River Plym Knot and a Return to Torpoint

With a day off on Sunday 23rd January we had a morning walk around Plymouth Hoe before the crowds descended on what was a grey and claggy and cold day. It was fairly quiet bird wise but I was very pleased to see a flock of 6 Turnstones with 3 Purple Sandpipers flying low over the water and out of sight past Tinside Pool, the highest count of Purple Sandpipers I've had this winter 

With a Knot having being reported on the River Plym I decided to have a look for it on the high tide on Monday 24th January before a duo of night shifts. It was grey and overcast and cool and Blaxton Meadow was covered in birds on the high tide as the water levels were somewhat lower than on my previous visit, hopefully the sluice gates are now unblocked and the water flow has improved.

The Knot was found roosting amongst a flock of Dunlin and Redshank, my first sighting of one for the Plym, and it eventually showed well before being spooked along with the other waders by a low flying Buzzard. Also of note here were Curlew, 12 Oystercatcher, 7 Greenshank, 26 Wigeon, a male Teal and the female Red-crested Pochard. 

Out on the River a male Red-breasted Merganser, a male and 4 female Goosander and a Little Grebe were seen along with 2 Turnstone on The Embankment wall and a Grey Wagtail and a Common Sandpiper at Marsh Mills. 

Little Egret, River Plym

A look at the wet wood was Water Rail free again but a Goldcrest was found near the sewage farm and a female Sparrowhawk cruising over the Sainsbury's car park was my first of the year.

Thursday 27th January and we drove out to Stoke Point for our usual coastal walk despite the grey and mizzley skies. As we approached Newton Ferrers the weather worsened and it was very murky and misty and with David's Omnipod pump throwing a wobbly we returned home for him to renew it before driving out to Saltram for a walk instead. 

It was high tide and I managed to see a few nice birds along our walk despite the occasional drizzly spells, the highlights being 3 female Goosander, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Mistle Thrush (1 singing), around 40 flitty Redwings feeding on Ivy berries, 4 noisy Ring-necked Parakeets and 7 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Friday 28th January and it was an early start on a frosty morning to catch the bus to Torpoint to meet Mavis, the first time we have met up for some time now. It was very cold and overcast and on the walk to Royal Parade a flock of around 30 noisy Ring-necked Parakeets were getting ready to leave their night time tree roost at Charles Cross Church. 

Ring-necked Parakeets, Charles Cross 

I met Mavis at Torpoint at around 9am and we were soon in position along Marine Drive with scopes at the ready to start our birding day although it was strange to hear the military band at nearby HMS Raleigh playing the theme tune from The Avenger movies interspersed with gun fire while we were birding! 

Out on the water we quickly picked up 2 male Red-breasted Merganser busily diving away along with Great Crested Grebes and 4 Little Grebes. Eventually we found the wintering Red-necked Grebe and enjoyed some lovely views of it and we also found the wintering Black-necked Grebe which was unfortunately a little more distant. A Great Northern Diver showed very nicely too and we also managed to see a male Pintail, a Grey Heron, a Ringed Plover, a Common Gull, a Rock Pipit and 3 Brent Geese (2 pale bellied and 1 dark bellied) along with the usual Estuary birds. 

Red-necked Grebe

Red-necked Grebe 

Dark and Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Pale-bellied Brent Goose

Onwards to nearby Whacker Quay and with the tide now almost high we managed to find the 2 wintering Spoonbills on the opposite side of the river, an adult and juvenile which occasionally awoke for a brief preen before returning back to their slumbers. They were roosting amongst a small flock of around 40 Avocet which were restless and mobile but their fidgeting didn't seem to disturb the Spoonbills at all.

We sat on a bench along the footpath where some stocked up bird feeders were attracting an assortment of birds and we enjoyed some lovely close views of Coal, Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, a Nuthatch, Robins, Dunnocks and Chaffinches. A female Bullfinch was also seen briefly in flight and a few skulky Redwings were also seen feeding on Ivy berries before we headed back to Torpoint for the journey home after having had a very enjoyable mornings birding. 

Spearmint

Another Plymouth Hoe walk on Saturday 15th January was again Purple Sandpiper-less but there was some recompense with some nice views of Spearmint the female Grey Seal hauled out and having a snooze, totally oblivious to the people admiring her just a few feet away. She is a rescued and rehabilitated seal that has become too habituated to humans and I fear for her safety as eventually some dog-owner with dog shit for brains will probably end up letting their beloved but untrained pooch attack her as has happened elsewhere in the UK.

Grey Seal (Spearmint)

Grey Seal

We first saw her in September last year on a boat trip to Cawsands when she was happily swimming around the ferry but despite her regularly being seen around the Plymouth Sound area we hadn't seen her again until now.

