Wembury walk and another Lesser Yank

I headed off to Wembury on the bus on the 5th January and it was grey,cool and misty. I had heard that the footpath along the coast had experienced more collapses following yet more torrential rain and wanted to see the damage for myself. The path had indeed collapsed in 2 more places -  by the horse field and a large slip near the sewage pipe. Also where the route dips down along the coast the footpath has been quite badly eroded away too. The stream in the valley to the main beach has also experienced a lot of erosion and it will be interesting to see what effect if any it may have on wildlife come the Spring.

 Coast path slip by the Horse field

 

 Large coast path slip near the Sewage Pipe

 

Erosion along the stream in the Valley to the Beach

 



The path was very wet and muddy and I was filthy by the time I caught the bus home but it was quite a productive walk. Best bird was the water pipit seen feeding amongst the rocks at Wembury Point at high tide, it was watched alongside rock pipits and was much more tolerant of them than when I saw it before Christmas, presumably due to the very small area of beach available at high tide. Oystercatchers were roosting at The Point with 3 curlew and only 3 turnstone - the number of  Wintering turnstones at Wembury have really dropped since last Winter, a worrying trend, and also mirrored in the total lack of purple sandpipers on Plymouth Hoe for the last few Winters.

Signs of Spring were a male sparrowhawk circling high overhead and fulmars prospecting the cliffs past the Church and around The Mewstone. Three-cornered leek was also in flower.

Cirl buntings were feeding in the stubble field but were quite nervous and flighty, I managed to count 7 males and 6 females but there were more than this number present. A female kestrel showed well perched in a tree near the path and 2 buzzards were mobbed by carrion crows. A razorbill showed well close to the shore but spent very little time on the surface between dives. 2 chiffchaffs were flycatching around the landslip by the sewage pipe.

 Male and female Cirl Buntings

 

Male Cirl Bunting

 

Female Kestrel

 



Razorbill

 

A grey seal was seen close to shore and was very interested in a dog walking along the beach, keeping an eye on it and following it along the beach before disappearing from sight under the waves at Wembury Point.

Grey Seal

 



Monday 7th January and after dropping off the Outlaws at Newquay airport for their flight to Gatwick we headed home via Bodmin Moor. I had a twenty minute birding opportunity at Dozmary Pool and soon found the male Lesser Scaup diving at the back of the Pool with tufted duck, pochard and 2 female goldeneye. The light was appalling and it was around 4pm but with my telescope I had reasonable views although it spent very little time on the surface between dives. The white flanks of the male tufted ducks were very noticeable despite the poor light but the lesser scaups flanks appeared quite dull grey and it also seemed slightly smaller and more elegant looking. It is presumably the returning bird that I first saw in 2010 and I have yet to actual get a decent view of it! Maybe next year if the bird returns again!

Lesser Yellowlegs at Ernesettle Creek, 4th January 2013

Christmas and New Years 2012 has been and gone and as predicted I finished the year on 182 species, not bad and my second ever highest total, the highest being 190 in 2010.

A wet and windy walk around Plymouth Hoe on Boxing Day had me cursing as I had left my binoculars at home and a Slavonian grebe was diving close to the shore with a shag before flying off towards the River Tamar.

A further wet and windy walk around Burrator reservoir on the 28th December wasn't too productive either but at least I had my binoculars with me this time. 2 ravens flew over and at least 2 marsh tits were seen feeding in a mixed tit flock but there were no goosanders, probably due to the very high water level  (water was flowing over the dam, the first time I have seen this for quite some time now) and the fact it was Midday and too early for them to come in to roost.

 Burrator Reservoir Dam

 

Muscovy x mallard? hybrid duck at Burrator

My first day in the New Year for a birding trip was the 4th January and I headed off to Ernesettle Creek in Plymouth to have a look for the lesser yellowlegs that is still being seen there. On arrival there were quite a few birders around looking for it, a chatty and pleasant bunch, and I was quickly pointed on to it feeding in its usual place upriver from the slipway. It was feeding with 2 greenshanks and a few redshanks and gave some good views despite the dull and flat light.

Other birds of note on the Creek were at least 30 black tailed godwits feeding on the mudflats and 2 adult common gulls roosting amongst the gulls. There was no sign of any recently reported spotted redshanks though.

Heading down the Creek to the River Tamar and a nice surprise was a flock of around 60 avocets feeding along the waterline, my first Plymouth avocets. Also on the River were quite a few great crested grebes and a male and 2 female/brownhead red breasted mergansers.

Avocets on the River Tamar from Ernesettle Creek

All in all not a bad start to the Year list!