Devon Birding

Firstly, I apologise for the recent lack of diary entries, I have been in bed with flu for the past few weeks, although I am now back on my feet and almost fully recovered.

A rather leisurely morning start saw me arrive at Exminster at around 9am. First stop were the stubble fields along Matford Lane, west of the town. After half an hour of searching, I got lucky, with 2 Woodlarks flying up calling from the second field across from the motorway. They were followed by 3 Skylarks, allowing a useful comparison. The shorter tail and smaller size of the Woodlarks was immediately apparent, whilst the fluty call compared with the 'gurgling' of the Skylarks was also a useful pointer as to the identification. The former circled briefly before heading off high north, across the M5.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker drummed briefly from a belt of trees, and 2 Reed Buntings flew over calling.  6 Meadow Pipits flushed from the edge of the stubble, whilst in the nearby hedgerow, the thin calls of up to 15 Redwings could be heard, occasionally interupted by the rattling calls of 3 Mistle Thrushes.

Next stop was Exminster Marshes, where many of the pools had frozen over due to the overnight frost. As a result, the many Wigeon present were feeding out in the open, allowing a good opportunity to count them. 517 was the final total. Aproximately 150 Teal were also scattered around the edges of the ice, most of them either preening or roosting, and inviting the opportunity to check for a Green-winged Teal amongst them. Not this time, it seemed, so I moved on down the path to check the main lagoon. Here, another 40+ Teal were scattered around the edges of the pool, whilst 81 Shoveler and 3 Tufted Ducks frequented the predominately ice-free water.

6 Long-tailed Tits and a Goldcrest slowly worked their way through the bushes bordering the path, their high-pitched calls readily attracting attention. 8 Snipe zigzagged up from the boggy ground, and 3 Lapwing tumbled through the air on their way to the estuary. Aside from a female Kestrel overhead, there was little else of interest on the marshes, the final noteworthy bird being a Kingfisher whizzing along the canal like a dazzling orange and turquoise bullet.

Final port of call was Dawlish Warren. In the cold and windy conditions, I did not fancy slogging all the way to the hide, so instead contented myself with scanning the choppy waters from the seawall. After 20 minutes or so, the female Surf Scoter was located, appearing and disappearing time and again as the small but fast-moving waves raced in. A Slavonian Grebe was only slightly more obliging, as it dived beneath the surface slightly closer in. The only other notable bird on the sea was a Great Crested Grebe. A handful of gulls on the beach failed to harbour anything of interest, although in amongst them, 7 Oystercatchers scurried up and down the shoreline.

Lastly I ended up in a busy Dawlish cafe, where a hot bacon baguette brought back some of the enthusiasm and warmth that the freezing temperatures that morning had taken away from me. A successful morning overall.

On Saturday moning, I headed out towards Berry Head, having twice dipped the Sardinian Warbler that had been found by Mike Langman on 12th. After I arrived at about 8.15am, the few birders present had split up to search through the scrub near the car park that the bird had been favouring. Shortly before 9am, I was slowly making my way along a back path, on the seaward side of the headland, to the right of the main track. A Dartford Warbler had already caused a false alarm, as had a couple of surprisingly skulking Robins, but so far, there was no sign of the bird.

I could see Josh Marshall working his way along the path from the other end, about 50m away. At this point, something flitted out of the gorse, over the path and into some hawthorns just a few metres in front of me. It refused to show itself properly for a few seconds, but then popped out in full view. Pale throat, grey head and bloody hell, look at that eyering! If you're a non-birder and not familiar with female Sardinian Warbler (and I don't blame you, I only saw my first in Greece this spring), here is an excellent picture which I found on the net (N.B this is not the Berry Head bird, simply a good image of one taken abroad): Female Sardinian Warbler. Josh and Bill McDonald had both got onto the bird at about the same time as me. There was a feeling of immense relief and satisfaction all round, and immediately Josh called over the others. The bird then flew to our left, down across the scrub towards the car park end of the path. Here John Gale and his two sons who had been searching for the bird since early morning were able to get good views, along with Perry Sanders and a few others who had come round from the main track.

The warbler then disappeared for an hour or so, but by the time I left, most of the people present had had reasonable to good views. Reluctantly I departed, not wanting to keep my mum waiting too long, as she had kindly given me a lift to the site that morning.

I am told by Perry that those still on site by late morning had superb views of the bird, as it showed again near the car park.

A quality birthday tick, and the first Devon record for 16 years.

Sardinian Warbler records in Devon:

2008 - 12th to 21st November - Berry Head - Female

1992 - 7th May - Prawle Point - Female, trapped

1988 - 8th June - Lundy - Female

1955 - 10th May - Lundy - Adult male, trapped

Set out for a walk on Dartmoor late morning, in search of the Great Grey Shrike that had been reported from near Bellever Forest 5 days ago.

As I left the car the rain set in (doesn't it always happen this way?!), so I chose not to take the camera. I headed up past Forest Cottage, and began to check the hedges, bushes and fields in which my quarry had last been seen. Half an hour of searching revealed no sign however, and despondantly I trudged on up the steep pach which leads towards the edge of the conifer plantation. Upon reaching the brow of the hill, I discovered that a large section of conifers had been felled, and therefore provided a wide open area with plenty of vantage points in the form of stunted trees and up-ended roots, perfect for a shrike. Another half an hour or so was spent scouring this area but again it was to no avail. I wanted to completely cover the area, so as to feel comfortable in my mind that the bird was not present; I hate leaving a site with the nagging thought that maybe I have overlooked something. 

With this in mind, I checked the last tree round the corner. And there it was, a just reward for an hour's searching. I hid myself behind a massive pile of felled trees, and set up the scope, peering round the corner and getting good views of the bird. A couple of minutes later, it flew, and completely unaware of my presence, landed in a tree barely 25 feet away. Great Grey Shrike and I eyeballed each other for a moment, but sadly a group of complete ****ing morons came blundering around the corner with their dog and in the middle of a loud family row. The bird was away like a shot, and I was left quietly glaring at the idiots who were now shattering the peace of what had been a quiet and tranquil Dartmoor afternoon. 

The rain slowed up, and I made the decision to go back to the car for the camera. Upon arrival (camera in hand) back at the site, I had to relocate the bird, and did so after about 10 minutes. As the rain had stopped, dog walkers and pony-riders were now slowly filling the area, and the bird became nervous and mobile. Whenever I managed to creep up close enough to get a shot (I only have a 400mm lens), the bird would almost always be flushed by a screaming kid or a brainless walker who did not feel the need to keep their savage, nosiy and aggressive terrier on a lead. 

As a result, I was left with just a record shot, but it will do for now. Another good Devon bird.

Made the 40 min trip down to Modbury after school in search of the Common Crane that had been in residence since 3rd November. After about a 20 minute search of the surrounding fields, I eventually located the bird, feeding on the edge of a stubble field. I watched it for a few minutes before it was spooked by a paticuarly aggressive Pheasant, and took to the sky, calling. It circled 2 or 3 times and then headed off high up the valley, still calling, pesumably to roost on one of the water-meadows higher up. It was a fantastic bird and a Devon tick as I had missed the 4 at Exminster Marshes in 2006 (they're rare down here).

