New area explored

A tour of several sites around the estuary this morning began with a visit to Decoy Lake, which turned up adult and juvenile Great Crested Grebes and two Tufted Ducks. Next stop was Flow Point for the high tide roost; Oystercatchers (378) and Curlew (90+) were plentiful but numbers of other waders disappointing - 3 Greenshanks, 2 Common Sandpipers, 4 Ringed Plovers and a Dunlin (the latter two species were into double figures this time last year). Nine Turnstones were roosting on a covered boat at Polly Steps, Teignmouth, and single Wheatears were noted here and at Flow Point.

I ended up exploring the back lanes behind Shaldon, namely Commons Lane which rises up steeply from Ringmore and is lined with dense, species-rich hedgerows. No sooner had I parked up that a female/juvenile Redstart flew across the road; an overdue patch tick for me. The area looks good for warblers and other passerines during migration.

Yesterday late afternoon a dozen or so Sandwich Terns and a Mediterranean Gull were off Teignmouth seafront, where six Bottlenose Dolphins passed a short while before I arrived (thanks Ken).

Ringed Plovers, Dunlin and Wheatear - Flow Point