October Blues but a Rosy Ending

October trundles on, not my favourite month of the year (the clocks go back, it gets darker for longer, the garden dies back, butterflies disappear, Halloween, Christmas on its way, cold, wet and windy, the central heating goes on, etc.). but at least it is nearly over. I'm feeling quite lethargic and listless and generally fed up but hopefully I'll shake off this fugue sometime soon. 

A planned trip to the Avon Dam with Mavis was unfortunately cancelled but there have been very few Ring Ouzel sightings at this site so far this year along with reports of a poor Rowan berry crop and so it looks to be a Ring Ouzel-less year this year for me. However with a free day on Friday 22nd October David and I took a walk to the Avon Dam for a look around and while we had an enjoyable walk as always it was unfortunately Ring Ouzel-less as expected. In fact it was pretty birdless with just 3 Blackbirds, a Chaffinch, Woodpigeons, Carrion Crows, a Jay, a Kestrel, a Skylark and a few Great, Blue and Long-tailed Tits seen.

Avon Dam

There were Rowan berries on the trees but maybe not so many as usual but in the past few days up to 14 Ring Ouzels have been seen at the Avon Dam so I guess we just got our timings wrong.

The weather is the usual October joy - cool, wet, windy, unsettled - and with few birds being reported I took a walk at Wembury on Wednesday 27th October on a blustery, cloudy morning. I wasnt expecting much but on arriving there were good numbers of Gannets swirling around offshore with quite a few close in around The Mewstone and so I set off along the muddy coast path towards The Point for a better look.

The Gannets were putting on quite a show, busily diving into the water and mostly adults but with juveniles and immatures amongst them. Also present were Kittiwakes including good numbers of juveniles with their smart black W upperwing markings being very noticeable along with the usual Herring, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls.

Further offshore more Gannets and Kittiwakes were moving west but by around 12pm everything had moved through and the sky was empty save for a few Gulls. Right place, right time for a change.

Also seen along the walk were 3 Little Egret, 4 Curlew and 40 Oystercatcher roosting at The Point, 21 Mallard (13 male) around the Sewage Pipe, a Great Spotted Woodpecker at The Pines and 3 Buzzards overhead. A 1st winter Common Gull off the Main Beach and at least 3 Mediterranean Gulls amongst the feeding mellee added to the Gull species total for the day.

Mallards, Wembury

Mallards

A planned Devonport Leat walk on Dartmoor on Thursday 28th October before a nights stay at The Two Bridges Hotel for our friend Julie's birthday was abandoned as the weather was so foul but the next morning the weather had improved and we managed a walk around Burrator Reservoir after our stay before heading home. Not much was seen in the way of birds but 5 Cormorant were drying their wings on the floating bridge while being watched by an adult Great Black-backed Gull and the resident White Goose was present at The Small Dam with a Canada Goose and Mallards. 

Burrator Reservoir Dam

I had Saturday 30th October to myself and was undecided as to where to go - Pendeen for a Brown Shrike, Slapton Ley for Snow Buntings or Berry Head for Pomarine Skuas and with gales and rain forecasted overnight on Friday 29th I chose Berry Head. However after an early start which saw me arriving at Berry Head at around 8:30am it was calm and still with an increasingly sunny sky and it seemed I had chosen unwisely with the forecasted weather not really delivering. 

Scanning offshore and there was a large feeding flock of Kittiwakes and Gannets spread across the Bay, I've never seen so many Kittiwakes together before and again there were quite a few juveniles amongst them. A few Mediterranean Gulls were picked out amongst the throng along with Herring, Black-headed, Common and Great Black-backed Gulls, Shag, Guillemot and Razorbill. 

A Great Skua was picked up in the mellee, it flew quite close in before heading back out to sea with a second bird also called but I was unable to get onto it. An Arctic Skua was also seen distantly harassing a Kittiwake before disappearing out of sight around the headland. Frustratingly I also found a probable Pomarine Skua as it headed in towards the shore but I moved slightly and then couldn't refind it, a rookie mistake indeed.

Overhead a brief Swallow was a nice surprise with 4 Skylark and 2 Siskin also noted and in the quarry 2 Coal Tit were seen with Blue and Great Tits but I decided to head back earlier than originally planned and revisit Foxhole in Paignton to have another look for the Rose-coloured Starling. 

No sooner had I stepped off the bus than I found the Rose-coloured Starling perched on wires nearby amongst a flock of noisey Starlings and over the next hour I had some lovely views of it although it was mobile and flighty around the rooftops and wires along with its common cousins.

Rose-coloured Starling

Rose-coloured Starling

Rose-coloured Starling

Rose-coloured Starling

Rose-coloured Starling

Rose-coloured Starling 

(And the Brown Shrike and the Snow Buntings showed beautifully that day!). 

Rose-coloured Starling

The long range weather forecast for Thursday 21st October had been looking promising for a Berry Head Seawatch but as the day drew nearer the forecast kept changing and eventually a storm blew threw overnight on the 20th and the 21st was clear with a North West wind. I had considered heading down to St.Ives again but after working a night shift I didn't fancy a very early start and a long (and more expensive) train journey so headed to Berry Head anyway for a look around, more in hope than expectation.

It was a breezey morning with a cool North Westerly wind but the sun was shining and it was nice to finally get to Berry Head on what is my first and now probably my only visit of this year.

I arrived down in the quarry at around 09:30am and a lone birder was perched up on the rocks at the usual seawatching platform. It was too exposed and cold for me in the wind and so I hunkered down on the rocks below a nearby cliff. 

