Turtle Dove

A 'purring' male Turtle Dove photographed on an East Devon common on Sat 21/7 by Derek Carter. Had been in the vicinity for at least 4 days up to then.

Start Point

Seawatch Start Point:

10.00 - 11.00

 

Manx 76 west, 31 east

Balearic 2 west

Fulmar 1 west

Gannet 57 west

Auk sp 3 west

Kittiwkake 1 west

Common Sand 1 west

Grey Plover 1 west

Common Scoter 2 west

[Phil Chantler]

Bradiford reserve

Green Sandpiper on the scrape this afternoon from the five bar gate.

Bideford

4 crossbills over bideford heading northerly direction from house on clovelly road at 17:45.Whoops forgot to mention hobby over bishops nympton nr south molton 11:40 whilst on scaffold painting.Oh well was worth working.

instow/skern yesterday

8 med gulls instow rocks,6adult 2 fs,20:15.At the skern 12 med gulls,10 adults 2fs.21:30.Possible duplication tho four of the adults were in full bp.

Goosemoor from Darts Farm

Looking over to Goosemoor from the balcony at Darts Farm this morning produced a nice selection of birds. The highlight being a large female Peregrine causing havoc among the waders and gulls. The bird made a couple of attempts on the roosting flock but came away unsuccessful. In between attacks the bird could be seen resting in the large pines by the River Clyst. Other sights were of 33 Little Egrets, 3 Graylag Geese, around 10 Lapwings with one newly fledged bird, plenty of Redshanks with 1 Greenshank.

On the Wetlands in front of the hide another lone Greenshank was feeding along the ditches.

Sharkham Point

Not bird related, but took some photos of this the other day, got a response that it was a volucella zonaria which is a mimic hover fly. I was asked where I saw it as they were meant to be confined to the South East? Would any recorder of this species be interested in the sighting? Very big things in the flesh.









Hi Josh, try this link you'll have to sign in but it's easy to do...
 
http://www.hoverfly.org.uk/portal.php

Around the exe

First stop was exminster marsh this morning 2 groups of little egrets ( 36 & 26) plus 3 others around the marsh gave me a total of 65+ also 3 dunlin and 130+ black tailed godwit, 2 sandwich terns Then of to dawlish warren 09:00 till 12:00 2 roseate terns, 14+ common terns, 14 ringed plover , 24+ Dunlin, 1 sanderling, 2 whimbrel, 3 juv med gulls good numbers of sandwich terns

Thurlestone Bay

Last night 2 Green Sandpiper flew into Thurlestone Marsh and later went off towards Aveton Gifford, 1 showing at 07.45 with another flying through at 12.00, also 1 on South Huish marsh this am

Waders on the beach / rocks - 6 Dunlin, 6 Sanderling, 5 Whimbrel, 3 Ringed Plover, 2 Common Sandpiper  1 Turnstone.

In the Bay 2ad + 1juv Sandwich Tern . Offshore 35 Gannet and 15 Manx Shearwater.

A noticable increase in Warblers 5 Chiffchaff, 2 Whitethroat and 1 Garden warbler .

This morning Bob B had his best ringing returns so far - 12 Chiffchaff, 4 Willow warbler ( 2 ad +2juv )
2 Reed and 2 Sedge warblers, 1 Blackcap and a juv Reed Bunting

Wrafton

James Leonard reports that at least 4 of the juvenile Pochard are on Wrafton Pond with Ma. Successful fledging hoorah!

Exminster marsh

Watched from 18:55 till 21:00 A good evening with 42+ sandwich tern including 3 juv on the scrape by the fishermans car park with good numbers of black headed gulls, also 5 common terns, 5 med gulls (3ad,1st summer and 2nd summer),6 Dunlin, 36+ black tailed godwits, 11+ little egrets,peregrine

A Couple of Photos from Yesterday

In a bid to add a little more July colour to DBN...

Silver-washed Fritillaries (Pete Adey)

Juv Green Woodpecker at Northam (Steve Hatch)

Thurlestone Bay / Kingsbridge Est

A few snippets for Fri / Sat.

Waders opn the beach/ rocks - 7 Whimbrel, 12 Sanderling, 4 Dunlin., today 2 Green Sandpiper on Thurlestone Marsh.
Surprising to watch 4 Lapwing come in off the sea and fly straight up the valley. Earlier Bob  B had a Hobby and a Grey Wagtail . Also on Thurlestone Marsh 2 Green sandpiper.

