Local Autumnal Days Out

I had planned a quiet day for Wednesday 11th September but with news coming through of a Wryneck at Saltram I grabbed my stuff and headed out for a look. I caught the bus to Laira Bridge on what was a sunny but breezy morning, it was supposed to be a dry day but there were a few brief showers that rattled in on the wind.

As I walked up The Ride a Raven flew over being mobbed by Carrion Crows and out on the river there were 3 Shag and an adult and juvenile Sandwich Tern roosting on the buoys.

On Chelson Meadow a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk were having an aerial ding dong with each other before Carrion Crows intervened and split them up. A Buzzard was sat up in the trees watching their antics and 2 Stonechat and 2 Whinchat were feeding out on the Meadow but were mobile and unobtrusive. A Whitethroat was briefly seen too and a Sand Martin flew over with Swallows and House Martins.

Kestrel having a rest from chasing a Sparrowhawk

There was no sign of the Wryneck and so I headed over to Blaxton Meadow for the high tide wader roost, the Meadow was quite empty of water for a change and there were 3 Greenshank, a Dunlin, 3 Redshank, 30 Curlew and 15 Oystercatcher present with a female Goosander and a Kingfisher also noted.

I headed back to Chelson Meadow for a second go at the Wryneck, again with no luck, but I did get better views of the Whinchats and there were now 4 Stonechats present. A Green Woodpecker and a Skylark were also of note and a Peregrine was picked up soaring high overhead.

Whinchat

Small White

I walked up to Marsh Mills to catch the bus home and found the Mute Swan family resting on the exposed gravel bank at Longbridge. A Kingfisher and a Common Sandpiper were also seen here.

Mute Swans - growing up fast 

It was bloody freezing when I caught the 7am bus to Wembury on Friday 13th September after a clear and still night but it did eventually become a warm and pleasant September day.

On arriving off the bus I walked along the cliffpath towards The Yealm, the usual sightings of Stonechat, Cirl Bunting, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Swallow and House Martin kept me entertained while a few Meadow Pipit buzzed around calling. A noisy Peregrine was briefly seen catching something before disappearing from view and leaving a stream of white feathers drifting in the gentle breeze. There were 4 small flocks of Mallards seen flying up The Yealm totalling 36 birds while just a single Whitethroat was found in the pathside vegetation.

I turned around and headed back to the main beach and then onwards towards The Point. Jenny had messaged news of 12 Brent Geese at The Point the previous day and amazingly they were still present, something I wasn't expecting. There were 5 adults and 7 juveniles present, feeding together but keeping in their respective family groups of 2 adults and 3 juveniles and 2 adults and 4 juveniles with the solo adult getting hassled by the other adults if it came too near.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 

Pale-bellied Brent Geese (Juvenile and Adult)

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 

Even more of a surprise was a redhead Goosander which was snorkelling for fish amongst the rocks at The Point (one had been reported here last week so possibly the same bird), a juvenile bird and my first sighting of one at Wembury.

Goosander

Goosander

Goosander

A Sparrowhawk came shooting across the beach and spooked all the small waders feeding along it, I managed to count a Dunlin, a Sanderling, 2 Ringed Plover and 8 Turnstone as they scattered out to the rocks offshore. Later I counted 9 Turnstone feeding along the beach and I also found a flock of 4 Dunlin roosting on the rocks before they flew off east.

I was pleased to find a Tree Pipit in the radar station complex, it was sat in a tree and pumping its tail before it and 2 other birds feeding in the grass below flew off to an area out of view, all remaining resolutely silent as they went. A Spotted Flycatcher was again in The Pines (and found by Jenny) and along the rocky foreshore 5 Wheatears were seen. Another Whitethroat was found at The Point along with a juvenile Dartford Warbler while an adult Sandwich Tern briefly rested on the rocks offshore before continuing west.

There were fewer Gulls around and as I was walking to The Point around 40 adult Mediterranean Gulls flew east before heading inland up the valley to the beach. A few were later seen out on the rocks but maybe they've now moved on for the winter. A Grey Heron flying west, 23 Canada Geese feeding in the stubble field and a noisy Green Woodpecker at The Point were also of note on the avian front while Red Admiral, Small and Large White, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and 2 Small Copper were seen flitting about. I was also pleased to see my first Ivy Bees of the autumn too and another Southern Hawker.

Red Admiral

Ivy Bee

Hawthorn Shield Bug

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker

News of a/the Wryneck being found/refound at Saltram on Saturday 14th September meant that my housework schedule was shelved (drat!) as I headed out to look for it. Needless to say I didn't see it (again) but I had an enjoyable walk none the less.

Highlights were a Painted Lady and a Small Copper flitting about, a male Bullfinch, a Green Woodpecker, a Roe Deer, a Kingfisher, a Kestrel, 3 Grey Wagtails, a Raven, 7 Buzzards and a Shag.

The best sighting though was of 6+ Whinchat feeding together with 4+ Stonechat and I managed to get some very nice views of them. A Yellow Wagtail was a bonus too, I heard it calling as it flew overhead but I didn't get a view of it.

