Beesands Ley and Slapton Ley

Wednesday 21st November and after meeting Mavis at Yelverton we drove off for a days birding starting at Beesands Ley. It was a beautiful November day, cold and sunny with a gentle breeze after a frosty night, and we headed off with high hopes.

We walked down to the hide at Beesands Ley, hearing Cettis warbler and water rails and seeing a goldcrest feeding in the hedgerow with blue and great tits, and from the hide we watched a male and 2 female teal, 2 male, 2 female and an immature male shoveler, coot, a little grebe, 29 mute swans, moorhen, tufted duck, a cormorant and a female scaup that frustratingly kept its distance and spent a lot of time under the water or behind the island and out of view from the hide. A few of the female tufted ducks had quite large white blazes around their bills but the scaups more rounded head shape and lack of a hint of a tuft were all noticeable.

We walked round to the beach side of the Ley where the scaup was still being elusive but we added a greylag goose and a black swan to our day list which both flew in and landed on the water. A quick scan offshore revealed just a few gannets flying around and a pair of stonechats were seen flitting about in the hedgerow before we decided to move on to Slapton Ley.

We parked up at Torcross and walked along the Ley side towards the bridge as a few rain clouds rolled in and we had a few brief spells of rain and hail. Cettis warblers were calling and more stonechats were seen along with a female cirl bunting, a meadow pipit, a reed bunting and greenfinches.

On the Ley we scanned through the wildfowl and mid-Ley we picked out the male ring necked duck amongst the tufted ducks, presumably the bird that overwintered earlier in the year. Also seen were gadwall, wigeon and pochard along with coot, cormorant and mallard before we decided to head back along the beach to Torcross for lunch and scanning the sea along the way we picked out a few shag, a group of 8 female/immature common scoters close to the beach and a great northern diver flying across the bay before landing on the sea and being lost to view.

After a delicious lunch of fish and chips in the Start Bay Inn we drove along the Ley on the recently reopened road to the bridge where we parked up and walked along the back of the Ley to the quarry, seeing a goldcrest and a female blackcap as we began our walk and hearing water rails squealing in the reeds.

There were good numbers of wildfowl in Ireland Bay and scanning through we picked up more wigeon, tufted duck and pochard, teal, great crested grebes, at least 4 little grebes, the male ring necked duck and a female scaup, a different bird to the one seen at Beesands Ley with a smaller white blaze around the bill. Despite scanning we couldn't find the recently reported black necked grebe though.

At the quarry we picked up a feeding flock of small birds and amongst the long tailed, blue and great tits we found a chiffchaff, a male blackcap, a wren, a goldcrest and a very smart firecrest which gave some excellent views. A Jay, 2 ravens, a buzzard and 2 grey herons were also seen before it was time to head back to the car for the journey home but just before we left we were treated to a murmuration of starlings over the reedbed, only a small flock of around 500 birds but lovely to watch (and hear) and a great end to a great day out.

 Starlings

 Starlings

Starlings

Cattle Egrets, Saltram Park

Christmas 2016 is just happening around me, I really, really, really am not feeling it this year and after working a long day on Christmas Day and again on Boxing Day I was tired and withdrawn as we headed off for a walk on December 27th to Stoke Point with Julie and Matt.

The walk was as lovely as always despite the grey skies and cold wind and after lunch at The Ship Inn at Noss Mayo I was feeling a little better. A few birds were seen on the walk, the highlight being around 10 yellowhammers (8+ males and 2+ females) which really brightened up the day. Also seen were a raven, a buzzard being mobbed by herring gulls and carrion crows, a lone adult gannet offshore, stonechats, meadow pipits and linnets.

 Male Yellowhammer, Stoke Point

National Trust Signage Boo-Boo, Noss Mayo

December 29th and with news of 2 cattle egrets being seen in Saltram Park in what appears to be a mini-influx of them into the South West again (the last one was in 2008) I decided to go and have a look for them. The Park was busy with Christmas holidaymakers but I managed to see a nice selection of birds with the 2 cattle egrets seen very well feeding amongst cattle with black headed gulls, pied wagtails, redwings, song thrush, blackbirds and starlings - very active and mobile around the field, sometimes coming quite close and sometimes being a bit skittish and nervy.

