The strong easterly wind eventually blew itself out and Saturday 25th April was a beautiful sunny day with just a gentle breeze. I had thought of taking a walk at Grenofen Woods but with it being a Saturday I was able to use my Railcard on any train and so headed out to Exminster Marshes instead. I eventually arrived at The Swans Nest Pub at around 09:50hrs and it was already feeling quite warm in the sunshine and promising to be a good day out.
I started walking my usual circular route around the Marsh, beginning at the RSPB car park and walking down the back path towards Turf. As soon as I set off I could hear Reed Warblers chuntering away along with a more melodious sounding Sedge Warbler and both species remained constant sights and sounds on my walk.
At the Discovery Pool a juvenile Spoonbill was sleeping on one leg, it occassionally woke up for a stretch and a quick preen before returning to its slumbers but while my attention was focused on a Whimbrel feeding in the grass nearby it upped and left, never to be seen again.
Other sightings of note were 3 very smart looking male Reed Buntings, another 2 Whimbrel, 2 male Tufted Duck and a Great Crested Grebe on the lagoon, a few Lapwing and Gadwall and a pair of Coot with 3 small Cootlings.
After completing my lap of Exminster Marsh I headed back to the Swans Nest Pub and walked out to the viewing bench overlooking Powderham Marsh, I haven't been here for a few years now and had forgotten how far it was but at least the footpath was dry. From the viewing platform bench I scanned around with my scope and found a Little Ringed Plover feeding around the waters edge but it was distant and the heat haze was hampering viewing, it was also mobile around the scrapes and regularly disappeared from view.
The sky was cloud free and beautifully blue and I gazed upwards regularly in the hope of finding something interesting passing overhead, eventually it paid off with 2 Hobby seen busily catching flies but they were feeding at quite a height and eventually drifted off from view.
Other sightings of note from the viewing platform were a male Bullfinch, a singing Whitethroat, Swallows and House Martins hawking for insects, 7 Shovelers (6 males), more Lapwings and Gadwalls and 2 pairs of Coot with 3 and 4 small Cootlings.
Non-avian sightings included 2 Grey Squirrel, Ragged Robin in flower, Holly Blue, Orange-tip, Red Admiral and Peacock flitting about and a male Hairy Dragonfly which dashed past me and then was gone.
It was another day of blue skies and sunshine with only a hint of a breeze on Monday 27th April as I finally headed out to Grenofen for a walk. I arrived on site at around 9am and it was already feeling warm and it became quite uncomfortably hot as the day wore on. I should really have been more organised and arrived at Grenofen earlier as while there were birds singing away when I got there they soon became quiet as the heat built up.
On stepping off the bus I headed straight up to the downland above the woods where a Blackcap and Willow Warblers were heard singing away and it wasn't long before I heard and then saw a Garden Warbler too, surprisingly the only one on my walk. A Tree Pipit flushed off the path in front of me and flew off silently over the trees but later I had lovely views of 2 songflighting males and so breaking last years duck here. A very yellow looking male Yellowhammer sang briefly before diving down into the long grass and while a Cuckoo could be heard calling on and off in the distance I never got a view of it.
I took my Emperor Moth lure out with me to try my luck, it's quite a few years old now and I had meant to buy a new one earlier in the year as I didn't think this one would be potent anymore but I did manage to attract a single male to it. I also saw a Mother Shipton moth although it didn't stay still for more than a few seconds and there were good numbers of Brimstones around including quite a few females seen egg laying. Orange-tip, Red Admiral, Peacock and single Speckled Wood and Holly Blue were also noted.
Redstart was conspicuous by its absence and I was beginning to feel another duck coming on but eventually I found a singing male in the woodland by the river and it eventually showed very nicely although it stayed high up in the trees. I thought I could hear a Pied Flycatcher singing above the noise of the water but on the opposite bank of the river and with no way of crossing over I had to walk up to the bridge and then back for a look. Eventually I found it, a ringed bird high up in the tree tops where it was very vocal and mobile while a second male was also heard nearby, my first sightings of Pied Flycatchers at Grenofen for many years now.
Overhead sightings included 3 Ravens, a Sparrowhawk, 2 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a Swallow with a yaffling Green Woodpecker and a drumming Great Spotted Woodpecker both heard. Singing Willow Warblers were seen and heard everywhere on the downland and a Dipper and a pair of Beautiful Demoiselle were seen along the river.
We had a walk around Stoke Point on Tuesday 28th April, we haven't walked here since August last year which has mostly been down to the seemingly continous wet weather we have experienced since then but at least today the footpath was bone dry. It was cloudy, cool and breezy as we set off from the car park at Stoke Beach but quite sheltered along our walk and by the time we stopped for lunch at The Ship Inn at Noss Mayo the skies had cleared and while still breezy it had warmed up nicely.
The bird highlight was my first Swift of the year flying in off the sea, it's always nice to get an April Swift, and other sightings of note were 2 Red-legged Partridge flushed off the pathside grass, 2 Gannets offshore, a silent male Cirl Bunting and good numbers of singing Whitethroats. A Brown Hare feeding in a cereal field as we walked up the steep hill out of Noss Mayo was a nice surprise although it was distant while on the butterfly front an impressive total of 27 Green Hairstreaks were seen on the pathside Gorse bushes on the walk back to the car, the first time I've ever seen them on this walk.
