantastic views of the gull with it, much better than I would have had with my little Nikon telescope.

Ross's Gull Run Around along the River Plym

A Ross's Gull was found at South Huish Marsh on Monday 9th March but after 2 hours it flew off, never to be seen again. Fast forward to Thursday 12th March and I'm sitting on the sofa at 9am with a cup of tea, watching BBC Breakfast and contemplating my plans for the day considering the strong winds and heavy showers forecasted when on checking the Bird Guides Website a report of a Ross's Gull on the River Plym flashed up - Whaaaattttt!

It was indeed the South Huish bird but the report said it had flown down from Blaxton Meadow at the top of the estuary towards The Cattewater and so I waited to see if there were any more sightings but with no news forthcoming I caught the bus to Laira Bridge to start my search, arriving at just past 11am to be greeted with some very strong winds and a vicious hail shower.

I met local birder Ian on the bridge but he hadn't seen the bird and then we met up with local birder Paul at the Recycling Centre Car Park who had just seen the bird before the hail shower had arrived and had watched it fly off high to the north - drat!

We all headed off up along the Plym with Luke, a birder from Dawlish, and we collected 3 more birders from Cornwall along the way. The tide was receding and there were quite a few gulls out on the mudflats at the top of the estuary - common, herring, lesser black-backed, black-headed and great black-backed with a smart adult Mediterranean gull with a plastic yellow leg ring also present - but no Ross's Gull.

Paul then had a call from local birder Keith who was watching the bird from the exact same spot Paul had seen it from earlier - and so we all began the walk back down the estuary towards Laira Bridge and the Recycling Centre!

Along the walk to Blaxton Meadow and back a few birds were noted - a Stock Dove flying over, a Ring-necked Parakeet squawking in the trees, a pair of Red-breasted Merganser diving for fish, a pair of Goosander asleep on the mudflats and a female Goosander diving for fish along a small creek with a Little Egret in attendance.

Goosander, River Plym

Goosander

Little Egret and Goosander, River Plym

Back at the Recycling Centre and the Ross's Gull had just flown off down river again and so everybody jumped into their cars to drive down to Oreston Quay where the bird had been noted earlier, leaving me to wander down to Laira Bridge for a scan about before beginning the 20 minute walk down to Oreston Quay in yet another vicious hail shower.

Arriving at Oreston Quay and Luke and Dave Boult from Exeter were the only birders there and as expected the news was that it had just flown down river towards Mount Batten! More birders arrived but despite scanning about there was no sign of the Gull. The tide was beginning to come in and I managed to see a distant Great Northern Diver off Mount Batten, a pair of Red-breasted Merganser flying upriver and a Common Sandpiper feeding along the shoreline under a jetty but after another nasty hail shower and with the winds strengthening and time marching on I began the walk back to Laira Bridge to catch the bus home, figuring I would have another try for the bird the next day.

Back at Laira Bridge and I decided to have one last look around, walking down the footpath behind the car workshop where I had watched the Red-necked Grebe a few years ago, and there it was, the Ross's Gull, feeding with Black-headed Gulls close in to the quayside, flying around and dipping down to the waters surface - result!

Ross's Gull, River Plym

Ross's Gull

Ross's Gull

Ross's Gull

The gulls all flew off down stream to feed on the opposite side of the river and unfortunately the skies had decided to clear at this point and so viewing the bird was very difficult looking into the sun but when small clouds passed over I managed some decent views. After a few minutes something spooked the gulls and they all flew up high including the Ross's which flew over my head and then Laira Bridge and out of sight. I headed over the Bridge too and found the Ross's Gull preening on the mudflats quite close to the path where I watched it for around 10 minutes before it flew off downriver yet again and I decided it was time to head off back home - but what an absolutely gorgeous bird to watch (eventually) and I had had it all to myself! And the views were much better than my first sighting of one on the Plym back in March 1988 (a 1st winter bird) and the brief flight views of one at Bowling Green Marsh in June 2014 (another 1st winter bird).

