A Mocking Northern Mockingbird

A Northern Mockingbird was found in an Exmouth garden back in January 2021, just as lock down began, and reports of its presence in Exmouth continued into April. Some naughty birders travelled down to Devon from afar during the lock down to look for it and fell foul of the lock down rules, being slapped with £200 fines when caught out by the police, but with the first stage of lock down easing on March 29th the exact whereabouts of the bird in Exmouth were revealed to those not in the know and as expected a deluge of birders travelled from far and wide to Exmouth to see it as witnessed by all the photos on various social media platforms. And I sat back and watched and waited until Easter came and went and with the bird still present on April 7th I decided to go and have a look for it on Thursday April 8th. Big mistake! 

The bird was being seen in gardens by a busy main road into Exmouth, the gardens a classic slice of suburbia with exotic palms and high fences and a swine to view from the pavement. A gaggle of twitchers were present when I arrived on site at around 11:40 and the mood wasn't positive with no sighting of the bird that morning. News soon broke of the Northern Mockingbird being found at a site in Sussex, some 150 miles away to the north-east, and that was that - the bird had done a moonlight flit just as I finally got around to go and see it! Oh, Bollocks! 

It was low tide and so there was no point in staying in Exmouth and so I headed over to Dawlish Warren on the opposite side of the River Exe for a look around instead and I had a very enjoyable wander about there although I couldn't help thinking that I would have enjoyed my time more if I had just stayed local to Plymouth. 

The sun was shining more and more from behind the clouds as I arrived at Dawlish Warren and as a result the Sand Crocus were showing very well, I always forget how small the flowers actually are. 

Sand Croci

Sand Crocus

A scan offshore revealed at least 14 Sandwich Tern diving for fish although they were mostly distant. A winter plumaged Great Northern Diver was a surprise with 6 summer plumaged Great Crested Grebe not so much. 

There were 3 Mallard ducklings on the Main Pond with their Mum and along with Moorhen and Canada Goose there were 2 Little Grebe with at least 2 small Grebelings. Chiffchaff were heard singing and at least 2 Willow Warblers were quietly singing in the willows too. 

Willow Warbler

Stonechat

Raven, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, Buzzard and Swallow were seen flying overhead but despite regularly scanning I didn't find myself an Osprey. 

An enjoyable but disappointing day out and while my day involved dipping the Northern Mockingbird for others 150 miles away their day provided an unexpected bonus bird beyond their wildest dreams. 

Another Red Necked Grebe

Easter Monday April 2nd was as expected for an early Easter cold and grey with spots of rain but I managed to drag myself off the sofa and headed off for a quick walk along the River Plym from Marsh Mills to Blaxton Meadow and back.

The tide was dropping but Blaxton Meadow was totally flooded so all the birds were out on the estuary mudflats and included 5 greenshank, a common sandpiper, 7 common gulls amongst the bathing and roosting herring, black headed, great black backs and lesser black backs and 6 goosanders busily diving for fish (a pair together and 4 redheads further upriver).

 Goosanders, River Plym

Little Egret

A stock dove perched in the trees, 2 singing chiffchaffs and a songflighting greenfinch were also seen but the highlight was my first willow warbler of the year busily feeding in the trees under the A38 flyover.

 Stock Dove

 Wood Anenome

Primrose

Early (Danish) Scurvy Grass

Thursday April 5th was in contrast a bright and sunny day and I considered heading out to Wembury again but the thought of the muddy footpath and Easter holiday crowds made me change plans and head off to Dawlish Warren on the train instead. The trains were delayed and cram packed but after negotiating the tourist village at Dawlish Warren and walking on into the nature reserve it became all worthwhile as the crowds melted away and wildlife appeared.

A peacock butterfly was feeding on catkin flowers and later 2 were seen duelling together as they spiralled upwards with a brief flyby comma also noted.

Peacock, Dawlish Warren

The sand crocus were in flower, initially I found 3 in flower but later on my return I counted at least 50 flowers opened up in the sunshine.

 Sand Crocus

Sand Crocus

A great spotted woodpecker and a female bullfinch were seen in the woods and 2 singing chiffchaffs were heard (with 1 seen) around the main pond. A pair of shoveler were on the full and overflowing pond along with 2 pairs of Canada geese having a goose down while a little grebe was heard trilling and a male reed bunting was seen singing in the nearby trees, my first of the year.

 Shoveler

 Shovelers

 Canada Geese

Reed Bunting

From the hide on the high tide the only waders roosting were oystercatchers while upriver distant Sandwich terns were diving for fish and 2 pairs of red breasted mergansers were fishing off Cockwood. Unfortunately I had missed a fishing osprey in front of the hide by around 30 minutes but never mind.

