Water Pipit at Wembury

As often happens at this time of year my Birding Mojo has somewhat waned and I'm happy just sitting on the settee checking out the bird news on the Internet without actually wanting to get out and about for myself (a long staying Little Auk in Weymouth Harbour did pique my interest but it's too far from home for me). 

I've been pottering about and catching up on chores and have been quite happy doing so as the "horrors" of Christmas rapidly approach but after 2 night shifts and a free day off I decided to visit Wembury for a walk on Wednesday 24th November, more for some fresh air and exercise after my night shifts than for a birding fix.

The mild weather has finally given way to a cold snap and it was a grey and chilly day as I headed off on the bus and I wore my winter coat for the first time this winter. The cold weather meant it was quieter at Wembury than usual although there was still quite a bit of the usual disturbance along the beach.

A Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Song Thrush and 10 Long-tailed Tits were seen in the village gardens on the walk down to the main beach while at The Pines another Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 female Blackcap and 4 Song Thrushes were also noted.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Wembury Village

Offshore a few Gannets were seen along with the usual Shag, Cormorant and Gulls including a winter plumaged Mediterranean Gull while along the beach 4 Curlew, a Little Egret, a Common Sandpiper, Oystercatchers and 30 Mallard were seen including the feral type male first seen last week.

Common Sandpiper

At least 3 male Cirl Buntings were singing in the brief sunny spells and a small flock of around 10 Cirl Buntings were feeding along the beach out of the wind along with a group of around 15 Linnet. Stonechats were showing well along the footpath and a male Kestrel and 2 Raven flew overhead. 

I checked out the birds feeding on the rotting seaweed mass along the beach and amongst the Pied Wagtails, Rock Pipits and Meadow Pipits I found a Grey Wagtail, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Wren, Robin and Blackbird but best of all was a very smart looking Water Pipit, my first of the year. 

Water Pipit 

Water Pipit

Water Pipit

It really stood out amongst the other Pipits present and was a pleasure to watch and while flighty and mobile it always returned to the same area which it defended by chasing off any Rock Pipits or Meadow Pipits that came near. Hopefully it will set up a territorial feeding area and stay for the winter. 

Water Pipit

November is often a good month to find Water Pipit at Wembury although last year's November bird was never seen again so hopefully this one will stay. 

Water Pipit

It was soon time to head back home with a Grey Squirrel in the village gardens on the walk up to the bus stop the only other sighting of note but I was glad to have gotten out birding with the Water Pipit getting my pulse racing a little bit and also a little bit of my Birding Mojo back. 

River Plym Birding

Monday 9th August was warm but overcast and so we took a walk around Burrator Reservoir on Dartmoor. It was relatively quiet but by the time we left the cars and crowds were beginning to arrive.

A winter plumaged Great Crested Grebe out on the reservoir was a nice find (a presumed immature bird), 6 noisy Raven were displaying overhead and 6 Cormorant were roosting on the barrage but the highlight were at least 3 Silver-washed Fritillary flitting about despite the lack of sunshine.

Silver-washed Fritillary

Silver-washed Fritillary

Tuesday 10th August and a sunny morning and an 8am high tide on the River Plym saw me heading out for my usual Plym/Saltram walk. It has been 9 weeks since my last visit and it was nice to be back on site.

The high tide roost on Blaxtons Meadow provided the most interest with 2 Common Sandpiper, 4 Greenshank, 3 Oystercatcher, 37 Curlew, Redshanks, 2 juvenile Shelduck, 2 Kingfishers, an adult winter plumaged Mediterranean Gull, 2 Grey Heron and 14 Little Egrets all noted with 4 Ring-necked Parakeets and 2 Stock Doves flying around overhead with Swallows.

Kingfisher with Black-headed Gulls

Common Sandpiper

I had a good scan through the assorted gulls out on the Meadow as Yellow-legged Gulls have recently been reported here but other than the Mediterranean Gull I couldn't find anything more unusual.

