Big Turnstone count

Whilst searching unsuccessfully for a Black Redstart around Teignmouth Port yesterday morning I came across a group of 31 Turnstones foraging along the quay - my best ever patch count and the largest number in the estuary for at least eight years (having checked DBR reports since 2010). There was little else of note although the Red-breasted Mergsanser party the other side of Shaldon Bridge had increased to 17.

Back in Black

An immature male Black Redstart was around the Rugby Club in Teignmouth this afternoon, the first at this previously regular site since the 14/15 winter. Also present at least one male Blackcap.

Low tide diversion

A Black-throated Diver, the first of the year, was a surprise in the estuary. The bird was feeding in the southern channel off Shaldon on the dropping tide. On the Salty a total of 10 Shelduck with a Mistle Thrush on Teignmouth Rugby pitch.

Dodgy sandpiper and WeBS

The snow-dusted peaks of Dartmoor provided an aesthetically pleasing backdrop to Saturday morning's count of the upper estuary, which was partly delayed by the discovery at Passage House of a presumed Common Sandpiper showing some characteristics of Spotted Sandpiper. Though it was always alone it appeared somewhat smaller than a typical Common Sand, with a fairly short primary projection and rear end, bold eyestripe and plain tertials, though the bill was fairly uniform-coloured and the legs weren't as yellow as you might expect. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated (apologies for the picture quality).

Presumed Common Sandpiper, Passage House

Totals were generally down on what might be expected for December although the tides were lower than on most WeBS weekends. Fifteen Red-breasted Mergansers, 29 Shelducks, 60 Dunlin, 84 Redshanks, four Greenshanks, five Ringed Plovers and six Little Grebes were among the more notable counts.

Late news for Thursday: a Green Sandpiper showing no characteristics of Solitary Sandpiper was on the floods at Teigngrace south of the level crossing.

Nocturnal Calling

A Black-tailed Godwit flew over Teignmouth just before midnight, only the fourth record of the year on patch.

Firewalks

Although sightings are on the increase a Firecrest will always brighten any day's birding. At least two were around Shaldon this afternoon, one in the Holm Oaks on the Ness and a second in vegetation above Ness Beach. Chiffchaffs were also in both locations and offshore at least 90 Common Scoter.

WeBS

The standout bird of this morning's survey was a female Goosander that was loafing about Passage House for the hour that I was there; the first on patch since 2014. An impressive total of 51 Snipe emerged from the reeds to forage as the tide dropped, and two Bar-tailed Godwits had joined up with the 90-strong Curlew flock. Other totals from the length of the estuary included 386 Oystercatchers, 81 Redshanks, four Greenshanks, 36 Dunlin, four Ringed Plovers, three Common Sandpipers, two Turnstones, 14 Little Egrets, 21 Mute Swans, 18 Shelducks, 15 Red-breasted Mergansers, two Wigeon, six Little Grebes and a Kingfisher.

Goosander, Passage House

Another Firecrest

The first two Blackcap of winter and a Firecrest were found in the Holm Oaks at Milford Park, Teignmouth this morning, however no sign of the odd sounding phyllosc that had been glimpsed nearby. At Passage House at least one wintering Common Sandpiper.

Firecrests

A walk around Decoy Lake revealed a Firecrest with a large flock of tits and Goldcrest. Another Firecrest was seen at The Ness on Wednesday. On the lake were 24 Tufted Duck and a Great Crested Grebe.

Catching up over the last couple of weeks; a Great White Egret was seen flying north-east over Bishopsteignton on the 28th October, likely the same bird that was seen flying up the Exe Estuary later in the day. Large numbers of Woodpigeon were migrating on the 27th and 28th October with c.15,000 per hour during the peak in passage.

All at sea

Half an hour from Teignmouth Yacht Club early afternoon showed large feeding flocks to the North and East of the recording area with good numbers of Gannet, Kittiwake and Razorbill present. Closer in a flock of 63 Common Scoter and a Great Northern Diver.

