Moor & Plymouth Birding

February 15th and a trip up to Warren House Inn on Dartmoor for lunch and a walk wasn't too busy considering it was the half term school holidays. It was a surprise to see the Moor dusted with snow on the higher Tors and it was cold and sunny but breezey and after a nice lunch a walk down to Golden Dagger was wet and muddy and almost bird free! A few robins and carrion crows were the best of it but a brief view of a roe deer disappearing into the forest was soon followed by 3 red deer, my first in Devon - a good view of a male with small, velvet covered antlers and a brief view of 2 others before they all melted away into the trees.

I found some frog spawn in a small puddle by a stream in front of the Inn, I don't know whether it will survive in the cold conditions, and while getting into the car for the drive home a buzzard flew over along with 2 fieldfares and a pair of raven carrying nesting material.

Frog Spawn, Warren House Inn

February 20th and I decided to stay local and with 7+ring necked parakeets being reported regularly in Central Park and Ford Park Cemetery I decided I would go and have a look for them. It was grey and windy with occasional drizzle but during a wander around the Cemetery and nearby Park there was no sight nor sound of any parakeets. I did see the usual birds - goldcrest, greenfinch, chaffinch, goldfinch and blue, great, coal and long tailed tits - along with a song thrush, a nuthatch and a buzzard.

I decided to cut my losses and have a quick look at the River Plym from Laira Bridge where a great crested grebe showed very well and a male red breasted merganser flew over the Bridge downriver towards The Cattewater.

Great Crested Grebe from Laira Bridge

Shelduck, River Plym

The following day and I decided to tackle the River Plym again, heading off to Marsh Mills on the bus to walk upriver again towards Plymbridge. It was still very muddy but the tide was low and the water less murky looking and fast flowing than last week. In the trees were a jay and around 20 siskins while on the water a female and 2 male goosanders showed very well before flying off upriver and a grey wagtail was busily feeding along the waters edge. I also found my target bird very quickly, a dipper feeding in the quieter stretches of water and showing very well, I could see its white eyelids when it blinked.

Female Goosander, River Plym

Male Goosander, River Plym

Dipper, River Plym

Dipper

Heading downriver from Marsh Mills towards Laira Bridge and there were 5 little grebes on the river near Blaxton Meadow. On the mudflats there were a few common gulls and lesser black backed gulls amongst the usual gull species and a female wigeon was amongst a group of mallards.

Cormorant, River Plym

Female Wigeon, River Plym

A look for the firecrest in the area where I saw it last week drew a blank but 2 skylarks singing over Chelson Meadow was nice to hear. A pair of red breasted merganser flew upriver as the tide came in and from Laira Bridge a common sandpiper showed very well amongst the seaweed with its surprisingly yellow looking legs.

Common Sandpiper, Laira Bridge

Common Sandpiper

I decided to have another look for the parakeets in Central Park, hoping that they might show coming in to roost, but by 5pm I still hadn't seen or heard them and so I headed off home, but I did see 2 ravens, 4 buzzards, a mistle thrush and a sparrowhawk along with the usual species - no parakeets but not a bad list of birds during a spot of doorstep birding.

Magpie, Ford Park Cemetery

Sawbills on the River Plym

A few days off after our trip to North America to get over the jet lag before going back to work were much appreciated (jet lag is an absolute bitch!) and so a walk around Saltram Park on Monday 8th February in dry but very, very windy conditions helped to blow a few cobwebs away. As it was so windy there were very few people around and we had the cafe to ourselves for lunch which was most bizarre but at least we didn't have to get out of the way of the yummy mummies who usually power walk around the park with their massive baby buggies.

A male goosander with a little grebe gave some great views floating on the water - the little grebe was very skittish and frequently dived but the goosander was very unconcerned by our prescence on the nearby footpath - shame I had left my camera at home!

Further downriver off The Folly were 2 male and three female red breasted mergansers diving in the main river channel in very choppy conditions, more distant views than those of the goosander and possibly the same 5 birds I saw on the river on January 27th before my trip to New York.

A treecreeper feeding on the trees around the pond as we ate our lunch was a nice find and there were lots of mandarin ducks on the pond with the mallards and moorhens although most were tucked away in the pondside vegetation. It was interesting to see a male mandarin with a female giving short shrift to any male mallards that came too close despite being smaller and slighter than the mallards.

Tuesday 9th and a walk around Plymouth Hoe in much calmer conditions gave me some great views of a juvenile great northern diver eating crabs just off the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. It had the most amazing red coloured eyes in the bright sunlight but again I had left my camera at home! Another missed photographic opportunity was a large grey seal by the Sutton Harbour lock gates which was attracting the attentions of black headed gulls - the lock gates were being opened slowly to let a yacht out and maybe the fast flow of water contained fish for it to catch.

Sunday 14th and a day off to myself and so with dry and sunny but cold conditions I decided to have a proper birding walk along the River Plym after 4 busy but pleasent days back at work.

I caught the bus to Marsh Mills and began walking to Plym Bridge. It was very muddy underfoot from all the continuing heavy rain we keep receiving this winter and there were lots of people around emptying their dogs but I managed some good sightings.

Siskins were feeding unobtrusively in the alder tree tops with a few males also seen songflighting while amongst the coal, blue, great and long tailed tits I found at least 2 marsh tits. A kingfisher flew downstream calling but I didn't find any dippers although the river was swollen and murky from all the recent rain. A mistle thrush singing from a tree, a circling and mewing buzzard and drumming and calling great spotted woodpeckers were signs of spring along with a pair of ravens flying over busily cronking and tumbling with 1 bird flipping over onto its back at times.

Best birds were 2 male goosanders fishing together, 1 bird snorkelling behind the other as they paddled upstream near the Plympton road bridge. Again some good views, they seemed very unconcerned by my close prescence and it was interesting to watch all hell break loose between them when 1 bird caught a fish before it was eventually swallowed!

 Male Goosander - number1

Male Goosander - number 2

Heading downstream from Marsh Mills to Laira Bridge and the little grebe at Marsh Mills was still as skittish as it was on the 8th. A chiffchaff and a goldcrest gave some nice views feeding in the undergrowth near the sewage treatment works and a lone female wigeon feeding on Blaxton Meadow was a surprise. A greenshank and 4 little grebes were near the outlet by Sainsburys, the greenshank eventually flying over to the shoreline by Blaxton Meadow. A common sandpiper was a nice find feeding along the waterline as the tide receded.

 Greenshank and Black Headed Gull

Greenshank

 Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Walking up the steps through the woods near The Folly and I found a very nice firecrest in the same spot I have seen one for the past 2 years - this one was especially active though and the views were difficult as it hovered under leaves and ducked and dived around before disappearing from sight.

Snowdrops

From The Ride I found 2 great crested grebes fishing together in the river channel on the outgoing tide - at first I thought there was just one bird as they were diving seperately but eventually I saw both birds together at the surface. There were also 4 pairs of red breasted mergansers, 3 pairs together and a pair further downriver - the 3 males together were busily displaying to the females who seemed intrigued if not that really interested. From Laira Bridge I saw 4 little grebes giving a days total of 9 altogether but unfortunately there was no sign of the recent  black necked grebe - however it had been a great days birding and even better it had been right on my doorstep.

Distant shot of Red Breasted Mergansers with Carrion Crow