Rivers Hayle and Plym

The weather remains dire and yet again my birdwatching plans for Friday 28th and Saturday 29th of February were scuppered due to some more shite conditions forecasted. However after some heavy overnight rain Thursday 27th February was looking good and so despite feeling absolutely knackered after working 2 long days and then a night shift I decided to head to Hayle on the train for a look at gulls.

I have wanted to visit Hayle properly ever since I bought my telescope last December in order to scan through the roosting gulls at low tide but other than a quick look at the estuary back in January on my journey home from Penzance I haven't managed to get down there for a good look around. And with an over wintering adult ring-billed gull and multiple Caspian gull and yellow-legged gull reports I have been really keen to have a look for these 3 species.

I caught the first timetabled train after 9am in order to save half the ticket cost (£11.40 instead of £22.80!) and also to have a little bit of a lie in and I arrived uneventfully in Hayle at around 11am to sunny skies but with a cold and brisk wind.

I began my walk at the Carnsew Pool along a very boggy and muddy footpath but I did see a little grebe in the harbour and 2 on the pool along with an adult Mediterranean gull moulting into summer plumage, a very smart looking Greenshank and a redhead Goosander asleep on the mudflats.

Greenshank, Hayle Estuary

Greenshank

Greenshank

Greenshank

Ryan's Field was very quiet with 3 Snipe asleep in the reeds the only birds of note and from the causeway a few bar-tailed godwit were feeding out on the estuary with curlew, redshank, oystercatcher and 4 grey plover. Teal, Wigeon and Shelduck were noted along with a male Goosander asleep on the mudflats and I had a brief fly past view of my first kingfisher of the year.

Buzzard, Lelant

Numbers of gulls roosting on the estuary were noticeably lower than usual and most were on the other side of the estuary between Lelant and Lelant Saltings train stations and so I walked around the estuary to get a slightly closer look at them, starting at the station at Lelant. I scanned through the gulls but couldn't find anything unusual amongst them and the same was true at Lelant Saltings Station, it seems I am too late to the party as a lot of the gulls seem to have moved on already although Caspian gulls and yellow-legged gulls were reported by other birders present.

It was enjoyable though to scan through the gulls with my telescope despite the birds being distant, the bright light harsh and heat hazy and the breeze keeping the gulls mostly hunkered down and asleep. I did however manage to find another 4 adult Mediterranean Gulls along with a 1st summer bird amongst the Black-headed, Herring, Lesser Black-backed, Common and Great Black-backed Gulls present but there was to be no rare gulls for me today (although typically all 3 gull species were reported on the internet as present on the estuary that day!).

Saturday 29th February was windy again with squally hail showers but I decided to have a walk along the River Plym anyway. I caught the bus to Marsh Mills and walked along the Plym and around Saltram before returning to Marsh Mills for the bus journey home and it wasn't too busy with people in the breezy conditions.

On Blaxton Meadow there were 36 Curlew and 34 Shelduck roosting on the high tide along with 4 Little Egret and a mixed flock of gulls containing a noticeable increase in adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls and Common Gulls.

Lesser Black-backed Gull, Blaxton Meadow

On the river a Common Sandpiper and a Greenshank were seen along with Redshank, Dunlin and Oystercatcher and with the Mallards were 3 male and 4 female Goosanders and 2 male and 3 female Red-breasted Mergansers.

 Goosanders, River Plym

Red-breasted Merganser, River Plym

A Stock Dove and 2 Jay were seen in the woods along with a noisy Ring-necked Parakeet and Blue, Great and Coal Tits coming down to feed on seed put out on the wall by the hide.

 Great Tit, Saltram

Coal Tit, Saltram

I was very pleased to find 2 Jack Snipe which flew up silently and settled again quickly nearby while Skylarks were heard singing overhead and 12 Roe Deer were seen grazing on the nearby grassy slopes.

A Grey Squirrel was chewing the bark off a tree and snowdrops, daffodils and primrose were all in flower too, Spring is on the way.

 Grey Squirrel, Saltram

Primrose, Saltram

Marsh Tit - At Last!

Wednesday 18th April was sunny and warm but breezey as we drove to Cockwood by the River Exe for lunch with mother-in-law at The Anchor Inn, seeing a swallow along the way near Powderham. Lunch was delicious and afterwards we headed off to go shopping at Trago Mills near Newton Abbot but fortunately I was let out of the car along the way for a wander around Stover Park.