Regrettably I did not have the camera with me but photos would have been poor anyway, as the light was fading. Dave Stone has some good shots however, taken from the previous day. Please see the Sightings Page.

The team: Paul Freestone, Adam Hutt, Nathan Pickering, Adam Stoyle, Joe Ray.

The 'digs': A pleasant little cottage on the edge of Holy Vale, St Mary's.

The birds:

I'm afraid I havent got time (GCSE coursework) to write a full trip report of the week, so to those leigons of loyal devonbirding fans (you know who you are), I'm going to disappoint you. Instead, I'll quote dates, locations and species directly from my notebook, and try to stick in a few photos where available.

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25th October - Brisk NW, broken cloud cover.

Scillonian Crossing:

Great Skua 1

Gannet 50

Kittiwake 7

Grey Phalarope 1 briefly off starboard side

Puffin 1 sitting in the wake

St Mary's:

Sparrowhawk 1 female near Telegraph Hill.

Peregrine 1 hunting over Hugh Town

St Agnes:

No sign of Richard's Pipit in sports field area nor on Porth Killier beach.

Blyth's Reed Warbler showing well in lower chapel fields. Seen well in scope at quite close range. Distinct short primary projection easily viewable. Greyish overall apparance. The bird had a large tick on its chest (see photos on Surfbirds/Birdguides). N.B. I do keep better notes than this, for the sake of space/prevention of boredom, I've kept the ones here short and hopefully to the point.

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26th October - Rain and srong SW overnight. 100% cloud cover, drizzle at times.

Holy Vale:

Yellow-browed Warbler 3 calling frequently though elusive

Hawfinch 3 feeding on hawthorns in hedgerow on NE side of Holy Vale, viewed from main path, looking across field.

Chiffchaff 18

Goldcrest 16

Water Rail 2 heard only

Sparrowhawk 1 female

Woodcock 1 roding at dusk

Porth Hellick:

Goldcrest 7

Woodpigeon 22

Chaffinch 80 flew SW

Redshank 4

Greenshank 5

Kingfisher 1

Teal 5

Common Snipe 3 inc. 1 possible Wilson's Snipe candidate. Overall appearance greyer and paler than adjacent Commons, greyish uppertail coverts (though pattern not seen well). Distinct barring on flanks appeared to contrast with generally pale-looking underparts, showing less buff that nearby Commons. Whitish tramlines on back again looking paler than on the other individuals.

Porthmellon:

Grey-cheeked Thrush showing very well at SE end of beach in scrub above boulders below Carn Thomas gymn. At one point the bird flew across the road towards the dump clump, but did a U-turn and settled again in the initial area of cover. Seemed unsettled and unsure of the best feeding and sheltering areas. Mobile, showy, active but erratic, it seemed newly in. An excellent find by Tony Hull.

Black Redstart 1

Porthcressa:

Oystercatcher 22

Grey Heron 1

Little Egret 1

Kingfisher 1

Maypole:

Red-backed Shrike 1. Initially called as a Red-backed, the bird was then thought to be a first winter Brown (which would constitute only the 6th British record), but was subsequently 're-IDed' as 'just' a Red-backed. I don't want to go into the details here (primary projection, length of outer tail feathers and undertail coverts, extent of grey in the nape etc etc) but the general opinion eventually was that the bird is a Red-backed. Not a tick, but a great bird all the same, and an educational one at that.

St Mary's Airfield:

American Golden Plover  juvenile showing well on main runway (airport closed on a Sunday) before being flushed by two brainless morons with a dog.

 American Golden Plover...

...and 2 idiots with their dog:

The plover was next to the furthest right white dot in the picture. But not for long.

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27th October - Broken clouds, relatively little wind. Occasional heavy showers.

Maypole:

Red-backed Shrike still present and showing well (still thought at the time to be a Brown Shrike. This lot were happy with it.) 

Sparrowhawk 1 female

Holy Vale:

Hawfinch 2 still in hawthorns across field.

Yellow-browed Warbler 1

Porth Hellick:

White-rumped Sandpiper showing well at reasonable range on mud in bay, loosely associating with Ringed Plovers. Another record shot below.

Ringed Plover 31

Turnstone 7

Redshank 2

Common Snipe 1

Water Rail 1 heard only

Siskin 2 flew towards Salakee Farm.

Newford Duck Pond:

No sign of reported Red-breasted Flycatcher, but Yellow-browed Warbler briefly calling in elms on edge of pond.

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28th October - Scattered showers, heavy cloud, cold NW.

Holy Vale:

Hawfinch 2 still in hawthorns. Record shot below.

Redwing 12

Siskin 4

No sign of Red-breasted Flycatcher reported earlier in willows by path.

Telegraph:

Fieldfare 2

Merlin 1

Porth Hellick:

Teal 4

Greenshank 1

Borough Farm:

Mistle Thrush 1 (very scarce on Scilly)

Redwing 40

Chaffinch 35

Swallow 7

Meadow Pipit 22

Pied Wagtail 2

Lower Moors:

Swallow 5

Linnet 21

Siskin 2

Yellow-browed Warbler 1 showing well with tit flock on loop trail

Water Rail 1 heard only

Common Snipe 7

Newford Duck Pond:

Red-flanked Bluetail reported by the pond about midday. Mad run from the Garrison. After 2-3 hours of searching (at least 60 of us!), the bird was relocated in a field NE of the pond, and showed fairly well. However, viewing was very restricted, and most were forced to peer through a hedge to see it.

Yellow-browed Warbler 1 showing very well in willows by pond whilst we were looking for the Bluetail. 

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29th October - Overcast and still in morning, heavy showers later with cold northerly wind.

Holy Vale:

Redwing 19

Hawfinch 1

Fieldfare 3

Porth Hellick:

White-rumped Sandpiper still on beach though distant.

Ringed Plover 28

Turnstone 11

Siskin 3

Teal 4

Newford Duck Pond:

SNOWY OWL showing well in field NW of pond, sitting on top of large white container/crate. 1st winter male, undoubtedly bird of the week. The bird...

 ... and its devoted fans:

At one point, a lady drove down the lane causing everyone to crush into the hedge. She stopped to inquire what everyone was looking at. The assembled birders resembled the paparazzi, making the lady in the Nissan Micra look like a celebrity.

Lower Moors:

Spotted Crake showing well by entrance pool though in very poor light. Some digiscoped footage below. Persevere! It gets better towards the end.

Yellow-browed Warbler 1

Teal 3

Siskin 17 flew towards Old Town.

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30th October - Overcast. Strong cold NW.

Lower Moors:

Spotted Crake still showing well on weedy pond 20m along path from Lower Moors entrance on Telegraph Road.