Grey Plovers

Seawatching for an hour late this afternoon was fairly uneventful, with the highlight being a couple of flocks (36 and 14) of Grey Plover flying south far out to sea, these records being the first of the year of a species that is becoming increasingly uncommon on the estuary. Other birds included c.40 Kittiwake, c.30 auk sp., 50+ Gannet, two Fulmar and a distant small skua sp..

A check of Passage House as the sun was setting revealed the roost islands crawling in c.250+ Pied Wagtails, which subsequently made their way over to the reedbeds in small groups to roost.

Pied Wagtails

Firecrests

Two Firecrests were in The Ness around lunchtime today along with c.10 Goldcrests and four Chiffchaffs. Passage House was quiet on the afternoon high tide but did produce a first-winter Common Gull, 24 Little Egrets and a Grey Seal. Elsewhere a distant Great Northern Diver was off Teignmouth seafront and 11 male Tufted Ducks were back on Decoy Lake.

WeBS

Counts between Passage House and Salcombe Dip on a beautifully sunny and calm morning included 371 Oystercatchers, 70 Curlew, 64 Redshanks, 13 Greenshanks, eight Dunlin, seven Ringed Plovers, five Common Sandpipers, 19 Mute Swans, 18 Little Egrets, 84 Canada Geese, two Sandwich Terns, two Water Rails and a Kingfisher. Overhead there was a light passage of Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Swallows, and the bushes around Flow Point held several small parties of Chiffchaffs, Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits.

Little Stint photos

The Little Stint was again on the spit at Passage House this afternoon, although as the tide rose it relocated to the nearby roost islands where it became very mobile.

Possible Pec

A possible Pectoral Sandpiper flew in and landed on the spit at Passage House this evening before quickly running behind vegetation. It had quite a strong supercilium, giving a Snipe-like impression when it landed, and was the same size as a nearby Common Sandpiper. After a couple of minutes it flew off again down river, having a slightly irrugular flight with fairly long rakish wings, and no wing bars.

The Little Stint was still present along with five Common Sandpipers. A quick check at Flow Point in the dark showed eight Dunlin and two Common Sandpipers, but no Pec.

Little Stint

Robin and I were watching from Passage House car park early evening, lamenting the relative lack of scarce waders this autumn, when a juvenile Little Stint appeared on the spit; the first patch record since 2015. It proceeded to show well and allowed Laurie and Kev to catch up with it, though none of us had working cameras to hand so the phone-scoped record shots below are the best that could be mustered. Also present were a first-winter Mediterranean Gull, at least one White Wagtail, 15+ Greenshanks, two Common Sandpipers, four Wigeon and singles of Water Rail, Kingfisher, Lapwing and Snipe.

Size comparison with Common Sandpiper

Earlier in the afternoon two Rock Pipits were back on Flow Point and one Sandwich Tern was still in the estuary. Nearby the footpath to Luxton's Steps produced two Kestrels, two Chiffchaffs, two Goldcrests and three Bullfinches, and a Little Grebe was on the pond.

The Ness

Eight Chiffchaff, nine Goldcrest and four Blackcap at The Ness this morning, with five Swallows and 40+ Meadow Pipits overhead.

Greenshank

A good count of 17 Greenshank were at Passage House over high tide, together with 50 Curlew, two Bar-tailed Godwit, one Dunlin, two Common Sandpipers, 18 Redshank, 41 Little Egret, two Wigeon and two Common Gulls. Just five Ringed Plover were at Flow Point, distantly on the railway wall.

Avocets

It is rare to see Avocets on the Teign outside of the winter months, so two at Flow Point this evening were noteworthy. On a relatively low high tide other waders included six Ringed Plovers, five Dunlin and two Common Sandpipers.

Commic Terns

Seawatching this evening from 17:30 - 19:30: One Great Skua, one Manx Shearwater, one auk sp., seven Common Tern, 48 "commic" terns (including a flock of 35), 273 Kittiwakes and a possible distant Little Gull.

WeBS

No sign of the Green Sandpiper this morning but counts between Passage House and Salcombe Dip included 376 Oystercatchers, 84 Curlew, 27 Redshanks, 11 Greenshanks, 10 Common Sandpipers, three Dunlin, just two Ringed Plovers, 41 Little Egrets, 31 Mute Swans, 16 Cormorants, five Little Grebes, two Shelducks and a Kingfisher. The Oystercatchers roosting by the railway were all put up by what I was hoping would be an Osprey but turned out to be one of the local Peregrines.