Last night went down the Kingsbridge on a friends boat - 9 Greenshank in South Pool , 15 Curlew, 3 Sandwich Tern, 2da + 2 1st/s Med Gull and 1ad + 2juv Egyptian Goose.

Bowling green marsh & exminster marsh

Bowling green marsh 09:00 till 10:35 from the hide

The summer plumage spotted redshank showed on and off mostley hidden by the tall grass which is proving to be very frustrating when trying to do any counts, only 2 whimbrel amongst the curlew and black tailed godwits.

Exminster marsh  11:00 till 12:45

Decided to take a quick look over at the scrapes on exminter marsh and was rewarded with good views of 142+ black tailed godwits, 8+ med gulls (6ad, 1 2s, 1 1s), 33+ little egrets and 10 dunlin, good numbers of black headed gulls around the marsh including a couple of juv's, 3 sandwich terns and a common tern

A good morning around the marshes

English Channel 25nm S off Start Point

Again out on a fishing boat chumming pulled in one juv Yellow-legged Gull (only juv gull seen), 40+ Lesser black-backs, 10+ Great black-backs, 5 Herring gulls, 3 Common Terns, 1 Arctic Skua, 35 Fulmars and a scattering of Manx Shearwaters. Paid particular attention to Storm- petrels, but only pulled up 12 European.
At last managed to get some shots with the eye highlighted, the eye is dark on most tubenoses, so with a dark bird it just blends in with the head (see below).

and eye highlighted by sun (below)

Instow Cricket Ground and foreshore.

06:15 - 08:00


With Rob Marshall,
8 adult Mediterranen Gulls; 5 Sandwich Terns; 1 Common Gull; 3 Whimbrel; 1 Turnstone and 1 Redshank.
Kathleen and May came in on the tide and moored near Appledore lifeboat.

skern

6 med gulls,5adult 2s. Calmer conditions have allowed fish to shoal in estuary again so if forecasters are to be believed then should result in larger numbers of gulls being present of which there were 3-400 tonight,19:30-20:30.this morning two gourgeous turnstones(bp)with 3 sanderling,07;30

Barnstaple - Fremington Quay

10:00 - 11:00 The black swan was still with 12 mutes  off Anchor wood bank. I was surprised to see a couple of dozen Redshank in the Pill, seemed to have returned early this year.

Axe Estuary

Adult Osprey fishing this morning 08:45-08:55 when it caught a (very small!) fish and flew north. Also three Med Gulls on Black Hole Marsh.

skern

4 adult med gulls,20;10. 7-800 jackdaws on roofs above broad lane northam.High proportion of juvs indicating good breeding.

Bowling green marsh

Watched from the hide this evening the adult summer plumage spotted redshank showed well at times also 10 little grebes (7ad and 3 juv ) 12 little egrets, 2+ Dunlin, 2 greenshank, 5+ whimbrel, 2 tufted duck , unable to get a count on the curlew and black tailed godwits due to the height of the grass around the reserve but similar numbers to the last few days

R.Taw - Taw bridge to Ashford Strand.

11:15 - 13:15

c140 LBBGs; 2 Mediterranean Gulls(1A, 1 1st summer); 17 Black-tailed Godwits off Penhill Point ( 1 colour ringed but too far away to decifer) and 1 Peregrine that took a Black-headed Gull.

2 Green Sandpiper in the ditch beside Ashford sewage works.

Common Sandpiper - Teign Estuary

A colour-ringed bird was present at Passage House on 11 & 15 July, one of at least 13 birds present at the time.

Full details below with thanks to Derek Yalden.

O/R-W//M is a male from my R. Ashop population, in the Peak District, originally ringed 28 June 2010, guarding a late chick/fledgling til 5 July at Upperhouse Farm. He was back in the same territory 4 May-6 July 2011. This year, he was back again, 2 May, and I ringed his 4 chicks on 12 June. He was still there, guarding one fledgling (seen) , on 4 July, but had gone by 11 July. Fascinating to find he was already down in Devon.

It's good to know despite the weather not all the waders we are seeing are failed breeders.

English Channel 20nm S of Start Point

17/07/12 . Out on angling boat 20nm S of Start Point. In between fishing constant chumming pulled up 40+ European Storm-petrels (but still no Wilson's!), otherwise nice sub-adult Pom and Arctic Skuas (both presumed third-summer type - see pics). Also 5 Harbour Porpoise that strangely came around the boat (usually far more timid), but always disappeared when camera was to hand!

Size comparison - Lesser Black-backed Gull, Pomarine Skua & Kittiwake





Start Point today 10:20-15:20: similar to Prawle but lesser numbers: 1 Sooty, 702 Manx, 10 Puffins, 1 Arctic Skua, 1  Pomarine (dark phase heading NE), 1 Bonxie, 9 Storm Petrels, 2 Common Terns.

