Brent Goose numbers double!

It's too early to tell if they'll spend the winter here, but for now the Teign officially has a flock of Brent Geese - two birds were foraging on the saltmarsh at Flow Point at midday, unperturbed by nearby fishermen. Also on the marsh were a Kingfisher, two Common Sandpipers and two Rock Pipits, whilst a scan of the estuary revealed 24 Red-breasted Mergansers in a single flock near the Shaldon bridge.

Earlier on a visit to Decoy Lake produced the usual male Scaup, a Kingfisher, 31 Tufted Ducks and a Great Crested Grebe. Good numbers of Redwings were on the move overhead, with several large flocks totalling c.500 along with my first Fieldfares of the autumn. Afterwards I had a look at the floods at Teigngrace, where a first-winter Mediterranean Gull was in amongst the masses of Black-headed Gulls and 28 Little Egrets was an impressive sight in a single field; two Teal and a Curlew were also noted there.