Dusk at Passage

The first Green Sandpiper of the year was at Passage House on the rising tide this evening with at least eight very vocal Common Sandpiper and six Greenshank, other waders were noticeable by their absence. Also present a Kingfisher, four Little Grebe, several squealing Water Rail and a couple of Sedge Warbler.

Whinchats

Two Whinchats were on the central railings on the racecource this afternoon with two Wheatears. Two Common Sandpipers were at Passage House and three White Wagtails dropped in with a group of Pied Wagtails.

Stormies and possible Long-tailed Skuas

Seawatching today from 06:40 - 14:00 in south-easterlies didn't produce a great quantity of birds with much of the time spent staring at a birdless sea. There was however a nice mix of species including good numbers of skuas and two European Storm Petrels, one of which passed within a couple of hundred metres. Totals below:

Arctic Skua - 9
Great Skua - 1
Pomarine Skua - 2
Skua sp. - 7 (Including two possible Long-tailed Skuas. One flew north at 08:45, the other went south at 13:00 a minute after three Arctics, and was noticablly smaller with a bouyant tern-like flight. The timing would have matched perfectly with a pale juvenile Long-tailed Skua which passed Berry Head at 13:55, but for the fact that I couldn't pick out any pale on my bird!)
Balearic Shearwater - 5 (all passing relitively close)
Common Tern - 2
Sandwich Tern - 20
Kittiwake - 100
Common Scoter - 138

Later in the afternoon at Flow Point, there were four Dunlin, 16 Ringed Plover, 10 Redshank, five Common Sandpiper (one at Passage House) and a Wheatear. A Common Tern was on one of the buoys with a dozen Sandwich Terns also present.

Unseasonable Redwing

A juvenile Redwing was a surprise during an early morning visit to Bundle Head on Monday. It was associating with a group of 5-6 Song Thrushes so it may have arrived with them. Five Tree Pipits moved through, with three dropping into the top of an ash tree briefly before moving on, and a Spotted Flycatcher showed briefly by the coast path. Also noted were 15+ Blackcaps, nine Chiffchaffs, three Goldcrests, two Whitethroats, a Willow Warbler and a Stoat.

Wheatears

Four Wheatears were on the racecourse this morning, which is unfortunately becoming increasingly difficult to view from the foot/cycle path due to vegetation growth. Also six Mistle Thrushes and several mixed flocks of Swallows, Linnets and Goldfinches.

WeBS

An enjoyable late afternoon and early evening counting over the high tide. Wader numbers were up with a good mix of passage and returning birds: 363 Oystercatchers, 48 Curlew, 19 Redshanks, 14 Dunlin, 10 Greenshanks, nine Common Sandpipers, four Ringed Plovers and two Whimbrel. Other totals between Passage House and Flow Point included 33 Mute Swans, 26 Little Egrets, five immature Shelducks, five Little Grebes, two Water Rails and two Kingfishers.

Ringed Plover (juvenile), Passage House

Black-tailed Godwits

Two juvenile Black-tailed Godwits and a Whimbrel were with the Curlew flock at Passage House yesterday morning. Other waders included five Common Sandpipers and five Dunlin, and the first Kingfisher of the autumn was at Flow Point.

Juvenile YLG

No sign of the reported Great Northern Diver that has been present around Shaldon Bridge for tthe past two weeks, however the second juvenile Yellow-legged Gull of the autumn was on The Salty. Six Sandwich Tern were are fishing by the bridge with a Black-tailed Godwit and a juvenile Lesser-black Backed Gull the best of the rest of the estuary.

Stormie, Balearic, Pom...

