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Wednesday 8 January 2020

Good old Devon for New Years

Just like last year, Em and I headed down to south Devon for a few days over New Years.

We again stayed in Topsham, on the Exe estuary. It's one of our favourite places down there. It's one I'm also very familiar with, visiting there since being a young boy when my Grandmother was living there during the 90s & 00s.



Inevitably, visited the estuary and Bowling Green Marsh a couple of times. BGM in particular, was rammed with birds, with Black-Tailed Godwits & Wigeon numbers very much in the hundreds. It was cool to pick out one each of UK and Icelandic-ringed Godwits, one of which was over 9 years old.

I saw the long-staying 1st-winter Long-Billed Dowitcher a couple of times, though always distant, loafing amongst the Godwits and Redshank. A 1st-winter drake Scaup was nice, showing itself on 29/12, together with good numbers of Pintail, a drake Goldeneye and a few Red-Breasted Mergansers out on the estuary, Brent Geese, a couple of Pochard and plenty of Teal, Shoveler etc.







Wader interest consisted of up to 3 Greenshank, a couple of Barwits, a Ruff, c20 Grey Plover out on the estuary, 100+ Avocet, Golden Plover, Dunlin, Curlews and lots of Redshank.





Monday 30/12 was a pretty mild, sunny day which we spent in the Brixham area, starting with a walk down to the beach at Man Sands. As well as it being a nice walk, I was also hoping to see the 1st-winter drake Blue-Winged Teal which had first appeared here in early November. It had taken up residence on the small marsh managed by the National Trust, nestled just inland from Man Sands beach, in what is a gorgeous little valley.

The 15-20 minute walk down from the car park, was brightened up by the discovery of at least one lovely Firecrest flicking around a small copse with a couple of Goldcrest and also a Chiffchaff. A nice surprise!







A quick scan from the hide didn't locate the Teal initially. Further down the path however, with a far better view of the marsh, I managed to pick it out feeding amongst the vegetation. Soon after, he obligingly had a stretch, revealing those vivid blue wings. The white face marking was beginning to show - seeing it in full male plumage would be quite something. I watched it for a while, taking in all the features and enjoying my second UK lifer in just over a week!





The marsh was a great bit of habitat and would make a really decent patch to work throughout the year. Cetti's Warbler(s) were heard frequently, as could a Water Rail, while the marsh also held a pair of Gadwall, several Teal, 3 Snipe and a few Tufties too.

The feeders by the hide allowed great views of several common passerines on the walk back, while the Firecrest continued to show in the same area. I really took a liking to the place; hopefully somewhere I'll return to some day.







Em and I spent the afternoon wandering around the picturesque fishing harbour town of Brixham. It was good to return here, following the brilliant twitch for the White-Billed Diver back in 2013 - almost 6 years to the day! A stroll around the harbour produced at least 5 Great Northern Divers showing really well at times. Several Shags were generally about, a Guillemot was off the breakwater, a few Kittiwake and Gannets offshore, 1-2 Rock Pipits and some very tame Turnstones.











Stars of the show though, were the 6 Purple Sandpipers on the breakwater rocks, showing amazingly well, hopping around the surf and one even running right up to within feet of me, sat on the breakwater wall. I really enjoyed sitting and enjoying these little characters at close range, as they went about their business. A real treat and the first I've seen since 2014!










Finally, the next day I also found the time to pop in to Labrador Bay near Teignmouth, to have a look at those local specialities, the Cirl Buntings.

After a bit of a search, there were 10-15 towards the W end, exactly where I saw them last time I was there. I sat down and let them come to me and they did, popping out of their hedgerow for a look and then coming down to feed along the field margin. 










A partially leucistic female Cirl Bunting was also about, with a big white patch in the wing. A vocal pair of vocal Ravens and a female Stonechat were the other things of note.





Monday 6 January 2020

2019 highlights

2019 - another year with plenty of interest. Here are a few of some of my favourites:

Showy Smew

Lagoon 4 at Rutland Water is generally a reliable place for Smew in winter. Luckily for me, back in March, a pair popped up right in front of one of the hides to allow my best ever views. Unfortunately, one of the local Great Crested Grebes soon ended the fun, chasing them both off into the centre of the lagoon!





A great morning at Grimbo

Grimsbury Res can be hard work, but the early morning of Tuesday 9th April was one of those rare occasions where it all happened at once, with 3 Little Gull, an Arctic Tern and a very unexpected patch tick Marsh Harrier. All in the space of half an hour!







Bird of the year!

That red letter day when the endless hours of patch birding pays off and you find something REALLY decent! The excitement of finding the Grimsbury Res Red-Rumped Swallow was undoubtedly THE wildlife highlight of my year. Nothing beats finding your own birds!









Whooper up close

This Whooper Swan lingered around the Borrow Pit and surrounding fields near Banbury, right into May. It spent a lot of time in the fields with several Mute Swans, although I got lucky on the evening of 1st May, enjoying some incredible views as it pretty much came to me as I sat on a rock by the Borrow Pit. Very cool!







Glanvilles!

It was one of those days where everything fell into place - the weather on the Isle of Wight was stunning, the timing was perfect with lots of hoped for Glanville Fritillaries on the wing and it was just generally an ace day out!







Black Hairstreaks galore!

I thought instead of venturing up to north Northants, I'd try somewhere new for Black Hairstreaks a little closer to home. I decided on Hewin's Wood between Bicester and Aylesbury which proved to be a seriously good decision, seeing s**t loads of them! The one below was the cherry on the cake, having seemingly just emerged, it actually flew into me and landed on my arm - very jammy!







DGF

A real surprise find - my first Northants Dark Green Fritillary, found just 10 minutes from home at Croughton quarry. Luckily for me, it landed on an oxe-eye daisy right in front of me! It had clearly not long emerged, but the question is, where on earth did it come from?!





Brilliant summer day in Dorset

A day full of highlights from start to finish - 5 out of the 6 UK reptiles, including my first ever UK Sand Lizards, my first ever Lulworth Skippers, plus a supporting cast of lots of Silver-Studded Blues, Dark Green Fritillaries, Woodlarks and Crossbills. 









Long-Billed Dowitcher

As part of a typically wader-filled day at Frampton Marsh in July, this very smart returning bird, did the obliging thing, by flying in and landing right in front of me, affording some class views.







Tired Shortie

Dan, Gareth & I had a cool encounter with a very tired Short-Eared Owl on Kelling beach back in October. It had clearly not long arrived in off the sea and after accidentally flushing it, it was quite content having a snooze on the shingle! 







Black-Throated Thrush

Seeing a new bird is great, but seeing it really well makes it even sweeter. In fact it was pretty ridiculous how well the Black Throated Thrush showed, in it's favourite berry tree, with the sun behind me, in the unusual surroundings of Whipsnade Zoo. A bird I could not turn down - magic!





Purple Sands

My first for about 5 years and a proper treat watching them potter around on the breakwater rocks, just feet away at Brixham in Devon. A cracking way to end 2019!





Greek getaway

For a while, there were plans for a 2024 overseas birding trip in late May, with Estonia mooted as a possibility. However, with the brillian...