Monday 17th January and a gloriously cold and sunny winters day saw us finally having our Christmas walk around Burrator Reservoir on Dartmoor. It was a beautiful walk with icy paths and stunning scenery in crystal clear air but unfortunately bird life was surprisingly a bit thin on the ground.

A Mistle Thrush and a Song Thrush were heard singing away in an X-Factor style sing off, the Mistle Thrush at the top of a pine tree and the Song Thrush in cover nearby. Out on the water there were 6 Cormorant, a Herring Gull, a Black-headed Gull, Mallards, around 10 Teal and the usual White Farmyard Goose along with 3 Grey Heron along the waters edge. A Buzzard soared overhead, 4 Siskin were feeding in the pine trees with Goldcrests and Blue, Great and Coal Tits, a Stock Dove flew over and 2 Green Woodpeckers were heard yaffling.

Wednesday 19th January was spent doing chores but with sunny skies and no breeze I had a quick walk around Plymouth Hoe in the afternoon to look again for the Purple Sandpipers. The tide was very low but heading in and The Hoe was busy with people enjoying the sunshine including a twat playing his ghetto blaster at full volume so I wasn't very hopeful. However just as I was about to head home I found a Purple Sandpiper on the rocks near Tinside amongst a group of 6 Turnstone and eventually it gave some very good and close views. Presumably it is one of the two birds that overwintered here last year and so is very used to being close to humans

Purple Sandpiper, Plymouth Hoe

Purple Sandpiper

Thursday 20th January and with a perfect day of weather forecast ( sunny, still and cold) and a free day to myself I decided to try and drag myself out of my ongoing malaise and have a good day out birding again. I ended up planning a River Exe day out before I went to bed on the Wednesday night with a train journey to Starcross and a walk to Exminster Marshes and back although again the early start on the Thursday morning nearly saw me turning off my alarm clock and returning to sleep. 

I arrived at Starcross at around 9am to begin my walk to Exminster and it was a beautiful day as forecasted with sunny spells, little breeze and a ground frost although the wind did pick up a little as the day went on. 

Fallow Deer showed well in Powderham Park along with 2 pairs of a Egyptian Geese who were calling and displaying to each other and flying up into the trees. At least 10 Grey Herons were also being noisey in the Heronry trees and a female Reed Bunting eventually showed well in the reeds by the side of the road. 

Fallow Deer, Powderham Park

Onwards towards Turf Locks and Brent Geese, Curlews, Lapwings and Black-tailed Godwits were feeding out on the marshy fields while out on the river Avocets, Dunlin, Grey Plover and 4 Knot were found on the emerging mudflats. 

Brent Geese, Turf

Brent Geese

Avocet

Exminster Marshes were full of birds and it looked and sounded amazing. Wigeon, Teal, Shoveler and Canada Geese were everywhere with Golden Plover wheeling overhead and Dunlin, Redshank, Curlew and Black-tailed Godwit feeding on the muddy areas before flying over to the Estuary. Mute Swan, Shelduck, Mallard, Moorhen, 5 Coot and 3 pairs of Tufted Duck were also seen. 

2 Marsh Harriers were regularly seen quartering over the Marsh and spooking all the birds but I did eventually find the Pink-footed Goose amongst the Canada Goose flock (my first in Devon) and a brief and distant view of the Glossy Ibis flying off when a Marsh Harrier flew too near. 

Pink-footed Goose, Exminster Marsh

Pink-footed Goose

A Great White Egret was a nice surprise feeding out on the Marsh and looking very large and very white in the bright sunshine although it was a little distant. 

Great White Egret, Exminster Marsh

I walked back to Starcross and headed under the railway line at Bishops Arch to scan across the river on what was now the low tide. Red-breasted Merganser and Great Crested Grebes were diving out in the river channel and I eventually found the 2 Black-necked Grebes as well although they spent very little time at the waters surface. 

Before heading back to the railway station I had a quick look at the field just north of the village which is often flooded and full of birds but the water level was low and only a few Wigeon and Curlew were seen. However a big surprise were 3 Red-legged Partridge spooked by a Carrion Crow from a patch of vegetation around the base of a tree and flying off into nearby fields. 

While waiting for the train back to Plymouth I had a good scan from the railway platform across the River Exe towards Exmouth to look for the juvenile Spoonbill and eventually I found it just as it disappeared along a gulley. Shortly afterwards the Gulls on the mudflats were spooked and flew up into the air along with the Spoonbill which settled out in the open and gave some nice views before it flew back into the gulley and out of sight again - distant views even with the scope but a very nice end to what had been a very good days birding, hopefully my current birding malaise will start to abate a little.