A male blackcap was seen feeding in a tree on ivy berries by the car park as I alighted from the car and nuthatches were heard calling nearby. The lake was quiet with just a cormorant, a great crested grebe, a mute swan, a pair of tufted duck, coot, moorhen and mallard seen but there were no hirundines noted. A muscovy duck was perched in a tree overhanging a side channel while a mallard x muscovy duck type kept very close tabs on a female mallard, regularly chasing off nearby male mallards much to the females delight.

Mallard x Muscovy Duck?

M x M Duck with female Mallard

M x M Duck with Mallard

M x M Duck with Mallard

From the tree platform I watched the birds feeding on the seed dispensers - blue, great and coal tits with nuthatch, chaffinch, 2 male and a female bullfinch and a single marsh tit, my first of the year after regularly dipping over the winter at my usual sites (including Stover).

Bullfinch, Stover

Bullfinch

Under the feeders around 10 grey squirrels were scrabbling around for dropped seed with a large brown rat and 2 smaller youngsters until a buzzard swooped into the nearby trees and scattered all the squirrels and rats into cover but the small birds continued to feed on the seed dispenser although they were much more skittish and wary. The buzzard kept a close eye on the ground and allowed some nice close views and was still patiently watching when I left around 30 minutes later despite the rats and squirrels keeping out of sight.

Brown Rat

Buzzard

Buzzard

Buzzard

Also seen around the lake and in the woods were a singing chiffchaff and a singing willow warbler which was dipping its tail chiffchaff-like as it fed in the sallows. Another blackcap was heard singing, peacock butterflies dashed around in the warm sunshine, siskins were heard flying over and a great spotted woodpecker was seen feeding in the tree tops before it was time to head back to the car park to be picked up for the drive back to Plymouth.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stover

Thursday 19th April was still sunny and even warmer and by the time I arrived at Yarner Wood on Dartmoor at 12:30 it was very warm indeed. The main car park is still closed due to the ongoing maintenance work on the pond so after being dropped off at the car park at Trendlebeare Down I walked across the very muddy footpath to the woods while David went off for a look around nearby Bovey Tracey. On the heath willow warblers were singing away with 2 buzzards soaring overhead and a pair of stonechat feeding from the gorse tops and I had a brief flight view of a tree pipit while a siskin flew over songflighting.

Into the woods and I heard the drumming of a woodpecker but couldn't see it amongst the trees and it soon stopped in the building heat and later I saw a female great spotted woodpecker and heard a green woodpecker yaffling. Chiffchaff, blackcap, nuthatch, coal tit, blue tit, great tit and blackbird were seen and heard but the highlight were 3 male pied flycatchers singing away and giving good views including a male right by the footpath sporting a silver leg ring.

 Pied Flycatcher, Yarner Wood

Pied Flycatcher

The hot weather meant wood ants were scuttling around everywhere with a few brimstone and peacock flying around too but never settling and I found a moth resting  on a tree trunk which I think is an engrailed.

 Engrailed

Engrailed

David arrived to collect me at 14:30 and the temperature on the car dashboard was reading a scorching 24.5c as we drove back to Bovey Tracey for some lunch. I was very glad to get out of the heat and enjoyed a cup of tea and a sandwich at the Brookside cafe in Bovey Tracey before we drove back home having had a very enjoyable but hot day out.

American Wigeon at Kingsmill Lake

Friday 3rd February and my plans for a days birding went right out of the window due to stormy weather - wind and rain galore! There was a brief respite from the rain around lunchtime so I had a walk around Plymouth Hoe to see if anything had been blown in by the gales but I could only find an adult gannet circling around The Cattewater and an adult Mediterranean gull developing a black hood amongst the usual black headed gulls, herring gulls, great black backed gulls and a few common gulls.

The morning of Saturday 4th February was a complete contrast - sunny and still - and things started well with a peregrine seen preening on the roof of the Civic Centre as I waited on Royal Parade for the bus to Saltash. As we drove over the Tamar Bridge my heart sank a little as the River Tamar was shrouded in mist but it quickly began to clear as I walked to the bird hide at the China Fleet Club. I could hear wigeon whistling in the mist as I entered the hide and as I scanned across the creek in the lifting mist I quickly found the male American wigeon first found on Christmas Day last year - distant but good scope views before it disappeared in a creek to feed with wigeon and with only the occassional head view above the vegetation.

