Chasing Grebes

With a birdwatching boat trip on the River Tamar booked for Sunday 12th January I decided to visit St.Johns Lake at Torpoint the day before for a bit of a pre-trip recce. It was a cold and overcast day as I headed over to Marine Drive in Torpoint on the bus and ferry, the neap tide was incoming so on arriving at around 10am there was not a lot of mud on show but there was plenty of birdlife about.

The view from Marine Drive, Torpoint

On a scan about with my binoculars I immediately found a Black-necked Grebe out on the water fairly close to the shore with a Great Northern Diver a little further out. I then had some lovely views of the Grebe through my scope and at times I heard it calling but the Diver quickly moved off upriver towards HMS Raleigh where it was joined by a second bird.

I then scanned about with my scope and found another 3 Black-necked Grebes together out near the opposite shore, distant views but it was  interesting to watch them performing brief bouts of courtship display with each other. Also out on the water were 3 Little Grebes and around 10 mobile Great Crested Grebes but there was sadly no sign of the recently reported Red-necked and Slavonian Grebes. However there was a female Common Scoter present, busily diving away and munching on crabs brought up to the surface and presumably the same bird I saw last month at nearby Warleigh Point.

A feeding flock of 24 Avocet was a nice find although they were distant, mobile and flighty and also present were a Greenshank and 22 Grey Plover amongst the usual Redshank, Bar-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Dunlin, Turnstone and Black-tailed Godwit. Also noted were Wigeon, Shelduck and a pair of Teal along with a single Mute Swan but there were no Brent Geese present although I had seen a distant group of 6 birds out on the mud just upriver from Torpoint as I travelled across The Tamar on the Torpoint Ferry.

Turnstone

High tide was due at around 3:30 pm but the tide came in very quickly and by 12:30pm there was very little mud left exposed and very few birds present so I headed back home to warm up after an interesting visit.

Sunday 12th January was a slightly warmer day although it still felt chilly and I wrapped myself up in layers and headed down to The Barbican for the boat departure time of 10:15am. It was a beautiful morning with blue skies and a gentle but cold breeze and 2 Great Northern Divers showed very well close to the boat as we set sail from the pontoon with another one seen later as we passed by Drakes Island.

Great Northern Diver

Plymouth Hoe

We headed up The Tamar and then sailed a little way up the channel by Marine Drive at St.Johns Lake, something we haven't done on this trip before. We had good views of 2 Great Northern Divers, 2 Black-necked Grebes and a female Common Scoter here along with Great Crested Grebes, Dunlin, Redshank, Black-tailed Godwit, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Turnstone and Bar-tailed Godwit.

We carried on up The Tamar and a surprise sighting was a Red-necked Grebe diving away right by the ferry slipway at Torpoint, a brief view only as it spent very little time at the surface as we passed by. The Brent Geese were again feeding out on the mudflats just upriver from the ferry slipway too but I had better views than yesterday and there were 2 Pale-bellied types present amongst 12 Dark-bellied types.

Usually we then head up river to Cargreen, sailing under the Saltash Bridge and past Kingsmill Lake and the mouth of the River Tavy, however this time we headed straight up The Lynher instead which was a shame because I was hoping to see if the Velvet Scoter was still around at Warleigh Point.

Anyway, a Raven was seen flying overhead as we headed up The Lynher and eventually we came across 3 Spoonbills, a bird asleep on the mudflats and 2 birds feeding along the shoreline. They were all spooked into flight before settlling together on the mudflats and going to sleep, one was a juvenile bird with black primary wing tips and one of the adult birds was sporting a yellow leg ring (apparently ringed as a chick in 2006 in The Netherlands).

Spoonbills

Spoonbills

An interesting sighting were 2 Black-necked Grebes, having seen 4 yesterday at Marine Drive but only 2 there today these were presumably the other 2 birds and showing how mobile they can be around the Tamar/Lynher/Tavy/Plym river complex.

A Great Northern Diver, 14 Avocets, a Greenshank, a Peregrine, a Kestrel and a brief and distant Spotted Redshank were also of note as we headed up towards St.Germans, however we soon started to become grounded on the mud and had to reverse back before turning around and starting the journey home to Plymouth.

As we retraced our route back to Plymouth I enjoyed a pasty for lunch which was included in the ticket price and all too soon we were disembarking the boat at The Barbican. This trip isn't as slick or as organised as The Exe boat trips are but it is local and there are always some good birds to be seen and I had a really enjoyable time, hopefully the trips will run again next year.

