May 29, 2006
Early Morning Birding
This morning I went for an early morning look at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham but all I saw were numerous SAND MARTIN & a few HOUSE MARTIN & SWALLOW .
A walk down Bowling Green Lane then got me BLACKCAP , CHIFFCHAFF & a LESSER WHITETHROAT there was possibly another one but I didn`t see it well enough to be sure .
And back in my home in Topsham these two COLLARED DOVE were on show .
May 28, 2006
Bowling Green Marsh
This morning I went for a look at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham & a look from the hide got me a 1st Summer LITTLE GULL , 4 WHIMBREL & numerous HOUSE MARTIN .
I then walked down the road to the viewing platform & a look at the Clyst Estuary got me 4 LITTLE EGRET , on the walk back again there was a LESSER WHITETHROAT , a CHIFFCHAFF & 2 Green Veined White Butterfly .
GREEN VEINED WHITE BUTTERFLY . BOWLING GREEN MARSH . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 28 / 5 / 2006
May 24, 2006
Nightingale In Devon
This morning I went down to Orcombe Point in Exmouth to do some more sea watching , I found a little place out of the wind & started scanning & soon picked up my first STORM PETREL then another & another & at the end of the watch I had counted 51 .
Also seen were 15 GANNET , 20+ KITTIWAKE , numerous SANDWICH TERN , 3 COMMON TERN , 2 WHIMBREL & a Summer Plumage GREAT NORTHERN DIVER & as I sat there sea watching to my amazement a NIGHTINGALE started singing from deep inside some gorse bushes next to me !! it then sang again about 5 minutes later , I looked to see if it was visible but with no joy & I never heard it again after that .
I then went back home to Topsham & I had a call telling me that there was a Little Gull on Bowling Green Marsh so I went down to see if it was still there & I was in luck & saw 2 MEDITERRANEAN GULL both 1st Summer , a 1st Summer LITTLE GULL , 3 STOCK DOVE , a SEDGE WARBLER & a BULLFINCH .
LITTLE GULL . BOWLING GREEN MARSH . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 24 / 5 / 2006
MEDITERRANEAN GULL . BOWLING GREEN MARSH . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 24 / 5 / 2006
May 22, 2006
A Sea watch at Dawlish Warren
This morning I went down to Dawlish Warren to do a sea watch & made the hazardous climb to the top of Langstone Cliff , once I had settled in I started to pick up some STORM PETREL & in the end I must have seen 20+ , there were also quite a few KITTIWAKE & GANNET passing through as well .
Also seen were 2 Dark Phase ARCTIC SKUA & a single GREAT SKUA ( my 1st for the year ) , & a ROSEATE TERN was picked out in with a few SANDWICH TERN .
And just off of the breakwater there were 2 Male & 15 Female COMMON SCOTER & 7 COMMON EIDER .
May 19, 2006
Sea Watching
This afternoon I went down to Exmouth to do a bit of a sea watch as I had a got a call telling me that there were some Stom Petrel passing through , & it turned out quite good with the following birds seen .
20+ MANX SHEARWATER , 10-15 GANNET , a few KITTIWAKE , a 1st Summer LITTLE GULL , 2 STORM PETREL , a Dark Phase ARCTIC SKUA & 2 ROSEATE TERN .
May 14, 2006
Gull Billed Tern In Devon
Early this morning I went down to Dawlish Warren for a look & saw the following birds in a sea watch , numerous KITTIWAKE & about 100+ GANNET feeding offshore with around 40+ SHAG .
Also seen were 30+ MANX SHEARWATER , 8 SANDWICH TERN , a single LITTLE TERN & a dark phase ARCTIC SKUA .
On the walk back to the car I also saw 5 BLACKCAP , 4 WHITETHROAT & a GARDEN WARBLER .
Later in the afternoon news broke of a GULL BILLED TERN up in North Devon at the Braunton Burrows & I got a lift up with fellow birder Mark Bailey & we got superb views of the bird on the ground & in flight to finish off a good days birding .
