January 31, 2005
MONDAY 31st JANUARY . 2005
This morning I went down to Bowling Green Marsh at Topsham for a look , there was a GOLDEN PLOVER in with about 200 LAPWING , also seen were 60+ AVOCET , 1 GREY PLOVER & 2 PINTAIL .
GOLDEN PLOVER . BOWLING GREEN MARSH . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 31 / 1 / 2005
I then went up to Aylesbeare Common & walked down to an area at the bottom of the reserve & saw a WOODCOCK in the small wooded area by the stream .
I was then walking back up the heath & flushed out a nice JACK SNIPE .
In the fields up by the main road there were 60+ FIELDFARE & a few REDWING & 2 COMMON BUZZARD .
Finally I then went to Woodbury Castle & had a Female BRAMBLING .
January 30, 2005
SUNDAY 30th JANUARY . 2005
Today in Torbay off of Broadsands I had one of my best finds for quite a while a LITTLE AUK it was not to far off shore with 2 RAZORBILL & a GUILLEMOT I watched it for a while until a speed boat came out from Brixham harbour & flushed them & they flew towards Torquay , Now I think some of you will think thats not much of a find ! but down here in Devon its quite a rare bird .
Also seen today 2 BLACK-NECKED GREBE , 1 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER & 2 RAVEN .
January 28, 2005
FRIDAY 28th JANUARY . 2005
Not a lot to add today just 10 LITTLE EGRET & a GREEN WOODPECKER near Kenn .
And 2 WAXWING in Belmont Park in Exeter .
January 26, 2005
WEDNESDAY 26th JANUARY . 2005
News of 2 SURF SCOTER in Devon at Weston ! a 1st winter Male & Female had me dashing off down there this morning to see if I could see them , & after a wait of four & a half hours I did get to see them .
There were about 90 COMMON SCOTER in little flocks & it took quite a while to pin the 2 SURF SCOTER down .
Other birds seen were 7 RED-THROATED DIVER , 1 GREAT NORTHERN DIVER
3 SHAG & 1 FULMAR
And at the car park a FIRECREST .
I then went on to Colyford & had 7 SKYLARK , 6 FIELDFARE , 4 MEADOW PIPIT ,
& a WATER PIPIT in the field by the sewage works .
January 24, 2005
MONDAY 24th JANUARY . 2005
Today I headed up to Dartmoor & to Fernworthy Reservoir again to see if Icould get some shots of the Great Grey Shrike but after looking for it for 3 hours I gave up .
But I did see a WILLOW TIT it was on trees between the 2 hides & someone else saw one on the other side of the reservoir , so they are still around .
Other birds of note seen were a MERLIN that was on the other side of the reservoir sat on a post , 3 CROSSBILL , 3 MISTLE THRUSH , 3 FIELDFARE & about 20 REDWING & a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER .
I also saw this STOAT feeding on a Rabbit & at one point a Buzzard came down & tried to take the rabbit but the Stoat chased it off .
I then looked at Yarner Wood to see if any Mandarin were there but was out of luck again .
January 22, 2005
SATURDAY 22nd JANUARY . 2005
There were reports of 60+ WAXWING today in Exeter , but I only managed to see 30+ ! still a very good count for Devon .
BOHEMIAN WAXWING . THE WHITE HART HOTEL . EXETER . DEVON . 22 / 1 / 2005
FRIDAY 21st JANUARY . 2005
Today I decided to stop for a quick look at Broadsands in South Devon I looked for the Firecrest & Siberian Chiffchaff but had no luck with either .
I then had a look at the sea & saw 7 GREAT CRESTED GREBE & 1 BLACK-NECKED GREBE then a lone FULMAR & a GUILLEMOT & then I found this early SANDWICH TERN on the rocks with some BLACK-HEADED GULL .
January 20, 2005
THURSDAY 20th JANUARY . 2005
There were quite high counts of Wildfowl on Bowling Green Marsh at Topsham today with 400+ WIGEON , 40+ TEAL , 20+ SHOVELER , 3 Male & 3 Female POCHARD , 6 MALLARD & 12 PINTAIL .
Other birds seen were single LITTLE GREBE & LITTLE EGRET .
NORTHERN PINTAIL . BOWLING GREEN MARSH . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 20 / 1 / 2005
January 19, 2005
WEDNESDAY 19th JANUARY . 2005
Out birding today & my first stop was at Stover Park near to Bovey Tracey where I saw 3 new birds for the year .
A Female GOOSANDER , COAL TIT , & TREECREEPER there were also 3 Male & 2 Female POCHARD & 2 Male TUFTED DUCK at the site as well .
I then went on to Fernworthy Reservoir were I saw the GREAT GREY SHRIKE but only had a breaf view before it flew up to the other end of the reservoir I also had 3 CROSSBILL & a JAY .
The weather was very bad with light to heavy rain most of the time ! so no chance of any photographes today .
January 18, 2005
TUESDAY 18th JANUARY
No birding done today ! but I did see the following , a KINGFISHER my first of the year at the Penn Inn at Newton Abbot & a lone REDWING flew across the Blue Ball Road at Topsham .
January 17, 2005
MONDAY 17th JANUARY . 2005
Well you never know ! a day like today very dull with light rain & me not expecting anything to turn up .
Then BANG I then get a phone call from Andy Bond telling me that there are 4 WAXWING at the Exeter Services , now Waxwing is a very rare bird down here in Devon so I was soon dashing there to see if I could see them .
I was the third one there & the birds showed very well , they were feeding in the trees with REDWING & some MISTLE THRUSH .
So not a bad day in the end .