 Cattle Egret, Saltram

 Cattle Egret

 Cattle Egret

Cattle Egret

Also seen were 2 male and 3 female wigeon on the Plym on what was a very low water low tide along with a greenshank and 50+ dunlins on the mudflats. 12 grey herons was a good count, maybe attracted to feed in the very shallow water, and 5 little egrets were also seen.

In the woods above The Folly I found a very nice firecrest which gave some very good views despite being constantly on the move and it was joined by a second bird which it vigorously chased off. A mistle thrush, 2 nuthatches and a coo-ing stock dove were also noted along with a buzzard.

Firecrest, Saltram

I had a quick look around Beaumont Park again on December 30th and I had some nice views of a yellow browed warbler feeding in the tree tops in the north of the park but it was very mobile and difficult to keep track of and only called a few times. I also saw a nuthatch and heard a coal tit but there was no sign of any long tailed tits.

Snowdrops were in flower, a little early in what has been a mild December again, but the weather at present is on the chillier side and looks to be getting chillier as the New Year arrives - hopefully the yellow browed warbler(s) will continue to frequent the park and provide a nice start to my 2017 year list.

Snowdrops, Beaumont Park, December 30th 2016

Shrike Two! - Lesser Grey Shrike, Plymouth

After seeing the red backed shrike at Chelson Meadow in June of this year I wasn't expecting to see another shrike in Plymouth for some time but on checking the web pages on Monday 19th September before leaving work at 8pm (no internet access at home at the moment) I was surprised to see that a lesser grey shrike had been found at Jennycliff in Plymouth - what!!!!!

I was back at work the next morning and with shrikes often being one day wonders (as the red backed shrike was) I wasn't hopeful of seeing it but on checking the sightings pages at work that morning it had been seen again and so I managed to leave work a few minutes early at 15:15 and headed off to try and see it. The bus home was painfully slow and stopped at every bus stop between Derriford Hospital and North Hill but I managed to catch the 16:15 ferry from The Barbican to Mount Batten and headed off along the coast path towards Jennycliff.

I met some birders in the car park below the tower at Mountbatten who informed me that the shrike had just flown off from the bushes in front of them but carrying on along the coastpath towards Jennycliff I soon found the shrike perched on top of a bush being admired by a gaggle (?) of birders. It showed very well, occassionally swooping down to snatch crickets from the nearby vegetation before returning to the top of the bush. It was a very smart looking bird with some white speckling on its black forehead and very nice to watch before a flyover sparrowhawk spooked it and it flew off, never to be seen again.

 Lesser Grey Shrike, Jennycliff

 Lesser Grey Shrike, Jennycliff

  Lesser Grey Shrike, Jennycliff

Lesser Grey Shrike, Jennycliff

It was surprisingly still present on the Wednesday and again on the Thursday and so I had another look for it after work on the Thursday but with no luck. With Friday off work I headed over to Jennycliff again in the morning and eventually found the shrike being admired by another gaggle (?) of birders further along the coast path towards Jennycliff than on the 20th. It was preening on top of a bush before continuing to decimate the local cricket population and eventually moved further down the cliffside but I had gotten some much better and closer views than on my previous visit.

Lesser Grey Shrike, Jennycliff

Lesser Grey Shrike, Jennycliff

A lovely bird, interesting to watch, a very nice surprise so close to home and my 5th shrike species in Devon. Also a lifer for me and it wasn't too twitchy although as usual there were quite a few birders with massive telescopes and even larger camera lenses who had to get as close to the bird as possible.

