Great Shearwater

An evening seawatch off Teignmouth in the wake of ex-hurricane Nigel saw a single Great Shearwater head south along with five more distant large shearwater sp. Also passing six Balearic Shearwater, eight Sandwich and a Common Tern and an Arctic Skua with a Great Northern Diver on the sea.

Cory's Shearwater

With news of large shearwaters off Budleigh Salterton first thing (thanks Laurie for the text) I headed to Teignmouth after the nursery run for a 1hr 20 minute pre-work seawatch. Despite the stormy conditions visibility was pretty good (at least initially) and I immediately picked up on a steady stream of Balearic Shearwaters heading south - 142 were logged in total, including a couple of groups of 20+. No sign of any large shearwaters for over half an hour when I eventually picked up a Cory's Shearwater in the middle distance at 09:00, an extremely satisfying patch tick for me having missed out on the epic seawatch of July 2017! Four Storm Petrels also went through, with one only a few hundred metres offshore, along with five Arctic Skuas, three Sandwich Terns, numerous Gannets and Kittiwakes and just a handful of Manx Shearwaters.

WeBS

Ten species of wader on the estuary on Sunday morning but nothing unusual noted. Totals were 341 Oystercatchers, 40+ Curlew, 17 Dunlin, 10 Ringed Plovers, eight Common Sandpipers, five Greenshanks, two Turnstones, two Whimbrel and singles of Redshank and Black-tailed Godwit. Also noted 36 Canada Geese, 25 Mallards, 10 Mute Swans, 26 Little Egrets, 12 Cormorants, a Kingfisher and a Sandwich Tern.

Osprey double act

Great to see two Ospreys circling over the upper estuary on Tuesday morning; there were subsequent sightings of at least one bird from Passage House later in the day, and presumably one of the two drifted over Kingsteignton at 10:30 this morning (my second sighting from home this year). Waders between Flow Point and Passage House on Tuesday included 58 Curlew, four Whimbrel, 16 Greenshanks, six Common Sandpipers, four Dunlin, two Ringed Plovers and a Black-tailed Godwit.

Spot Fly

Bundle Head on Friday morning produced one Spotted Flycatcher, three Whitethroats, eight Blackcaps, two Stonechats, c.20 Swallows, c.50 House Martins and one Sand Martin. At Passage House 31 Little Egrets, seven Whimbrel, six Common Sandpipers and the first two Kingfishers of the autumn.

Spotted Flycatcher

House Martins

WeBS, Osprey

I usually manage to catch at least one Osprey on the Teign Estuary each year but it's taken a decade to finally see one succeed in catching a fish. Today's bird (an adult) spent about 20 minutes hunting between Coombe Cellars and Ringmore before finally succeeding and carrying its prey off inland over Bishopsteignton at 10:00. Prior to this the WeBS count revealed good numbers of waders on the estuary, with 317 Oystercatchers, 57+ Curlew, 21 Ringed Plovers, 13 Greenshanks, 11 Dunlin, 10 Common Sandpipers, five Whimbrels and three Turnstones present between Teignmouth and Passage House. Also noted 131 Canada Geese, 31 Mute Swans, 15 Mallards, 38 Little Egrets, seven Cormorants, two Sandwich Terns, c.450 Black-headed Gulls, c.250 Herring Gulls, five Great Black-backed Gulls and a Mediterranean Gull. 

Tree Pipit

A Tree Pipit was the highlight of a fairly quiet ninety minutes on Bundle Head this morning. It pitched up in a patch of bramble scrub that also held two Whitethroats and a male and juvenile Stonechat. Otherwise just three Blackcaps, one Willow Warbler, 6+ Bullfinches, a juvenile Green Woodpecker and a handful of Chiffchaffs in the hedgerows.

Tern passage

Another fairly productive seawatch (by Teignmouth standards) from 06:15 - 08:00 on Saturday morning. Small groups of terns were heading south, with totals of 54 Sandwich Terns and 18 Common Terns logged; some of these may have roosted at Dawlish Warren on Friday evening. Gannet and Kittiwake were also moving in good numbers especially during breaks in the rain, estimated at 300+ and 400+ respectively. Also noted 30 Manx Shearwaters, six Common Scoters, five Mediterranean Gulls (four adults and a juvenile), two Arctic Skuas, two Turnstones, a Guillemot and a Fulmar.

Pomarine Skua

A short Teignmouth seawatch from 16:40 - 17:40 on Friday after the worst of the rain had cleared was productive, with a dark Pomarine Skua at 17:35 the highlight. There were also four Arctic Skuas, three of which were hassling Kittiwakes, and a flock of c.40 Common Scoters on the sea. Heading south were 29 Manx Shearwaters, six Sandwich Terns, a juvenile Common Tern, four Mediterranean Gulls, a Great Black-backed Gull and a Fulmar.

This evening a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull on the Salty, with it or another also around the estuary mouth on Thursday. 

WeBS, Med Gull influx

July is the best month for Mediterranean Gulls on the Teign Estuary as birds disperse from breeding colonies, and a total of 14 at Passage House over high tide this morning was a good count although there were no juveniles amongst them. There was a reasonable mix of waders on the estuary including 42 Curlew, 29 Oystercatchers, three Greenshanks, three Common Sandpipers, one Black-tailed Godwit and one Whimbrel. Other totals included 132 Canada Geese, 40 Mute Swans, 30 Mallards, four adult Shelducks plus four recently fledged young, 31 Little Egrets, three Grey Herons, 240 Black-headed Gulls (five juveniles) and five Cormorants.

Two adult Mediterranean Gulls and a second-summer bird among Black-headed Gulls