Teal 2

Holy Vale:

Yellow-browed Warbler 2

Hawfinch 3

Fieldfare 12

Porth Hellick:

Teal 8

Moorhen 9

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31st October - Broken clouds, brisk NE.

Holy Vale:

Yellow-browed Warbler 1

Increase in Chiffchaff/Goldcrest numbers - 20+ of each.

Porth Hellick:

Ringed Plover 29

Turnstone 3

Redshank 1

Greenshank 2

Curlew 2

Oystercatcher 7

Chaffinch 400+

Skylark 3

Fieldfare 1

Redwing 100

Merlin 1

Kestrel 1

Cormorant 1 in off sea

Grey Phalarope past Giant's Castle, flew NE

Gannet 15 past 

Kittiwake 6 past

Grey Heron 2

Stonechat 2

Old Town:

11 Redwings race icelandica

Song Thrush 12

House Sparrow 90

Dump Clump:

Pied Wagtail 2

Collared Dove 14

Starling 63

Great Black-backed Gull 17

Herring Gull 50

Porthmellon:

Oystercatcher 2

Turnstone 68

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1st November - Sunshine (!), light NE.

Lower Moors:

Teal 1

Grey Wagtail 1

Yellow-browed Warbler 1

Redwing 7

Stonechat 2

Garrison:

Pallas's Warbler showing well at Lower Broome Platform though mobile with tit flock. Record shot:

Firecrest 1

Porthmellon:

Oystercatcher 2

Turnstone 69

And lastly, a Scilly Song Thrush.

Highlights:

Snowy Owl

Red-flanked Bluetail

Blyth's Reed Warbler

White-rumped Sandpiper

American Golden Plover

Grey-cheeked Thrush

Pallas's Warbler

Yellow-browed Warbler 10+

Red-breasted Flycatcher

Spotted Crake

Red-backed Shrike

Hawfinch 3

At 4.15am, I found myself sitting in a car park just off the A38, wondering what the hell I was doing awake. During the 30 minute drive from my house to the Dartbridge Inn where I now found myself, I had not passed a single car.

15 minutes later and a loud engine and heavy metal cut through the mild hum of the nearby dual carriageway. Mr Dan Pointon had arrived. We set off down the A38, and by 7am, we were pulling up in a layby along the B3315. Paul Welling joined us, and as the light slowly began to improve, we set off up the track to Trevilley Farm.

Our target was the long-staying Red-eyed Vireo, which had been present for a week, straying between various clumps of trees around the farm. Occasionial Wrens, Robins and Dunnocks skulked in the bushes causing numerous false alarms, but our quarry did not show. More birders arrived and split up to check the other trees and bushes around the farm, but no luck. 

Time ticked on, and at 8.30, we made a dash for Penzance. Paul and his wife Jo had set off for Penzance a good 7 or 8 minutes before Dan and myself, yet we reached the Scillonian ticket office before them! Dan and I agreed that the B3315 should be converted into a rally track; what a fantastic piece of road.

We boarded the Scillonian III (or Sickbucket/Rustbucket/Sickonian, as it is more commonly known in the birding world) and bumped into Paul Freestone, who was there with a couple of mates. We also met up with Josh Jones, who had driven through the night from Lincs.

The journey was unenventful, although while I was grabbing some shut-eye below deck, the others had good views of a flock of 10 Grey Phalaropes. 

As soon as the boat arrived at St Mary's quay, we piled into a taxi and headed up to the field that our next target bird had been favouring. There it was, the Isles of Scilly's first ever Sociable Plover. It gave good views in the middle of the field, although was not remotely active, making it east to digiscope but uninteresting to sketch.

After watching the bird for half an hour or so, we left the site and made our way back down to the quay, where after a short wait, a charter boat took 8 of us to St Agnes.

A brisk walk round the island this time, where we eventually arrived at the coastguard cottages, where a crowd of about 20 or so were gathered. After an anxious wait, the Grey-cheeked Thrush gave itself up, and showed superbly in an open ditch running alongside one of the hedgerows. 5 minutes earlier, I had given up my original position, and moved around to get a clear view of the ditch, in the hope that the bird might come out to feed, away from it's usual area. The light was very poor, but I managed a brief digiscoped shot as the bird fed in the open. I only stayed in position for a minute or so however, before moving off to allow someone else some more space. 

 After the thrush and plover being such a success, we happily boarded the boat back to St Mary's, and then the Scilloian back to Penzance.

 Dan Pointon and Josh Jones on the Scillonian, dreaming of ticks, megas and Amur Falcons!

An excellent trip, costing only £45 overall.

I joined Mark Darlaston, Mark Bailey, Mike Langman, Josh Marshall, Tom Bragg, Matt Twiggs et al at Berry Head this morning for a seawatch. Heavy rain squalls and a brisk SSW meant seabird movement was much in evidence. I arrived at 07.30 and stayed until c12.00.

Undoubtedly bird of the day was an adult Long-tailed Skua which came close in, allowing superb views before heading off south at 09.02. 4 other individuals were seen during the course of the morning, however they were juveniles and nothing on the first bird.

The other highlight came in the form of an adult Sabine's Gull which circled with a few Kittiwakes for a short while allowing good views, before also drifting off south.

Skuas were moving constantly, with 66 Arctics counted by the end of the session. 5 Pomarine's included at least one bird trailing the species' diagnostic  'spoon' tail. Great Skuas went past in regular singles, 43 the final count.

Shearwaters were also well represented for so late in the year. 20 Balearic, 5 Sooty and 14 Manx all went south.

Common Scoters went by in irregular small groups, a single Velvet Scoter on the sea before going south was the most notable bird.

We were treated to good but brief views of a pod of at least 11 Bottle-nosed Dolphins, which stayed in view just long enough to grab the camera and get a couple of shots.

The quarry was quiet, holding only 5 Chiffchaffs and a Blackcap.

Shortly before I left, a Great Northern Diver flew south high above the horizon, bringing an end to an excellent morning's seawatching. Final combined totals below (thanks Mark).

Sabine's Gull (adult)

Long-tailed Skua 5 (adult, 4 juveniles)

Pomarine Skua 5

Arctic Skua 66

Great Skua 43

Sooty Shearwater 6

Balearic Shearwater 20

Manx Shearwater 14

Great Northern Diver 1

Common Scoter 28

Velvet Scoter 1

Kittiwake 403

Razorbill 64

Bottle-nosed Dolphin 11

Harbour Porpoise 1

After yesterday's frustration at being unable to get down to Slapton for the Aquatic Warbler, I managed to get a lift down this afternoon.

As I arrived, a dissapointed looking Allan Matthews was just leaving, and informed me that there had been no sign of the bird since 7.50am, in spite of a number of birders being present throughout the day.

I made my way painfully down the embankment to a spot where the edge of the reedbed could be viewed. Again, I was told there had been no sightings since the early morning, and the 7.50am report had been uncofirmed. 

I only had an hour to spare unfortunately (GCSE coursework awaited me at home), but decided to stick around as long as possible.

