Starcross to Dawlish Warren golf course
An early morning WeBS count in beautiful conditions produced (amongst others) 1 Great Crested and 2 Little Grebes (but no sign of the Slav), 8 Shag, 213 Brents, 216 Canadas with 2 Bar-headed Geese, 57 Shelduck, 400 Wigeon (I hate it when it looks like and estimate!), 506 Teal (that's better!), 2 Shoveler, 4 Goldeneye, 23 Mergansers, 530 Oystercatchers, 17 Ringed Plover (roosting on the railway embankment at Cockwood), 1 Golden and 1 Grey Plover, 25 Lapwings, 2 Knot, 75 Dunlin, 56 Black-tailed and 14 Bar-tailed Godwits, 1 Whimbrel (the usual winterer in the Warren saltmarsh), 101 Curlew, 60 Redshank, 2 Greenshank, 18 Turnstones (17 in Cockwood Harbour), 1 Kingfisher and 3 Rock Pipits. A standard walk through part of the saltmarsh produced only 2 Snipe - usually there are more, plus the odd Jacks.
Powderham Marshes RSPB
The finch flock reported recently has grown - to about 1,000! Most of these (700+) were Bramblings, a fantastic sight. The rest were mainly Chaffiches, plus c80 Linnets, c40 Skylarks and a few Reed Buntings and Yellowhammers. These were in two fields of bird seed crop (Linseed, Barley, Quinoa etc.) planted by RSPB. As a Sparrowhawk came in and failed to grab lunch, it put everything up - including a Lapland Bunting! The latter flew around calling for a couple of minutes giving very reasonable flight views. Another Sparrowhawk was seen later, plus Kestrel and a Peregrine which sat on a pylon deciding whether to have Wigeon or Curlew for lunch!
Matford Pools
258 Wigeon, 67 Teal, 2 Gadwall, 9 Shoveler, 52 Canada Geese, 34 Black-tailed Godwits, 5 Snipe and 2 Stock Doves.