January 16, 2005
SUNDAY 16th JANUARY . 2005
A quick look at the Exe Estuary at Topsham today got me a WATER PIPIT "I was very pleased with it as I have already dipped it twice this year " , 2 COMMON SANDPIPER , a Male GOLDENEYE & this Female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER , the only other birds of note were about 50 COMMON GULL .
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER ( FEMALE ) . THE EXE ESTUARY . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 16 / 1 / 2005
January 14, 2005
FRIDAY 14th JANUARY . 2005
Today I had a look around at Broadsands in South Devon , I walked across to the point & had a look at the sea & got a RED-NECKED GREBE that was over towards Brixham harbour , 3 GREAT-CRESTED GREBE & 3 COMMON SHELDUCK .
On the land I had a GREEN WOODPECKER , 4 COMMON RAVEN & 6 CIRL BUNTING & in the little stream by the carpark there were 3 COMMON CHIFFCHAFF & this SIBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF .
( Sorry about the picture quality but the light was very bad )
THURSDAY 13th JANUARY . 2005
Today while going down the drive of the Lord Haldon Hotel at Dunchideock I had a BRAMBLING that was in with the large CHAFFINCH flock .
January 12, 2005
WEDNESDAY 12th JANUARY . 2005
Off down to Dawlish warren today to see what birds I could see.
The best birds of the day were a GREAT NORTHERN DIVER that I got in flight , & a Male DARTFORD WARBLER that showed quite well .
Other birds seen today were SLAVONIAN GREBE , 50+ DUNLIN , 6 SANDERLING , 5 GREY PLOVER , 4 KNOT , RINGED PLOVER , & half a dozen OYSTERCATCHER .
On the Exe Estuary there were about 130 BAR-TAILED GODWIT & 3 RED-BREASTED MERGANSER .
( EURASION ) OYSTERCATCHER . DAWLISH WARREN . DEVON . 12 / 1 / 2005
January 10, 2005
MONDAY 10th JANUARY . 2005
After the heavy rain of this morning had stopped I went down to the recreation ground at Topsham for a look at the Exe Estuary , there wasn`t a lot on show but I had COMMON GULL , L B B GULL , CETTI`S WARBLER , GOLDENEYE & WATER RAIL new for the year .
Also seen were 3 COMMON SANDPIPER & a GREY WAGTAIL .
January 7, 2005
FRIDAY 7th JANUARY . 2005
A day of very strong winds ! made it hard for any birding , but at the top of Exminster I got 7 WOODLARK & a Male & Female REED BUNTING .
I then went to the Recreation Ground at Topsham & had a look at the Exe Estuary but could only see 4 LITTLE GREBE & a Male & Female RED-BRESTED MERGANSER .
January 6, 2005
THURSDAY 6th JANUARY . 2005
Today I had a look around Torbay to see what was about ! & as it turned out there was not a lot .
At Goodrington Sands I had 4 GREAT CRESTED GREBE , 1 BLACK-NECKED GREBE & a few KITTIWAKE .
I then went to Dawlish Warren & saw 3 RED-THROATED DIVER & 1 SLAVONIAN GREBE .
And at the small golf course in Starcross there were about 80 BRENT GEESE .
January 5, 2005
WEDNESDAY 5th JANUARY . 2005
Today I went over to East Devon for some more yearlisting , first stop was at Weston to look for the Scoter flock that can be seen from the top of the cliffs , after a while I found it & there were about 100+ COMMON SCOTER , & 1 VELVET SCOTER & a LONG-TAILED DUCK in the flock .
I then went on to Branscombe sewage works & saw half a dozen wintering CHIFFCHAFF , about 25 GOLDCREST & a very smart FIRECREST .
And on the way back to the car there were 2 DIPPER in the small stream .
I then went to Sidmouth to see if any PURPLE SANDPIPER were on show , I got one that was on the beach with some TURNSTONE , & I also had a very nice Male BLACK REDSTART , it gets on the roofs of the houses at the right hand end of the cliffs .
January 4, 2005
TUESDAY 4th JANUARY . 2005
Why oh why do we all get the year listing bug ?????????? but we do ! , so today found me out in the rain on Exminster Marsh looking for some WHITE FRONTED GEESE that have been seen there .
I spent a couple of hours looking for them but had no luck , but did see a female RUDDY DUCK a bird that is not that common in this part of the world , it was with some POCHARD & a few TUFTED DUCK .
I then went back to Topsham & looked at Bowling Green Marsh & would you believe it the WHITE FRONTED GEESE were there & I ended up seeing 7 of them .
So despite getting cold & wet the day ended quite well .
GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE . BOWLING GREEN MARSH . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 4 / 1 / 2005
January 3, 2005
MONDAY 3rd JANUARY . 2005
Today Brian Heasman & Myself went up to North Devon for a days birding , our first stop was at Bishops Tawton to see if we could see the WHOOPER SWAN that had been seen there , we soon found it in with about 30 MUTE SWAN .
Also seen at the site were 6 REDWING & a GREEN SANDPIPER .
We then went to Barnstaple to see if we could get the RING-BILLED GULL that gets seen in the lorry park , we looked for about an hour with no luck , but a SPARROWHAWK & a COMMON SANDPIPER were seen .
We then went over to Wrafton to look for the (TUNDRA ) BEAN GOOSE thats been seen there , we were in luck & get the bird right away .
We then had a phone call telling us that the RING-BILLED GULL was now back at the lorry park , so we shot over there & got it , then we had 5 SPOONBILL on Isley Marsh to finish the day off with .
We then had a call telling us that the RING-BILLED GULL was now on show back at the lorry park in Barnstaple , so a quick dash back soon had us looking at it .