A tit flock moved through the reedbed, taking a few Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs with it. It was at least a sign of movement, but there was none of the hoped for acrocephalus activity. A Snipe got up out of the reeds and zigzagged briefly before dropping back down into the heart of the reedbed.

South Devon's regular female Marsh Harrier hunted for a spell over the higher end of the ley, before disappearing among the trees. 4 Common Buzzards soared over a distant field, but no Honeys were amongst them. 2 Kestrels raced along the hedgerow.

A couple of Stonechats provided a slight diversion as they flitted about atop the scrub lining the edge of the reedbed, but in the main, it was very quiet. 

My 2008 Devon dip list includes King Eider, Little Crake, Marsh Sandpiper and now Aquatic Warbler.

Dropped into Bowling Green Marsh this morning, as my parents were giving a friend a lift to Exeter station, allowing me about 45 minutes at the reserve.

Unfortunately the tide was out, so although wildfowl numbers were high, wader numbers were low.

From the hide, the marsh held a few hundred noisy Wigeon, Teal and Shoveler, with a scattering of Pintail. Waders comprised just 17 Black-tailed Godwit, 2 Curlew and 4 Lapwing. Evidently most of the birds were feeding out on the extensive mudflats of the Exe Estuary.

I moved on to the viewing platform overlooking the river Clyst, but the tide was miles out, and the sun reflecting off the mudflats, making any distant birds mere silhouettes in the heat haze. 6 Common Buzzards circled high above me and provided some interest, as I checked and re-checked each one in the hope of a Honey Buzzard, but it was not to be. I spent some time watching the Curlews probing the mud with their long and elegant downcurved bills. Cursing myself for having brought only a pen and my notebook as opposed to a pencil with which I could sketch the birds, I decided to move on again.

The Goatwalk is a raised concrete walkway which runs for a hundred metres or so alongside the Exe, before leading into Topsham. When the tide is right, it can occasionally give views of fishing Ospreys, but not today. I set up the scope and scanned the mudflats. More Curlews, Black-headed Gulls and Carrion Crows, but nothing new. Rather bored, I decided to count the Black-tailed Godwits. 231 was the final checked, double checked and triple checked number. No doubt there were more down the estuary towards Turf Lock (just off Exminster Marshes), but 231 were viewable from where i stood. Another couple of Buzzards drifted over and again my flagging interest was alerted, but they were just Commons.

A few more scans of the mudflats and the bank across on the other side, and I decided to head back to the hide where I had aranged to be picked up.

Nothing new had arrived save a few Wigeon and Pintail, whilst the Canada Goose flock had moved round slightly, allowing me to pick out 3 Greylags with them.

A couple more scans and then I left, back onto the A38 heading towards Haldon.

I reached the bird of prey viewpoint at about 1.30pm, optimistically telling myself that I had as good a chance as anywhere in Devon of picking up a Honey Buzzard.

Over the next 3 hours (I would have prefered to stay longer but was forced to leave as i had homework awaiting me), I had not even a sniff of a Honey Buzzard, although Common Buzzards passing through in ones and twos at intervals kept me on my toes. Single Peregrine, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk also went over along with 4 Ravens, but the hope of perhaps an Osprey or Red Kite slowly dwindled as the afternoon went on. A check of the surrounding conifers failed to produc any Crossbills, yielding instead 3 Siskin, a Coal Tit and a handful of Goldcrests.

Upon reaching home, I opened my inbox to find an email telling me that an Aquatic Warbler had been located at Slapton, in the exact place that I had spent the entire previous morning ringing with Nick, the finder of the bird.

Luck is making one of those periodic attacks on me. I wonder how long it'll last

After a look at the weather forecast on Monday night (southerlies and light rain), I managed to get to Berry Head for 10am on Tuesday morning. I joined Mark Darlaston, Bob Bailey, Josh Marshall and Mike Langman, who had all been on site from early that morning. I gave the sea 4 hours, before having to leave due to parental pressure, but it was certainly a productive period. The personal highlight was Sabine's Gull, with two birds seen, a juvenile lingering fairly close in with a flock of Kittiwakes as I arrived, and an adult that went south a couple of hours later.

Mark had been on site from early that morning and had been making a count of each notable species, so the final combined totals of the day are as follows. (Birds marked with an asterisk I did not get onto, or had already passed by the time I arrived).

Sabine's Gull 4
Roseate Tern* 1
Black Tern 10
Arctic Tern* 3
Common Tern 74
Sandwich Tern 92 
Sooty Shearwater 13
Balearic Shearwater* 3
Manx Shearwater 68
Pomarine Skua 6
Great Skua 14
Arctic Skua 71
Storm Petrel 7
Common Scoter 12

The quarry held a few migrants, but as I am on crutches (see diary entry below), I was unable to cover the area personally. Mike and Bob both spent time checking the bushes and vegetation though, and Redstart, Pied Flycatcher and a few common migrants such as Chiffchaff and Spotted Flycatcher were present.

An early start this morning for a seawatch with Tom Bragg at Hope's Nose. As I arrived, he had been watching a Wryneck, and I rounded the bend just as the bird disappeared into cover. We decided to try to make the most of the sea instead of attempting to relocate it, before all the clouds vanished.

After a couple of hours seawatching, a worn adult Pom Skua south was the highlight, the other most notable bird being a Sooty, which went the same way about half an hour later. 19 Common and 2 Sandwich Terns passed, but Gannets numbered just 17, with Kittiwakes at only 8. There wasn't much movement.

At 11.00, I was coming down the headland towards the tip, where I had left Tom seawatching. I had managed to relocate the Wryneck (Tom had seen it earlier), and I was moving fairly swiftly, trying to reach him so that he could get onto the bird. My right foot hit a lump in the ground, I felt an unbearable stab of agony in my ankle, heard a sickening 'crunch' and went flying, flat out on the edge of the path. I knew instantly that I had broken my ankle, and unfortunately Tom was out of sight and earshot.

I lay on the ground for about 10 minutes, trying to call home, but could not get through to anyone. Not having Tom's number, I (rather apprehensively) eventually dialed 999 and asked for an ambulance. Lying on the ground near the point, there was no way an ambulance could reach me, but the sight of a paramedic making his way down the path was a relieving sight. He rang Devon Air Ambulance, and 10 minutes later, I was strapped to a stretcher inside a helicopter, rather dozy from an injection of morphine to dull the pain, and being watched by a couple of rather bewildered birders and dog walkers.

To cut 6 hours and 3 X-rays short, at 5pm I found myself limping out of the hospital on crutches, lugging a huge cast on my right leg.

An interesting if very painful day, to say the least.

An early morning walk around my patch in search of migrants proved disappointing. There was very little movement, and the overnight rain must have cleared away, so few migrants were grounded.

After 2.5 hours (6.45-9.15) the totals were:

Chiffchaff 11
Willow Warbler 1
Meadow Pipit 6
Pied Wagtail 4
Skylark 2
Raven 7
Buzzard 3
Yellowhammer 2
Swallow 12
Linnet 8

A poor showing in all. 

