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.