Prawle Point

05:00-17:00, except 2.5hrs c.lunchtime (when DN remained through rain and fog).  F5-6 WSW.

2>W Sooty Shearwater, 1>W Balearic Shearwater, 1516>W & 28>E Manx Shearwater, 2>W Stormie, 693>W & 55>E Gannet, 41 >W Fulmar, 18>W Scoter, 12>W Razorbill, 35 >W Guillemot, 9>W Puffin, 32 >W & 2>E Kittiwake.  Also singles W of Little Egret, Turnstone and Sanderling.  7>S Swift (during brief sunny spell).  Paltry returns from promising conditions.

Thurlestone Bay

Another day that would not have been out of place in Feb. Seawatch from Warren Pt from 08.40-12.30,

viz poor and very poor in rain - at times did not see any birds for 35 mins.

Totals were - 150+ Gannet, 33 Manx Shearwater, 1 Balearic Shearwater., 1 Sooty Shearwater ( first of the year ) 10 Common Scoter, 1 Common Tern. 1 Pomarine Skua West at 10.00

In the bay 2 Whimbrel

Bowling green marsh

Watched from 16:45 till 18:30 From viewing platform 224+ black tailed godwits a slight increase from Sunday, 200+ redshank, 4+ bar tailed godwits, the summer plumage spotted redshank is still showing well, 10+ greenshank, common sandpiper From the hide in addition to the above at least 8+ whimbrel in with 202+ curlew, 6 lapwing, 3 oystercatcher, 2 tufted duck, 1 male wigeon, 4 little egrets, 2 little grebe with 3 young, 2 med gulls flew over towards darts farm (ad,2s)

The Late Post

A Red Kite quite close to the lane between Chipshop and Scrub Tor very near to Tamar Trails, on Sunday 15/7 at 14:00 [John Ladlow]

One Immature type male Marsh Harrier first picked up between the two pylons looking out from the RSPB car park then seen flying over the railway line going towards, the Powderham viewing platform at 11.20 (yesterday 16/7). The bird was again seen by another birder at the Turf lock around 12.45.  [Kevin Bainbridge]

Start Point

Seawatch 07:10-17:00. WSW4 building SW6 then WSW6. Cory's Shearwater (one slowly through at 10:22), 4 Sooty Shearwaters, 3 Balearic Shearwater, 3776 Manx Shearwater (strong possibility of some circulation). 3 Pomarine Skuas, 1 Arctic Skua, 20 Storm Petrels, 12 Puffins, 78 Common Scoter, 42 Guillemots, 7 Razorbills, 23 Kittiwakes 56 Fulmars and 3 Harbour Porpoise.

Thurlestone Bay

F6 WSW wind with poor viz nad some heavy showers.

3hr seawatch from Beacon Pt this morning and 1hr this afternoon from the car park- totals were -

100 Gannet, 80 Manx Shearwater, 5 Balearic Shearwater ( these close inshore and all flying east ) 3 Fulmar , 3 Common Scoter, 1 Ringed Plover.

On South Huish marsh 3 s/p Black Tailed Godwit

Berry Head

Seawatch 0745-1015. SW winds strong at times, showers and clear periods. Up to 400 Manx  and 4 Balearic Shearwaters milling about off the headland,  with up to 100 Manx sat  on the sea at times, accompanied by one or two Balearics. Also 1 Storm Petrel south, 2 Pomarine Skuas and 32 Common Scoter.

Bowling green marsh

Watched from viewing platform from 14:30 till 16:30 The fantastic summer plumage spotted redshank was again with 200+ redshank, 10+ greenshank, 211+ black tailed godwits, 3+ bar tailed godwits, 5+ whimbrel, 1 Dunlin, 2 common sandpiper, 17+ little egrets, 2+ med gulls(1st summer, adult)4+ juv black headed gulls, sandwich tern From goat walk 16:35 till 16:55 11+ sandwich terns, 2 med gulls( 1 adult and 2nd summer)

Seaton & Axe area

Noon to c.16:30.  26 Common Sand, 1 Green Sand, 91 Curlew, 2 Black-wit, 14 Redshank, 1 Oyc, 10s each of 3 spp hirundines & Swifts. 1 Hobby.  No Wood Sand.

Briefly dropped into Exminster Marshes - didn't even see a wader. Harsh.  

Soar

Hobby over East Soar Farm putting a flock of 160 juv.Starlings to flight - flock indicates good breeding success.

