It was mostly sunny but cool in a northerly wind as I headed out to Wembury for a walk on Friday 28th March. Again it didn't feel very birdy and again it proved to be so but it was a very pleasant walk anyway.
I did manage to find my first Wembury Peacock of the year and there were also 2 Comma flitting about too. A total of 4 Black Oil Beetles were seen by the footpath along with Bloody-Nosed Beetles and it was good to see plenty of Sea Kale emerging out of the sand along the beach as well, with far fewer spells of stormy weather this winter season the beach hasn't had its usual bashing although this has meant far less seaweed has been washed up for the birds to feed on.
The usual birds were seen but it was a bit of a Warbler day - A Cetti's Warbler called a few times in the valley to the beach, a Blackcap and Chiffchaffs were heard too while a Dartford Warbler was heard and briefly seen songflighting but mostly proved to be very elusive amongst the Gorse bushes.
I headed off to Exminster Marshes on Saturday 29th March, I ended up catching a later train than originally planned due to oversleeping but I arrived at Starcross around 10:30am to begin my walk. I decided to give the bus a miss again and walk to the Marsh on what was a sunny and warm morning although the road and paths were busy with cars, cyclists and walkers.
A look at Powderham Park along the way revealed at least 8 Stock Dove flying around and a pair of Egyptian Geese amongst the Shelduck, Canada Geese and Fallow Deer. I also managed to find 2 Cattle Egret too, distant and heat hazy views of them hunkered down in the sedges before they took to the air and the 2 were joined by a further 16 which had been hidden out of sight!
From the viewing platform at Exminster Marsh I found a pair of Pochard and 3 Little Grebe with the Tufted Ducks out on the lagoon while out on the Marsh there were a few Teal, Shoveler, Wigeon and Pintail still around along with 2 Black-tailed Godwit and a male Reed Bunting. There were 3 Willow Warblers quietly singing away in the nearby hedgerows with 2 seen along with a Chiffchaff, 2 Blackcap and a Cetti's Warbler. A brief view of a Weasel running along the road was a surprise.
I walked over to Powderham Marsh and set up my scope, the highlights here were 2 Green Sandpiper, 2 Egyptian Geese (presumably the pair I saw earlier in Powderham Park), a Kestrel, a Willow Warbler and a Peacock Butterfly.
I was planning to catch the bus back to Starcross but decided to walk instead so saving myself a few pennies and shifting some belly lard. A look at the Discovery Area along the way revealed a lone Sand Martin flying over and I had some good scope views of a Little Ringed Plover here with a second bird seen briefly in flight.
As I walked past Powderham Park again there were now 29 Cattle Egret in view, probably the most I have ever seen together at any one time here in the UK. I then had to speed walk a bit to reach the station at Starcross in time to catch my train, I'm not as spry as I used to be (not helped by carrying my scope and tripod on my back) and I arrived with 2 minutes to spare only to find the train was delayed by 8 minutes! Never mind, at least it gave me some time to cool down a bit!
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