American Wigeon (male) with Wigeon

It was high tide and at one point a lot of the roosting birds were spooked by something and  took to the air and shortly after the birds resettled I found the American wigeon on its own on the water, a bit nearer than previously but still a little distant. Again it disappeared amongst the waterside vegetation to preen before I lost sight of it again and that was the last I saw of it.

American Wigeon

American Wigeon

American Wigeon

Other birds seen from the hide included 2 great crested grebes, around 100 avocet, 2 greenshank, an adult lesser black backed gull, around 20 snipe, redshank, curlew, lapwing, around 200 dunlin, black tailed godwit, shelduck and teal.

Beautiful views when the mist cleared

Beautiful Reflection

In the woods amongst the coal, blue, great and long tailed tits was a goldcrest and overhead a raven cronked noisely, and on the golf course lake a pair of tufted duck were with Canada geese, moorhens and mallards along with a very pale buzzard perched on a waterside sign.

Pale Buzzard

Not a bad couple of hours birding before the clouds rolled in and the heavy rain (and hail) returned.

First Dip of 2017

Two waxwings had been reported feeding in an apple tree in a Plymstock garden on January 5th, I had considered going to have a look for them on the 6th but it was our Christmas dinner day (finally) and so I gave it a miss. One was reported in the morning of the 7th and so I headed out on the bus for a look but on arriving at the tree there was no sign of it and after 90 minutes David arrived in the car to pick me up for the drive to Plymbridge Woods for a walk and all I had to show for a cold, grey and drizzley watch was a female blackcap. I had a second look after our walk but there was still no sign and indeed they were not reported again after that sighting on the morning of the 7th. First dip of 2017 in the bag!

The walk at Plymbridge Woods was muddy but not too busy with people. The feeders at Cann Quarry were empty so there was no sign of any marsh tits and I couldn't find any dippers along the river. A flock of siskins were noisely preening in the top of some alder trees and a noisey great spotted woodpecker was being hassled in a tree top by a magpie before it flew off. A female goosander flying high north towards Dartmoor as the light began to fail was the highlight of the walk and as we drove home over the road bridge at Marsh Mills I saw a male and female goosander feeding on the river.

Sunday 8th January and we had a walk around Burrator Reservoir on another cold and grey
day but again it wasn't too busy with people. The water levels were very low after what has been a dry and mild winter, it looked more like September after a hot and dry summer. A male goosander, a little grebe, 4 male tufted duck, 3 male and 2 female teal, mallards, a Muscovy duck, 3 white farmyard geese, 2 juvenile and 2 adult cormorant (1 in full summer plumage) and a grey heron were seen on and around the water while in the woods a very pale buzzard, a few siskins and a marsh tit with blue, coal, great and long tailed tits around the car park were also seen.

 Summer Plumaged Cormorant, Burrator Reservoir

Pale Buzzard, Burrator

Before driving off to Burrator I found my first moth of the year, a male winter moth resting on the window of a house by our parked car.

Male Winter Moth, Plymouth

Wednesday 11th January and we drove out to Thurlestone for a walk and some lunch on a sunny but cold and blustery day. We parked in the village and walked down to the beach where I immediately found the long staying desert wheatear feeding along the sandy beach and undercliff and chasing off nearby rock pipits and pied wagtails. It was sporting a metal ring on its right leg (was it really necessary or appropriate to catch and ring it?) and was more wary than on my visit in November (possibly due to being caught and ringed?) but still gave some great views, a very lovely bird to watch.

 Desert Wheatear, Thurlestone, with metal leg ring

 Desert Wheatear

 Desert Wheatear - showing buffy rump

 Desert Wheatear

Desert Wheatear

A few turnstones were feeding along the beach while a large group of black headed gulls were feeding in the surf but there was nothing on show offshore in the windy and choppy conditions. South Milton Ley was empty too with low water levels but South Huish Marsh was alive with birds - a dunlin, a black tailed godwit, wigeon, mallard, teal, lapwing, 2 mute swans, 3 oystercatchers and gulls. Viewing though was difficult in the wind and so we headed back to Thurlestone for lunch in the pub via another look at the desert wheatear on the beach before heading home to Plymouth.

Desert Wheatear