Two trips to Wembury

With 2 night shifts looming I headed off to Wembury on the bus on Sunday 2nd November for a quick walk. It was the last day of the half term holiday and very breezey but sunny so I expected it to be busy but it wasn't too bad.

With the strong breeze viewing birds was difficult and the highlights were a feeding flock of gannets offshore, a pair of stonechats and a female kestrel along the coastpath and a feeding flock of black headed gulls hovering over the surf as it crashed onto the beach, picking at items of food disturbed by the waves. The best though was a merlin flying low over the water along the beach before swooping up over the cliff by the wheatfield before it was lost from sight. I couldn't refind it but there were small groups of meadow pipits flying around the wheatfield in complete panic so it must have still been in the area. It was very fast, looking small and dark in the sunshine, and is my third merlin of the year and third for Wembury.

After getting through my night shifts I headed off to Wembury again by bus on Wednesday 5th November and the weather was a total contrast - sunny, cold and calm, although the breeze did pick up later and it soon warmed up. The sunshine and warmth coaxed out a few butterflys and I had some nice views of red admirals and at least 3 clouded yellows including an helice type. A common darter was also seen flying along the stream in the valley to the beach.

 A tatty Red Admiral basking in the sun

 Clouded Yellow

Clouded Yellow



Arriving at Wembury at 09:30 and walking down to the main beach I heard skylarks calling overhead and on looking up saw 3 lapwings heading West along with a flock of 200+ woodpigeon and at least 1 stock dove, also heading West - there has been quite a movement of woodpigeons across Devon in the last few days and over the course of the morning I must have seen 1500+ birds moving West. The largest group was this first group I saw with subsequent groups totalling 30-100 birds but by 13:00hrs the movement stopped. I managed to find another stock dove amongst a flock of woodpigeon and also saw a flock of 8 stock doves flying over on their own. A single stock dove was also flying around the pines at Wembury Point before being disturbed by a low flying helicopter.

It was low tide but along the beach were a few oystercatcher, 3+curlew, a little egret, mallards and gulls. A chiffchaff was feeding in reeds at the cliff base near the sewage pipe with another 2 seen at the horse stables. A pair of kestrels showed well with the male bird noisely mobbing a buzzard perched in the pine trees by the horse fields. 2 pairs of cirl buntings were seen with 1 male heard singing briefly, and later 2 males were seen singing at Wembury Point. A male great spotted woodpecker was also noisely knocking on the pine trees at Wembury Point and a coal tit was heard calling but not seen.

 Robin - very noticeable along the walk at Wembury and quite tame at times

Robin, Wembury



With pomarine skuas being reported from Berry Head on the 5th November I thought about taking a trip there on the 6th but the weather was a complete contrast to the 5th with very wet and very windy weather forecast - probably good for sea watching but it is a bit late in the autumn and I was feeling knackered so I gave it a miss and went for a walk around Plymouth Hoe instead. Just 17 mute swans were around Sutton Harbour, usually the numbers are approaching 30, but 2 little grebes were busily diving for food amongst the boats. A few shags and gulls (black headed, great black backed and herring) were seen in the wind and mist and rain but the biggest surprise was a brown rat which ran across the path in front of me near Fishermans Nose.

Ring Ouzels in The Mist and a Lesser Yellowlegs in Cornwall

Thursday 30th October and we headed off to Shipley Bridge for a walk up to the Avon Dam where there have been recent reports of ring ouzels. It was half term but a grey and cloudy day so it wasn't as busy as I expected but walking up to the Avon Dam and it became very moist and misty and dull, not great for birding, but in the gloom I did see a goldcrest amongst a feeding flock of blue tits and long tailed tits, and a nice pair of bullfinches.

A distinct call heard in the mist had me quickly searching around and I managed to just about see a ring ouzel flying in to a hawthorn bush before 3 flew out of it and off in to the mist - not great views but a year tick none the less (number 199). Walking further up the valley and the distinct call was heard again and 6 ring ouzels were seen flying up over the bracken before landing in a tree on the hillside. Eventually 2 birds flew down towards the footpath, a male and a juvenile, giving some nice views as they fed on hawthorn haws before flying back up the hillside. The birds were very mobile and flighty and vocal and joined by a few redwings and blackbirds, the most I saw at any one time were 6 but there must have been more than this present with at least 2 juveniles. Lovely birds and the most I have seen together despite the poor visibility although annoyingly the weather cleared by the time we got back to the car. 

 

Ring Ouzel, Avon Dam - photo courtesy of Devon Birds Website ( I forgot my camera!)

Saturday 1st November and I headed off to Hayle in Cornwall on the train (half the price on a Saturday compared to a week day ticket). The viaduct at Hayle is being closed for maintenance work on the 8th to 23rd November and travelling arrangements will be a lot more complicated with trains stopping and starting at Truro and so it seemed a good day to go and have a look for the recently reported lesser yellowlegs. It arrived after my visit on the 16th October (when I saw the whooper swan), having arrived after the remnants of Hurricane Gonzales swept across the Atlantic on the 20th.

It has been showing on Copperhouse Creek in Hayle, somewhere I haven't visited for ages as I usually visit the Carnsew Pool, Ryans Field and the Hayle Estuary when I go birding here. I soon found it on the incoming tide feeding with a redshank but by the time I had got my telescope set up it had flown off! I soon refound it feeding with a group of around 20 redshanks when it was surprisingly easy to lose sight of despite its smaller size, more delicate and tapered build and obviously yellow legs - my third lesser yellowlegs and year tick number 200. I had some nice scope views but with the distance and light my photos weren't that great.

 Lesser Yellowlegs (centre), Copperhouse Creek

 Lesser Yellowlegs (left)

 Lesser Yellowlegs (upper right)

 Lesser Yellowlegs (upper middle)

Lesser Yellowlegs (right)



With the tide coming in and rain forecasted for later in the day I headed off to Penzance on the train for a look around. I walked out along the seawall path which has now reopened to have a look around the Sainsburys area for the rose coloured starling but drew a blank despite it being seen daily since my visit on the 16th. I had a scan offshore in the strengthening wind and there were large numbers of gannets diving for fish, mostly adults and with a few birds quite close to shore. A few kittiwakes were also seen with herring and great black backed gulls and a Sandwich tern. A nice surprise was a male eider, presumably the male that over wintered last year, and a female common scoter with both birds close to shore and enjoying the more sheltered waters provided by the harbour quay.

Heading home and the train was delayed due to a technical fault and it was also busy with lots of families heading home after spending half term in Cornwall but at least I arrived home before the rain did.