October 31, 2004
SUNDAY 31st OCTOBER . 2004
Up early this morning & off down to Berry Head to see if I could see the
RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER that was reported yesterday .
Getting up early worked again ! as I found the bird in a clump of ivy in the hedge by the horse field to the right of Berry Head , myself & 3 others watched the bird for about 5 minutes & then it vanished & wasn`t seen again .
There were also numerous GOLDCREST , 2 CHIFFCHAFF & a male BLACKCAP at the site as well .
Out on the headland there were 60+REDWING , 3 SWALLOW & 6 SKYLARK flying over & on the wall of the Lighthouse was this lone BLACK REDSTART .
October 28, 2004
THURSDAY 28th OCTOBER . 2004
After the very high winds of yesterday ! I decided to go down to Berry Head for a sea watch .
LITTLE GULL were the first birds seen & in the end I saw a total of 27 , there were also numerous KITTIWAKE going through all day .
Then we picked up 8 ARCTIC SKUA & then a very nice juvenile LONG TAILED SKUA .
Other birds seen were 2 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER , 4 MANX SHEARWATER & a flock of 40+ PINTAIL .
On the land a PEREGRINE FALCON & 2 ROCK PIPIT were the only birds of any note .
The only other thing seen was this dead Balaenoptera Whale that numerous gulls were feeding on .
October 25, 2004
A trip down to Dawlish Warren today turned out to be very slow birding ! In the bushes there were a few GOLDCREST & in with them there was a FIRECREST that I got a very quick view of .
A KINGFISHER flew across the path in front of me & went into the main pond , I then walked out to the point & on the way I heard a DARTFORD WARBLER but I couldn`t see it .
Out on the point there were quite a few SHAG but nothing else , on the way back I had a fly over HOBBY & 16 GREY PLOVER .
October 24, 2004
SUNDAY 24th OCTOBER . 2004
News of a BLACK-THROATED DIVER at Brixham Harbour had me looking for it early in the morning , I looked for it for about an hour with no luck but saw 2 RAZORBILL & 2 GUILLEMOT & a fly over RAVEN .
I then went out to Berry Head for a look , there were numerous GOLDCREST in the trees & out on the headland there were quite a lot of STONECHAT & MAGPIE & a lone RING OUZEL that was getting blown around in very high winds .
Then on the way back from the point I found a Female BLACK REDSTART that was on the wall of the fort with some MEADOW PIPIT`S .
October 18, 2004
MONDAY 18th OCTOBER . 2004
Down to Dawlish Warren today for a days birding , the first thing i did was a seawatch & I soon picked out a RED-NECKED GREBE , there were also two flocks of COMMON SCOTER , a RAZORBILL & numerous SHAG were soon on the day list as well .
Then this RED-THROATED DIVER came in close to the shore , I think its the first of the autumn to return to this site .
There were also 5 COMMON DOLPHIN off of Langstone Cliff .
On the land there were a few birds around ! these included a Female SPARROWHAWK
a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER , 6 STONECHAT , 6 SKYLARK , there were also quite a lot of MEADOW PIPIT`S around & up on the point a WHINCHAT showed well .
October 11, 2004
MONDAY 11th OCTOBER . 2004
The news of a county tick for me 3 TREE SPARROW`S had me making the long trip up to Hartland Point in North Devon .
I arrived there at about 8.30 in the morning & 4 hours later I still had no joy with seeing them & gave up because the winds were very high .
I did see a year tick a Male MERLIN , 2 WHEATEAR , 2 RAVEN & about 50+ MEADOW PIPIT & my first FIELDFARE of the autumn .
October 9, 2004
FRIDAY 8th OCTOBER . 2004
Today is my birthday so just like other years out I went for a days birding , there wasn`t much around so I decided to look again for the GREY PHALAROPE in Brixham Harbour as I have never photographed this species before .
After looking for about an hour I was just about to give up when I found the bird right over the other side of the Harbour by the breakwater .
So a quick dash around in the car soon had me being able to get these shots of it , a very nice birthday present for me .
Next stop was up at Berry Head where there wasn`t a lot of birds around , out on the headland there was a COMMON BUZZARD that was being chased around by a pair of RAVEN .
Back in among the trees I picked up the LONG TAILED TIT flock that was moving through & in with the tits & GOLDCREST I soon heard a YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER calling , & after about 15 minutes I got good views of it .
October 7, 2004
THURSDAY 7th OCTOBER . 2004
Yesterday I got news of a GREY PHALAROPE that was seen in Brixham Harbour so this morning I went down just after first light to see if I could see it .
After looking for it for about 10 minutes I found it among the boats but it then drifted into the early morning sunlight & I lost sight of it & after looking for it for about an hour I couldn`t find it again .
Also in the harbour were 6 GUILLEMOT & 2 Atlantic Grey Seal .
October 4, 2004
MONDAY 4th OCTOBER . 2004
A trip up to the Riverside Country Park in Exeter for a quick look ! got me this GARGANEY it was with about 25 COMMON TEAL .
Also there were 2 GREEN SANDPIPER & a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER .
GARGANEY . THE RIVERSIDE COUNTRY PARK . EXETER . DEVON . 4 / 10 / 2004
FRIDAY 1st OCTOBER . 2004
Another trip over to the Scilly Isle`s for the CREAM COLOURED COURSER only this time we went by sea .
Ernie Davis , Phil Abbot , Brian Heasman & Myself made the trip & we got a return ticket for just £16 with a token out of the local paper .
On the journey over we saw a LEACH`S PETREL . 2 GREAT SKUA , & a STORM PETREL , on arrival at St Martins we had a walk of about half a mile to the sheep field , but once we got there we had great views of the C . C . C it looked a bit wet as we had just had heavy rain , but still a great looking bird & made up for missing the bird on Wednesday .
On our return to St Mary`s we shot up to the golf course as the BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER were a tick for Phil .
BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER . THE GOLF COURSE . ST MARY`S . SCILLY ISLES . 1 / 10 / 2004
On the return home from Scilly to Penzance we saw about 30 MANX SHEARWATER`S , numerous GANNET & a ARCTIC SKUA .