River Plym and Rame Head

Sunday 18th October was sunny and calm and so I decided to have my usual River Plym/Saltram wander on the last day of my "Should have been in France" weekend off. 

The tide was ebbing but it had been a very high tide and Blaxton Meadow was totally underwater again with 27 Curlew roosting on one of the small islands before flying off out onto the mudflats. A female Wigeon and 5 Shelduck were out on the water and a Kingfisher was perched in a tree along the river embankment before flying upriver.

Ring-necked Parakeets were heard squawking away in the trees along with a yaffling Green Woodpecker and the usual birds were seen including Nuthatch, Jay, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, 9+ Stock Dove, Long-tailed Tit, a Great-spotted Woodpecker and 2 Chiffchaff. A few Speckled Wood were still flitting about in sheltered spots too. 

Speckled Wood

Out on the estuary a Dunlin and 3 Greenshank were feeding with Redshank, Curlew and 4 Oystercatcher. Mallard, Canada Geese, Cormorant, Little Egret and Grey Heron were seen too. 

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night, the first night that has been dry and above 10 degrees for some time, and in the morning I had 3 moths of 3 species, 3 more than I had expected - a Light Brown Apple Moth, a Rusty Dot Pearl and an Angle Shades. 

Angle Shades

Monday 19th October and a sunny start gave way to grey skies and a chilly breeze on my walk around Rame Head with work colleague Sue and her dog Daisy. We hoped to see some Dolphins but were out of luck although the usual Gannets were seen offshore along with a few Kittiwake and at least 3 Mediterranean Gull (1 2nd winter and 2 adults).

A Stonechat, 2 Chiffchaff and a Firecrest were seen on our walk around the cliffs where 3 Fallow Deer were seen feeding. Swallow, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were seen overhead and a few Meadow Pipits were heard flying over too.

Fallow Deer

A Yellow Dip and a Yellow Hit

I had taken a days annual leave on Friday 16th October and had requested the Saturday and Sunday off after in order to go on our annual weekend trip to France by ferry from Plymouth to Roscoff but with the COVID-19 restrictions on travel continuing we have had to give it a miss this year. I was unable to cancel my annual leave and so with 3 days off and with no rain forecasted for a change I decided I would have some birdy time to myself instead, beginning with a trip to Rame Head.

It was bright and breezy as I arrived at Rame on Friday morning at around 10:30am and a quick scan offshore from the clifftops revealed swirling groups of Gannets and Kittiwakes and a few splashes of cetacean activity but all too far away to view well.

I carried on to Rame Church where Yellow-browed Warblers had been reported and needless to say I didn't see any (although up to 7 were reported that day) but I had a good time anyway.

Highlights around the church were a Spotted Flycatcher, a female type Black Redstart, a Firecrest and a flyover Swallow along with 2 Goldcrest and 8+Chiffchaff and quite a few Red Admirals and a few Speckled Wood. I did hear a Yellow-browed Warbler calling twice but it turned out to be a birder playing it on his phone! 

Spotted Flycatcher

Spotted Flycatcher

Red Admiral

I walked out to The Chapel at Rame Head for a closer scan offshore and had better views of Gannets and Kittiwakes along with an adult winter plumaged Mediterranean Gull but the Common Dolphins remained secretive and elusive with just the odd splashes at the surface. A Wall flitting about around The Chapel in the sunshine was a nice sight.

Wall

A nice day out, a bit too twitchy for me with quite a few birders out and about looking for the Yellow-browed Warblers but nice to catch up with a few familiar faces despite the dip.

Saturday 17th October was grey and claggy but I headed out to South Efford Marsh at Aveton Gifford anyway to look for a reported Lesser Yellowlegs. I arrived at around 11am and met a birder just leaving the nature reserve who hadn't seen the bird but I carried onwards to the hide with high hopes.