Seawatching this morning from 05:50 - 09:05 featured up to five birders huddled under the yacht club, a Teignmouth record. The birding didn't quite reach the highs of 11 days ago, with a grand total of just six (small) shearwaters, but there was a good number and variety of other seabirds with the majority of passage occurred between 06:30 and 08:00 (bar a late flurry of skuas):

European Storm Petrel - 1 (fairly close but frustratingly brief)
Balearic Shearwater - 1 (excellent close views)
Manx Shearwater - 5 (!)
Pomarine Skua - 1 (again close, probable 3cy)
Arctic Skua - 6
Unidentified skua sp - 2
Arctic Tern - 1
Common Tern - 22
Sandwich Tern - 245
Kittiwake - 118
Common Scoter - 79
Mediterranean Gull - 1 juv.
Fulmar - c.10
Gannet - c.200
Dunlin - 3
Turnstone - 1

Late news for July 31st - a good count of 90 Shags on the sea off Teignmouth.

Composite photo: Arctic Skua (top), Pomarine Skua (bottom).

Great and Cory's Shearwaters

Seawatching from 05:45 - 11:45 with Kev watching from 12:20 - 13:20.

On arrival, it was clear there was an exceptional passage of Manx Shearwaters with several birds streaming south. At 45 minutes, I picked up a large bird shearing with some distant Manx Shearwater, and after following it for a few minutes, tentatively identified it as a Cory's Shearwater. It was then that I found out that eight had already passed Dawlish Warren! What followed was incredible, with 22 large shearwaters seen throughout the watch (seven definite Cory's Shearwaters and five definite Great Shearwaters). I never thought it possible to see these sorts of numbers from Teignmouth. Here is a timings log in case anyone wants to try and match their sightings...

1 Cory's (6.33), 1 Cory's (6.41), 1 large shear sp. (6.58), 3 Cory's (7.05), 1 Cory's (7.20), 1 probable Cory's (7.27), 1 Cory's (9.05), 1 probable Great (9.16), 3 large shear sp. (9.30), 1 Great (9.44), 3 Greats (10.24), 3 probable Greats (10.33), 1 Great (10.50), 1 large shear sp. (10.55).

Manx Shearwater passage was huge. A total of 1297+ birds passed south during the seven hours. One Great Skua flew south at 6.50, three Arctic Skuas flew south at 8.15 (25 minutes after passing Dawlish Warren), and another Arctic Skua lingered shortly after, chasing terns. Other birds included 16 Common Tern, 46 Kittiwake, 88 Common Scoter, six Whimbrel, c.30+ Sandwich Tern, c.25+ Fulmar and c.200+ Gannet. Kev had a Storm Petrel during his early afternoon watch.

The flock of three Cory's Shearwater at 7.05 passed the closest out of all the large shearwaters (c.0.75-1 mile)...

Compared to a Manx Shearwater

A "close" flock... as you can see, ID is a little more challenging here than at Berry Head!

Returning waders

After a typically waderless June numbers are beginning to build up again on the estuary. This morning there were 23 Curlew, four Common Sandpipers and a Greenshank at Passage House, with two Whimbrel and 52 Oystercatchers at Flow Point. On Sunday afternoon three Dunlin, two Greenshanks, a Common Sandpiper and an Oystercatcher were at Passage House (thanks Cilla Ingram).

Other counts from today included 24 Little Egrets, 24 Canada Geese, 35 Mute Swans, c.450 Black-headed Gulls and a pair of Shelducks with seven young.

July update

A quiet start to the month at the east end of the estuary with the first juvenile Mediterranean Gull on the Salty this morning. No Yellow-legged Gulls yet but fledged Herring Gull are starting to increase.

Other records included a nocturnal migrant Moorhen and the flying ant days have seen up to 40 Swift over Teignmouth.

The first summer Med

A 1st summer Mediterranean Gull was roosting at Passage House today over high tide with 160+ Black-headed Gulls, a Common Sandpiper and a few Curlew.

Midsummer Kites

Two recent Red Kite over the patch - one flying east over Bishopsteignton at 5pm on 21st June with a second bird NE over Newton Abbot the next day - the latter at least in heavy wing moult.

Waderless WeBS

No waders whatsoever seen on yesterday's WeBS count. Other birds included 18 Little Egret, 24 Shelduck, 11 Cormorant, five Grey Heron, 26 Mute Swan and six Black-headed Gull.

