Scaup remains; little else of note

I spent over half the day out on patch, hoping for something new but it appears there have been no significant changes over the past two weeks. Starting off at Decoy the drake Scaup and drake Gadwall remain with 34 Tufted Duck, though no sign of any Pochard. Also noted were a Little Grebe, a Great Crested Grebe, a Green Woodpecker and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Onto Luxton's Steps area (fields & wetland south of Bishopsteignton) where a lone Teal was on the pond, a Water Rail squealed from the reeds and a Chiffchaff called in a patch of willows. Five Song Thrushes flew out from the hedgerows and at least 15 Meadow Pipits were keeping a low profile in one of the arable fields.

With the tide reaching its peak I had a look off Polly Steps where 11 Turnstone had chosen to roost on one of the boats by the bridge and 9 Red-breasted Merganser were chasing each other over towards Shaldon. Unfortunately there was no sign of the male Black Redstart from last month. I then drove the length of the estuary to view the Passage House area from below the sewage works as the tide began to drop. 98 Redshank was a good count, but other wader numbers were generally disappointing and included 13 Greenshank, 5 Dunlin, 32 Curlew, 10+ Snipe and 20 Lapwing. Among the gulls just 2 Common Gulls and 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls worthy of mention; finally 5 Little Grebe and 3 Grey Wagtail also found their way into my notebook.