South Efford Marsh

I scanned around from the hide for around an hour as the tide ebbed and the marsh began to slowly drain and noted a Kingfisher, 4 Greenshank, a Chiffchaff, a Shelduck, a Grey Heron, a female Teal, 2 Little Egret and a flyover Greylag Geese along with the usual Mallard, Redshank, Curlew, Mute Swan and Gulls including an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

I concentrated on scanning the right side of the marsh as viewed from the hide where the Lesser Yellowlegs has mostly been seen but there was no sign of it. However when I eventually scanned to the left of the hide there it was, feeding right out in the open on the marsh with a Greenshank and a Redshank. 

Lesser Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

I left the hide to view the bird from the footpath and had some great views as it fed, preened, pooped and regurgitated small pellets. Certainly the best views of Lesser Yellowlegs I have ever had and much better than last years distant and heat hazy views at this site. And I had it all to myself with 3 more birders not arriving until I was just about to leave.

Ring Ouzels in The Mist and a Lesser Yellowlegs in Cornwall

Thursday 30th October and we headed off to Shipley Bridge for a walk up to the Avon Dam where there have been recent reports of ring ouzels. It was half term but a grey and cloudy day so it wasn't as busy as I expected but walking up to the Avon Dam and it became very moist and misty and dull, not great for birding, but in the gloom I did see a goldcrest amongst a feeding flock of blue tits and long tailed tits, and a nice pair of bullfinches.

A distinct call heard in the mist had me quickly searching around and I managed to just about see a ring ouzel flying in to a hawthorn bush before 3 flew out of it and off in to the mist - not great views but a year tick none the less (number 199). Walking further up the valley and the distinct call was heard again and 6 ring ouzels were seen flying up over the bracken before landing in a tree on the hillside. Eventually 2 birds flew down towards the footpath, a male and a juvenile, giving some nice views as they fed on hawthorn haws before flying back up the hillside. The birds were very mobile and flighty and vocal and joined by a few redwings and blackbirds, the most I saw at any one time were 6 but there must have been more than this present with at least 2 juveniles. Lovely birds and the most I have seen together despite the poor visibility although annoyingly the weather cleared by the time we got back to the car. 

 

Ring Ouzel, Avon Dam - photo courtesy of Devon Birds Website ( I forgot my camera!)

Saturday 1st November and I headed off to Hayle in Cornwall on the train (half the price on a Saturday compared to a week day ticket). The viaduct at Hayle is being closed for maintenance work on the 8th to 23rd November and travelling arrangements will be a lot more complicated with trains stopping and starting at Truro and so it seemed a good day to go and have a look for the recently reported lesser yellowlegs. It arrived after my visit on the 16th October (when I saw the whooper swan), having arrived after the remnants of Hurricane Gonzales swept across the Atlantic on the 20th.

It has been showing on Copperhouse Creek in Hayle, somewhere I haven't visited for ages as I usually visit the Carnsew Pool, Ryans Field and the Hayle Estuary when I go birding here. I soon found it on the incoming tide feeding with a redshank but by the time I had got my telescope set up it had flown off! I soon refound it feeding with a group of around 20 redshanks when it was surprisingly easy to lose sight of despite its smaller size, more delicate and tapered build and obviously yellow legs - my third lesser yellowlegs and year tick number 200. I had some nice scope views but with the distance and light my photos weren't that great.

 Lesser Yellowlegs (centre), Copperhouse Creek

 Lesser Yellowlegs (left)

 Lesser Yellowlegs (upper right)

 Lesser Yellowlegs (upper middle)

Lesser Yellowlegs (right)



With the tide coming in and rain forecasted for later in the day I headed off to Penzance on the train for a look around. I walked out along the seawall path which has now reopened to have a look around the Sainsburys area for the rose coloured starling but drew a blank despite it being seen daily since my visit on the 16th. I had a scan offshore in the strengthening wind and there were large numbers of gannets diving for fish, mostly adults and with a few birds quite close to shore. A few kittiwakes were also seen with herring and great black backed gulls and a Sandwich tern. A nice surprise was a male eider, presumably the male that over wintered last year, and a female common scoter with both birds close to shore and enjoying the more sheltered waters provided by the harbour quay.

Heading home and the train was delayed due to a technical fault and it was also busy with lots of families heading home after spending half term in Cornwall but at least I arrived home before the rain did.