Rounding off a pretty good month for birding around the Teign, a Great White Egret was seen in flight from the A380 bridge over Passage House at about 2.40pm yesterday. It appeared to drop down on the Newton Abbot side, but there was no further sign of it despite a couple of checks this afternoon. Over at Decoy at least one Mandarin persists on the lake.
Last good bird of the month, at least by Teignmouth standards, a Coot calling over the town just after 9pm.
A couple of late afternoon stops at either end of the patch recorded six Great Northern and a summer plumaged Red-throated Diver on the sea off Teignmouth and the Little Ringed Plover and a White Wagtail still on the floods nr Newton Abbot hospital. The first Willow Warbler of the year sang briefly from neighbouring Jetty Marsh.
The Teigngrace pools again proved worth a look this morning with a Little Ringed Plover, two Green Sandpipers, two White Wagtails and eight Teal still. The area can be viewed from the cleared ground adjacent to the hospital access road (telescope needed). At the adjacent Jetty Marsh a Water Rail was calling, a Grey Heron dropped in and a Roe Deer was flushed.
Elsewhere a short seawatch from Teignmouth from 06:30 - 07:00 was unsurprisingly quiet given the relative lack of wind but did produce four Common Scoters, two Red-throated Divers, a Great Crested Grebe and half a dozen Guillemots. Other bits and pieces this morning included six Fieldfares on the racecourse, c.10 Sand Martins at Rackerhayes and two Mandarins which flew upriver at Passage House.
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| Grey Heron |
The pools north of Newton Abbot hospital held one Green Sandpiper, eight Teal and a Little Egret this morning, with a further eight Little Egrets in nearby fields and three Stock Doves, two Stonechats, a handful of Redwings and the year's first Sand Martin also noted. A quick pit stop at Rackerhayes revealed a party of four Shovelers on Dores pond.
Yesterday morning felt bitterly cold, with sub-zero overnight temperatures and a keen north-easterly breeze tempering any warmth from the sun. Nevertheless, reduced totals of many species on the estuary reflected the advancing spring, and included 128 Oystercatchers, 36 Turnstones, 25 Curlew, 25 Redshanks, five Greenshanks, 28 Shelducks, 20 Mallards, 14 Red-breasted Mergansers, 12 Canada Geese, eight Mute Swans, three Little Grebes, 26 Little Egrets, three Grey Herons, five Cormorants, two Shags and a Mediterranean Gull.
In somewhat milder conditions last Thursday, there was lots of activity at Rackerhayes with three singing Chiffchaffs, one singing Blackcap, a Mute Swan on eggs, six Great Crested Grebes (with at least two paired up), two Green Woodpeckers, two Firecrests and the Bar-headed Goose. Lingering winter visitors included six Tufted Ducks, two Teal and a Redwing. Six Tufted Ducks were also on Decoy Lake, although there was no sign of the pair of Mandarins Alan had there on Monday.
The Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation have confirmed that the White-tailed Eagle on 1st March was a male with the leg ring code G603, released as a juvenile on the Isle of Wight in 2024.
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| Mandarins (Alan Ford) |
Not a great deal to report over the last week. Rackerhayes held a male Shoveler on the 19th, and a male Blackcap was by the entrance gates there this morning. The Bar-headed Goose continues to associate with the Canada Geese, but Tufted Duck numbers have declined with just six present today. Many of the resident woodland species are now approaching full song, with one Song Thrush doing an excellent impression of a Willow Tit as part of its repertoire (the latter's cousin the Marsh Tit continues to be conspicuous by its absence).
Another dull grey morning, this time with a cold easterly wind, but fortunately plenty of birds on the estuary including a few bits of quality. It was nice to catch up with the female Goosander which has been present in the Passage House area since late January, often showing just alongside the car park. The Spotted Redshank was on Flow Point at high tide, alongside a good count of 18 Teal. Other totals included 246 Oystercatchers, 67 Curlew (the best count this winter), 21 Turnstones, c.30 Redshanks, six Greenshanks, six Ringed Plovers, five Avocets, two Common Sandpipers, one Dunlin, 36 Shelducks, 25 Red-breasted Mergansers, 24 Mallards, seven Little Grebes, five Canada Geese, four Mute Swans, six Little Egrets, five Shags, four Cormorants and one Great Crested Grebe. Not a great number of gulls but eight Common Gulls, two Lesser Black-backed Gulls and a Mediterranean Gull provided some interest.
Elsewhere today 28 Mute Swans, 70 Canada Geese and the Bar-headed Goose were at Teigngrace, and six Fieldfares and two Lapwings were on the racecourse. A Black Redstart has been present in the Morrisons/Broadmeadow area of Teignmouth over the past week.
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| Goosander |
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| Common Sandpiper |
A trip to Newton Abbot hospital on Saturday afternoon was tied in with a rare visit to the adjacent northern fringes of Jetty Marsh. Four Teal, two Chiffchaffs, two Stonechats, a Grey Wagtail and a Jay were noted, with 22 Mute Swans and 28 Canada Geese present in nearby Teigngrace fields.
This morning's very high tide pushed almost everything off Passage House but eight Avocets and 16 Redshanks were clinging on, and one of the Little Grebes has developed breeding plumage already. Two Lapwings and two Stonechats continue to winter on the racecourse.
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| Little Grebe |
Following the national trend the numbers of Curlew on the estuary have declined in recent years, and so far this winter there hasn't been a count that's exceeded 50 birds; this morning only 31 could be located. In contrast there has been an uptick in Turnstone numbers, with at least 56 present today. Other totals included 312 Oystercatchers, 35+ Redshanks, six Greenshanks, seven Avocets (11 were present on Tuesday), five Ringed Plovers, two Common Sandpipers, one Lapwing, 14 Little Egrets, five Little Grebes, two Great Northern Divers (by Polly Steps), 30 Shelducks, 26 Red-breasted Mergansers, four Teal and a Kingfisher.
Another two Great Northern Divers were off Teignmouth seafront with four Red-throated Divers, and at least three Razorbills were among the more numerous Guillemots.
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| Avocets (14 Jan) |
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| Greenshank |