A few Gannets offshore plus 6 male Silver Studded Blues on Bolt Heads. Good nos of Dark Green Fritillaries & Graylings.

Long may the sun last!!

Mystery Gull

Following gull seen this evening in fading light at Broadsands Beach, Paignton by author and Jake Wood, we are struggling with the I.D, suggestions please!

EDIT @ 23:15 - My enormous fortune would go on 2nd-summer Iceland Gull, Bill    (Gavin)

Thanks Gavin, that's what we thought but in July! We went looking for Med Gull & YLG!! Cheers Bill

Darts Farm & Bowlig green marsh

Watched from 09:15 till 16:30

Darts Farm

2 groups of Black tailed godwits 25+ and 52+ , 9 whimbrel, 8 curlew, 2 med gulls (1ad, 2nd summer ) and 1 juv yellow legged gull flew north east, 2 green sandpipers

Bowling Green Marsh

From the viewing platform a stunning summer plumage Spotted redshank in with 200+ redshank, 128+ black tailed godwits , 25+ bar tailed godwits, 2 dunlin, 3 med gulls(3 adults), 1 hobby, 2 common sandpiper, 1 greenshank, 2 whimbrel

Teign Estuary

3 adult Med Gulls, a Little Ringed Plover and 5+ Common Sandpipers off Passage House mid-afternoon. [Will Salmon]

What have we `ere?

Anyone like to try and guess this one`s parents?
It`s been on the R.Taw for quite sometime now in company with Canada Geese. 

I would imagine one half could be Pink Foot?

Thurlestone Bay

3hr seawatch off Warren Pt this morning produced - 
180 Gannet, 38 Manx Shearwater, 1 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Fulmar , 1dp Arctic Skua 2 Sandwich Tern , 2 Whimbrel, 2 Dunlin.
20 Black Headed Gull in the bay inc 1 juv.

On Thurlestone Marsh now 3 TEAL

Start Point

Seawatch 07:00-11:00: 266 Manx Shearwaters (count abandoned due to birds circulatiing from 09:00ish), 2 Puffins, 2 Arctic Skuas, 3 Sandwich Terns, 25 Guillemots and 8 Razorbills. However at 08:22 a summer plumage Black Guillemot flew past, not going SW with the normal passage, but bizarrely heading NE - making a four auk day in July! Hopefully it should turn up again further up the coast (may be off Berry Head etc).

Berry Head

05:30-11:00 cloudy with afew showers, west winds. Not as many as Mark, but a good number of Manx Shearwaters going past, 484, with only 2 Balearic Shearwaters. Also 2 Arctic Skuas, 2 Puffins, 1 Common Tern, 2 Sandwich Terns, 307 Gannets, 47 Kittiwakes, 14 Fulmars and 2 Harbour Porpoises.

Exmouth

Mediterranean gulls have maintained a pretty much constant presence on Warren View football pitch, at the back of our house, for the past two or three weeks. At least 3 adult-types (inc a presumed 3rd summer), 5 first summers and a juvenile have been hopping between the pitch and estuary but the above bird is a bit odd. It is a first summer with an adult-type head which, according to Malling Olsen/Larsson, accounts for less than 5% of the population. I must have seen hundreds of first summers over the years but I can't personally recall seeing one like this. Note this bird is also ringed.

Berry Head

Seawatch 10:00-16:00. Fairly large movement of 2077 Manx Shearwaters with groups stopping to feed off the headland, but only 5 Balearic Shearwaters among them. Also a Puffin, 2 Arctic Skuas, 1 Arctic tern, 4 Common Terns, 142 Gannets, 80 Kittiwakes, 19 Fulmars and a Harbour Porpoise.

River Clyst

River Clyst - Viewing Platform
On the rising tide this morning there were 4 Ruff, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Greenshank & 4 Redshank amongst more numerous Curlew and Black-tailed Godwits - several in really good breeding plumage.

[Rupert Ormerod]

East Devon - yesterday 10/7

Nightjar photo taken yesterday (10/7) in East Devon, with a reminder that the East Devon branch of Devon birds is having a Nightjar walk this evening on the Pebblebeds Heath at 8.30pm, meeting at Wheathill car park. [Dave Jannaway]

landcross

4 Green sandpiper on flooded pool next to road 3oo mtrs before slow down sign at landcross near bideford,view from tarka trail through trees near old railway bridge looking back in an sw direction.Acsess onto trail just past landcross bridgeUpstream of railway bridge 5 med gulls,3adult 2 fs.with 200+black headed.19:50-20:30

Exminster Marshes

The usual access routes are all under water. The flood water in the lane is only just below the top of a welly boot. However I managed to have a look around. The fields have tall grass so its difficult to view all the pools but attempts by the farmers to move their cattle to higher ground caused some birds to show themselves. In particular two small groups of ducks flew around before disappearing again, amongst them were: 1 shoveller, 1 garganey, 5 gadwall, 2 wigeon, 1 tufted duck and about 20 mallard.

