Muddy Walks

The weather continues to be relentless in bringing yet more wind and rain and bird watching opportunities have remained limited but with a night shift looming on Monday 2nd March I decided to brave the strong winds and squally showers and have a quick morning walk along the River Plym. It was wet and muddy underfoot and I got soaked by the showers but I did manage to see a few Redwings feeding on ivy berries, a pair of Bullfinch, 2 Jay, 4 Stock Dove and a skulking female Blackcap in Saltram Park and on the Plym on the high tide there were a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers and 2 male Goosanders. I also managed to find a single Jack Snipe on my wanderings along with 9 distant Roe Deer.

Wednesday 4th March and we visited Saltram House on another grey, wet and windy day with the highlight being the elusive female Red-crested Pochard finally giving itself up as it tarted around at point blank range on the stable pond by the cafe - presumably it is the same bird that has been seen on and off on the Plym for the last couple of years that I have continuously dipped and which has also been reported from Burrator Reservoir (where I did manage to see it on one occassion) and Portworthy Dam.

Thursday 5th March was dry but cloudy and breezy and we visited the National Trust estate at Parke near Bovey Tracy, our first visit there, and after lunch in the cafe we had a muddy walk around the woodland and along the very swollen river where the only birds of note were a showy pair of Mistle Thrush feeding in the fields and a fly over Raven.

Friday 6th March and we drove out to Lopwell Dam for a walk but the paths were a complete mudfest and it was showery and breezy yet again and so we didn't walk far. Along the river 4 Common Sandpipers were seen along with 2 pairs of Grey Wagtails and there were lots of beautiful daffodils in flower. In between the showers a male Sparrowhawk and 6+Buzzards displayed overhead but the highlight were 30+ Ravens croaking and tumbling together over the trees in a mass display.

Daffodils, Lopwell

Daffodils, Lopwell

And with a feeling of deja vu on Monday 9th March I decided to have a walk along the River Plym again before yet another dreaded night shift, setting out early at 9am in order to be back home before the forecasted rain and wind rolled in.

I had left my camera at home on my visit to Saltram House on the 4th March and so I wanted to return to the stable pond to try and get some photos of the Red-crested Pochard and I wasn't disappointed as it showed very well. Initially it was asleep amongst the assorted Mallards before waking up to feed on grain being thrown into the water by Yummy Mummies with kids although it was quite wary and wouldn't come close to people. It was interesting to watch it dive for the sunken grain while the Mallards and 3 pairs of Mandarin Ducks dabbled for the grain on the surface instead.

Mandarin and Red-crested Pochard, Saltram

Mallard and Red-crested Pochard, Saltram

Mandarin and Red-crested Pochard, Saltram

Red-crested Pochard, Saltram

Red-crested Pochard, Saltram

Red-crested Pochard, Saltram

Red-crested Pochard, Saltram

Mandarin, Saltram

Mandarin, Saltram

In Saltram Woods a pair of Ring-necked Parakeets showed very well low down in a tree as they excavated a nest hole while another bird was heard screeching nearby, and the Woods also held a few skittish Redwings feeding on ivy berries, a singing Mistle Thrush, a showy Jay, a Nuthatch, at least 3 Stock Doves and a singing Goldcrest.

Ring-necked Parakeet , Saltram

Ring-necked Parakeet, Saltram

Along the River Plym I found 3 Greenshank, a pair of Goosander, 5 Mute Swans and a Common Sandpiper along with all the usuals - Redshank, Common Gull, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Shelduck, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Mallard, etc.

Goosander, River Plym

Common Sandpiper, River Plym

Primrose and Daffodil were flowering and I found some pretty looking Scarlet Elf Cup fungus on a dead log along with an unknown fungus species and despite the weather it was feeling, dare I say it, a little Spring like - thank goodness although I hope the weather soon dries up a bit. And I managed to get back home before it started to rain yet again!

Scarlet Elf Cup, Saltram

Fungus, Saltram

Amarylis Flowers in my Living Room

Long-billed Dowitcher, Bowling Green Marsh

Saturday 19th October was sunny and mild and so I decided to finally head off to Bowling Green Marsh at Topsham for the high tide wader roost in the hope of catching up with the long-billed dowitcher that has been gracing the River Exe for a couple of weeks now. I saw my first and only long-billed dowitcher at Bowling Green Marsh back in 2007, poor and distant and obscured views amongst the wader roost and without the use of a telescope, and I was very keen to get some better views this time.

I felt tired and groggy after my night shift on Thursday but I was full of hope and expectation as I caught the 08:25 train from Plymouth, getting some nice views of ring-necked parakeets feeding in the trees opposite the station entrance before I caught my train.

