October 31, 2005
BERRY HEAD . DEVON
I was up at first light this morning & I went again to the spot where I saw the Red-Flanked Bluetail yesterday ! but after searching the woods for quite a while there was no sign of it today .
I then went down to the quarry & on the way there I saw 2 BULLFINCH , a MERLIN & 15 SISKIN , down in the quarry the Male & 3 Female BLACK REDSTART were still showing along with 2 PEREGRINE FALCON & a Female BLACKCAP .
I then did a sea watch & saw this dark morph ARCTIC SKUA that sat on the sea for quite a while , then a dark morph POMARINE SKUA flew by giving good views , & 2 MANX SHEARWATER were seen ! but it could be one bird that keeps on flying in & out of Torbay & past the headland .
SUNDAY 30th OCTOBER . 2005
RED-FLANKED BLUETAIL SEEN AGAIN .
Today I went down to Berry Head again for a sea watch but again it was rather slow with only the following birds seen , numerous GANNET & KITTIWAKE
4 COMMON SCOTER , 4 ARCTIC SKUA , 1 GREAT SKUA & a single MANX SHEARWATER .
On the land the following birds were seen , a PEREGRINE FALCON
a Male & 3 Female BLACK REDSTART , 2 ROCK PIPIT & 20+ REDWING .
I then went & had some dinner & came out again for another look & refound the RED-FLANKED BLUETAIL !! I saw a bird feeding on the ground with its back to me & thought it was just another Robin but as I got closer it turned its head & I saw that it had a light eye-ring , I then got good views of its blue tail as the bird then flew off deeper into the wood on the right hand side of the Berry Head Hotel .
I then went down to Brixham Harbour & saw this GREAT NORTHERN DIVER , a RAZORBILL & an Atlantic Grey Seal .
October 26, 2005
DAWLISH WARREN
I went down to Dawlish Warren this morning for a look & just as I arrived it started to rain & the visibility got very poor .
But I still managed to see a Female BLACK REDSTART that was seen on the rocks & the sea wall .
Also on the rocks were 3 ROCK PIPIT , & 4 SISKIN flew past me & landed in the trees on the other side of the railway line .
And a look out at the sea got me a flock of 30+ COMMON SCOTER , & there was an Atlantic Grey Seal that was close into shore .
October 24, 2005
SEA WATCHING AT BERRY HEAD .
Today I went to the bottom of the quarry at Berry Head for a sea watch but it was rather slow !
There were quite a lot of GANNET & KITTIWAKE going through but the only other birds that were seen were 5 GREAT SKUA , 5 WIGEON & single FULMAR , MANX SHEARWATER & SOOTY SHEARWATER
Also seen were an Adult & Juvenile PEREGRINE FALCON .
( We also had a lot of coast guards & police in the quarry as it looks like someone had committed suicide by jumping from the headland into the quarry )
SUNDAY 23rd OCTOBER . 2005
RING OUZEL EVERYWHERE .
This morning I went up to Berry Head for a look & saw 12 RING OUZEL , there were 2 Adult Male birds & 10 Female/Juvenile birds .
Also below the North fort was a Female BLACK REDSTART that showed quite well & while I was looking at it 2 LESSER REDPOLL flew overhead .
Also seen were 2 COMMON RAVEN , 4 BULLFINCH , 5 STONECHAT & a flock of 30+ REDWING .
October 19, 2005
Red-Flanked Bluetail A New Bird On My Devon List
Up early this morning & off to Berry Head in South Devon in hope of seeing the reported Red Flanked Bluetail that was seen yesterday .
I arrived at about 6.50am & a call went up around 7.10 am that the bird had been seen , so a crowd of us went into the wood where the bird was seen but after searching for it for about over three & a half hours there was no sign of it .
So off I went for a walk down to the quarry where I saw a 2 ROCK PIPIT , an Adult PEREGRINE FALCON & a RING OUZEL , I then walked back up the path from the quarry & saw an Adult & a Juvenile PEREGRINE FALCON chasing another RING OUZEL .
The next stop was in the North Fort where a cup of hot chocolate went down well & another RING OUZEL was seen .
Then there was news that the RED-FLANKED BLUETAIL had been found again in the wood by the Berry Head hotel ! so off I shot down to there & was lucky enough to get two views of the cracking 1st year bird .
October 17, 2005
A NEW BIRD ON MY DAWLISH WARREN LIST !!
Today I went down to Dawlish Warren again for a look & on the walk out to the bight I saw the following birds , 20+ BLACKBIRD , 40+ REDWING , 6 WREN
8 GOLDCREST , 4 STONECHAT , 2 BULLFINCH , 3 COAL TIT & a REED BUNTING .
There was also a large Female PEREGRINE FALCON that flew over Greenland Lake .
Out in the bight there were 300+ WIGEON , 6 LITTLE EGRET , 2 KNOT
& 5 BAR TAILED GODWIT .
I then was walking back to the car when a RING OUZEL flew along the ridge of the golf course & out towards Warren Point , I was over the moon with this as its the first one that I have seen at the Warren in over 20 years of birding down there .
I then finished the day off with a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER in Dead Dolphin Wood .
I arrived back at my house in Topsham & saw 20+ REDWING & 2 MISTLE THRUSH in the cemetery .
October 16, 2005
BERRY HEAD . DEVON
A quick look at Berry Head quarry this morning got me a few CHIFFCHAFF ,
2 BLACKCAP & a LESSER WHITETHROAT .
And flying over were a flock of 80+ SISKIN , and SPARROWHOWK , BUZZARD & KESTREL .