Whinchat

Whinchat

Black-necked Grebe at Wembury and a Trip to Topsham

The forecast had been for a dry and mild night so I had the Moth Box out in the back yard again but on checking it out in the morning on Monday 9th September it was a little soggy after some overnight rain. Only a few moths were present with the highlights being a Copper Underwing Agg., 2 Yellow Barred Brindle, a Buff Ermine and 2 Box Tree Moths. Sadly I found an Angle Shades caught in a spiders web and being eaten by a spider, also 1 of the Box Tree Moths flew off and landed in another spiders web and was promptly caught by the spider residing there.

Box Tree Moth

Buff Ermine

I had an appointment that morning at the GP's (yes, I actually managed to get through their hallowed surgery doors!) and afterwards with the day forecasted to be dry I decided to make the most of it and headed out to Wembury for a walk. It was cool, grey and breezy but as the day wore on the sun did eventually appear and it was quite pleasant out of the brisk north-westerly wind.

The highlight of my walk was a Black-necked Grebe close in to the beach near the sewage pipe at The Point, it was very confiding as it dived away and slowly moved east along the shore. The high tide was ebbing and so I headed down to the waters edge to watch it and at times it was only a few metres away from the shore, not what I was expecting to see and my first Wembury sighting of one.

Black-necked Grebe 

Black-necked Grebe and Turnstones

Black-necked Grebe - look at that red eye

Black-necked Grebe 

Black-necked Grebe 

Black-necked Grebe 

Black-necked Grebe 

It was a case of deja vu with a Feral Pigeon picked up flying towards the main beach from the east, it was quite high up but was losing altitude and was followed by what I thought were 2 more Feral Pigeons. As they came closer I realised the other 2 birds were in fact an adult and juvenile Peregrine and just before the Feral Pigeon reached the cliffs near the church the juvenile Peregrine caught it in a puff of feathers. Shortly after I picked up another Feral Pigeon flying low over the sea from the south before heading inland up the valley to the beach, as mentioned before I rarely see Feral Pigeons at Wembury and now I've seen 4 of them in 3 days with 2 of them taken out by a juvenile Peregrine!

Another interesting sighting was of a Stoat running around the rocks offshore at The Point before swimming across the open sea back to the foreshore, it was quite a gingery colour and the black tip to the tail was quite pale so possibly a youngster. Certainly an odd place to see one in the middle of the day.

Stoat - never stopped for a second!

There was much less disturbance along the beach compared to my last visit although there were still a few dog walkers about but on the high tide I found 16 Turnstone, 5 Curlew, 2 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin along with Oystercatchers and 5 Little Egret.

Offshore a few Gannets were noted while the roosting Gull flock out on the rocks held the usual Mediterranean Gulls. The stubble field held 39 Canada Geese while a Kestrel flew overhead and Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Wheatears and 2 Grey Wagtail were all noted too. At least 1 Sand Martin was present in a feeding flock of House Martins in the valley to the beach where they were more sheltered from the wind.

A Grey Seal poking its head out of the water, a beautifully smart looking Clouded Yellow dashing past and a Small Copper feeding on Ragwort flowers were the best of the rest.

The Plym and Wembury may have thrown up some good birds lately but I fancied a change on Tuesday 10th September so I headed out to Bowling Green Marsh for the day. It was high tide when I arrived at a jam packed bird hide but at least the Marsh was jam packed with birds too.

Amongst the throng of Curlew, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwits present were a few Dunlin, 25 Lapwing, 23 Greenshank, 5 Avocet, a Snipe, 21 Knot with the most exquisite scalloping on their feathers and a very smart juvenile Ruff. The highlight though were 2 beautiful juvenile Curlew Sandpipers which showed very well at times.

Spot the Curlew Sandpiper

Roosting Waders

There were plenty of Teal about too with Mallard, Shoveler, 2 Pintail and 10 Gadwall also seen while over the water at least 4 Sand Martin were hawking for insects with Swallows and House Martins.

I headed over to the viewing platform where birds were beginning to arrive from the Marsh as the tide dropped. A Ringed Plover and a few Oystercatcher were also added to the days wader list but the best sighting was a Common Seal hauled out on the mudflats.

Common Seal

It was a bit windswept when I had a look off the nearby Goat Walk so I returned to the hide just as a Peregrine hurtled across the Marsh and scattered the remaining birds. It made a kill which it ate out in the grass but I couldn't see what it had caught. With all the birds gone I returned to the viewing platform where I found the juvenile Ruff now out on the mudflats along with at least 5 Bar-tailed Godwit amongst the Curlew and Black-tailed Godwits.

A couple of birders arrived and told me there was a Common Tern roosting on a pontoon off the Goat Walk so I braved the wind and went to have a look and it was still there. I scanned downriver and also found 3 Terns flying around and diving for fish, they seemed very small like Little Terns but the views were distant and they soon disappeared downriver.

Common Tern with Black-headed Gills

Back to the viewing platform and after a bit of a wait and constant scanning I found a distant Osprey hunting over the river off Starcross, it was regularly hovering with its  legs dangling and made a few swoops down to the water but always abandoned its dive at the last minute. It then soared around for a bit before drifting over towards Exmouth where I lost sight of it.

Time was marching on and the forecasted rain was beginning to arrive so I headed back to the railway station to catch the train home. I stopped off for a final look about from the hide along the way where I found another Ruff, this time an adult male moulting into winter plumage and a nice end to my day out.