May 10, 2006
IBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF
Today I went to Challacombe Farm on Dartmoor to see if I could see the reported IBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF & I was in luck with the bird calling & showing very well in the fir trees in the farm garden .
Also seen were 4 CUCKOO , 3 PIED FLYCATCHER , 2 SPOTTED FLYCATCHER , a Male COMMON REDSTART , a HOBBY & numerous WILLOW WARBLER .
I then went to Sousens Down on Dartmoor where I saw 4 Male & 2 Female WHINCHAT , another CUCKOO , a Male SPARROWHAWK & a breaf view of a Male RING OUZEL + there was another one singing deep in a valley but I couldn`t see it .
On the way home I stopped of at Splatford near the Haldon Forest & saw 2 TURTLE DOVE .
IBERIAN CHIFFCHAFF . CHALLACOMBE FARM . DARTMOOR . DEVON . 10 / 5 / 2006
COMMON REDSTART . CHALLACOMBE FARM . DARTMOOR . DEVON . 10 / 5 / 2006
May 7, 2006
Exminster Marshes . Devon
This morning I had a call telling me that there was 5 HOBBY showing well on the Exminster Marshes , so I went over to see if I could see them but as it was I could only manage to see 2 of them .
There were also a few COMMON SWIFT , 6 REED WARBLER , 2 SEDGE WARBLER
& 2 CETTI`S WARBLER .
May 5, 2006
Wood Sandpiper
Today I went over to Exminster Marsh to look for the WOOD SANDPIPER that was reported there & was in luck & saw the bird on the main lagoon .
There were also 2 Male & a Female TUFTED DUCK & a Male GARGANEY .
And also seen on the marsh were a few SEDGE WARBLER , a CETTI`S WARBLER & 2 Male REED BUNTING .
May 4, 2006
Hoopoe in Devon !!
This morning I had quite a few COMMON SWIFT screaming in flight over the St Thomas area of Exeter .
Later in the afternoon I had a call telling me about a sighting of an HOOPOE in Clyst St Mary just outside of Exeter , so I went & had a look for it but all I saw were 3 WHITETHROAT , but I then got a call telling me that the bird had been sighted again in another area of the village so i went over to there as fast as I could & got good views it feeding on someone`s lawn , & this sighting is only my fourth one in my home county of Devon .
May 3, 2006
LESSER WHITETHROAT
This morning I went out early to Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham to see if I would have any luck getting a photo of the LESSER WHITETHROAT & today was my 4th attemt at getting one & as you can see this time I was in luck with the bird showing very well .
There were also a few BLACKCAP & CHIFFCHAFF in the bushes & SWALLOW & HOUSE MARTIN flying over the marsh .
I then heard of a Wood Sandpiper over on Exminster Marsh so I went to look for it but was out of luck with no sign of it anywhere , but I did see 2 HOBBY
& a Female MARSH HARRIER that flew around the marsh for 10 minutes before flying off to the north .
LESSER WHITETHROAT . BOWLING GREEN LANE . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 3 / 5 / 2006
May 1, 2006
BROAD BILLED SANDPIPER
This morning I got a call telling me that there was a Broad Billed Sandpiper on the Exminster Marshes so I shot off over to there only to find out that I had missed the bird by 5 minutes & I only managed to see SEDGE WARBLER & CETTI`S WARBLER before news came out the Broad Billed Sandpiper was now down at Dawlish Warren .
So off I went again down to there in hope of more luck this time & when i arrived at the site I was told that the BROAD BILLED SANDPIPER was still there but out of sight ! but then it flew across the bay & landed in full full view pleasing the handful of birders that were there , it was with around one hundred DUNLIN & they were constantly on the move & I managed to get only this one shot of the bird .
Also seen on site were WHITETHROAT , WILLOW WARBLER & a HOBBY & offshore there were 8 MANX SHEARWATER .
