Dave`s Diary

HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone

Nr Orcombe Point . Exmouth

This morning I went down to the fields behind Orcombe Point again with my mate Andy as he hadn`t seen the Lapland Bunting yet & he was in luck & saw it but I couldn`t get on it today ! but I did see 3 WOODLARK that were very pleasing in with a large flock of SKYLARK today , there was also large flocks of PIED WAGTAIL . MEADOW PIPIT & CHAFFINCH that attracted this SPARROWHAWK & a KESTREL .

SPARROWHAWK . Nr ORCOMBE POINT . EXMOUTH . DEVON . 31 / 12 / 2007

LAPLAND BUNTING

This morning I was up early & off to Exmouth to look for a LAPLAND BUNTING that was found yesterday in fields behind Orcombe Point , & I managed to get a quick view of it but then it vanished out of sight again ! it was in with a large flock of PIED WAGTAIL , MEADOW PIPIT & SKYLARK but they were constantly taking flight & landing in other spots .
After a while other people started to turn up & after looking for it for about an hour it came into view again & we all got good views of it working its way through the stubble field .

LAPLAND BUNTING . Nr ORCOMBE POINT . EXMOUTH . DEVON . 30 / 12 / 2007

Black Brant In Devon !!!

This morning Brian Heasman & I went down to the Kingsbridge Estuary to look for a reported Black Brant ( The American race of our Brent Goose ) & on the way there we saw a MERLIN fly across the road at the Venn Cross near Ugborough .
Once we arrived at the estuary we looked at various spots & saw 20-30 RED BREASTED MERGANSER , 2 GREAT CRESTED GREBE & a SLAVONIAN GREBE , but there was no sign of the bird we had come for among the 100+ BRENT GOOSE that were there & we were just about thinking of going when a few more Brent Goose flew in & has luck would have it there was the BLACK BRANT with them , a new bird in Devon for me if it ever gets split from Brent Goose !!

BLACK BRANT . THE KINGSBRIDGE ESTUARY . DEVON . 27 / 12 / 2007

Another Cattle Egret ?

This morning I went down to the Powderham Churchyard area to look for a Cattle Egret that was seen there on Christmas Eve but there was no sign of it & all that was there was a GREEN WOODPECKER & a Grey Squirrel , I then drove around the lanes around the Kenton area but all that I saw was 1 RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE , so I then headed off back home for dinner & I had only been in the house for 5 minutes when I had a call telling me that the CATTLE EGRET was in the fields before you get to the churchyard so off I went again to look for it & this time I was in luck & get it feeding with a LITTLE EGRET .

CATTLE EGRET . Nr POWDERHAM . DEVON . 26 / 12 / 2007

GREY PARTRIDGE

Another good bird for the yearlist seen today , a GREY PARTRIDGE that was in with a flock of 20+ RED LEGGED PARTRIDGE at the Rousden drying barns just outside of Axmouth , also seen there were 9 YELLOWHAMMER & a BRAMBLING that were in with a flock of CHAFFINCH .
The next stop was at the Colyford Common where there were 2 WHITE FRONTED GOOSE & 2 Roe Deer .

YELLOWHAMMER . ROUSDEN DRYING BARNS . DEVON . 20 / 12 / 2007

Tuesday 18th December . 2007

The only thing to report about today was a BARN OWL that flew across the main road at Clyst St Mary & into the Clyst Marshes at 10.25 pm .

Bowling Green Marsh

There were plenty of wildfowl on the marsh today with numerous WIGEON , SHOVELER & TEAL , 12 PINTAIL , 2 Male & 3 Female POCHARD , & a few MALLARD .
There was also masses of BLACK TAILED GODWIT , 30+ BAR TAILED GODWIT , 200+ AVOCET , 100+ DUNLIN , 5 SNIPE , & in the hedge below the railway line there was 6 BULLFINCH & 3 CHIFFCHAFF .

COMMON SNIPE . BOWLING GREEN MARSH . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 17 / 12 / 2007

Merlin on the marsh !!

This morning I had a look at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham & was rewarded with views of numerous WIGEON , 2 LITTLE EGRET , a LITTLE GREBE , numerous BLACK TAILED GODWIT , 2 BAR TAILED GODWIT , 200+ LAPWING , 60+ GOLDEN PLOVER , 100+ DUNLIN , 200+ AVOCET & the LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER showed right in front of the hide but the sun was always in the wrong place to get a good shot of it , but the highlight of the day was a MERLIN that flew across the marsh right in front of the hide , my first on the marsh for a long time !

LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER . BOWLING GREEN MARSH . TOPSHAM . DEVON . 13 / 12 / 2007

CATTLE EGRET

This afternoon in between the bursts of rain I went out to some fields near Teigngrace to look for the CATTLE EGRET that was found there yesterday & I managed to get this long distace shot of it using flash in a short dry period just before the heavy rain set in again , it was with over 20 LITTLE EGRET & a few CURLEW .

CATTLE EGRET . TEIGNGRACE . DEVON . 7 / 12 / 2007

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE

Today I went up to Hampshire with 2 mates Andy Bond & Ken Montandon to look for the 1st Winter WHITE-TAILED EAGLE that has been around the Quarley area for a few weeks , at first there was no sign of the bird & heavy rain had set in for a while so it was not looking good , but later in the day the rain stopped & I was lucky enough to pick the bird up around the Quarley Hill area & after a bit of a wait we all got good views of the bird .
There was also plenty of BUZZARD , 2 PEREGRINE FALCON , 2 KESTREL , a SPARROWHAWK & 4 RAVEN .
On our way back home we stopped off near Stonehenge where we saw 5 CORN BUNTING & a BRAMBLING a very nice way to finish the day off .

WHITE-TAILED EAGLE . QUARLEY HILL . HAMPSHIRE . 5 / 12 / 2007