10 minute Seawatch

A very quick look offshore before 8pm saw a single Storm Petrel and 27 Manx Shearwater head south, along with a drake Mallard -  a rare bird at the eastern end of the patch the last couple of years.

Evening Storm Petrel(s)

Seawatching from 18:45 to 20:30 was productive in strong southerly winds. Manx Shearwater passage (totalling 115+) remained steady for the whole watch, with the majority passing very close for Teignmouth standards. This boded well for my chances of seeing Storm Petrels, and sure enough, at 19:10, one flew south giving fairly good views. At 19:45, it or another flew quickly north at a much closer range, and hence I only managed to follow it for a few seconds. A flock of four Pomarine Skuas took off from the sea at 19:50, and remained in the area chasing Kittiwakes for the following 30 minutes. A small skua sp. also flew south along with 20+ Fulmar and 20+ Kittiwakes.

Robin Shute watched from 07:40 to 12:05 and counted 16 Common Scoter, 250 Gannet and 266 Manx Shearwater, bringing the day's total for this species up to 381+; a record count for Teignmouth.

Orchids

With the only birds of note at Passage House over at high tide being a brood of 10 newly fledged Shelduck, I thought I'd continue the recent theme of orchids, with these Bee and Pyramidal Orchids at Aller Brook LNR.

Red Kite

A Red Kite was picked up circling to the north of Newton Abbot late this morning before gaining height and heading off to the west.

Bundle Head

Very quiet along the coast yesterday morning - just a handful of Linnets and Whitethroats, the resident raptors overhead and a Shelduck that flew into the estuary from the direction of Torbay. So quiet that I took to photographing the scenery and botany with this Early Purple Orchid (left) the highlight.

Warblers and WeBS

Plenty of birdsong at Hackney Marshes this morning including ten Reed Warblers, three Sedge Warblers, five Chiffchaffs, four Blackcaps and two Reed Buntings; futher Sedge Warblers were singing on the racecourse and at Passage House. On the estuary between here and Flow Point there was little to get excited about: 46 Oystercatchers, three Whimbrel, one Curlew, five Sandwich Terns, 11 Little Egrets, 17 Shelducks, 24 Mute Swans and a female Mallard with five young.

Sandwich Terns

At least ten Sandwich Terns were between Passage House and Flow Point this afternoon. Waders included two Whimbrel, two Common Sandpiper, a Greenshank and nine Oystercatcher.

Skuas

Seawatching from 07:00 - 11:00: The first hour saw the majority of passage, with four Great Northern Divers, two diver sp. (possibly Black-throated Divers) and a Great Skua flying south. A possible Sabine's Gull was picked up fairly distantly offshore at 7:20, before flying in a direct line out to sea. It was smaller than nearby Kittiwakes, having a bouyant tern-like flight style, but lacked the agility and wingbeat speed of Little Gull. An immature pale morph Pomarine Skua later flew south at 9:10, followed by a dark morph Arctic Skua at 10:40. Four Manx Shearwaters were also seen distantly on the horizon.

Other counts included; three Eider (one immature male and two females), 30+ Sandwich Tern, 29 Common Scoter, two Dark-bellied Brent Geese, two Great Crested Grebe, one male Red-breasted Merganser, 200+ auks, 5+ Fulmar, 40+ Kittiwake , three Common Gulls and 24 Black-headed Gull.

With lack of any seawatching photos, here are some Green-winged Orchids just off patch at Labrador Bay yesterday.

More migrants

Three female Wheatears were on the racecourse yesterday morning, visible from the path on the southern side. Nearby Hackney Marshes produced six Reed Warblers but still no Sedge Warblers. In the evening the first three Swifts of the year flew over my house in Kingsteignton along with five House Martins.

Grasshopper Warbler

An early morning walk around Bundle Head was initially quiet with just two Willow Warblers and 10 Blackcaps noted in the bushes, and three Sandwich Tern out at sea. That was until walking back along the golf course, when five Wheatears seemed to drop out of the sky, remaining very flighty until moving off north a few minutes later. After walking a few more metres across the golf course, a Grasshopper Warbler started to reel from the hedge bordering the road, remaining stubbornly hidden deep within cover. It stayed until at least 11am when Will and Kev both found it in the same hedge, with the first Yellow Wagtail of the year also flying over.

