January 30, 2006
Hawfinch
Early this morning saw me again on the outskirts of the village of Ide looking for HAWFINCH & it payed off getting there early as I had very good views of a Male & Female .
Also seen at the site were 50+ FIELDFARE , 30+ REDWING & 2 SISKIN .
I then went to the woods at Steps Bridge near Dunsford to look for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker but there was no sign of it today , but there was a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER , 3 DIPPER , 6 JAY , 2 GREY WAGTAIL , 5 NUTHATCH & a TREECREEPER .
January 28, 2006
A very Brief Hawfinch
This morning in the fields around the Kenn/Kenton area of Devon there was over a hundred FIELDFARE & a few REDWING in with them .
Early afternoon I went to the outskirts of the village of Ide to look for HAWFINCH & after a wait of around 45 minutes one bird came in & perched on top of a tree but it was only there a very short time before flying off again .
My last stop of the day was the Exe Estuary at Topsham where there were numerous AVOCET & BLACK-TAILED GODWIT .
January 27, 2006
Topsham Recreation Ground
This afternoon I went down to the Recreation Ground in Topsham for a quick look & on the River Exe I saw 6 COMMON GULL , 2 WATER PIPIT & a COMMON SANDPIPER .
And a walk along the path towards the moterway bridge got me 2 REED BUNTING & a pair of mating COLLARED DOVE .
COLLARED DOVE . TOPSHAM RECREATION GROUND . DEVON . 27 / 1 / 2006
January 24, 2006
2 More Year Ticks
This Morning around the Kenn/Kenton area I had 30+ RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE my first for the year , 6 FIELDFARE , a RAVEN & a GREEN WOODPECKER .
In the afternoon I went down to Exmouth & on the Exe Estuary at Mudbank Lane this SPOTTED REDSHANK was on show along with half a dozen PINTAIL .
I then went for a look at Bowling Green Marsh where there were about 20 GOLDEN PLOVER another new bird for the year .
SPOTTED REDSHANK . MUDBANK LANE . EXMOUTH . DEVON . 24 / 1 / 2006
January 23, 2006
WOODLARK
Today in Devon the weather was very dull & overcast but still I decided to stop off at the top fields in Exminster on my way home from Brixham to look for WOODLARK & I managed to see five of them .
I then had a call from my mate Andy who told me that he had just seen two LITTLE OWL at Dunchideock so I went to see if I could see any & I saw one sat in a dead tree & got this distant photo in very bad light , also in the area were 20+ REDWING & a SKYLARK .
January 18, 2006
Brambling For The Year
Today I went down to Budleigh Salterton for a look at the River Otter to see if I could see the reported Ring Billed Gull & the long staying Glaucous Gull but I dipped on both of them & the best birds seen were 5 LITTLE GREBE &
2 COMMON GULL .
I then went to Otterton & found a mixed finch flock of CHAFFINCH & LINNET & in with them were 5 MEADOW PIPIT & 2 BRAMBLING .
January 16, 2006
DAWLISH WARREN . DEVON
On the way home from Brixham this morning I stopped off at Dawlish Warren to do a bit of birding but the day turned out rather slow & the best birds that I saw today were 9 COMMON EIDER , 2 GREAT CRESTED GREBE & a single SLAVONIAN GREBE on the sea .
I then went to the hide to look at the wader flock & saw numerous DUNLIN & OYSTERCATCHER , about 20 GREY PLOVER , 15 BAR-TAILED GODWIT & 4 KNOT .
And on the way back to the car I looked in at the large pond & saw a Male
SHOVELER & a LITTLE GREBE .
SUNDAY 15th JANUARY . 2006
This morning I went to the car park near the Marina at Brixham to look for 2 Firecrest that had been reported there , but after looking for about an hour I gave up without any sign of them .
I then went to the breakwater where I saw the Adult LAUGHING GULL & MEDITERRANEAN GULL on the floating pontoons with a lot of BLACK HEADED GULL .
Also seen in the harbour was a Female EIDER , a GREAT NORTHERN DIVER
7 GUILLEMOT & a RAZORBILL , I then walked out the the end of the breakwater where there were 4 PURPLE SANDPIPER .
MEDITERRANEAN , BLACK-HEADED & LAUGHING GULL`s . BRIXHAM MARINA . DEVON . 15 / 1 / 2006
January 12, 2006
MORE YEAR TICKING !!
This morning I went for a look at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham but I didn`t see a lot there ! only numerous WIGEON , TEAL & BLACK TAILED GODWIT & on the far side of the marsh partially hidden in the reeds were 2 COMMON SNIPE .
I then had a look at the Exe Estuary off of the Duck Walk at Topsham & saw 20+ AVOCET .
The next stop of the day was at the Recreation Ground in Topsham where a look at the River Exe got me a WATER PIPIT & a Male & 2 Female RED BREASTED MERGANSER .
I then went to the other side of the Exe Estuary to the top fields in Exminster to look for any sign of Woodlark but I couldn`t find any at all ! but in one of the gardens I did see this GREEN WOODPECKER feeding on one of the lawns .