Around the Park a Treecreeper, a Whitethroat, a Swift and a juvenile Willow Warbler were the highlights with a yaffling Green Woodpecker and a mewing Buzzard also heard.

Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Common Blue and Peacock were flying around and 3 Emperor Dragonflys were seen (2 around the duck pond and 1 over the grassland). 3 juvenile Moorhen with 2 adults and 2 Mandarin Ducks were also noted around the duck pond with 13 more Mandarin Duck noted along the river.

Peacock

Small Heath

Meadow Brown

A not so nice sighting was surprisingly my first tick of the year, discovered on the back of my right calf the following day! 

More Local Stuff

Monday 18th January was grey and breezy and with rain forecasted for later in the day I headed out in the morning to TR2 by the River Plym where a Black Redstart was reported the previous day.

The tide was ebbing and along the rocky and weed covered shore a Common Sandpiper showed very well as it fed along the waters edge. A Grey Heron was roosting on a buoy out in the river and the occasional Redshank and Oystercatcher flew past.

Common Sandpiper

Grey Heron

2 Buzzards were resting on the roof of a building behind TR2 and the Common Sandpiper was briefly spooked by a male Sparrowhawk cruising low over the rocks in full hunting mode but the best bird of prey was a female Peregrine which took out one of the many Feral Pigeons flitting about before flying across the river being mobbed by Gulls and disappearing from view.

There was no sign of the reported Black Redstart and with rain clouds gathering I headed home, luckily arriving there just before it began to rain. 

Wednesday 20th January was a foul day with strong winds and heavy rain but I decided to head out anyway for a quick exercise walk around Plymouth Hoe. It really was a grotty day but I did see a few Gannet flying around  Plymouth Sound along with a Great Northern Diver bobbing around in the swell off Drakes Island before I gave up and headed home to dry off.

Thursday 21st January was in contrast mild and calm and dry and after a morning of household chores I was rewarded with the sighting of a female type Black Redstart flitting about in the back yard and on nearby rooftops, my first ever garden sighting of one in the 33+years I have lived here.

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

Black Redstart

We then took our usual lock down Plymouth Hoe walk, stopping off first at the allotment to pick some sprouts for tea. As we carried on towards The Hoe we walked over the Sutton Harbour lock gates where various gulls were flying around and making quite a noise. I had a quick scan around and saw what at first I thought was a seal swimming across the water but as it dived it showed a long tail  - an Otter no less, my first ever sighting of one in Plymouth!

Otter

Otter

It had a large crab in its jaws and eventually hauled out onto the marina pontoons where it was hidden by crates but the gulls were very insistent and so it returned to the water and hauled out unseen amongst the nearby rocks to eat its catch before swimming off and out of sight. Amazing to see, I've only ever seen Otters in Shetland before so to see one in broad daylight in Plymouth with people passing close by was quite special.

Onwards to The Hoe and a look at the rocks below the Pier One cafe revealed a Purple Sandpiper feeding with 9 Turnstone. A Kingfisher was perched nearby before it flew off towards Devils Point and a few Gannets were still flying around The Sound with 3 Great Northern Divers seen loafing around on the water close to the shore of Drakes Island. 

Purple Sandpiper

Purple Sandpiper

Purple Sandpiper

Kingfisher

A very enjoyable walk and amazing at what wildlife can be found so close to my home here in Central Plymouth. 

Christmas (again)

The end of 2019 looms large, the usual Christmas frenzy is ramping up as the "big day" approaches and I can't wait for it all to be over, for the world to get back to "normal" and the New Year to begin.

Christmas Tree, 2019

The weather remains shite with what seems to be constant wind and rain and especially so on my days off so I have had no birding days out but I did finally buy myself a new telescope on Wednesday 18th December - a second hand Swarovski ATS80 with a 25-50 wide angle zoom from South West Optics in Truro. It's a bit of a beast, larger than I expected (I was originally going to get the ATS65) but it is in excellent condition and I couldn't wait to get it out in the field for a try out.