Also seen on my 3 visits to Jennycliff were a kestrel, an adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gull, a noisy adult and a noisy juvenile Sandwich tern, 2 ravens, a singing chiffchaff, a swallow, red admirals and speckled woods. Best of all though was a firecrest feeding in a row of small pines near the Mountbatten pub, a nice surprise as it fed amongst the branches having given itself away by its calls.

 Firecrest, Mount Batten

 Firecrest, Mount Batten

Yellow Browed Warbler and Ring Necked Parakeets

A quick walk at Wembury on Sunday 28th February was very quiet after the excitement of my visit last Thursday with 2 buzzards, a male stonechat and quite a few mating bloody nosed beetles being the highlights. The café was open but there was only one Chunk pasty left which I graciously let David have - unfortunately that night David was ill with copious vomiting, I don't know if it was the pasty but it was the only thing he ate that I didn't.

Heading home from Wembury and we had a quick stop off at the allotments in Central Park to have a look for the regularly reported ring necked parakeets - no sight of them but I did hear two birds calling. And so on Wednesday 2nd March and after a couple of shitty days at work I left early as I had some time owing and caught the bus home, stopping off on the way at Central Park for another look around - again I heard birds calling and eventually found 4 of them perched in trees right by the footpath - I have seen them at last! - but no binoculars or camera with me to get a really good look at them.

Thursday 3rd March and I had planned to head down to Penzance to have a look for the Hudsonian whimbrel near Marazion but it hadn't been reported for a few days and I wasn't in a great mood so I stayed local and went for a walk along the nature trail at The China Fleet Club near Saltash to look for a reported yellow browed warbler. I have only visited here once before, back in March 2012 when I saw my first lesser yellowlegs, and it was nice to visit here again despite the muddy and chilly conditions.

I checked out any small birds flitting about in the trees and bushes along the path to the bird hide and there was no sign of the yellow browed warbler but I did see a male bullfinch,  a goldfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch, goldcrest, blue tit, wren, robin, great tit, dunnock, blackbird and long tailed tit.

Primrose, China Fleet Club

Primrose

From the hide a lone avocet was roosting amongst some black headed gulls on the shoreline at the high tide along with 7 black tailed godwits, a snipe, 3 dunlin, redshank, grey heron, little egret and curlew, while on the water were 2 male and a female red breasted merganser, teal, wigeon and shelduck.

Heading back along the path and again I checked out all the small birds and eventually found a very smart firecrest  which showed very well amongst the brambles despite not staying still for a second. Some birders nearby then called the yellow browed warbler and I eventually got onto the bird and had some excellent views of it although it too didn't stay still for very long - it did at least move up into the bare branches of some small trees where it was easier to watch than the firecrest had been. While trying to keep tracks on the yellow browed warbler I also found a chiffchaff flitting about in the undergrowth along with a great spotted woodpecker flying over and I heard 2 water rails squealing in the reeds along the nearby foreshore.

Yellow Browed Warbler - record shot

Yellow Browed Warbler - another record shot

Walking back to Saltash and a flock of 25 redwings were seen flying into the tree tops from the nearby fields along with some starlings. I caught the bus back to Plymouth and stopped off at Central Park again and this time I found 2 ring necked parakeets in the same area as yesterday - this time some nice binocular views and a few poor record shots with my camera.

Black Headed Gull, Central Park

 Ring Necked Parakeet

 Ring Necked Parakeet

 Ring Necked Parakeet

Ring Necked Parakeet

I was pleased to finally connect with the ring necked parakeets after a few missed attempts recently - there have been 9 reported together now including a very blue looking bird. The Hudsonian whimbrel was reported that afternoon as well but I was actually pleased that I had stayed local as it had been an interesting and enjoyable day out and again on my doorstep.

Yellow Browed Warbler - At Last!

A sunny but cool and breezey day on Wednesday 9th December and so I decided to visit Broadsands where some good birds are being reported. David dropped me off at the car park on the beach and went off to the shops for a couple of hours, giving me time for a good look around without interruption.