Wheatear

Cirl Bunting

WeBS

A quiet morning on the estuary with the best birds being four Whimbrel - two at Passage House and two at Flow Point, with the former joining the latter at high tide. Other counts included five Common Sandpipers, 74 Oystercatchers, three Redshanks, one Greenshank, 12 Little Egrets, 15 Mute Swans, 18 Shelducks and five Sandwich Terns. Despite the overnight cloud and rain few passerine migrants were evident with Laurie reporting just two Willow Warblers at Bundle Head.

The first Reed Warbler of the year appeared at Hackney Marshes on 12th April, when three House Martins were just outside the patch at Sandygate and 50+ Sand Martins were at Teigngrace the previous day (thanks Cilla Ingram). 

Cattle Egrets remain

Despite the warm temperatures and sunshine of recent days the Teigngrace Cattle Egrets don't seem to be in any hurry to move on; four were still present at noon today, the first time I've seen them without any Little Egrets for company. Also three Stock Doves and c.20 Sand Martins.

The past week has been pretty quiet with just a handful of Willow Warblers at Hackney Marshes on a couple of mornings and two late Fieldfares over Netherton Park cricket ground on Thursday evening. Another Osprey was reported off Coombe Cellars yesterday afternoon.

Evening @ Passage House

An evening visit to Passage House was fairly quiet as the tide was still out but a pair of Teal, three Common Sandpiper and a dozen Redshank were present on the mudflats with a couple of Reed Bunting and Water Rail on the islands. At around 7.15 a group of four Little Egret flew over the A380 bridge and headed east up the estuary to roost, these were followed five minutes later by a 10 more egrets but eight of these were Cattle Egret. These birds are presumably the same ones seen on patch earlier this month now joined up as a single flock.

Gulls Aloud

The alarm calls of the local Herring Gulls revealed the second Osprey of the year which lingered over the Salty for 10 minutes late afternoon before heading north along the coast. On Thursday a Great Northern Diver was in the estuary at Teignmouth.

LTDs and Eider

Today, four of the Labrador Bay Long-tailed Ducks were distantly visible from the bottom of the smugglers tunnel at Shaldon with c.130-140 Common Scoter. A female Eider was off The Ness before flying off unseen.

Yesterday, Will had the seven Cattle Egrets and 16 Little Egret at Teigngrace, with an impressive flock of 150+ Sand Martin hawking over the same fields.

Redpolls

Three Lesser Redpolls were feeding quietly in a silver birch alongside the cycle path by the racecourse this morning. The hoped-for Wheatear failed to show but there were a few more Meadow Pipits on the move and the resident male Pheasant has increased his harem of females to three.

Cattle Egrets at Passage House & WeBS

The discovery of two Cattle Egrets roosting with the gulls at Passage House was the surprise highlight of this morning's WeBS count. They stayed until 09:40 (allowing Kev and Robin to catch up with them) before flying south and appeared to land just beyond the sewage works; a brief search of the fields at Buckland drew a blank. Forty minutes later the five Teigngrace Cattle Egrets were in trees at Blatchford Farm; this site is approximately 1.5km to the north-west so the Passage House sighting almost certainly involved different birds.

Other counts around the estuary included a male Gadwall at Flow Point, three Teal, 38 Shelducks, 14 Mute Swans, 17 Red-breasted Mergansers, two Great Crested Grebes, 155 Oystercatchers, 47 Redshanks, 12 Snipe, eight Curlew and four Common Sandpipers. Gull passage continues with an impressive 144 Common Gulls at Passage House, which I understand is the highest count on the estuary for almost a decade. Kev also had a Great Black-backed Gull that had been ringed in Looe and was previously seen at Dawlish Warren in October 2016.

Yesterday there were four singing Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap at Hackney Marshes, and Robin had the first four Sand Martins of the year over Rackerhayes.

