Ospreys

Sunday 12th September was overcast and muggy and with the high tide being around 10am I headed out to Warleigh Point at the mouth of the River Tavy to look for Ospreys.

On arriving I had a quick scan around and immediately found an Osprey flying up the Tavy but it was quite distant and by the time I had set my scope up I lost track of it amongst the melee of Corvids it had spooked.

A short time later some paddle boarders along the Tavy flushed an Osprey which had been roosting unseen in trees by the waters edge and as it soared higher and higher over the water it was briefly joined by a second bird before they flew off in separate directions and out of sight.

Time was marching on and a hoped for final view looked less and less likely but just as I was about to pack up and leave an Osprey appeared at the mouth of the Tavy where it had a few attempts at catching fish before resting on the railway bridge. The Carrion Crows were not happy with its presence though and regularly hassled it before it flew off upriver and out of sight.

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey 

While waiting for the Ospreys to show I regularly scanned across the river and estuary and a feeding frenzy of Black-headed Gulls out in the River Tamar caught my attention along with the sound of 2 Sandwich Terns calling amongst them. I soon picked them up amongst the swirling mass of birds before they headed downriver towards Saltash but I also picked out a Little Tern amongst the Gulls, tiny looking and regularly hovering above the water, my first for Plymouth. A Peregrine, a Greenshank, 3 Stock Doves and 6 Great Crested Grebe were also noted.

Tuesday 14th September and I took a walk at Wembury for a look about. It was very quiet with Whitethroat, 4 Chiffchaff, 4 Wheatear and 2 Swallow noted along with Kestrel, 3 Cirl Bunting, the usual Stonechats and 3 Meadow Pipit flying over calling.

The high tide roost at The Point held 3 Curlew, 6 Little Egret, 78 Oystercatcher and 30 Mediterranean Gulls (13 1st winter, 15 adult winter and 2 2nd winter). A 1st winter bird was leg ringed (Green R6ET) and subsequent enquiries have revealed it was ringed in France in July. An adult bird was also ringed (Yellow 2L14), apparently a UK ringed bird but details are still awaited. 

A big surprise was a Convolvulus Hawkmoth resting on a fence post in almost the exact same place I saw one 4 weeks ago. It was a little worn and possibly the same one I saw before. 

Convolvulus Hawkmoth 

Convolvulus Hawkmoth 

Convolvulus Hawkmoth 

Also seen were a Painted Lady, a Wall and a Comma along with many Red Admiral, Large White and Small White, an Angle Shades and Silver Y's. Long-winged Coneheads and Common Lizards were basking on the fences too in the weak and occasional sunny spells and a Common Darter was also seen basking on the footpath. 

Long-winged Coneheads 

Common Darter

The Ivy flowers were in bloom and the bushes were covered in assorted Bees and Hover flies including my first Ivy Bees of the year. 

Ivy Bee

On checking my phone while on the bus ride back to Plymouth a Little Stint had been reported from the River Plym and so I stepped off the bus at Laira Bridge for the walk along the Plym to Blaxton Meadow and back.  The tide was heading out and there was no sign of the Stint but I did see a Common Sandpiper, 9 Greenshank, 6 Dunlin, 8 Oystercatcher and 10 juvenile Shelduck with Curlews and Redshanks. 

Greenshank

Gelid Plymouth

It's been a chilly week off work so far with a gelid Easterly wind cutting through you like a knife. Unusually cold for Plymouth in these days of climate change and a warming world and also unusual for the length of time it has been so cold, cold snaps generally come and go very quickly these days.

Thursday 11th February and I had arranged to meet my work colleague Sue and her dog Daisy for a walk around Saltram. It was grey and cold with that nasty wind blowing through but out of the wind it wasn't too bad. However it wasn't meant to be as Sue's car broke down on the drive to Saltram to meet me and so I ended up having a birdy walk on my own. 

The highlight were 5 Shoveler on a flooded Blaxton Meadow, a male and 4 female and my first for Plymouth. A female Teal was also my first for the Plym as it busily fed amongst the 16 Wigeon present (8 males).

Shoveler and Wigeon, Blaxton Meadow 

The duck-fest continued with the female Red-crested Pochard and 7 Mandarin Ducks (4 male) present on the duck pond along with assorted Mallards. A pair of Goosander were seen out on the River and Shelduck were seen feeding out on the mudflats.

Red-crested Pochard, Saltram Duck Pond

Mandarin Duck, Saltram Duck Pond

Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew and Oystercatcher were also feeding out on the mud and 11 Lapwing flying over towards Dartmoor were also another first for the Plym.

A Raven, Stock Doves, Ring-necked Parakeets, 4 Little Grebe, a female Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Gulls, Chaffinch and Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also noted.

I had arranged to meet my work colleague Monica in the afternoon for a walk around Plymouth Hoe and we had a good natter and catch up outside of the confines of the workplace. I took my camera and binoculars with me but the wind had strengthened and it was too strong and too gelid to look out for any birds this time.