Near the motorway was a flock of gulls. Most (c300) were black-headed gulls. Almost all were adults but I did count 4 juveniles. Also there were c30 herring gulls (all immatures) and 6 Med gulls - 4 adults including two with pristine black heads and two with hoods in partial moult. The 2 sub-adults included a 2w and 2s. The later bird was flying over the canal. In the flooded fields north of the lane were 5 curlew and one black-tailed godwit.

Elsewhere I was surprised by the amount of bird song, including 2 blackcaps, 4 reed buntings and 3 sedge warblers. Several hundred swifts were feeding over-head.

And yes I did manage to fill my boots with water.

English Channel

From fishing boat  approx 25 nm S of Berry Head. Up to 5 juv Yellow-legged Gulls in with lots of Lesser black-backs, with a few Herring and Great Black-backs, but still the only independent juvs we're seeing at sea. Also 2 Common Terns ( ad with juv), Bonxie, 10+ Storm Petrels.

Thurlestone Bay

Away over the w/end -hoever I did have a Greenshank in the flooded marsh at 06.45 Sat .
Reports rec'd are- Lapwing over on 4/7, 1 Redshank and 2 Whimbrel ( Sat ), 5 Dunlin and 2 Black Tailed Godwit ( sun )
Swallow roost at 21.30 on Sun was 200- this is somewhat down on previous years.

This am 7 Black Headed Gull in the Bay inc our first Juv, also on the rocks 3 Whimbrel.

Soar

70 Swifts feeding overhead, soon to be away.
50 Linnets mobbing Sparrowhawk.

Good year for Dark Green Fritillaries at this site, in spite of the lack of sun!
Graylings now out in force & Marbled White in my garden yesterday!

Mediterranean Gulls - Ringing Colours/Codes.

If any of you are keen like me in trying to spot colour ringed Med Gulls, here is a website you might find useful.

http://medgull.free.fr/pages/codes.php#codes

Teign Estuary

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull roosting off Passage House late morning. [Will Salmon]

Sunny Sunday with lots of recently fledged wheatears on Dartmoor

Cuckoo

Been a bit slack for photos lately, so here's a nice Cuckoo shot from Steve Hatch, taken on Dartmoor on 23 June...

Wembury

Adult Med Gull past east yesterday heading for the newly created Yealm wetlands. 150+ Swift over the village last night looked more like early migrants than a feeding flock from Plymouth (absolutely no evidence for either theory!).

skern

08:15-10:00.2 knot,one bp,bar tailed godwit bp,common sandpiper,2 med gulls,adult fs,4 dunlin.So thats where all the gulls are maurice,Thought they had moved up estuary.

R.Taw - Taw Bridge to Ashford sewage works.

07:30 - 09:00

20 Mediterranean Gulls (10 adults; 3 2nd summer; 7 1st summer)  One adult carrying white project ring on left tarsus, probably Dutch or Belgian).
37 LBBG and big increase in B.H Gulls.
69 Shelduck incl 14 ducklings.
19 Grey Heron on Penhill Marsh. 3 Little Egrets.
The Green sandpiper has returned to it`s ditch alongside sewage works.

Plymouth

...a few bits and pieces from the Plym this afternoon

Common Sandpiper - 9
Greenshank - 2
Med Gull - 1 adult
Marsh Sandpiper - none!!!

[Roy McCarthy]

Darts Farm, Topsham

A surprisingly good walk around the farm at 2pm. Out on the lawn there were plenty of Pied Wagtails and an Oystercatcher taking full advantage of the sodden ground. From the hide a male Reed Bunting was calling and a Whitethroat keeping out of the rain. The muttering call of a Reed Warbler from the reed bed, along with a small flock of Goldfinches which stopped by briefly to the bird table.

Further out on the wetlands a group of about 25 Black-tailed Godwits, a handful in breeding plumage were busy feeding, followed by a smaller bunch of Curlew. On the return leg 9 Swifts floated by fairly low down heading towards the Exe.