Black-headed Gull and Ross's Gull

Black-headed Gull and Ross's Gull 

And so an interesting and very twitchy day. It was nice to catch up with familiar faces and to put faces to names but I still don't enjoy twitches, I am just not a very sociable birdwatcher, preferring my own company, and I also don't feel worthy enough to be really considered a part of the twitching birders club, silly really.

River Exe and Wembury

Saturday June 27th and I headed off to Topsham to have another look at the apparently summering Ross's gull, seeing the resident Slavonian grebe in summer plumage at Cockwood from the train on the way there. Arriving at the hide at Bowling Green Marsh at around 8:30 there were just 2 birders present so I settled in to scan the roosting birds present due to the high tide. The Ross's gull had been showing very well around 15 minutes before I arrived before disappearing amongst the large numbers of black headed gulls but eventually I managed a brief flight view of it as it landed on the mud before walking off behind a grassy bank and out of sight - not the views I had hoped for! It stayed hidden for a good hour before all the gulls took off together and flew off to the River Clyst. I again managed some brief flight views but I soon lost it amongst the flying gulls, again not the views I had hoped for! Never mind.

As compensation I had some distant views of 2 summer plumaged spotted redshanks roosting amongst the wader flock, mostly obscured by redshanks, curlews and black-tailed godwits but eventually showing well before flying off to the River Clyst as the tide receded. Also seen amongst the wader flock were 4 greenshanks, 2 whimbrel and a few lapwing.

2 (distant) Spotted Redshanks (on the left) with Redshanks



I headed off to Dawlish Warren for a wander around, getting wet at times in the heavy showers before sweltering in the sunny spells. Marsh helleborines were in flower and there were a few tatty looking southern marsh orchids still hanging on. Small skippers were very noticeable along with meadow browns and a few six spot burnets. I managed to find some cinnabar moth caterpillars and some mullein moth caterpillars and a few blue tailed damselflys were flitting about amongst the bramble bushes.

 Marsh Helleborine

 Marsh Helleborine

 Female Blue tailed Damselfy

 Male Blue tailed Damselfly

Mullein Moth Caterpillar

Offshore a few gannets were flying around with Sandwich terns diving for fish. A flock of around 10 common scoters were very hard to see amongst the choppy seas. On the main pond were 4 well grown young little grebes with 2 reed warblers heard singing. Chiffchaff and blackcap were heard and whitethroats were busily songflighting and a pair of Canada geese were very protective of 4 goslings, hissing at me as I passed by.

Sunday 29th June and I headed off to Wembury despite the grey skies but it eventually turned out quite sunny and warm. Bird wise it was as expected very quiet with 1 oystercatcher, 2 curlew and 7 male and 1 female mallard along the beach and a few gannets offshore. Chiffchaff and blackcap were heard and whitethroats were heard and seen including quite a few fledglings. Stonechat fledglings were also noticeable. A cirl bunting was heard singing near the sewage farm with a second bird seen singing at the same time and later a third male was seen at Wembury Point.

Insect life was again abundant with a large skipper, a red admiral, a large white and 2 small tortoiseshells being seen along with my first for the year small white and a marbled white. There were also good numbers of ringlets and meadow browns flitting around. Best of all was a hummingbird hawkmoth flying back and forth over a shale covered area on the cliff at Wembury Point, presumably enjoying the radiant heat, and 2 six spot burnets were seen feeding on thistle flowers. Bloody-nosed beetles were seen high up in the pathside vegetation including a mating pair and 2 young speckled bush crickets were also seen. It was also nice to see the sea kale has survived on the beach after the horrendous winter storms as it finally comes in to leaf.