Friday 12th February was another very cold and very windy day and a walk around Plymouth Hoe was very bracing to say the least. The tide was low and only a single Turnstone was seen down on the rocks while a Great Northern Diver was living up to its name in the choppy seas off Fisherman's Nose.

Great Northern Diver

With the low tide the walls of the Sutton Harbour lock gates were very exposed and amongst the Limpets and Barnacles on the walls were some large shells which I think are Pacific Oysters, an introduced species now beginning to expand its range and cause environmental problems. Originally brought to Cornish estuaries for aquaculture (human consumption), UK waters were considered to be too cold for them to successfully breed in the wild but guess what, they're not, and now they are found all along the South Coast of England. 

Pacific Oysters

Saturday 13th February was yet another grey and freezing cold day with a strong easterly wind but I headed off (relatively) early for the high tide roost at Blaxton Meadow on the River Plym, arriving on site at around 9am. The Meadow was flooded and bird packed with 6 Greenshank and a Bar-tailed Godwit found amongst the Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin and Oystercatcher but there was no sign of the reported Grey Plover although other birders on site had seen it earlier. Teal numbers had increased to 8 birds (1 male) and there were also 21 Wigeon (11 males) present along with Mallard and Shelduck and the Barnacle Goose was in amongst the Canada Goose flock.

Bar-tailed Godwit with Curlew

Bar-tailed Godwit with Curlew

Teal

Out on the river there were 8 Goosanders (4 male), 3 Red-breasted Mergansers (2 male) and 6 Little Grebe and eventually I found the Grey Plover feeding out on the mudflats, my first for Plymouth. 

Goosanders

Red-breasted Mergansers

Grey Plover

Grey Plover 

Greenshank

Dunlin

A Coot was a big surprise bobbing around on the river and looking quite unsettled, it came ashore onto the mudflats briefly before flying upriver and landing on the water again but it looked nervous and unhappy.

Coot

The usual birds were also noted - Lesser Black-backed, Greater Black-backed, Common, Herring and Black-headed Gulls, a Little Egret, Cormorant, Nuthatch, Coal Tit, Ring-necked Parakeets ( including a Blue one), Stock Dove, a Buzzard and a Moorhen - and I also found a single Roe Deer and some Violets in flower.

Violet

Local Lock Down Wildlife Walk

The Lock Down of the UK due to the Coronavirus was instigated on March 23rd as expected with the only reasons now to leave your home being to buy food, to go to work if you can't work from home, to care for a vulnerable person and for exercise. I have to buy food and as an NHS keyworker I have to go to work but I am keeping away from helping to care for my vulnerable mother-in-law who is in a high risk group.

My exercise is my wildlife walking but my options are now limited although Plymouth Hoe, The River Plym and Saltram Park are all reachable by foot from my front door and so these places will become my hopefully weekly allowed exercise walks by following these rules - social distancing is to be maintained by keeping 2 metres apart from others when out of the house, not meeting up with friends and family when out and to only walk with members of your household, all of which are fine by me. And so with the settled, dry, sunny but cool and windy weather continuing I needed to get out for a walk on Saturday 28th March and walked from home to Saltram Park and back.

It was a glorious day and especially welcome after what seems to have been 5 months of continuous rain and wind and people were out and about walking or cycling although numbers were much, much lower than would normally be expected.

It was odd to see the roads and paths so quiet and to cross the road or move away from walkers and cyclists in order to keep 2 metres apart and I found myself avoiding eye contact with anyone passing me by instead of offering a greeting as I usually do with everybody else seeming to be doing the same.

It was great to be out and about though and I had a very enjoyable walk with the highlights being a Greenshank and a male Goosander along the River Plym while within Saltram Park Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Nuthatch, 3 Stock Doves, a pair of Mandarin Ducks on a pond in the woods (where dogs are usually disturbing any birds present) and a Mistle Thrush were seen.

 Greenshank, River Plym

 Mandarin Duck, Saltram

Mandarin Duck, Saltram

I didn't hear any Ring-necked Parakeets but a Green Woodpecker constantly yaffled away near Saltram House but kept itself out of sight. I hear Green Woodpeckers regularly but often struggle to see them, their yaffling being almost a mocking laugh aimed at me.

Violets were flowering and Bees and Bee Flys were buzzing and I had a brief view of a tatty Small Tortoiseshell along with better views of a few Peacock and Comma.

 Violets, Saltram

 Bee Sp., Saltram

 Peacock Butterfly, Saltram

 Peacock Butterfly, Saltram 

Comma, Saltram

Roe Deer were feeding out on the grass before retreating to the safety of the nearby hillside to chew the cud and a total of 14 were seen, the highest count I have had for them in Saltram Park.