Trawler heading in to Brixham Harbour

I scanned around offshore with my scope and found a large and strung out mass of feeding birds consisting of Gannets, Kittiwakes and Herring Gulls with a few Mediterranean Gulls, Black-headed Gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls, Common Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull amongst them. Guillemots were whizzing across the waves in small groups and pitching down on the sea and a few Shag were also picked up amongst the waves. 

The light was harsh and the birds distant but I did eventually pick up a pale phase Arctic Skua which flew in to attack a group of feeding Kittiwakes, scattering birds everywhere including the Kittiwakes resting on the sea, but it quickly disappeared around the headland and was lost from sight. I also picked up a Great Skua which came quite close in, it was chasing Kittiwakes as it moved closer to shore before seeming to change its mind and heading back out to sea. 

The only other birds of note offshore were a Swallow flying west and 5 Common Scoter (3 male flying east, 1 male flying east and a female flying west) while in the quarry itself a Raven, a pair of Stonechat and a few calling Chiffchaff were noted. 

I decided to call it a day on the seawatching front and walked back to Brixham to catch the bus back to Paignton but on arriving back in Paignton I decided to have a look for the juvenile Rose-coloured Starling being seen on a nearby Paignton housing estate. I had bought a day rider bus ticket anyway and there was a bus stop right at the spot where the bird was mostly being seen and so off I headed. 

Armed with Google Maps on my phone and the information gleaned from bird news on the internet I soon found the right place and immediately saw the Rose-coloured Starling perched on a roof with some Starlings. They were hanging out on the roof of a house near a garden with bird feeders full of fat balls and I was pleased at how quickly I had found it.

Rose-coloured Starling

I watched it for a few minutes and even got my scope out for a better look but a noisey car drove past and spooked all the birds and off it flew. I then spent the next hour and a half wandering around the area checking out all the small groups of Starlings that were flying around, perching up on wires and roofs or feeding on the fat balls but unfortunately I never refound the Rose-coloured Starling.

It was soon time to catch the bus back to the railway station but while waiting for the bus a small looking falcon flying high overhead caught my attention and on checking it out I  realised it was a female/juvenile Merlin, a very smart looking bird and a complete surprise as it headed off inland.

Rose Coloured Starling and Whooper Swans

A grey, misty, dull, mild and breezey day and so I headed off to Penzance in Cornwall by train with 3 target birds to see for my year list. Arriving in Penzance at 10:15am and I headed off towards Marazion by foot, taking the road route rather than the seawall path as one of my target birds has been showing around the Sainsburys/Morrisons/B&Q car parks along this road. Just as well as the seawall path is closed in places due to repair work being done following the winter storms earlier in the year.

I had a scan around the area for target bird number one, a rose-coloured starling, that has been showing in the area recently. I had a good look at any starling that flew over or perched on a lamp post but with no luck and so I headed off towards Long Rock Pool at Marazion to look for target bird number two, a garganey, which had been showing here for the past few days. Unfortunately it was also a no-show but I did see 3 little grebes, 11 moorhen, 1 coot, 1 cormorant and a lesser black backed gull bathing amongst the herring and black headed gulls. I had a look around Marazion Marsh in case it had moved to there but with no luck again, seeing 3 juv/female teal, 1 little grebe, 5 little egrets, 1 snipe, 1 grey wagtail and a flyover great spotted woodpecker. It was quite a surprise to see how low the water levels were at Marazion Marsh after a very dry September.

Deciding the garganey was a bust I headed off back to Sainsburys for another go at the rose-coloured starling, again checking out all the starlings flying around. It looked like it was going to be a bust too but I eventually saw a large flock of starlings perched on wires by the road opposite B&Q  and scanning through them I eventually found the rose-coloured starling amongst them, sticking out like a sore thumb with its pale, buffy plumage compared to the dark starlings. I tried to get closer views but the birds all took off and the rosy starling disappeared off towards Penzance. A few minutes later it returned and gave some nice views for around 20 minutes as it dozed perched on the wires amongst the starlings before they all took off and headed off towards Marazion.

 Awful photo of Rose Coloured Starling (centre) with Starlings

Rose Coloured Starling (right)



I then jumped on the bus to St.Erth before walking down to the Hayle Estuary where target bird number 3 were showing, 6 beautiful whooper swans which arrived here 2 days ago. I had some really nice views as they fed, preened and slept on the mud flats although they seemed a little nervy and didn't rest for any long periods. I had seen them distantly from the train earlier on my journey to Penzance, they seemed nervy then and I had expected them to maybe have left by the time I returned and so I was very pleased to see them still present.

 Whooper Swans, Hayle

 Whooper Swans

Five (+1)(Whooper) Swans a Swimming



I also had some good views of 3 grey plover, 4 ringed plover, 2 turnstone, 1 oystercatcher, 2 greenshanks, 3 bar tailed godwits, 3 lapwing, curlew and dunlin. 8 Sandwich terns were diving for fish on The Carnsew Pool, 2 were juveniles and as usual very noisey. Mediterranean gulls were very much in evidence, maybe 50+ birds, I have never seen so many together before and in a range of plumages. The adults in winter plumage were especially stunning in flight despite the gloomy light. 6 redwings flying over were a hint of winter yet to come.

Heading home before the showers arrived and I felt exhausted but very pleased to have seen 2 of my target birds, with my year list now on 197 birds (!).