Cattle Egrets, Spoonbill, WeBS

After no patch records at all so far this year, the sudden appearance of 14 Cattle Egrets at Passage House this morning was something of a surprise; see video here. There was no sign of them there or at Teigngrace at lunchtime, although a Goosander on the estuary was the first in almost exactly four years. 

On Sunday the Spoonbill was still present east of Passage House, joining a group of Little Egrets and Cormorants foraging along the falling tide; estuary-wide counts of the latter were 35 and 16 respectively. Other WeBS totals comprised 330 Oystercatchers, 71 Redshanks, seven Greenshanks, just 37 Curlew, 23 Turnstones, six Dunlin, five Ringed Plovers, two Common Sandpipers, 300 Black-headed Gulls, 120 Herring Gulls, 34 Greater Black-backed Gulls, 16 Cormorants, 23 Mallards, 19 Shelducks, 17 Mute Swans, 12 Red-breasted Mergansers, four Little Grebes, two Wigeon, two Kingfishers and singles of Lapwing, Teal, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Gull and Canada Goose.

Spoonbill (Laurie Allnatt)

Spoonbill (fourth from right) with Little Egrets (Laurie Allnatt)

Like buses...

A first-winter Spoonbill was a surprise find this morning stood on The Salty with gulls on the rising tide, and actively feeding at times. This is presumably the bird reported at Passage House on 27th October. 

Spoonbill mid channel from Shaldon bridge 10.45. pic.twitter.com/is364nudPn

— Chris Gladman (@AnchorBirder) November 11, 2021

After no House/Garden ticks since May 2020, now three this month!

Snow...

..of sorts. A sign of the changing seasons with a Snow Bunting west over Teignmouth this afternoon, a great patch, let alone garden, bird. Hopefully it has pitched down somewhere around the estuary...

Late news includes the first Red-breasted Merganser of the winter on 20 Oct when two Balearic Shearwater and two Arctic Skua flew south off Teignmouth, two Mediterranean Gull were on The Salty and a Golden Plover flew over calling at 23.20pm. 

Woodpigeons, Brambling

Woodpigeon passage really got going today, with 23,500 counted from Bundle Head between 07:45 - 09:15. While around half of the birds flew south overhead, just inland or west over Teignmouth/Little Haldon, half were seen crossing Lyme Bay/Babbacombe Bay in a broad arc, with several flocks numbering over a thousand birds picked up distantly over towards Hope's Nose. Much closer was a Brambling which called loudly overhead then turned back around north. Also on the move 168 Goldfinches, 119 Meadow Pipits, 67 Linnets, 34 alba Wagtails, 30 Chaffinches, 26 Siskins, 14 Greenfinches, five Skylarks, two Grey Wagtails, two Mistle Thrushes, two Jays and a Swallow.

More vis mig

 Another hour watching migration over Bundle Head from 07:40 - 08:40 this morning. Going south: 139 Meadow Pipits, 102 Linnets, 63 alba Wagtails, 37 Goldfinches, 32 Siskins, 21 Chaffinches and 10 Greenfinches. Small flocks of Jackdaws and Woodpigeons were also on the move just inland but weren't counted. A Firecrest was heard briefly by the road.

Great White Egret, WeBS

 A busy autumn day started with an hour of vis mig at the top of Bundle Head from 07:30 - 08:30. Overall numbers were lower than last week but there was greater variety, with 29 Stock Doves probably the best count; also 66 Goldfinches, 42 Meadow Pipits, 35 Linnets, 19 alba Wagtails, 16 Chaffinches, 10 Greenfinches, five Skylarks, three Swallows, three Bullfinches, a Jay, a Grey Wagtail and a Great Spotted Woodpecker. 

The WeBS count from 08:00 until late morning produced 349 Oystercatchers, 78 Curlew, 28 Turnstones, 11 Ringed Plovers, 11 Redshanks, eight Dunlin, three Common Sandpipers, three Greenshanks, two Bar-tailed Godwits, 49 Little Egrets, 16 Cormorants, 88 Canada Geese, 37 Mute Swans, 20 Mallards, four Shelducks, two Kingfishers and a Wigeon. Gulls included single Mediterranean Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull.

At around 12:45 a Great White Egret was discovered in one of the channels south-east of Passage House (found by Paul Darlington; thanks for the text Mark Bailey); this is believed to be the first confirmed record for the Teign. It was still present from 5pm until dusk and gave excellent views at times, including side-by-side with some of the local Little Egrets.

Great White Egret by Laurie Allnatt

Turnstones by Alan Ford

780 mph (Mipits per hour)

After yesterday's rain, today dawned bright and calm and the visible migration floodgates were well and truly opened over Bundle Head. Meadow Pipits dominated proceedings with a whopping 780 logged going south between 07:10 and 08:10, with a supporting cast of 165 Linnets, 112 Goldfinches, 94 Swallows/hirundine species, 12 alba Wagtails and a Grey Wagtail. The next few weeks should see Skylarks and Chaffinches begin to feature in overhead movements, along with (hopefully) a few scarcities such as Crossbill and Brambling, followed by some big movements of Woodpigeons in early November. 

Looking north from the highest point on Bundle Head, above Smugglers Cove.
The steep ground means that passerines often fly over at just above head height
when moving south in the autumn.

Kittiwake passage, Arctic Skuas, Common Terns

Seawatching from Teignmouth yacht club from 07:15 - 08:45 this morning produced a heavy passage of 1050 Kittiwakes, with birds moving south at a rate of 100 every five minutes from 07:20 - 08:05 before tailing off. Just one Balearic Shearwater went through but eight Arctic Skuas was a good total, the majority of which were following the trail of Kittiwakes. Also two late Common Terns, an adult Mediterranean Gull, five Common Scoters, 200+ Gannets and 30+ auks.

News from the East

A second winter Caspian Gull was on the Salty this evening, the third patch, and Salty, record and the first since 2018. Recent seawatching counts include six Balearic Shearwater, three Arctic Skua and 40 Kittiwake south past Teignmouth in 20 minutes mid evening on 27 Sep and on 29th, 11 Balearic Shearwater, an Arctic Skua, 80 Kittiwake in just half an hour mid afternoon. 

Other recent Teignmouth highlights include a Moorhen on 25 Sep and a Coot on 1 Sep, both calling overhead at night.

Little Stint, Spot Fly, WeBS

A productive morning started with a look around Bundle Head, which revealed singles of Spotted Flycatcher, Wheatear and Whitethroat, plus numerous Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs. Overhead passage showed signs of getting going with three Grey Wagtails, c.30 each of Swallow and House Martin and a trickle of Meadow Pipits, Chaffinches and Goldfinches.

Onto the WeBS count, where the standout bird was a flighty Little Stint at Passage House, although the bizarre sighting of a Grey Squirrel swimming across from the spit as it became stranded by the rising tide also caught the attention. Other (bird) totals included 377 Oystercatchers, 68 Curlew, 15 Greenshanks, 10 Turnstones, six Dunlin, five Common Sandpipers, four Black-tailed Godwits, two Ringed Plovers, 30 Mallards, 21 Mute Swans, 24 Little Egrets, 16 Cormorants, a Kingfisher, a Whimbrel and a Wigeon. 

At least one Yellow Wagtail and a couple more Grey Wagtails were heard overhead while counting at Flow Point. 

Spotted Flycatcher

Little Stint