 Roe Deer, Saltram

A strange walk but very much needed and very restorative in these weird and frankly scary times. My work is stressful and difficult enough on a good day and wildlife watching (and chocolate and alcohol!) gets me through it and with a complete shit storm potentially hitting my work place soon I need even more to loose myself in the natural world.

I have already been lamenting the loss of getting out for the spring migration but am hopeful of catching up with some of the summer migrants as they return south in the autumn, assuming that things may be a little less restrictive then than they are now and assuming I stay well and healthy. And in the bigger scheme of what is going on in the world at the moment there is always (hopefully) next year.

Having the River Plym, Plymouth Hoe and Saltram close by is a big plus and at least I will be able to get out there and find some good stuff - unless the rules change. And it will be good for my waist line too!

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

Little and Lesser Waders

Thursday 19th September was warm and sunny but with a strong easterly wind and so we decided to head off to the beach at Cawsands for the day. The Cawsand ferry was running from The Barbican but the service stopped after we arrived at Cawsands due to the increasing wind and low tide. An adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gull was seen flying overhead from the ferry to Cawsands but I had much better views of one resting along the shoreline by the Edgecumbe Arms pub at Cremyl while we waited for the ferry back to Plymouth.

Mediterranean Gull, Cremyl

Mediterranean Gull

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night and the following morning had a few nice moths to sort through, the highlights being a silver y, square spot rustics, a shuttle shaped dart, a light emerald and a large ranunculus.

Silver Y, Back-yard

Square Spot Rustic

Shuttle Shaped Dart

Light Emerald

Large Ranunculus

Large Ranunculus 

Friday September 20th was another warm and sunny day but with an even stronger easterly wind and so we headed off out for the day with Mother-in-law, firstly to Aveton Gifford where I was dropped off for a wander around South Efford Marsh while David and Beryl carried on to Kingsbridge.

A lesser yellowlegs had been seen on the marsh the previous day and had also been seen that morning but the birders on site when I arrived hadn't located the bird. I wandered down to the hide, seeing teal, 4 dunlin, redshank and curlews along the way along with a smart comma butterfly. From the hide I could see some waders roosting at the back of the marsh but they were distant and obscured and the harsh light and strong wind hampered viewing. As the tide receded the waders flew out to the estuary, a mix of greenshank and redshank, and 2 birds were left behind, a black-tailed godwit and the lesser yellowlegs. It began to feed along the waters edge but never came any closer with the viewing conditions remaining difficult but I was glad to see it, my 4th UK sighting of one.

Comma, South Efford Marsh

It was soon time for me to be picked up and we all carried on to nearby Bigbury for a walk over to Burgh Island for refreshments in The Pilchard Inn. It was great fun walking across to the Island as we were sand blasted in the strong winds blowing right across the beach and needless to say I didn't get my binoculars or camera out due to the danger of sand scratching my lenses.

Saturday 21st September and my planned pelagic trip out to The Eddytsone from Plymouth with the DBWPS Group was cancelled for a second time due to the weather conditions and so I caught the train down to Hayle for a look around. I almost decided against going as the weather forecast was for rain but I'm glad I made the effort as I had a great time and the rain held off until I headed home.

On arriving at Hayle at around 10:45hrs I walked over to the Carnsew Pool but with the tide still high there was no exposed mud and therefore no birds other than a pair of little grebes. I had a quick look up the estuary from the embankment wall of the Pool and found an osprey sat on a post out in the river but by the time I had walked along the road to get a closer view it had flown off! However it soon returned and gave some great views as it flew around the estuary spooking all the birds and hovering over the water and diving unsuccessfully for fish before disappearing from view.

Osprey, Hayle Estuary

A group of small waders were feeding in the saltmarsh where views were difficult in the vegetation but scanning through them I noted dunlin, ringed plover, turnstone and a ruff but no sign of the recently reported little stints. On Ryan's Field 2 more ruff were found amongst the roosting curlew and bar-tailed godwits along with a single black-tailed godwit and a lapwing while over on the estuary on the dropping tide I found 2 knot and a very nice spotted redshank with oystercatchers, greenshanks and redshanks plus a variety of Mediterranean gulls amongst the roosting and preening gull flock.

Greenshank

Amongst the wigeon, teal and Canada geese out on the estuary were 6 pale-bellied brent geese, only my 2nd Hayle sighting, but despite scanning around I still couldn't find any little stints and so I headed back down to the Carnsew Poool for another look. The mud was beginning to be exposed and I found a few bar-tailed godwits busily feeding when a small wader flew over my head and landed out on the mud - a little stint! It gave some great views before it flew off after a few minutes but I was very pleased to see it after a blank year last year.

 Pale-bellied Brent Goose

 Pale-bellied Brent Geese

 Little Stint

 Little Stint

Little Stint

I walked back up the estuary to St.Erth to catch the train home and as I reached the causeway bridge for a last quick scan around the osprey returned, flying over the estuary and spooking everything before landing on the post again, a nice end to a great day in what has been a great wildlife watching week.

Osprey