A quick look off the seawall and a few great crested grebe were dotted around the bay with a black necked grebe showing briefly close to the shore towards Elberry Head before diving out of sight. I walked off along the cliffpath towards Elberry Cove to get a better look at the black necked grebe and managed some decent views although it spent little time at the surface and was difficult to track between dives.

Walking further along the cliffpath and there were 4 more black necked grebes, 3 together which gave some nice views as they rested and preened at the surface for a while and a single bird which was constantly diving too.

Further scanning across Torbay with my telescope and I managed to find a great northern diver and a gannet along with shag, cormorant and gulls. A very distant small grebe looked good for Slavonian and I had a brief view of a diver which looked good for black throated but I couldn't refind it after it dived.

 Great Black Backed Gull trying to eat a tennis ball!

After 5 minutes it was still attempting to peck it open!

Heading to the back of the car park and I had a strong sense of deja vu as I scanned the bushes and trees for a reported yellow browed warbler - back on December 23rd last year I visited the same spot and had some good views of a wintering bird. I was in luck again today and had 2 brief and obscured views of the warbler as it constantly moved through the undergrowth before finally getting some amazing views as it fed amongst a clump of ivy less than 5 metres away - a smart looking bird in the bright sunshine.

I also managed to get some excellent views of at least 2 firecrests, a male with a bright orange crest and a presumed female with a yellower crown. Again they did not stay still for a second but I did manage to get 2 crappy record shots. 2 chiffchaffs were also flitting about with 1 bird snaffling down a large bluebottle type fly it caught (it was surprisingly warm in the sunshine when sheltered from the wind).  A male cirl bunting, a singing song thrush, goldfinch, goldcrest, long tailed tit, blue tit and great tit were also seen.

 Firecrest - record shot

Firecrest - another record shot

I managed a further brief view of the yellow browed warbler but that was it before David arrived to pick me up and we headed off to Totnes for some lunch - not a bad couple of hours birding away from the increasing frenzy of Christmas time. And I have finally seen a yellow browed warbler in 2015 in what has been a bumper year for them.

A Quite Quiet Autumn Continues

Autumn slowly marches on into Winter and things remain fairly quiet on the bird front after the excitement of the isabelline shrike at South Huish Marsh - it has certainly been quieter than this time last year.

October 22nd and it was an early start to drive the Outlaws to Exeter airport for their flight to Malta. After a trudge around the shops in Exeter we stopped off at Shipley Bridge for a walk to the Avon Dam before heading back to Plymouth. I had hoped to see some ring ousels but there was no sight or sound of any but I did see fieldfares, redwings and blackbirds feeding on the hawthorns - the blackbirds were regularly chasing off the fieldfares but seemed to tolerate the smaller redwings and it was nice to see a few immature male blackbirds, all black including their bill and with no yellow eye ring and looking very smart. There were quiet a few goldcrests around too, busily feeding in the trees and bushes.

October 23rd and a dreaded night shift but a walk at Wembury beforehand was a nice distraction. It was again quiet with the highlight being 2 peregrines overhead and spooking all the corvids feeding in the fields above the horse stables. Along the beach 5 feral type mallards were amongst the more usual mallards -  a white bird, 3 pale and dainty females and a pale and dainty male.

3 of the Feral Type Mallards

There was also a large flock of gulls roosting on the rocks, mostly herring along with great black backed and black headed but including a nice adult lesser black backed gull.

Lesser Black Backed Gull

A great black backed gull showed well feeding on a dead fish washed up along the beach.

 Great Black Backed Gull

Juvenile Great Black Backed Gull with Herring Gull

October 26th and another walk at Wembury was a bit more interesting despite being half term holiday hell and a little busier than on the 23rd. It was grey and breezey with mizzley rain at times but mild. My third ever (faded) green brindled crescent in the toilet block started things off well but a large bumble bee was the only other insect seen. A surprise was a slow worm on the footpath despite the lack of sunshine - it was a bit moribund but perked up after warming up in my hand and it slithered off into the grass when I let it go.