Early spring at Hackney Marshes

Signs of spring abounded during a couple of visits to Hackney Marshes this week, with many of the resident species now in song including Reed Bunting, Treecreeper and Goldcrest. Skylarks have been audible over the racecourse and small numbers of Redwings have been passing through, one or two of which gave bursts of their rather uninspiring song. Nothing unusual has been noted although two Siskins overhead yesterday were my first there this year.

 This Robin at Hackney Marshes frequented an area where people regularly feed birds and was so bold it could be approached to an arm's length.

LBB gull passage

On Saturday afternoon there were 16 Lesser Black-backed Gulls in the Passage House area, but few other large gulls. Wintering species still present included the four Wigeon, three Bar-tailed Godwits and two Greenshanks.

Yesterday five Cattle Egrets were still at Teigngrace and a Blackcap was in near-full song in Kingsteignton.

WeBS

Good numbers of birds on the estuary this morning but a very strong easterly wind and choppy water made viewing conditions a little challenging. There were close to a thousand gulls at Passage House including 16 Common Gulls and three Lesser Black-backed Gulls but unfortunately no white-wingers. Another two LBBs were at Flow Point, suggesting a light movement. Other counts between Passage House and Salcombe Dip included 18 Red-breasted Mergansers, 48 Shelducks, four Wigeon, 13 Cormorants, 380 Oystercatchers, 65 Curlew, 35 Dunlin, 24 Lapwings, just 10 Redshanks, seven Ringed Plovers, four Avocets, two Greenshanks and two Bar-tailed Godwits. Yesterday there were 23 Turnstones and three Cormorants off Teignmouth Back Beach, and a Peregrine flew low over the eastern side of Kingsteignton.

Super Saturday

Twelve Waxwings were reported flying north over the racecourse at 10:15 this morning; despite several checks of berry bushes around Tesco and the Kingsteignton retail outlets there was no further sign. These were presumably the Heathfield birds wandering as they were not reported there today to my knowledge. Also the Bonaparte's Gull made its first appearance of the year along Teignmouth seafront, but there was no sign soon after. Three Great Northern Diver and a female Eider were offshore.

This afternoon Mark Bailey had five Avocets and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull at Passage House, and I caught up with three of the Teigngrace Cattle Egrets in a field along the track to Blatchford Farm with 16 Little Egrets. Although not visible in the shot below, each Cattle Egret had begun to develop a hint of an orange crown.

January late news

Yesterday Cilla Ingram reported the Siberian Chiffchaff again present in trees at Cricketfield car park along with four collybita Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest still for company. Also a Grey Wagtail flew down the River Lemon and four Avocets, c.30 Dunlin and a Common Sandpiper were seen from Passage House.

GND, GCG, LTD...

...or to put it another way, a brief look off Teignmouth late afternoon showed a Great Northern Diver, a Great-crested Grebe and five Long-tailed Duck. The latter were flying south presumably back to Labrador Bay. The Grey Seal was in the estuary with 11 Turnstone.

Sibe Chiff still

One Siberian Chiffchaff showed well in the trees at Cricketfield car park, Newton Abbot this morning alongside four collybita Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest. On the adjacent River Lemon a Dipper was singing under the bridge by Albany Vets.

 

 

Off Teignmouth seafront single Great Northern and Red-throated Diver, 20 Common Scoter, 10 Great-crested Grebe and a Grey Seal. South of the recording area six Long-tailed Duck, 50+ Common & two Velvet Scoter and around a dozen Eider were off Labrador Bay. 

Small is beautiful

Three Dark-bellied Brent Geese, two ads and a juv, were on The Salty late afternoon with 284 Oystercatcher and three Shelduck, Also in the estuary single Razorbill and Teal - the latter a rare bird in Teignmouth.

Siberian Chiffchaffs

Two Siberian Chiffchaffs, two collybita Chiffchaffs and a Goldcrest were in the line of trees bordering the Cricketfield Carpark by Albany Vets, Newton Abbot this morning. The second seemed to arrive in a tit flock about an hour after I found the first, but then remained with the other Chiffchaffs for the following half an hour I watched them, giving good views down to a couple of metres.