Berry Head

Seawatch 0620-0820. Actually arrived on site 30 mins earlier but busy sheltering from the torrential downpour. Quite strong S wind when I arrived but decreased markedly and swung towards SW by the time I left. For much of the time there was virtually no seabird passage past the headland in the continuing rain and low visibility,  total count 220 Gannets and 191 Manx south.

skern

07:45-08:30.3 bar tailed godwits,2 whimbrel,flyover male tufted duck.Waders are trickling back and the weather hasn"t changed since the spring when they were here!!.Pair of wheatears feeding young in nest looking very bedraggled.

Wembury

A slightly unusual sight at Wembury last night with c. 250 Gannets plunge diving reasonably close in.

One lucky fisherman!

Thurlestone Bay

News from yesterday - on the beach/rocks - 2 Sanderling  & 2 Turnstone.

This morning ideal conditions for a seawatch  F3/4 SE and good viz - Warren Pt from 09.15- 12.15 & 16.00-17.00 Totals were

Gannet -385 ( mostly east ) Manx S'water- 125 E , Balearic S'water - 2 E. Common Scoter 5E and 40 W ( largest flock for some months.). Med Gull - 1 1st s  E . 1 s/pl Dunlin on the beach.

On Thurlestone Marsh this morning 1 s/pl Black Tailed Godwit and a male Teal

At S M Ley  Bob B had a Water Rail, 2 juv Whitethroat and 2 ad Reed Warbler with 3 juv.

The last juv Spotted Flycatcher did not last the night

Berry Head

06:30-10:00. F3-4 ESE, dry, overcast. Only obs.
97>S & 11>N Manx, 221>S & 33>N Gannet, 20>S Common Scoter, 1>S Curlew, 3>S Pomarine Skua (07:26; two spooned ad with an imm.), 2>S Arctic Skua, v light passage Kittwake, 2>S & 1>N Sandwich Tern, 5>S Common Tern, 1>S Puffin.  Also 3 Bottle-nosed Dolphin and a Grey Seal.

Skern

06:45 - 08:00

Common Sandpiper 15; Bar-tailed Godwit 1; Black-tailed Godwit 4; Dunlin 4; Wheatear 3;
Curlew 38; Oystercatcher 43; Black-headed Gull 13; Herring Gull 11 and 7 GBBG.
Still not many gulls. Meds seem to turn up on evening tide only.

English Channel

Fishing the English Channel south of E Devon, first two juv Yellow-legged Gulls of the year feeding around boat, in with Lesser and Great black-backs and a few Herring Gulls - so no doubt be turning up at coastal sites shortly as in recent summers. Also 20+ Storm Petrels and a Common Tern.

Exmouth

Orcombe Point - 1900 - 2000 - a first summer sabine's gull was a big surprise on a brief and otherwise unremarkable seawatch. It flew into view with a kittiwake at 1920 and suddenly left the kitt to head SSW directly towards Berry Head. Also 2+ arctic skua (one dark phase directly over my head towards Exmouth), 15+ manx shearwater, 1 balearic shearwater and 1 guillemot. Earlier 80+ sandwich tern off the Seafront and a couple juv herring gulls.

Med Gull PAJ7

PAJ7 was ringed in Poland on 10/05/2005. It was first recorded on the Skern on 03/07/2008 and has been reported several times since.

skern

15 med gulls.6 adult,2s,8fs,.One of the adults was polish bird PAJ7 which i believe has been visiting the area for at least 5 yrs.Anyone know correctly.216 black headed.None of these birds present this morning.Must have heard my gripe about lack of.Common sandpiper,greenshank24 curlew.

Off Beer

A Beer fisherman reported a Puffin about 2 miles out this morning [Kevin Hale]

Otter Estuary, E Devon

Just as miserable on the coast this morning as elsewhere with visibility out to sea counted in yards.
A Green Woodpecker present plus 3 Cettis Warbler calling and a single sp Black-tailed Godwit on the scrapes.  A juv.Yellow Wagtail on the cricket pitch together with 14 or so juv. Starling and four juv. Goldfinch.  2 ringed  Shelduck with yellow bands on left leg with initials AT (?) and HF (?) provided some interest.

Sherpa Marsh

Had the first look around the pond at Sherpa this morning for some time, and delighted to find that there are now 6 fully-grown juvenile Pochard with adult female still in attendance. Looking at Mike Tyler's 'Birds of Devon' this may be the first successful breeding (including fledging) of Pochard in Devon.

Also present new family of three juv Little Grebes, a female Teal, and 18 Swans (+ one pile of feathers by the pond - fox?)

Instow Cricket ground and Foreshore.