King Billy, Mutton Cove

I hadn't anything planned for Monday 13th January despite it being a dry, cold and sunny day but with news of a Red-necked Grebe on The Plym I grabbed my stuff and headed out for a look. I wasn't going to take my scope with me but then changed my mind and packed it in my ruck sack but on arriving at Laira Bridge I discovered I had left my binoculars at home! What a Doughnut!

Anyway, at least I had my scope with me and I set it up for a scan about. Needless to say there was no sign of the Red-necked Grebe in a very deja vu moment as per last January here on The Plym but I did see 2 Great Northern Divers, 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 Little Grebes and 8 Turnstones along with all the usuals on the dropping tide. There were even patches of snow still present up on the distant Dartmoor hills on what was another chilly day.

I guess today's sighting again shows how mobile Grebes can be in the Plymouth area, presumably it's the same bird as the one being seen in Torpoint and the same as the one I saw there yesterday - hopefully it will return to The Plym again soon.

Wembury and The Plym

It was off to Wembury for my first visit of the year on Tuesday 7th January on what was a cold but sunny morning with occassional light showers. On arriving off the bus it was nice to find very few people and dogs out and about despite the decentish weather and the paths while very muddy were not as bad as I expected them to be after all the recent rain we have had.

It was a high spring tide and along the beach amongst the roosting Oystercatchers were a Curlew, 31 Turnstone, 7 Little Egret and 14 Mallard (9 males) along with a lone Redshank which was a bit of a surprise. A single Canada Goose flew past towards The Yealm and offshore just 1 Fulmar was seen flying around with none present on The Mewstone.

Curlew

Oystercatchers

Redshank and Mallards

Spot the Turnstones

A very smart looking male Bullfinch and an equally smart looking Firecrest at The Point were nice finds while Skylarks were heard half-heartedly singing overhead. Later another Firecrest was found in the wood near the riding stables in the company of a Goldcrest which it regularly chased off and a female Bullfinch was also found in a village garden in the company of a Chiffchaff and a male Blackcap.

There was no sight nor sound of any Cirl Buntings, not unusual at this time of year, but 3 pairs of Stonechats, 2 Grey Wagtails and 4 Song Thrush were of note. A good check through all the Pipits feeding along the beach revealed only Rock and Meadow varieties with no sign of any Water Pipit amongst them.

Stonechat

A brief flyby Red Admiral was an early year first and a surprise in the chilly conditions although it was seen in a sunny and sheltered spot and 2 Rabbits were found in the horse fields nibbling away on the grass.

It was a cold, frosty and sunny day on Thursday 9th January as I headed out to Saltram and The Plym for a look about on the incoming tide. On stepping off the bus at Marsh Mills at around 10:30am I was pleased to find 2 Dippers at Longbridge in either courtship or territorial display as they called and chased after each other before disappearing off downriver.  Also seen along the river on the walk down to Blaxton Meadow were a Kingfisher, 2 Common Sandpiper, 4 Little Grebe and a juvenile Mute Swan, presumably one of last years fledglings. A Firecrest, 2 Coal Tit and 3 Goldcrest were also seen in the riverside vegetation.

Mute Swan

I met up with my mate Mavis at the bird hide overlooking Blaxton Meadow, the tide was coming in and amongst all the usual birds present were 2 adult Common Gull, an adult Mediterranean Gull, a male Teal, a Kingfisher, an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull and a female Goosander. A Curlew with a yellow leg ring was also seen, I couldn't read it but assume it is the usual Dartmoor bird.

There was a large flock of Dunlin feeding out on the mud right in front of the hide, I set up my scope to have a good look through them in the hope of finding the recently reported Curlew Sandpiper amongst them but with no luck, they were very nervous and flighty and eventually flew over towards the viewing platform to feed on the mud there. I carried on scanning through them as they continued to feed and fly around and eventually I found the Curlew Sandpiper amongst them. I kept losing it in amongst the Dunlin but eventually it flew nearer and fed alone along the waters edge where we had some good views of it before it merged back in with the flock.

Curlew Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper - photo courtesy of Mavis

We then wandered down towards the Amphitheatre where we had some good views of a Great Northern Diver diving away and bringing up crabs to eat at the surface. We carried on downriver and found 2 female Goosanders also diving away along with a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers before we returned to the Amphitheatre for coffee and a (very delicious) home made cheese scone (courtesy of Mavis). While sitting there admiring the snow covered hills of Dartmoor in the distance we had some great views of 3 Great Northern Divers along with the pair of Red-breasted Mergansers which had now moved upriver.

Great Northern Divers

Red-breasted Mergansers

The light was starting to fade and it was beginning to get noticeably colder so it was time to head off home but it had been a very enjoyable catch up and birding session on what was a lovely and sunny but cold day.