Writing this on September 2nd, I've had a decent past month. On 1st, a seawatch of Berry Head produced my first Balearic Shearwaters of the year. A week and a half later, Cornwall produced a number of good seabirds from the pelagic trip on 10th, the highlight being excellent views of Great Shearwater. 

Shortly afterwards I spent a week in Yorkshire, and although nothing of exceptional interest was seen, it was a reasonable general birding trip. 3 Whinchats a 2 Pied Flycatchers at Bempton on 17th were an indication of early migration, and the following morning I obtained a few photos of a couple of the 70+ Little Gulls present at Hornsea Mere.

The day after I went up onto the moors in the hope of photographing Red Grouse. Again, a successful visit, with 14 birds seen within a short walk. 

On the last day (21st), a Red Kite was seen over Malton, along with numerous Tree Sparrows. 

6 hours were spent at the raptor viewpoint at Wykeham Forest. I narrowly missed an Osprey (or so I was told), but 11 Crossbills and a Goshawk provided ample compensation. A decent passage of hirundines kept me busy whilst there was little raptor activity, with only 2 Common Buzzards and a Kestrel seen over the valley.

On the drive down, a slight detour was made, so we stopped off at Coombe Hill Meadows in Gloucestershire for the Stilt Sandpiper which duly showed, albeit rather distantly. Also present was a Little Ringed Plover.

Nearby, the Red-necked Phalarope at Frampton-on-Severn also showed, although again it was distant.

A trip to Dawlish Warren on 23rd yielded a Roseate Tern amongst other things (see here).

6 days later and I was back again, this time for the Semipalmated Sandpiper.

On a more local note, throughout the month, good numbers of Chiffchaffs have been moving through my inland local patch, with c150 estimated to have passed through during the month. 

Finally, the 31st was spent around Thurlestone enjoying some general birding and looking for early migrants, the highlight being a Mediterranean Gull, as well as a Green Sandpiper and a Knot.

A good August, all in all. 

After news of the Marsh Sandpiper coming through agonisingly while I was at Thurlestone the previous day (see entry below), I managed to get a lift up to Bowling Green this morning, in search of the bird. 

Arriving just after 8am (approximately high tide), I stayed until 10. During the two hours that I was there, various birders came and went, some deciding to leave for the Semi P at Dawlish Warren, and others simply giving up, disappointed that the bird was not showing. 2 hours of going through the Greenshanks (of which there were about a dozen) produced nothing. The Black-tailed Godwit flock harboured a Ruff, 2 Knots and 2 Avocet (the first returning birds of the autumn), but other than that, the marsh was devoid of notable birds. 

A check of the viewing platform afterwards confirmed that the tide was still too high, and the bird was evidently not at this end of the estuary. Whether or not it was roosting at Exminster Marshes accross the other side of the Exe remains to be seen, however it was definitely not at Bowling Green, and I left irritated, knowing that if I had timed my arrival for mid-tide, the bird would be likely to have been showing from the viewing platform (if it was indeed present on the estuary at all).

A pre-planned early morning trip to the south coast in search of migrants was the order of the day, and I arrived at the first site, Bolt Head near Salcombe (formerly host to Devon's second Bobolink, way back in '91) at about 8.30am. 

Having driven through heavy rain on the journey there, I was optimistic that perhaps the deluge would slow up and allow some reasonable birding to be done. Not a chance. I left the warmth of the car and headed out into absolute torrential rain and ankle deep mud. Inn spite of numerous 'waterproofs', I was soon soaked to the skin. In the knowledge that I could not possibly get any wetter, I trudged out along the path in search of migrants. First bird up was a Snipe, which flew high NE, and looked to have just come in off the sea.

Finding a potato field with a couple of high banks, I attempted to scan the area. This was difficult, as the rain was on my lenses and they were steamed up, but after numerous (and largely ineffective) lens cloth wipes, I managed to pick out a small flock of passerines on the track ahead. Using the thin hedge as a hide, I scanned through the group. 9 Meadow Pipits and 4 Wheatears. Yeah, exciting isn't it. Oh well, it was something. The rest of the field held a couple of cowering Dunnocks, as well as 2 Whitethroats, 3 Linnets, a Skylark and 2 Chiffchaffs. The next three hedgerows produced just a single Willow Warbler.

I carried on for a while, but after another half a mile yielded nothing but a couple of Magpies, I finally got the message and buggered off back to the car. 

Next stop was South Huish Marsh, and at last the heavy rain slowed to drizzle. The marsh itself held nothing of interest but a Little Egret, so I turned my attention to the rocks on the beach. Amongst 50 or so Black-headed Gulls was a second-winter Mediterranean, which raised my spirits slightly. 11 Oystercatchers were feeding along the rock pools, and with them was a Knot, another reasonable bird. Whilst I was scanning the rest of the bay (6 Shags but not much else), a wader flock appeared round the corner from Hope Cove. They landed briefly on the beach, allowing a count. 12 Dunlin, 16 Ringed Plover, 8 Sanderling. They were soon flushed however, leaving behind a summer plumaged Grey Plover, which flew out to sea calling shortly afterwards. Another scan of the rocks revealed 7 Sandwich Terns and a couple of Grey Herons, and a final check of the beach produced 3 Rock Pipits and 7 Pied Wagtails, which had flown over from the marsh.

Moving on to South Milton Ley, I spent a fair amount of time on the bridge, scanning the reedbed below, as well as the fences either side of the valley. This can be a productive site, and is where 2005's Least Sandpiper was first seen. 4 Sedge and a Reed Warbler were in the reedbed, a nice addition being a Grasshopper Warbler intermittently along the edge. 8 Stonechats and 2 Linnets were regular up and down the fences, with a Whitethroat present briefly.

The golf course (which has played host to Buff-breasted Sandpiper in the past) yielded nothing new for the day, although a single Wheatear was on one of the fairways.

Thurlestone Marsh, across the road from the golf club, is always a fairly productive site (I have found Cattle Egret here in the spring, and Black-winged Stilt has been seen). 18 Black-tailed Godwits and a Green Sandpiper were the only notable birds present, along with 10 or more Teal.

It was at this final site that I bumped into Bob, who is in charge of the regular bird ringing in South Milton reedbed. He gave Nick (the head ringer at Slapton) a call, and jokingly said 'I've got young Joe here, he wants to know if you've caught any Aquatic Warblers!'. Nick's response was that no he hadn't, but he'd been told there was a Marsh Sandpiper at Bowling Green Marsh. Damn. I am not currently in possession of a pager, and as my mobile is currently busted (it's at the 'repair' shop, though they've had it so long, God knows what they've done to it!), when out birding I am relatively cut off, so this was the first I'd heard of it. 