Offshore Sandwich terns showed a little closer with 9 great crested grebes and an immature male eider on the sea and a red throated diver flew in and did a circuit of the bay before flying back out to sea.

Heading home on the 14:23 train (packed but at least on time) I checked the Devon birds website to find a red necked grebe had been reported on the River Plym off Arnolds Point. I wasn't sure where Arnolds Point was but on arriving home I received a text from local birder Russ who was watching the grebe from Laira Bridge so I headed off straight away for a look. There was no sign of the grebe from the bridge when I arrived and I soon found Russ who had last seen the grebe moving off down river but after another scan around I found it just below Laira Bridge before it moved back under the bridge and upriver on the incoming tide - some nice views of my 4th grebe species on the Plym and my 5th for the Plymouth area.

 Red Necked Grebe, River Plym

 Red Necked Grebe

 Red Necked Grebe

Oiled Mute Swan , River Plym

More Local Birding - Water Pipit and Jack Snipe

Saturday March 25th and a beautiful sunny day at last saw me heading off to Wembury for a walk but there was a strong and cold easterly wind which hampered things a little. However it felt very spring like and I managed to collect a good range of wildlife sightings.

A pug moth was found in the toilet block, I caught it in a pot and tried to get a photo before releasing it, however I had forgotten how neurotic and skittish pug moths are and it flew off before I could get a decent snap.

Pug Moth Sp.

More cooperative was a speckled wood sunning itself in a sheltered spot out of the wind and I also managed to see a holly blue which flew past without stopping and a total of 4 peacock.

 Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood

Chiffchaffs were singing away with a few seen and I heard a male cirl bunting and had a brief view of a female. On the rocks were 2 little egrets, a grey heron, 11 oystercatcher and 3 male and a female mallard and a lone adult gannet was seen offshore. A raven had a bathe in a rock pool before having a preen on the clifftops and I heard and then saw a red legged partridge in the field above the horse field in the same spot I saw them a few weeks ago.

Red Legged Partridge

There was no sign of any wheatears but the highlight was a very handsome looking water pipit in summer plumage feeding on the beach with rock pipits and meadow pipits and pied wagtails. I have only seen a summer plumaged water pipit once before, many years ago and a very brief view as it flew off so it was very nice to get some very good views of a very attractive bird. I assume it is the regular wintering bird having moulted into summer plumage before migrating back to its breeding grounds but it was quite wary, not helped by regular disturbance by walkers along the beach, and was also regularly chased off by pied wagtails and rock pipits nearby, quite unlike the behaviour from the wintering bird.

 Water Pipit

 Water Pipit

 Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Sunday March 26th was another beautiful sunny day but again with the keen and cool wind and so I decided to finish my week off as I started it with a trip to the River Exe, this time catching the train to Dawlish and walking to Dawlish Warren for a look around. At Dawlish a grey wagtail was feeding along the stream leading down to the beach with the 3 adult black swans and the lone small cygnet feeding nearby.

Grey Wagtail, Dawlish

The sea was very choppy and rough but I managed to find 2 great crested grebe, a female common scoter and a pair of red breasted merganser offshore along with the usual shag, cormorant, herring gull and great black backed gull.

I arrived at the main pond to find a pair of birders scanning the reeds only to be informed that my target bird, a Jack snipe that has been present by the upturned boats and showing well for a few days now, had moved off and out of sight just a short while before. I decided to wander off to view the area by the upturned boats from a different position and found the bird hidden amongst the reeds and surprisingly difficult to pick out against the vegetation. I popped back to the 2 birders to let them know where it was before returning to my original spot and managed to get some fairly decent views although the bird mostly slept with its head tucked under its wing. Occasionally it would wake up and preen before returning to sleep but when it was awake it constantly bobbed up and down in a most peculiar fashion, a bit like a wagtail constantly tail wagging I suppose. It was nice to see a Jack snipe on the deck, I have only ever seen them in flight, and its short bill and dumpy profile reminded me of a miniature woodcock - cue some more awful record shot photos. 

 Jack Snipe - in the reeds to the right of the blue boat

Jack Snipe

  Jack Snipe

 Jack Snipe

 Jack Snipe

Jack Snipe

Jack Snipe

While watching the Jack snipe I also saw a male reed bunting, a female cirl bunting, a little grebe, a pair of mallard, 2 moorhen and singing chiffchaffs and a decent view of a water rail feeding along the reed edge before it realised it was being watched and disappeared into the reeds.