WATER PIPIT . THE RIVER EXE . THE RECREATION GROUND . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 12 / 1 / 2006
January 11, 2006
BLACK REDSTART
This morning I went over to Ladram Bay in East Devon see if I could see any BLACK REDSTART & found this Male bird in amogst the holiday chalets .
Also seen were a few FULMAR off shore & a fly over COMMON RAVEN .
I then went for a look at the River Otter at Otterton & saw a Male BULLFINCH ,
a Female GOOSANDER , a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER & I finished off the day with a nice KINGFISHER .
January 9, 2006
My 6th Laughing Gull in Devon !!
Today Andy Bond & myself went up to Roadford Reservoir in West Devon for another go at trying to see the Male AMERICAN WIGEON & this time we were in luck as Andy picked the bird out asleep in with some EURASION WIGEON & after a while the bird woke up & gave us good but distant views hence the photo`s .
We then went to a small car park where we saw 2 WILLOW TIT a few LONG TAILED TIT & a NUTHATCH .
After that we headed off for North Devon with the first stop at the old power station at Yelland where we saw 2 GOLDENEYE & the Female RING-NECKED DUCK that has been there since before christmas , we then did the short walk up to Isley Marsh where there were 3 sleeping SPOONBILL stood on the edge of the river .
We then headed off to Barnstaple to look for the reported Adult LAUGHING GULL that has been seen on the river Taw & after looking for a while Andy picked it out stood on the edge of the river & it then flew giving good views & making it my 6th different one in Devon .
SUNDAY 8th JANUARY . 2006
This morning after a nice breakfast of bacon sandwiches I went down to Brixham Marina to see if the LAUGHING GULL was still showing & found it sat on one of the pontoons , it then took flight & was flying up & down the breakwater along with the Adult MEDITERANEAN GULL .
Also seen were a few GREAT BLACK BACKED GULL , a Female EIDER , a single GUILLEMOT & a RAVEN , the weather then came in quite bad so I called it a day & went & had a nice warm bath .
January 6, 2006
MORE YEAR TICKS
Today I heard news that there was a GLAUCOUS GULL on the end of Warren Point at Dawlish Warren so I shot of down to Exmouth where I could look across to the point & I was in luck with the bird still being there but I could only manage this very distant shot of it .
At Exmouth I met up with my mate Andy & we then went over to Mudbank Lane where we looked out at the Exe Estuary & saw numerous COMMON REDSHANK ,
a SPOTTED REDSHANK , a GREENSHANK & around 20+ KNOT .
We then went up to Woodbury Common where we finally caught up with the very elusive GREAT GREY SHRIKE & we finished off the day with
4 CROSSBILL .
January 5, 2006
Up The Ladder & Down The Snake
Birding can be like the game Snakes & Ladders some times , like today !
Andy Bond & myself went out to Roadford Reservoir in West Devon to see if we could see the Lesser Scaup & the American Wigeon .
We got the 1st Winter Drake LESSER SCAUP ok but after searching for the Wigeon in different places around the reservoir we just couldn`t find it ! only to find out later that it was there all the time .
We also saw a few GOLDENEYE & TUFTED DUCK , a Female RUDDY DUCK &
8 Female GOOSANDER .
We then had to stomach missing 2 more birds that we went for , the Great Grey Shrike on Woodbury Common & the Glaucous Gull at Budleigh Salterton , oh well there`s always tomorrow !!
January 4, 2006
South Devon Birding Again
Today I went down to Broadsands again with Andy Bond to see if we could get the Yellow Browed Warbler for him ! but after searching for most of the day we couldn`t find it & had to give up .
But while we were there we saw 2 BLACK NECKED GREBE , we also heard that there were 2 RED NECKED GREBE but we only could find one of them , & we also had 2 Female EIDER .
We then went over to Brixham to look for the Laughing Gull but we also dipped that , but we did see the Adult MEDITERRANEAN GULL , and a very close GREAT NORTHERN DIVER & after walking out on the breakwater we found
8 PURPLE SANDPIPER .
January 3, 2006
YEAR TICKING AGAIN !!!!!
Today I went to Broadsands in South Devon to see what year ticks I could get ! & in trees by the small brook I saw Numerous GOLDCREST , 9 CHIFFCHAFF , a CETTI`S WARBLER & a wintering YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER .
Also seen were 5 CIRL BUNTING , a SPARROWHAWK & a GREEN WOODPECKER was heard on call .
A look at the sea then got me 2 BLACK-NECKED GREBE , 2 GADWALL , an EIDER & a few RAZORBILL & distant views of the Brixham LAUGHING GULL .
I then went to Dawlish Warren to see if I could see the reported Glaucous Gull but it had flown off before I got there , but I did see 2 RED-THROATED DIVER , 6 TURNSTONE & a KNOT .
MONDAY 2nd JANUARY . 2006
I had gone up to London for the New Year Holiday & on the way home I stopped of at Magna Carta Lane in Wraysbury to look for any ROSE-RINGED PARAKEET & was in luck & saw 5 of them .
I then came home on the 303 & I decided to stop by Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain & in fields nearby I saw 15+ CORN BUNTING & 4 STOCK DOVE & as I was driving away 6 GREY PARTRIDGE flew across the road & landed in the fields beside me .