I wished Bob luck with his ringing efforts later that morning in poor conditions, and completed the 20 minute walk back to the car in a quarter of the time it would normally take! A pit-stop at a nearby phonebox allowed me to call home, to see if my dad was available to give me a lift up to Bowling Green, but it transpired that he was playing cricket that afternoon. As my mum was going out to a wedding, I contemplated the train. Not with all my birding kit, no way. As soon as I reached home, I rang 6 different people, to try and get a lift. No luck. Most were unavailable that afternoon, but upon ringing Allan Matthews, I was greeted with his cheerful voice down the phone ''Oh hello Joe.' ''Hi Allan, how you doing?' His response? ''Fine thanks, yeah, I'm watching the bird just now...''. Oh well.

With any luck it'll still be showing tomorrow morning... 

A report on RBA on the evening of 28th that a Semipalmated Sandpiper was present on the beach at Dawlish Warren. The news came through too late for me to get there that evening, so the following morning I was given just an hour at the site by my dad, hopefully enough to catch up with the bird. It was indeed, and after a quick and rather nervy walk/run from the car park to the hide, I was watching the bird (my 200th species for the year), along with a dozen or so others. Regrettably I only had half an hour to spare, but that was enough to get some decent scope views, and to see for myself the ID of the bird (the clinching features distinguishing it from Little Stint being the lack of a pale 'V' on the mantle, more diffuse streaking on the sides of the breast, and a slightly stockier, less contrasting and greyer overall appearance).

The miserable greyish smudge below (taken with 400mm lens at 250m) does not do it justice. For a better image, see the Latest Sightings page. 

Most of Saturday was spent with Chris at Dawlish Warren. Arriving in time for the high tide roost, a few hundred Oystercatcher (including a partially albino bird) and a handful of Sandwich Terns were in front of the hide. With the Sandwich were 4 Common Terns.

The gull roost held a few Great Black-backs.

On the Bight were a few hundred Ringed Plover and Dunlin, with a handful of Sanderling scattered in amongst them. A Rock Pipit picked its way through the seaweed.

Distantly in the estuary, the summering Slavonian Grebe could be seen. 

Offshore was a fishing flock of Common and Sandwich Terns, which held a couple of Arctics and a Roseate (record shot below).

A pale phase Arctic Skua flew south, harrying the tern flock. In the meantime, 5 Common Scoter flew in, and landed on the sea fairly close to shore.

On the land, a few of the autumn's first Wheatears could be seen.

We left the Warren, and headed for Bowling Green Marsh, to see if we could pick up a few more waders for the daylist. On arrival at the hide, we were told that a Long-tailed Duck had been present that morning. Scanning the back of the marsh revealed no sign of the bird, although a juvenile Garganey was present. 

Having checked the rest of the marsh, and moved on down Bowling Green Road to try and locate the Long-tailed Duck from a different angle. 10 minutes and a few gaps in the hedge later, and we were watching what was apparently the first site record of Long-tailed Duck in 20 years. A cracking drake, it was about 150m away and diving too frequently for photos, but when it surfaced, it afforded good views in the scope. 

The viewing platform added only Shelduck and Grey Plover to the daylist, with a Goldfinch feeding on thistles on the bank.

No sign of the Osprey from the Goatwalk (a path running parallel to the estuary), with only a few Black-tailed Godwits and Black-headed Gulls scattered across the mudflats.

We finished the day on 92 species.

A short family holiday in Yorkshire was an ideal opportunity to photograph a few birds that are not too easy to catch up with in Devon.

The first two days were spent around Malton, and no birding was done, although a Red Kite flew over, and there were good numbers of Tree Sparrows around where we were staying.

On day three, we drove up to the moors in search of Red Grouse. 14 birds were seen in a short drive, with a small number of individuals showing quite well.

On day four, we headed out to Hornsea Mere on the east coast, to try and get a few shots of Little Gull. 70+ were seen, but wind and rain meant they were not easy to photograph. The sun came out for about 30 seconds, during which time I was able to get the image below.

On the final day, I spent 5 hours (12.00-17.00) at the Wykeham Forest raptor viewpoint. A Honey Buzzard had been seen on the other side of the valley, but did not show itself from the viewpoint. Apparently I had been 10 minutes too late for an Osprey, but no matter. 11 Crossbills, Willow Warbler, 4 Siskins and a small movement of hirundines were apparent, with 23 Swallows, 26 House Martins and 17 Swifts moving through. 2 Common Buzzards and a Kestrel were seen over the valley. Best bird of the day was a Goshawk, which appeared from behind a clump of trees and drifted out into the open, only to turn and disappear the other way after being barked at by a couple of dogs, that some idiot had brought up to the viewpoint with them. 

On the way back down to Devon, we stopped off at the Stilt Sandpiper, which showed distantly along with a Little Ringed Plover at Coombe Hill Meadows, Gloucestershire. Nearby a Red-necked Phalarope also showed distantly, at Frampton-on-Severn. When the bird turned, at 60x you could just make out the stripes down the mantle which distinguish it from Grey Phalarope. Record shot below.

4am, Penzance seafront, Cornwall. A few drunks staggering down the pavement after leaving the clubs, but otherwise all is pretty quiet.

Dark figures, armed with rucksacks, bins and the odd scope or camera, make their way along the quay. It's the (sporadically) annual Scillonian Pelagic, and there's plenty of anticipation in the air as we leave Penzance harbour at 5am and out into the chilly dawn over the sea.

We had been at sea for barely more than an hour, and already several people were emptying their semi-digested morning coffee over the side, and in some cases, onto the deck.

A little while out to sea, and a Cory's Shearwater was called on our port (left) side. Most people manage to connect with it, the first notable bird of the trip.

We continued out past Land's End and into the open sea. A couple of Great Skuas (also known as Bonxies) were seen, with at least one briefly trailing the boat.

After a diversion to St Mary's to drop off a passenger who had slipped on the very wet deck and bashed his head (it turned out he was OK, but the medical staff felt he should be taken to hospital as a precautionary measure), we carried on to the Wilson's Triangle area. Arctic, Common and several Sandwich Terns were seen around the Isles of Scilly, along with a handful of Manx Shearwaters.

A few hours onward, and the captain cut the engines, allowing us to drift on what were pretty big waves (estimated by some as up to 18 feet). At the back of the boat, several gutsy individuals were braving the disgusting smell of 'chum', compounded and rotten fish guts, and were throwing it overboard, attracting birds to our wake. Within a few minutes, a handful of Storm Petrels had gathered. Their number grew to several hundred, with estimates ranging between 200 and 800 over the course of the day. A main group were ever present in the wake, competing with numerous Fulmars and Gannets for fish scraps. 2 dark morph Arctic Skuas were attracted, with regular Bonxies tailing the boat.

Below: Great Skua 

Above: Gannet

On our port side, a Sooty Shearwater lingered for a short while. Just as the Sooty disappeared into the distance, there was a call of Wilson's Petrel in amongst the Storm Petrels in our wake. Only about 25% of those on the boat managed to see the bird. I got my bins onto it for a few seconds. Although it was against the light and few plumage details were obvious, it appeared longer winged than the adjacent 'Stormies', with an apparently different flight action. It proved a controversial bird, with Wilson's, 'just a Stormy' and a couple of far flung races/subspecies being brought into the equation. Several people remained adamant that is was a Wilson's however, and it went out on the bird information services as one.