 Ringlet

Marbled White

 Bloody-nosed Beetle

 Speckled Bush Cricket nymph

Sea Kale hanging on in there along the beach

Heading home and I stopped off at Blagdons Meadow to look for bee orchids but I was out of luck although there was a very tatty southern marsh orchid still hanging on. A lone burnet companion was seen along with six spot burnets, meadow browns and a ringlet. 2 male whitethroats were still singing away and a shelduck was feeding on the very smelly mudflats at low tide before I headed off home just as a shower of rain started.

Ross's Gull at Bowling Green Marsh

With 2 1st Summer little gulls being reported regularly at Bowling Green Marsh at high tide I had put a visit there on my To Do list but as this year has been a bit of a little gull fest for me already it was low down on the list. However things changed when one of the birds was reidentified as a 1st Summer Ross's gull and a visit to Bowling Green Marsh was moved to the top of my To Do list!

The first chance I had to visit was Monday 2nd June and I had hoped that after the weekend and the initial excitement the hide at the Marsh might have been a bit quieter but on arrival it was packed out. I managed to get a seat right at the back where viewing was very difficult due to the mass of bodies, telescopes and cameras in the way. Overhearing that the gull had flown off 10 minutes earlier I decided to head off to the viewing platform overlooking the River Clyst only to find it was closed due to ongoing repair work of the damage caused by the winter floods and gales. I carried on to The Goatwalk for a quick look but it was high tide and there was not a bird to be seen and so I returned to the hide where things were quieter and I managed to get a seat at the window.

Scanning through the roosting flock of black headed gulls I managed to find my first 2 Mediterranean gulls of the year, both 1st summers but one had a pale head and orange bill with grey upperwings and the other had an almost complete black hood and red bill but with brown feathering amongst its grey upperwings. Also on the Marsh were 3 male tufted ducks, a male teal and a calling male wigeon (most incongruous on a June day in Devon!) with a stock dove and house martin flying around. A flock of roosting black- and bar-tailed godwits at the back of the Marsh had mostly summer plumaged birds.

The gulls and godwits were very restless and eventually someone called the Ross's gull in the gull roost just as a large and brown looking female peregrine flew across the Marsh causing complete panic. The gull flock took to the air and I managed to pick out the Ross's gull as the flock flew off towards the River Clyst with its smaller size, black W across its upper wings, pale head and crucially its black tipped diamond shaped tail being obvious. The gulls eventually returned but there was no further sight of the Ross's gull - not the views I had hoped for but nice to see none the less. I waited around for a while to see if it would return and was very pleased I did as a 1st Summer spoonbill flew in and began to feed - it had an orange coloured spoon but the underside was quite pinky and it lacked the crest and yellow breast ring of an adult - and gave much better views than the 3 I saw on Drakes Island earlier in the year.

The Ross's gull had often been seen from Exton station at low tide and so I caught the train there as the tide went out but after an hours watching there was no sign of it. I did however see a whimbrel and a pair of shelduck with 5 fluffy ducklings while scanning the gulls on the mudflats despite the heat haze. I only hope that the Ross's gull stays a while so I can have another go at getting a better view of it although I had excellent views of the long staying over wintering bird on the River Plym back in 1988.

On the way back to Plymouth I stopped off at Dawlish Warren for an hour for a quick look around and despite the choppy conditions offshore I managed to find a male and 2 female common scoters and a few gannets. At the main pond were 2 juvenile little grebes, maybe the 2 small fledglings I saw a few weeks ago, and 2 reed warblers were heard singing. Many Southern marsh orchids were flowering along with a few blue eyed grass, and a red admiral and an azure damselfly were flitting around.

 Azure Damselfly

Blue Eyed Grass



Thursday 5th June and we had a walk around Stoke Point in glorious sunshine. The walk was as beautiful as always and I managed to see a male Dartford warbler with 2 fledglings feeding amongst the gorse in attendance of a pair of stonechats. Butterflies were on the wing including a wall brown, a female common blue, red admirals and my first painted lady of the year looking very tatty and worn.