Fortunately on Monday 23rd December the weather was dry and the sun was even shining intermittently and with some free time I headed off on the bus to Marsh Mills for a quick walk along the River Plym to the Saltram Folly and back to put my new telescope through its paces. And the telescope is great, I'm very pleased with it although I do feel a little self-conscious carrying it around. I'm not so keen on my tripod though and so it's back to the internet to try and source a better one to suit my needs.

My walk was interesting on the incoming tide and with my scope I had some great views of a great northern diver fishing just downriver from The Folly, the highest point upriver I have seen one on the Plym before. A pair of red-breasted mergansers, a great-crested grebe and 3 pairs of goosanders were also busily diving away with at least 5 little grebes and later 5 of the goosanders were roosting and preening out on the mud while a single male fished nearby.

Red-breasted Merganser, River Plym

 Goosanders

 Goosander

Goosander

Mallards

On Blaxton Meadow a lone female wigeon was feeding as gulls, ducks and waders arrived to roost on the approaching high tide and amongst the dunlin, redshank, curlew, mallard, shelduck and oystercatcher were 5 greenshank, 5 snipe, an adult lesser black-backed gull and a few adult common gulls.

Near the Marsh Mills Bridge a common sandpiper showed very well feeding along the waters edge very close to the footpath.

Common Sandpiper

Ring-necked parakeets were heard noisily screeching in the trees in the park and I had a few brief flight views of them between the trees along with a single stock dove but there was no sign of the reported peregrine that had been buzzing the birds out on the estuary.

The wind began to pick up and with the clouds beginning to roll in I headed home for a warm up and a cup of tea but I was very pleased with my scopes performance and with no real free time now until the New Year I can't wait to get out to use it again.

And so as the year closes its time to look back at another busy and stressful year but one that has again been excellent for wildlife.

Birding hasn't been particularly successful with just 3 lifers for the year - Pallas's Warbler in Cornwall, Blue-winged Teal in Devon and White-winged Scoter in Scotland. Dips have been a feature of this year - rough-legged buzzard, shorelark, hoopoe, smew, turtle dove and red-backed shrike to name a few - but I have had some good sightings including surf scoter, long-billed dowitcher, great white egret, ring-necked duck, wryneck, yellow-browed warbler, cattle egret and waxwing.

Waxwing, Plymouth

Our trip to Madeira in July was fantastic, it is such a beautiful place, and a highlight amongst many others was a boat trip off Funchal where a sperm whale swam past our yacht as Cory's shearwaters and Bulwer's petrels flew past. Our day trip from Funchal to Porto Santo on the ferry was great too with Fea's type petrels being seen.

Cory's Shearwater, Madeira

Our holiday to Sicily was another great trip too with Egyptian vulture and booted eagle sightings being the highlights along with a range of butterflies.

Booted Eagle, Sicily

Butterflying has been interesting this year with black hairstreak being added to my UK list on a trip to Oxford in June - indeed I managed to see all 5 of the UK's hairstreak species in the year which was quite an achievement. I also added large blue to my UK list and managed sightings of high brown fritillary, clouded yellow and small pearl bordered fritillary too.

5 UK Hairstreaks 2019

Mothing has been very much on the back burner this year with just 2 nights of moth boxing in the back yard but I did catch 2 of my favourite moths - large ranunculus and marbled green. The highlight though was a thrift clearwing, a teeny tiny moth that I almost overlooked as a fly as it buzzed around the clifftop at Wembury Point.

Thrift Clearwing, Wembury Point

And so to 2020, what will it bring? More butterflying trips are planned for the summer but otherwise the year at the moment is wide open, fingers crossed for another year filled with wildlife alongside all the unwanted but usual trials and tribulations and stresses and strains.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

River Plym Walk

Wednesday February 6th and I decided to stay local and take a walk along the River Plym, firstly a return walk from Marsh Mills to Plym Bridge and then a return walk from Marsh Mills to Saltram Park.