 Ring-necked Parakeet

 Ring-necked Parakeet

Ring-necked Parakeet

I arrived in Topsham on time at 10:08 and walked down to the hide at Bowling Green Marsh but with the high tide due at 10:30 I was surprised to find it almost empty although it did get very busy and noisy later. There was already a large roost of waders out on the marsh but viewing was difficult in the poor light looking into the sun but amongst the curlew, redshank, lapwing, black-tailed godwits and bar-tailed godwits I did find a single dunlin and a lone whimbrel.

Wigeon, teal, mallard, pintail, shoveler, moorhen, a coot, a little grebe, 2 tufted duck, little egret and grey heron were all seen but despite searching I couldn't find the dowitcher amongst the waders. A sparrowhawk flew over twice putting up most of the waders but there was still no sign of the dowitcher amongst the waders when they eventually resettled on the marsh.

Waders were beginning to fly off towards the River Clyst as the tide turned and eventually I caught a very brief view of the dowitcher amongst the throng of waders but it was obscured and difficult to view before it promptly went to sleep with its head under its wing. It awoke a few times and moved position but still remained obscured before I eventually lost sight of it altogether but at least I had seen it.

I decided to head over to the viewing platform overlooking the River Clyst as the waders continued to fly off from the marsh in the hope that the dowitcher would be amongst them and within a few minutes of scanning through the waders feeding out on the increasingly exposed mud I found it amongst a group of redshanks and managed to get some great views of it. It was smaller than I expected and looked like the love child of a snipe and a godwit but it was a very attractive and charismatic looking bird and quite distinctive.

 Long-billed Dowitcher with Redshank

 Long-billed Dowitcher with Redshank

 Long-billed Dowitcher

Long-billed Dowitcher

It eventually flew upriver and was lost from view but my attention was taken by a lovely great white egret feeding in the river channel with little egrets, a very nice surprise and only my second ever sighting of one in Devon.

 Great White Egret with Litlle Egrets

Great White Egret

A kingfisher hovering over the water was nice to see, it landed on a post from where it dived and caught a fish before flying off, and eventually I refound the dowitcher feeding on the mud upriver with greenshanks and redshanks before it flew downriver again to feed on it's own opposite the viewing platform. It didn't stay for long before flying off again upriver, appearing to head over towards Bowling Green Marsh but I failed to refind it on a quick look from the hide on the walk back to the railway station in Topsham.

The journey home was subject to the usual problems with my train being cancelled from Newton Abbot resulting in a 50 minute delay but it had been a great day out and I was very pleased to see the long-billed dowitcher with the great white egret a nice bonus too.

Spotted Flycatcher, Saltram Park

Friday 24th May and we had a quick walk at Rame Head with Mother-in-law on a grey and cool morning. It was breezy but we sat on some benches in a sheltered spot and admired the view.

A few gannets were seen offshore and whitethroats and a yellowhammer were heard on the cliff slopes. Despite the weather a speckled yellow was flitting over the vegetation along with a common carpet and we also found a very small cricket nymph.

Common Carpet

Cricket Nymph

With Spring 2019 almost at an end and the only usual summer migrant I have yet to see being spotted flycatcher I headed off to Saltram Park in Plymouth for a look around following reports of birds being seen there. I have never seen one in the Plymouth area before other than 1 at Plymbridge Woods many years ago but which was almost at Bickleigh so not technically Plymouth, but SaltramPark is a big place with lots of trees and so I asked local birder Pete for some advice as to where to look.

I caught the bus to Marsh Mills and walked along the River Plym to Saltram Park, seeing an out of place collared dove out on the mudflats along the way. More usual bird sightings on the estuary were an oystercatcher managing to find lots of worms out of the mud, 2 shelduck, an adult lesser black-backed gull and 2 great black-backed gulls amongst the herring gulls, a pair of Canada geese with 5 fluffy goslings and 3 male and a female mallard flying over, while on Blaxton Meadow 9 shelduck and 2 little egret were seen.

Canada Geese with Goslings

I wandered around the Park checking out all the areas advised to me and eventually after watching blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, a jay, a buzzard, blackcaps, robins, wrens, 2 swallows, 2 ring-necked parakeets and a singing male chaffinch I finally found a spotted flycatcher sat unobtrusively in a tree and occassionally dashing out to catch passing flies before it flew off out of sight. The views were a bit distant and I later refound it or a different bird in a nearby area before it disappeared from sight again but I was very pleased to see one.

Blackbird

Ring-necked Parakeet

Heading back to Marsh Mills and I picked up a red kite drifting north high overhead and being mobbed by a carrion crow, a first for Plymouth for me too.

I stopped off at Blagdons Meadow on the journey home, the site is extremely dry from the lack of any recent rain, but I did find southern marsh orchids coming into flower and early purple orchids going over including a white form, and common blues and burnet companions were flitting about in the grass with a female sparrowhawk soaring overhead the only bird of note.

 Common Blue

 Common Blue

 Common Blue 

 Burnet Companion

Southern Marsh Orchid