And back on the top just outside the entrance to the headland was a nice WHINCHAT .
October 10, 2005
DAWLISH WARREN . DEVON
Down to Dawlish Warren again in hope of finding something of interest ! but the best bird of the day was found in dead dolphin wood on the walk out to the point
& that was a Male & Female NORTHERN BULLFINCH .
There was also a small flock of LONG TAILED TIT & in with them were 2 CHIFFCHAFF & 2 GOLDCREST .
Out of the wood a Female SPARROWHAWK flew along the dune ringe putting up a large flock of finches , I then did a short sea watch & saw 3 SANDWICH TERN
& a RED THROATED DIVER .
And in the bight there were 100+ GREAT BLACK BACKED GULL
3 BRENT GOOSE , 2 GREY PLOVER , & a LITTLE EGRET .
October 9, 2005
BERRY HEAD
Today I went out for a look on Berry Head in South Devon but the birding was rather slow .
Near to the Southern Fort there was a NORTHER WHEATEAR & I saw my first REDWING of the Autumn when 2 flew over the fort .
I then saw my first CHIFFCHAFF of the day & in the end I must have seen 30/40 of them .
Out on the Northen Fort there were 2 COMMON RAVEN , about a dozen MEADOW PIPIT, 3 CIRL BUNTING , a Male SPARROWHAWK , a Female KESTREL , & this COMMON BUZZARD that the local JACKDAW wouldn`t leave alone .
And down in the quarry there was a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER a very strange place to see one .
SATURDAY OCTOBER 8th . 2005
Today is my birthday ! so like I always do on it off I went birding for the day .
With the first stop down at Prawle Point where there was a Radde`s Warbler seen yesterday .
I got there just after first light & was there for about a hour & a half but never saw the Radde`s & the only birds I saw were 2 GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER , 2 CHIFFCHAFF & a TAWNY OWL .
So off I went to Start Point ! I parked the car up & walked back to the farm where I saw a YELLOW BROWED WARBER in the trees by the road , I then walked down to the lighthouse & had a look in the garden where there was a FIRECREST , 6 CHIFFCHAFF & a Female MERLIN that flew around the headland .
The next stop was at Slapton Ley & at the Torcross end there were 10 Female &
4 Male RUDDY DUCK .
I then went to the Clennon Valley Country Park at Goodrington & got good views of another YELLOW BROWED WARBLER , but then rain stopped play so it was off home to watch the England/Austria game on the tv.
October 6, 2005
Mandarin Galore
On my travels today I came across a flock of 20+ Male & Female MANDARIN on the River Dart at Holne Bridge on the edge of Dartmoor , it is usually hard enough to find one of these birds so to see this many together was exceptional .
And in the village of Kenn I saw 3 SWALLOW & a GREY WAGTAIL .
Wednesday 5th October . 2005
Today I was out in my back garden hanging out some clothes when I noticed some CARRION CROW mobbing something ! so I nipped indoors & got my bins & to my amazement found out that it was a SHORT EARED OWL .
I called to another birder who lives a couple of doors away Tim Warfolk the artist & we watched it for about 5 minutes flying towards the Clyst Marshes & it was a garden tick for the both of us .
Later on I went down to Brixham & on the way I stopped of at Newton Abbot for another look at the SQUACCO HERON that was still in the same park as yesterday .
Once at Brixham I went out to Berry Head for a look but only saw a Female KESTREL , a RAVEN & a CHIFFCHAFF .
October 4, 2005
Squacco Heron In Devon
This afternoon I got a phone call telling me that there was a Squacco Heron in a park opposite the railway station at Newton Abbot .
So Andy Bond & myself went down to see if we could see it , we arrived to be told that the bird had flown off at 2.10 pm but that it had done this before & come back again to this little ornamental lily pond , so we settled down to see if it would come back again & after about 20 minutes it was picked up flying in from down near the River Teign .
The bird flew right into the pond & gave great views it was aged as a 1st year bird & it now makes 3 of this species that I have seen in Devon with the first at Aveton Gifford in 1990 & the second at the Seaton sewage works in 97 .
October 3, 2005
COUNTESS WEAR . EXETER
This afternoon I went for a look at the River Exe at Countess Wear in Exeter , & there were 19 MALLARD , 7 LITTLE EGRET , 3 GREY HERON , 6 COMMON SANDPIPER including this oiled bird , & a GREY WAGTAIL on show .
I then went for a look in the old sludge beds but the only things I got were a few COAL TIT , a Male BULLFINCH & a JAY .
SUNDAY 2nd OCTOBER . 2005
2 Tawny Owl were calling early this morning outside my girlfriends house in Brixham .
After a nice cooked breakfast I decided to go for a sea watch off of Berry Head ,
as I arrived another birder was coming away & I asked him what he had seen & he said that he had seen some distant shearwaters .
So I settled in for my sea watch in hope of seeing some ! but for the first hour all I saw were about 30+ NORTHERN GANNET , some SANDWICH TERN & an ARCTIC TERN .
But then I had a superb Adult light phase POMARINE SKUA that driffted by about half way out so I got good views of it spoons & all .
Then a 1st winter LITTLE GULL flew right in front of me & around the headland & there were about a dozen GREAT BLACK BACKED GULL in the area , the sea watch finished off with a light phase ARCTIC SKUA but not one shearwater was seen ! oh well there is always next time .
On the land it was dead with only 6 STONECHAT , 2 RAVEN , a Female KESTREL & a BUZZARD seen .