After good views of Storm Petrel, Arctic and Great Skuas, the Scillonian's engines were restarted, and we carried on another few miles out towards the Atlantic. I believe we ended up approximately 70 miles south west of Cornwall, although it may well have been a greater distance.

Above: Storm Petrels

Once again we began to drift, followed by Bonxies, Storm Petrels, Lesser Black-backed Gulls, Gannets, Fulmars and Kittiwakes. The much hoped for Wilson's Petrel never materialised, and the morale of the 250 or so birders on board began to drop. That all changed however, when the call ''Great Shearwater in the wake'', had the boat tilting on the water, as everyone scrambled to get a view. There was no need for haste however. The bird moved in closer and closer, and everyone was treated to stunning views of what is such a difficult species to see well from land. Shortly afterwards, a Grey Phalarope flew swiftly through the wake, although only about half of the boat managed to see it, as it flew directly past and did not linger. Another was seen off the starboard side soon afterwards by a lucky few, so I believe most people got a glimpse of the species. 

The pelagic was beginning to come good.

The Great Shearwater tailed the boat for long periods, and was joined by a second bird at one point. Both individuals showed extremely well, with regular and often close fly-pasts just off our stern.

Above: Great Shearwater

Another Cory's was called on the port side, although only a handful of people managed to see it. 

On the way back to Penzance we saw many of the same birds. At least one Great Shearwater tailed the boat for long periods, along with a couple of Bonxies.A number of Storm Petrels followed us long after we had stopped chumming, and only left the wake when we were well within sight of the Cornish coastline. At this point a couple of Balearic Shearwaters were seen to port, although they evaded most people. 

A good trip overall.

Many thanks to Henry Cook for supplying images. All photos copyright © to him, please see Falmouth Birding.

A one hour seawatch at Berry Head (7.30-8.30) was fairly productive. No Cory's, but two Balearic Shearwater flew south, along with 5 Manx Shearwaters. A Storm Petrel also showed quite well. 2 Sandwich Terns, a Common Tern and a Puffin flew south.

A few Gannets, Kittiwakes and Fulmars were constantly passing, with 11 Guillemot on the sea. 

Near the car park was a flock of 12 Cirl Buntings. With them were 2 Bullfinches, and scattered around the Head were 3 Chiffchaffs and a Willow Warbler.

All in all, a good trip, albeit a short one. 

A two hour seawatch from 11.00-13.00 at Hope's Nose, Torquay, yielded very little.

39 Gannets south, with 4 going north. 5 Fulmars south and 1 north.

Other than that, very little activity, with no shearwaters or skuas, however it was an opportunist visit, as my parents had a meeting to attend in Torquay, and dropped me off on the way.

A Kestrel and 2 Rock Pipits were around the cliffs, and 2 Ravens were overhead. A Green Woodpecker called from a copse.

Hopefully I will do better with an early morning visit to Berry Head tomorrow.

Another bright and warm day, so Chris Buckner and myself decided to spend Sunday morning at Stover CP.

A very enjoyable morning spent ringing at Slapton.

During the course of just over three hours, we ringed the following 15 species:

• Grasshopper Warbler
• Sedge Warbler
• Reed Warbler
• Blackcap
• Whitethroat
• Chiffchaff
• Willow Warbler
• Cetti's Warbler
• Dunnock
• Wren
• Robin
• Blackbird
• Blue Tit
• Swallow
• Reed Bunting

A short walk around my patch this afternoon in dull humid weather. 5 Cirl Buntings, 16 Mistle Thrushes, 2 Bullfinches and a Song Thrush made the visit worthwhile.

A quiet morning at home was made good by the discovery of a nest of young Spotted Flycatchers in ivy growing on the house. It's pretty awkward and inaccessible, but hopefully there'll be a few photographic opportunities.

A reasonable afternoon spent with Chris at Bowling Green Marsh.

Not much around bird-wise, although there were 5 Greenshank and a handful of Redshank present, along with a summer plumaged Black-tailed Godwit. Best bird was a distant first summer Mediterranean Gull.

After Bowling Green, we paid a visit to Stover CP, but the light was rubbish so no decent shots unfortunately. However, Bullfinch, Marsh Tit and Siskin showed well at the feeders.

Spent most of this morning setting up a feeding station and makeshift hide/screen in the garden. Limited success, but hopefully the images will improve as more birds are attracted allowing more photographic opportunities.

A good weekend spent photographing anything and everything. I am becoming more and more impressed with the camera's performance, 40D and 400mm f5.6 L is a great combination it seems. All the images used on this website have been heavily resized, so that loading time is fairly quick, however when this is done, the pictures inevitably lose some quality. All of the shots below are considerably higher quality when viewed at their original resolution, so the copies here do not really do justice to the camera's ability. I'm still pleased with the results though.

At long long last, after a wait of 18 days, on Friday 27th my new 40D arrived. With it was the 400mm f5.6 prime lens, which I had chosen above the 100-400mm zoom. Good decision? It seems so.

On Friday it rained and the light was poor, so I could not get out and try out the camera. However, a bright Saturday morning and I was up early, eager to get a few shots.

I headed down to the local pond/small lake (see Local Patch page) with the intention of photographing the Canada Goose family in residence. They showed well, and I spent half an hour or so testing the camera on them. I currently only have a 1GB CF card, so I was shooting in Jpeg as opposed to RAW. I was pleased with the clean images that the camera produced.

There's very little point in me trying to write a review. There's literally hundreds of better informed and more technical reviews all over the Internet. All I will say is it's an excellent camera, I'm glad I got it. 

More images to follow tomorrow. 

Another early start after a sleepless night. This time however, I was in the car by 7am, and heading for the train station.

On arrival, I was irritated to find the train was delayed by half an hour. It was the only service that was delayed, but there was nothing I could do except wait. An hour later, and finally the train pulled in. Two and a half hours after this, and I was off the train at Hayle, having met up with Henerz, (see his Falmouth Birding website).

We set off around the estuary, having walked through the town from the station (a remarkably accessible and easy walk).

Small numbers of waders were on the mudflats. 7 Oystercatchers, 11 Dunlin, 5 Ringed Plovers and a Curlew. Out int the main channel were a few roosting Herring Gulls. Nothing of note amongst them, save a few Great Black-backed. 

We continued along the B3301 causeway, until we reached the spot that gives views over both the estuary and RSPB Ryan's Field. There was nothing of note on the marsh, so we turned our full attention to the estuary. 

Far out in the main channel was a dirty looking white dot. An immature Spoonbill. We watched it for a while, and I manged one or two incredibly distant record shots.

After bumping into Simon (see Yarner Wood trip report) and exchanging a few sightings, we walked onwards to the train station.

As the train pulled in, I realised (oh joy of joys) that I had lost both my ticket for the train to Penzance, AND my ticket for the return journey home. They had presumably come out of my pocket on the journey down. Idiot. The air turned blue, but there was not a lot I could do, so we got on at the back of the train, hoping not to be asked for tickets. Fortunately the ticket collector did not come, and we arrived at Penzance somewhat relieved.