 Green Brindled Crescent

Slow Worm

The 5 feral mallards were still present and spending all their time together - they must have escaped from someones garden nearby. Scanning through the mallards and I was pleased to find an immature wigeon amongst them, easily overlooked as it slept on the water despite its noticeably smaller size.

 Wigeon with Mallards

 Wigeon

Wigeon

In the stubble field were 14 Canada geese and a male pheasant with a male cirl bunting very skulky in the hedgerow. Stonechats were seen all along the walk, showing very close at times.

Stonechat

After a pasty and coffee for lunch a feeding flock of small birds in the bushes on a slow walk up the valley from the beach to the car entertained me with views of goldcrests, blue tits, great tits, coal tits, long tailed tits, at least 2 chiffchaffs and 2 very smart firecrests. I had some good views of the firecrests with one bird seen flicking its wings and raising its crown in display before I found the second bird.

First moth of 2015

A sunny Sunday 15th Feb. and a walk at Wembury was only marred by the crowds - well, it was sunny, a Sunday and the beginning of half term holiday hell. At least the cafe was open and I got to have a Chunk pasty for lunch.

I managed to see both the female type black redstart and common sandpiper along the beach but couldn't find either of the water pipits amongst the mobile and flighty rock- and meadow pipits.

Male Mallard, Wembury

Female Mallard, Wembury

 



I did get to see my first moth of the year though, a male pale brindled beauty, albeit a little faded. It was on the outside of the window of the mens toilet block and is a new species of moth for me.

 Male Pale Brindled Beauty (females are flightless)
 

Pale Brindled Beauty, Wembury

Tuesday 17th Feb. and the last day of my time off work was also sunny and bright. With a new pair of walking shoes to break in after my 7 year old pair split and leaked we headed off to Lopwell Dam for a walk. Highlights along the River Tavy were 4 avocets, 2 greenshank, 2 little grebes and a kingfisher. 2 mistle thrush flew over and ravens and buzzards were soaring over the woods, croaking and mewing respectively, with the ravens in tumbling flight sorties. Above the Dam were 5 muscovy ducks and another little grebe but with the cafe closed we headed to nearby Buckland Abbey for something to eat where I saw a few redwings in the trees and a flyover grey wagtail.

Greenshank and Mallards, River Tavy

 

After having such a nice time off work (ate too much, drank too much, slept a lot, saw some nice birds) it was back to the grindstone on the 18th Feb. However I then had the 19th Feb.off to myself but my planned days birding went out of the window with a day of heavy rain forecasted. By 1pm the rain had stopped so I headed off to the River Plym for a look around, thinking that if the rain returned it wasn't too far away from home. The yellow browed warbler had been reported again yesterday in its usual place, a surprise as I had assumed it may have succumbed in the recent cold spell due to a lack of recent reports. As usual there was no sight or sound of it and as I was in no mood to play hide and seek today I walked over Laira Bridge and along The Ride to Saltram Park.

 

It was very muddy underfoot in the Park but my new walking shoes kept my feet nice and dry and despite it being half term it was very quiet due to the bad weather. The usual birds were seen in the Park including a jay, nuthatches, 2 mistle thrush, a male kestrel, a female sparrowhawk, 2 displaying stock doves and goldcrests. A flock of around 30 very wary redwings were perched in trees, flying down to the ground to feed with starlings before returning to the trees. They also occasionally flew to the nearby wood where they greedily snatched at ivy berries before flying back to the trees. Best bird though was a firecrest feeding in a loose mixed flock of blue, great, coal and long tailed tits. At first I had brief and frustrating views as it fed amongst the ivy and holly, constantly on the move, but after a patient wait I managed some great views despite the fading light as it fed in the top of a bare tree. 

 

Walking back over Laira Bridge to the yellow browed warbler spot and again there was no sight or sound of it as the rain began to fall but a nice kingfisher on the rocks by Blagdons Boatyard was a nice end to a wet and muddy but interesting walk.