A Mocking Northern Mockingbird

A Northern Mockingbird was found in an Exmouth garden back in January 2021, just as lock down began, and reports of its presence in Exmouth continued into April. Some naughty birders travelled down to Devon from afar during the lock down to look for it and fell foul of the lock down rules, being slapped with £200 fines when caught out by the police, but with the first stage of lock down easing on March 29th the exact whereabouts of the bird in Exmouth were revealed to those not in the know and as expected a deluge of birders travelled from far and wide to Exmouth to see it as witnessed by all the photos on various social media platforms. And I sat back and watched and waited until Easter came and went and with the bird still present on April 7th I decided to go and have a look for it on Thursday April 8th. Big mistake! 

The bird was being seen in gardens by a busy main road into Exmouth, the gardens a classic slice of suburbia with exotic palms and high fences and a swine to view from the pavement. A gaggle of twitchers were present when I arrived on site at around 11:40 and the mood wasn't positive with no sighting of the bird that morning. News soon broke of the Northern Mockingbird being found at a site in Sussex, some 150 miles away to the north-east, and that was that - the bird had done a moonlight flit just as I finally got around to go and see it! Oh, Bollocks! 

It was low tide and so there was no point in staying in Exmouth and so I headed over to Dawlish Warren on the opposite side of the River Exe for a look around instead and I had a very enjoyable wander about there although I couldn't help thinking that I would have enjoyed my time more if I had just stayed local to Plymouth. 

The sun was shining more and more from behind the clouds as I arrived at Dawlish Warren and as a result the Sand Crocus were showing very well, I always forget how small the flowers actually are. 

Sand Croci

Sand Crocus

A scan offshore revealed at least 14 Sandwich Tern diving for fish although they were mostly distant. A winter plumaged Great Northern Diver was a surprise with 6 summer plumaged Great Crested Grebe not so much. 

There were 3 Mallard ducklings on the Main Pond with their Mum and along with Moorhen and Canada Goose there were 2 Little Grebe with at least 2 small Grebelings. Chiffchaff were heard singing and at least 2 Willow Warblers were quietly singing in the willows too. 

Willow Warbler

Stonechat

Raven, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard and Swallow were seen flying overhead but despite regularly scanning I didn't find myself an Osprey. 

An enjoyable but disappointing day out and while my day involved dipping the Northern Mockingbird for others 150 miles away their day provided an unexpected bonus bird beyond their wildest dreams. 

Finally- Spring has Arrived !

My Victoria plum tree is finally beginning to blossom and the cowslips are beginning to show at Derriford Roundabout - Spring is here!

A walk around The Barbican and Plymouth Hoe to the Royal William Yard and back on April 4th (Easter Saturday) was cool in the breeze despite the sunshine. A chiffchaff was singing on Plymouth Hoe and a second bird was briefly seen at Devils Point. 2 Peacocks flew past at Devils Point but didn't settle for me to get a good look at them. I had a brief and distant view of what I think was a Sandwich tern out in Plymouth Sound before it flew out of sight behind Drakes Island. 2 turnstones were on the rocks at West Hoe but there were only 3 mute swans on Sutton Harbour.

April 6th (Easter Sunday) and despite the cloudy sky I headed off to Wembury on the first bus of the morning, arriving at Wembury at 09:50. I was expecting it to get very busy, especially when the sunshine duly broke through the clouds. It became a beautiful morning - warm, sunny and still - and I had a fantastic walk, catching the 14:25 bus home and escaping the crowds and parking chaos as I left.

New bridge over the stream at Wembury Beach

 Violet sp.

 Speedwell sp.

Primroses



A willow warbler was quietly singing in the hedgerow by the roadside on the walk down to the beach, a first for the year and a good start, and I had some very nice views as it fed on insects amongst the sloe blossom. A blackcap, another first for the year, was singing nearby but I couldn't catch a sight of it, and I heard a further 4 birds singing on my walk, all of which kept hidden out of sight too!

 Willow Warbler - rubbish photo

Willow Warbler - another rubbish photo



Along the beach were a pair of shelduck, a little egret, a grey heron, 3 male and 2 female mallard, oystercatchers, gulls and cormorants. Best of all were 7 Sandwich terns roosting on the rocks at high tide, another first for the year, before they dispersed and began diving for fish along the shoreline.

At Wembury Point my first swallow of the year flew in off the sea, a male bird with long tail streamers - I had a further 2 sightings of a single bird but I think it may have been the same individual due to the distinctive long tail streamers it was sporting. 2 sand martins also flew in off the sea but headed off straight up the valley from the beach and out of sight.

A pair of cirl buntings showed very well by the footpath with a second male heard only. Lots of chiffchaffs were heard singing too with a few seen. Male stonechats were also very vocal and busily songflighting. 3 male wheatears were seen, a single male at Wembury Point and a pair in the field above the horse stables, busily catching flies around the piles of horse poo dotted amongst the grass.

 Male Cirl Bunting

Male Cirl Bunting

 

 Wheatear

Wheatears amongst the horse poo



Stonechat



I had a good search for the Dartford warblers at Wembury Point that I saw a few weeks ago and eventually found the pair feeding amongst the sloe blossoms. I had some great views despite their constant movement amongst the bushes before they flew off and out of sight. A female sparrowhawk flew low over the gorse bushes in hunting mode near to where I had been watching them (worrying!) before flying out to The Mewstone where it was mobbed by a raven. A pair of kestrels were also seen, a female near the church and a male along the cliffs near the nest site.

 Blurry Dartford Warbler

(Another ) Blurry Dartford Warbler



Common lizards were very showy basking in the sun, about 15 individuals seen, and peacock and small tortoiseshell butterflys flew past in the sunshine and also landed on the ground or fed on sloe blossoms giving some good views.

 Common Lizard with Beetle sp.

 Common Lizard

Common Lizard

 Peacock

Small Tortoiseshell



 Ruby Tiger Moth Caterpillar

2-Spot Ladybird



I patiently queued for a pasty in the café only for the man in front of me to buy the last steak pasty - bugger! - so I had vegetable pasty which was nice but not the same. Despite this I had had a great day out and it has made me realise how much I love Wembury.