Water Rail - record shot

A walk around the Greenland Lake area gave a very nice view of a hunting male sparrowhawk looking gorgeous in the bright light. However I was less enamoured with it when I watched it chasing after a small bird which I initially thought was a bullfinch due to catching a flash of a white rump. A better view of the bird and I realised it was in fact a wheatear, my first of the year - luckily it escaped and flew off high to the north and I guess the sparrowhawk was just doing what sparrowhawks do.

 Male Sparrowhawk

 Male Sparrowhawk

Male Sparrowhawk

There were quite a few sand crocus flowering in the sunshine, such tiny flowers and so easily overlooked.

 Sand Crocus

 Sand Crocus

Sand Crocus

A speckled wood and a peacock were also seen but there was no sign of any commas reported yesterday.

Speckled Wood

A very nice day out and the end of another nice week off work with some interesting sightings and all within Devon and Cornwall.

Catching up with Summer Migrants

Summer migrants are now arriving in numbers and so in between work and wet weather I have been out and about trying to see them.

A quick walk at Wembury Point on 23rd April and the usual suspects were on view - 2 Canada geese resting in the wheatfield, 2 shelduck on the beach by the sewage pipe, 3 whimbrel, a raven flying out to The Mewstone, a female kestrel and singing chiffchaffs and whitethroats. Best sighting was a very smart looking wall butterfly, presumably freshly emerged and my first of the year.

Friday 25th April and I headed off to the River Exe, arriving at Exminster Marsh at 09:30 to be greeted by a singing Cettis warbler in bushes by the RSPB car park. It gave some very close views before disappearing amongst the scrub, and walking around the Marsh more Cettis warblers were seen and heard along with sedge warblers, reed warblers, chiffchaffs, blackcaps, a whitethroat and best of all 3 lesser whitethroats, a bird I do not see that often. The lesser whitethroats were mobile and vocal but gave some great views with 2 birds in the hedges along the railway line near the car park and a third bird in a hedge near the Turf Hotel.

Singing Sedge Warbler, Exminster Marsh



On the Marsh a pair of gadwall and a greenshank were seen with a pair of tufted duck diving on the lagoon. Swallows and sand martins flew over with a single house martin and a peregrine was watching all from a pylon. A hobby flew in from the south and almost casually fed on insects overhead, catching them and eating them in flight as it headed north and out of sight.

 Male Orange Tip, Exminster Marsh

Peacock, Exminster Marsh



I decided to head out to nearby Powderham Marsh, somewhere I haven't visited before, and along the way I met a birder looking for cirl buntings. I know they are in the area but have never seen them here before so suggested he try the RSPB reserve at Labrador Bay near Torquay, not far from where he was staying. He duly left and I headed on and as I passed some stubble fields 2 birds flew up into the hedge and as I got my binoculars on them I found they were a pair of cirl buntings! Another male was also seen busily singing away in a garden by the road. I only hope that the birder did eventually connect with cirl buntings somewhere in Devon.

Powderham Marsh was quiet with a greylag goose amongst the Canada geese, a pair of teal and 2 pairs of tufted duck being the best sightings, with a very smart male reed bunting and a pair of stonechats also being seen.

I then headed off to Dawlish Warren to catch the high tide and in The Bight amongst the roosting oystercatchers, ringed plover and summer plumaged dunlin were 3 whimbrel, a winter plumaged knot and a winter plumaged grey plover. A lone brent goose was resting on the golf course looking a little forlorn but later it did start feeding on the nearby grass.

Male Pheasant, Dawlish Warren



Offshore 4 adult gannets flew west and 12 whimbrel flew east, Sandwich terns were busily diving for fish and on the sea were 2 summer plumaged great crested grebes. Around the main pond 2 reed warblers were singing and a pair of little grebes were feeding 2 chicks with a second pair of adults nearby. A lone sand martin was flying over the water and was showing some interest in the artificial nesting bank.

2 Little Grebe Chicks, Dawlish Warren Main pond



A male sparrowhawk gave a great view perched on a sign before flying off in hunting mode and fortunately didn't notice a very smart male cirl bunting in some nearby bushes with possibly a female bird as well, my first Dawlish Warren sighting. A very large brown rat was seen crossing the footpath near the railway station and it was nice to see some sand crocus still in flower too.

 Male Sparrowhawk, Dawlish Warren

Male Cirl bunting, Dawlish Warren

Sand Crocus, Dawlish Warren



Sunday 27th April and a wet and windy walk to the Avon Dam was quiet bird wise but I did see my first willow warblers of the year along with a male stonechat, a male reed bunting and a grey wagtail, and on the way home I saw some early purple orchids by the roadside near the A38.

Early Purple Orchid