Our luck changed however, as there was space on the top of an open double decker bus, which was heading to Lands End. For an hour or so during the journey, we discussed, amongst other things, the River Warbler in Sussex, our recent trip to Norfolk and the coming prospect of the Scillies for a week in October. 

We soon found ourselves at Lands End, where we decided to head north on foot towards Sennen. The area was full of Whitethroats and Stonechats, and we ended the day with approximate counts of 10 and 15 respectively. A few Linnets and Meadow Pipits were also in the area, and a Tree Pipit was heard.

In a small ploughed field above Sennen, there was no sign of the Short-toed Lark that had been reported two days previously, so we completed the loop we had walked, and carried on down back to the main car park at Lands End.

From here, we decided on having a quick look at what was on the sea. As it turned out, not a great deal, although there were a few Gannets passing, along with a handful of Fulmars, a Kittiwake, and a Manx Shearwater south. The best bird came in the form of a Chough. At least one individual was seen around the cliffs right at the point, with a few Jackdaws for company. Shortly after the Chough had passed, Henerz picked out something on the sea. 2 huge fins sticking out of the water - Basking Shark. A little further on was another. Both were fairly close in, and allowed brief but quite good views.

After this, we continued along the coast path, south towards Nanjizal valley. Not much was seen along the way however, apart from a few more Linnets, Meadow Pipits, Whitethroats and Stonechats. We reached the cove adjacent to Nanjizal valley, but unfortunately if we were going to have time to catch the last bus back to Penzance, we would not be able to do the valley itself.

Nevertheless, looking over the bay, we were able to watch at quite close range two Grey Seals basking in the water near the rocks.

This was all we had time for however, and we began to make our way back to the bus stop at the point. Whilst passing through some vegetation, a glance upwards revealed a flock of 11 Collared Doves dropping down into some conifers, just in off the sea and the day's only real sign of migration. As we continued along the path, a Turtle Dove was flushed from deep cover, and flew off north. This was the final notable bird of the day as last minute checks of Penzance and Newlyn harbour proved fruitless. This brought to a close a decent day's birding, many thanks to Henerz for organising transport, bus times etc. 

After getting less than an hour of sleep during the night due to hayfever, I was out of bed at 6am. After getting dressed and realising that my nose was not going to clear and that the sneezing would not stop, I gave up on the idea of going back to bed, and with nothing else to do, I decided to walk round my patch.

The woods were very quiet, with only a few Chiffchaffs calling, and a small family group of very loud and active Goldfinches doing their best to shatter the peace.

I headed up a nearby hill, which holds a few arable fields and a couple of decent hedgerows, in the hope of maybe coming across a couple of migrants, perhaps a Whinchat or shrike, I thought optimistically but not very realistically.

But no luck. 4 Siskins flew North West, but this was the only sign of any movement. A few Swallows were milling around, and a Linnet went over.

Further up the track, and something called briefly in the hedge. Female Cirl Bunting, always nice to see. A male was located on territory slightly further up, and continued to sing in the distance long after I had moved on.

Good views of 6 Skylarks in amongst the clods of earth in a ploughed field. 4 of them proceeded to scatter around the field and sing menacingly at one another. A couple of scraps ensued, however no Skylarks came to any harm during the writing of this diary entry.

A little further along another hedge, and a third Cirl Bunting was found, another male on territory. This individual was even more vocal than the bird before, and as he seemed so preoccupied with proclaiming to the world his tuneless little rattle, I decided to divert around him, so as not to cross his territory and cause any disturbance. 

The rest of the walk was very unproductive. A Green Woodpecker called, and 7 Stock Doves were feeding in a field, but other than a few House Martins and a Blackcap, nothing more was seen. 

Sunday evening's weather forecast had predicted drizzle and light south easterlies along the coast, so with the possibility of good numbers of migrants coming in, I decided on a visit to the under-watched South Huish Marsh area. I awoke on Monday morning to the sound of torrential rain. A quick look on the computer and the BBC website told me there was going to be a strong northerly wind, and very heavy rain all day. Great. Still, less than optimistic but still determined, I held my mum to the promise of taking me to the site, and we set off. As we approached the coast, the rain got heavier, and I began thinking we'd made the wrong decision. I've got nothing to lose though, I thought, and we continued.

Having parked, I got out of the car and was promptly smashed in the face by the wind. The door was almost wrenched off it's hinges, as the whole car rocked in the howling gusts. I put my scope on my back, and struggled straight into the wind in the direction of the marsh. I reached the fence which gives the best views over the area, and put my scope down with the legs fully spread. It immediately fell over. No matter, I'll just use bins I thought. A few hirundines were battling their way over the water, but after a thorough look through them, the only noteworthy birds were Sand Martins and a couple of Swifts. I turned my attention to the pool, where a few Mallards and gulls had gathered. No Garganey, and only a handful of Great Black-backed were amongst them. The previous day a Spoonbill had been reported, but after viewing from all possible angles including walking up the nearby hill to get an elevated overview of the marsh, it was evidently not present. There was however a Cattle Egret, presumably the same bird that had been seen the day before. No photos because of the torrential rain, but here's a shot of a bird in Greece that I took in April.

After another few scans over the marsh and having checked the reeds and scrub for passerines (2 Linnet, a Stonechat and a Reed Warbler), I moved on towards the beach. 

3 Rock Pipits were feeding amongst the seaweed, and there were a couple of Pied Wagtails with them, although an attempt at finding a White Wagtail proved fruitless. On the rocks were 6 Turnstones, but other than a few Herring Gulls and Jackdaws, the beach was very quiet. Offshore was a Gannet and 4 Shags, but no sign of any terns passing. 

I moved on towards South Milton Ley, Devon's second largest reedbed, which lies about a 5 minute walk along the road. Nothing of great interest was seen here, although a Sedge Warbler was briefly heard in song. 

Madly, I forced my way on through the ever-increasing wind, with hail and rain lashing down. I passed Thurlestone golf course, and arrived at Thurlestone Marsh, which is separated from the golf course by a road. By this point, the wind and rain were so strong that holding binoculars steady was impossible, let alone using the scope. However the only way of viewing the marsh is from the roadside. You can only look onto the pools from one angle. Straight into the rain and wind. In amongst the reeds though, was something white. A Cattle Egret. A nice bird to find, and clearly a different individual to the one at South Huish, which I saw again in the exact same position on the way back.

This lifted my spirits somewhat, as the last few hours had proved difficult and unproductive. Reaching the car, I had a final check of the surrounding area, and then left. It had been very quiet, but the second Cattle Egret had been a genuine and unexpected bonus, and made the trip worthwhile.

The Exminster Marshes American Golden Plover was reported once again at lunch time, so in the afternoon, a few words with my dad and we were off. I had dipped the bird three times, so was really hoping we would strike it lucky. No news since