07:30

In response to Rob`s comment of lack of Gulls on the estuary yesterday, there were only 9 Black-headed Gulls and just the odd Herring Gull off the Cricket Ground this morning. That was it and no waders of any description.

Skern

32 black headed gulls,2 bar tailed godwits,dunlin.Seems to be a dearth of gulls on north coast at mo.Usually loads more around at this time.

Thurlestone Bay

A very miserable day ,almost continuous rain, very poor viz in the Bay.

On Thurlestone Marsh 9sp Black Tailed Godwit spent the day feeding on the back pool. A few Swift and 30 + House Martin over the marsh

Visited the Spotted Flycatcher nest site in South Milton- only 1 fledgeling survives- parent visiting the nest but not carrying food.

A large feeding flock of 250+ Gannet in the Bay with a futher 75 flying through. Also 25 Manx Shearwater and 3 Common Scoter

Berry Head

Seawatching with Dave Norman covering 09:15-14:15 between us. Steady trickle of Manx reaching c400, but no Balearics, 3 Arctic Skua (two went into Torbay), 1 Pomarine Skua (sub-ad type), 1 Bonxie and 2 Puffins.

One Harbour Porpoise off the headland, while fishermen reported a pod of dolphins heading south earlier. For me the highlight was a couple of huge splashes way-out of a breaching animal, on the third time I managed to get on the beast which revealed itself as a really large Thresher Shark coming right out of the water! I did not realise they can be so big - one caught off Cornwall weighed 1,250lb and measured 32ft!

Start Point

Seawatch 07:00-13:00: Great Shearwater (SW at 10:41, my earliest yet off Devon), 3305 Manx Shearwater (but surprisingly no balearics today!), 4 Puffins, 6 European Storm-petrels, 20 Common Scoter. 2 Pomarine Skuas, 2 Arctic Skuas. The usuall group of Bottlenose Dolphins headed SW close inshore at 09:00.

Aveton Gifford

Second calender-year Mediterranean Gull at the start of the tidal road early afternoon.

skern

2fs med gulls,44 black headed,6gbbg,2 bar tailed godwits,2 grey plover,14 dunlin,4 ringed plover,17;10pm

Budleigh Salterton

A quick seawatch tonight from the seafront 17.00 - 18.00hrs this evening produced 2 Arctic Skua (light and dark phase) and at least 3 Balearic Shearwaters heading West. DC, HB & CT

Exminster Marshes

I very pleasant visit from 08.00 to 09.30, warm sunshine and hundreds of swifts feeding over the pools. Like many today I spent too long trying to scrutinize each bird - all common swifts. Also a few swallows including 3 recently fledged young and about 30 house martins.

On the pools nearest the canal were a few black-headed gulls (c30) and one 2s Med gull. Ducks included 17 mallard, 5 wigeon (1 male in eclipse), 2 teal (pair) and 1 garganey. On the muddy margins to the pools were 16 little egrets, one redshank and 5 black-tailed godwits (3 in sp). Elsewhere singing sedge, reed and Cettis warblers and at least 3 singing blackcaps. About 200 starlings, mostly juveniles suggests they might have had a reasonable breeding season.

Dawlish warren

Watched from 11:15 till 15:30 7 med gulls (1 adult, 1 2nd summer 5 1st summer), 83+ sandwich tern, 4 common tern, 120+ curlew, 12+ common scote, 1 slavonian grebe

Thurlestone Bay

A sunny breezy day - a short visit to the Bay this morning produced 2 ad + 1 1s Med Gull, the Black Necked Grebe still showing well until 11.30- an increasing number of wind/kite surfers spooked the bird and when I left i could not relocate it.

This aft. a flock of 130 Herring Gull flew into Thurlestone Marsh amongst them were 2ad Yellow Leg Gull. At least 1 Water Rail calling- a returning bird as no proof of breeding.
A Willow Warbler in the garden this morning probably a faied breeder off the moor as none breed locally

Thurlestone Bay

Back on the patch after a 9 day visit to France ( La Brenne / Loire Valley - great birding )

Very quiet morning livened up at 11.35 with 2 Arctic Skua flying east and then finding the partial sp Black Necked  Grebe just off Bob's car park  ( a most unusual summer record - and staying at least a week ).
A group of Gulls  flew down the valley over T'stone marsh at 13.45 - 3 Black Headed and 2 1s Med

Early flowering orchids - Tarka Trail, Ashford sewage works.