Rear-end comparison - tristis left, collybita right

Gleaming white in the sunshine...

...looking a bit Red-breasted Flycatcher-like

20 Eiders

A flock of seven Eider (6f, 1m) flew north early this afternoon, presumably the same birds that were later seen off Otterton. Six more Eiders (5f, 1m) were on the sea, and a further seven females flew in from the south to land distantly offshore making a total of 20.

WeBS

Totals this morning included 407 Oystercatchers, 64 Curlew, 52 Dunlin, 43 Redshanks, 19 Lapwings, five Ringed Plovers, five Common Sandpipers, three Bar-tailed Godwits, 17 Mute Swans, 50 Shelducks, 23 Red-breasted Mergansers, 20 Teal and 8 Wigeon. The Water Pipit remains at Flow Point. Gulls at Passage House comprised 370 Black-headed Gulls, 125 Herring Gulls, 20 Great Black-backed Gulls, nine Common Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull. Kev had a Great Skua off Teignmouth early afternoon.

Velvet Scoters

Four Velvet Scoters flew south past Teignmouth at 3:50 this afternoon; these were presumably the same birds seen flying off from Broadsands this morning. No divers on the sea but three Razorbills and a group of 6-7 Common Dolphins to the north looked like they were foraging. At Polly Steps 17 Turnstones was a good count around the slipway.

Dolphins

Yesterday afternoon, the sea was quiet bird-wise, with four Red-throated Divers and three Common Scoter flying south, with another Red-throated Diver and three Great Northern Divers on the sea.

Most time was spent watching cetaceans however, with at least 10 Harbour Porpoises, and after closely inspecting my photos, what looks like c.20 Common Dolphins. They were in groups of c.12 and c.8, both around four miles out, and at the time I thought they were Bottlenose Dolphins as the distance made it hard to see the markings and beak length. They remained on view for the two hours spent watching, surfacing regularly and at times breaching and tail-slapping. Here are some photos:

Coastal walk

A late morning stroll from Bundle Head to the Ness produced a Firecrest, four Goldcrests, two Stonechats, a Chiffchaff, three Ravens and a Kestrel. A check of arable fields around Combeinteignhead revealed several small parties of Cirl Buntings but few other farmland birds.

Firecrests

Single Firecrests were seen today at Decoy Country Park and Hackney Marshes. Tufted Duck numbers had increased to 27 on Decoy Lake, suggesting some cold weather displacement. This Buzzard kept watch over Hackney Marshes.

Water Pipit, Avocet, Med Gull

A decent half day out on patch helped boost the year list and turned up a number of local scarcities. The highlight was an elusive Water Pipit in the saltmarsh at Flow Point alongside three Rock Pipits. Nearby a Green Woodpecker was in a tree at Jack's Patch and c.50 Teal flew out from a lagoon behind the railway. The falling tide at Passage House revealed a good selection of waders including an Avocet, two Greenshanks, 30+ Dunlin and the three wintering Bar-tailed Godwits. A lone Cattle Egret was in the Teigngrace solar panel field at lunchtime with a second bird seen in flight; up to three were reported during the morning. Finally from Teignmouth yacht club early afternoon an adult Mediterranean Gull flew north, ten Eiders (three males, seven females) were bobbing about near the pier and a Peregrine was patrolling the cliffs towards Holcombe.

New Years Day

Despite the bad weather, 72 species were recorded on the first day of the year. Five Eider were still off Teignmouth Yacht Club along with around a dozen Great Northern Divers, two Red-throated Divers and a Common Scoter, as well as the usual suspects. A pod of about 10 Harbour Porpoise was a nice surprise too.

On to the estuary, were 10 Snipe, good numbers of Dunlin, two Common Sandpiper, and Kingfisher were all recorded along with the common waders, although no godwits were seen. The highlight was a Brent Goose which Kev had on The Salty, before it headed up the estuary to join up with a large flock of Canada Geese.

Finally, a fairly unproductive visit to Decoy produce just a handful of Tufted Duck.

During the day, Kev also saw the Cattle Egrets at Teigngrace along with a Blackcap, and Will had a Chiffchaff in Kingsteignton.