It was mild and sunny after the recent cold snap and with all the snow/sleet/rain we have had the footpaths especially from Marsh Mills to Plym Bridge were a complete mudfest but it was a very enjoyable walk.

I checked the river from the bridge as I alighted off the bus at Marsh Mills and was pleased to find a dipper busily feeding along the river bank - this one had no leg rings so a different bird to the one I saw here last year. Heading upriver along the footpath I also found a smart common sandpiper feeding and a grey wagtail busily preening in the sunshine.

Common Sandpiper

The trees held siskins, coal tits, blue tits, nuthatch, great tits, long tailed tits and goldfinch but I failed to find any marsh tits while along the river I had brief views of 1 or possibly 2 kingfishers but better views of 6 male and a female mallard and 5 male and 6 female mandarin ducks.

Mandarin Ducks

Mandarin Ducks

Back to Marsh Mills and the walk downriver to Saltram was a little less muddy and on the low tide out on the estuary were 3 greenshank, redshank, curlew, around 60 dunlin, 2 adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gulls amongst the common, black headed, herring, lesser black backed and great black backed gulls. 3 male and 5 female goosander, a pair of red breasted mergansers and 3 male and 4 female wigeon.

The wigeon were sleeping by the waters edge and had probably been disturbed from Blaxton Meadow by a birder out on the wall path despite the No Entry signs and barriers in place but after he left they were back feeding on the Meadow. Viewing the top end of the estuary is now difficult and I hope that a better viewing area can be provided in the future but it is no excuse to go out on the wall and disturb the birds especially as they are now using the Meadow more and more.

 Blaxton Meadow

Saltram Park was full of birds too with both green and great spotted woodpeckers and stock doves heard and 2 mistle thrush, 3 skylark, Canada geese, rook, a jay and 3 ring necked parakeets (1 blue) all seen. I tried to look for snipe and Jack snipe in the usual place but it was extremely wet and boggy and without my wellington boots there was no way I could access the area.

Snowdrops and violets were in flower and new signage by The National Trust hints at the possibility of pearl bordered fritillaries maybe being found here in the future.

Snowdrops

Snowdrops

New National Trust Signage

Pearl-bordered Fritillary Close-up

I walked back to Marsh Mills to buy some lunch from Sainsburys and then caught the bus for the short ride home and it had been a very enjoyable if muddy walk - and I am always amazed at the wildlife that can be found just a short distance from my house.

Wintering Whimbrel at Wilcove, Torpoint

Wednesday January 30th was a cold but sunny morning with patches of hail on the ground and despite my late awakening I decided to take the bus across the River Tamar to visit Torpoint for a walk.

I arrived at Marine Drive in Torpoint at just after 11am to find the tide higher than I expected and the only waders noted were a few redshank and an oystercatcher. 2 great crested grebes were diving for fish out on the water along with a few cormorants and a small flock of Canada geese flew upriver. The overwintering brent geese which I had hoped to see were however showing very well close to shore, 4 pale bellied types that always kept together and 8 dark bellied types.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Brent Geese

Dark-bellied Brent Geese

Brent Geese

I walked on to nearby Wilcove, noting on the walk there 2 mistle thrush and a curlew feeding on the school playing fields, a small flock of linnets, chaffinches and meadow pipits in a weedy stubble field, a chiffchaff in a small wood by the roadside and a few redwing with a song thrush and blackbirds in a cow field.

At Wilcove there was still a little mud on show on the incoming tide and I found a greenshank, a black tailed godwit, a turnstone, redshank, 2 common sandpipers and a whimbrel busily feeding. The whimbrel presumably is the same bird that overwintered here last year and was a strange sight on a cold January day.

Common Sandpiper

Also noted here at Wilcove were a kingfisher, wigeon, teal (no sign of last winters green winged teal amongst them), cormorants and a noisy flyover raven.

I walked back to Marine Drive where the brent geese were again showing very well close to the shore and a noisy chiffchaff showed very well in a nearby garden before  I caught the bus back to Plymouth - a nice local walk with some good sightings as January comes to an end