On the 17th June while I was down the Tarka Trail I was surprised to find a clump of 42 Early Flowering Orchids flowering behind the seawall just the river side of the wall.
Yesterday afternoon when I was there again, I was dismayed to see that all but about 5 had been mowed down as a result of seawall management.
Enquiries at the Civic Center today revealed that this had been done by the Environment Agency who have a statutory duty to keep the seawall clear of vegatation. The grass cutting is sub-contracted out to people who obviously don`t know the difference between weeds and orchids!
Yes, Early Flowering Orchids may be fairly common but to see a large clump of them was a nice sight.
You would think the E.A. could have waited a week or so for them to have set seed but I`m told cutting has been brought forward this year because of rapid growth of vegatation which has to be cut early. So much for the countryside and the environment. 

Berry Head

05:30-10-30 cloudy and afew showers with strong SW winds. A steady flow of Manx Shearwaters 203, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 3 Puffins, 3 Common Scoters, 61 Kittiwakes no juvs, 4 Black-headed Gulls, 1 L.B.B.Gull, 227 Gannets all going South. Numerous Guillemots going back and forth. Also 8 Swifts flying south very low over the sea.

Torbay

Broadsands: 1 - 1s Med Gull with 14 Black-headed Gulls, also 14 Common Scoter offshore but picked out another more distant flock....

Roundham Headland: tight flock of 7 Med Gulls sat on water (no Black-headed Gulls) 5 - 2s, 1 - ad, 1 - 1s and a flock of 19 Common Scoter

R.Taw at Pottington Ind Est

14:30

4 cracking Black-tailed Godwits in breeding plumage and a solitary returning Redshank.

1 Black Swan with 8 Mutes.

Velator reserve

Still 4 juvenle Little Grebes.

Nearby on Wrafton Pond, 6 Juve Little Grebes, and 3 adult Tufted Ducks (2 males).

Berry Head

10:00-12:00, mist / fog clearing with freshening WSW: 60+ Manx Shearwaters (feeding out in Lyme Bay) with at least one Balearic Shearwater, also feeding Gannets and a light passage.  Note although relatively early, there is already a big build up of Balearics on the French side, see marinelife , so perhaps we're in for another good year!

Of interest I spent most of Monday fishing mid-channel close to the area the Black-browed Albatross was last seen, but no luck.

Broadsands

Evening: 3 Med Gulls (2, 1s & 1, 2s), just 8 Black-headed Gulls and 15 Sandwich Terns.

Berry Head

13.30-1500hrs watched a couple of smaller day fishing trawlers returning to Brixham but only gulls and Gannets behind them. Passage birds >S; 1 Balearic Shearwater, 1 Great Skua, 12 Manx Shearwaters, 37 Gannets. Also 1 Grey Seal.

Exminster marshes

A brief visit at lunch-time cut short by more rain. On the pools near the canal were c300 black-headed gulls. Mostly adults including the leucistic bird. Incidentally I saw a very similar bird at BGM on the 4 July last year.

Two garganey (probably females) seen briefly amongst reeds, also drake wigeon and 12 mallard. Waders included 3 black-tailed godwits (sp) and 1 curlew. Lots of hirundines predominately sand martins and house martins. Also c50 swifts.

Exminster Marsh - Monday evening

Dropped in around 7.30 to 8.30 p.m. A male (going into eclipse) and two female garganey on the flood by the fishermans car park plus 5 wigeon and a single male teal there. Plenty of hirundines of which house martin was the most numerous with around 250 birds. At least 2 Cettis calling.

South Huish - yesterday 24/6

Partial summer-plumaged Black-necked Grebe just offshore, between the car parks. Apparently has been present a few days.  [Roy McCarthy]

Dartmouth

Cuckoo heard calling from coast path by Dartmouth Coastguard Cottages this morning.

Bolberry Down

Not a concerted sea watch but moving west mid-morning:

89 Manx Shearwater & 35 Gannets.

Kestrel taking in food to brood on cliff.

Downend/Saunton Down.

08:00

4 Common Scoter a long way out off the point.

23-24 June late news

23 June, Escot Park, East Devon: 15 crossbills around wild boar enclosure 24 June, Exminster Marshes: Eclipse male & female garganey, taken with earlier sightings presumably indicating a failed local breeding attempt. Also 4 Med Gull & 1 green sandpiper.

Prawle Point

06:45-10:15. 4 obs. Counts heading W. 1244 Manx S, 2 Balearic S, 188 Gannet, 40 Scoter, 23 Fulmar,  7 Stormie, 4 Sanderling, 3 Dunlin, 3 Pomarine Skua, 1 Arctic Skua, 20 Kittiwake,,5 Guilemot, 5 Razorbill, 4 Puffin. 1 Sunfish.