THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS
(or TW cubed as older followers will recall!)
74
species in a week
23
additions to the year list
109
species year to date
… and that’s the result of 7 days holiday in Exmouth!!
Which explains why last weeks post was earlier than
usual!!
Mary and I had a super break in my favourite birding
area. It started with Ciara, and we came home to Dennis but with a bit of
flexibility in our plans it turned out to be a super coastal break. I know it’s
a bit lengthy but there is so much of interest ( I hope you will find!!) that I
must include everything. I’ve saved the
QI items for next week, together with my Brothers contribution of “QI items
about Devon!!
For a start, the Imperial hotel, our favourite and
repeated venue, upgraded our sea view room to a Superior room. They then
contacted Stuart line cruise company to change my birding cruise booking from
Sunday back to Saturday, thereby avoiding the impending Ciara storm.
About 70 of us took off at Noon on the Saturday, for 3
hours birding, initially easterly along the coast, and then up the Exe to
Topsham.
What were to be regular sightings we soon ticked Brent Geese, Mergansers and Shags. It helped the Shag v Cormorant id with the
Shags quite visible sitting on buoys, and also to see that when diving the Shag
folded into the water, whereas the Cormorant did a little leap such that you
could see daylight as it leapt. (Education lesson 1.)
The 15-year resident Slavonian Grebe was once again in
the Starcross area and in golfing terms it was a givee! But the first good
bonus was a Red Necked Grebe which had been around for a few days. The
good thing about these RSPB chartered trips, is that the captain will go where
he is required, so we drifted closer to the estuary wall to get a good view of
this special Grebe.
We continued close to the wall to near the Powderham
Castle estate, which has a river running through the estate, the River Kenn,
and where it discharges into the Exe invariably produces some good species.
Today was no exception with Greenshank and
our first Pintails. If you look at an OS map where the river goes under the
railway line, you will be able to park and cross the rail line and view the
Kenn estuary. (Watch out for fast Penzance trains, but you are allowed to cross
the line at the right point!!)
Progressing upriver, we had good sightings of Grey Plovers, 5 Ringed Plover, a few Sanderling, groups of Knot and
with some id difficulty, mixtures of Bar and Black
Tailed Godwits.
As we approached
Topsham we had many sightings of Avocets spread along the water line, and huge
congregated groups of Golden Plover, seen at their best when something spooked them
into flight. And the final bonus before
we turned for home, was a pair of Black Swans.
Total? 24 good
coastal species which we won’t get in Derby. Oh, and the Lentil soup was
excellent!!
Saturday night was desperate with non-stop rain and the
wind banging against the windows constantly = a sleepless night… Ciara arrived
and facing the sea gave us the full impact. ( Quote from a guest across the
corridor..” What wind?”).
I gather the second Stuart Line scheduled birding trip
did go ahead on Sunday, with reduced numbers and a good quantity of sick bags!!
Sunday, despite the still raging wind we went to our
rescheduled visit to the West Point antique Fair. At 10.00am it was very quiet,
and several stall holders virtually welcomed us!! Anyway, with a bit of traditional
negotiating the Microtibialist collection increased by these 3 legs. The small
one is English bone c 1800, said to be carved by Napoleonic POW’s.
The bottle
opener is the 4th corkscrew in a sporting theme, and the nutcracker
is a small version of the usual sizes.
Monday we went to Budleigh Salterton for a dry and
pleasant morning walk alongside the river Otter. Just as we got back to the car
park, in a ditch of mud and reed alongside the path, I spotted a Water Rail, and a passing photographer savoured the
chance to get a few shots.
On the river cruise, I had been told that I could find
Purple Sandpipers on some rocks close to the Exmouth lifeboat station at low
tide. At 3pm using the car as a hide in the still high wind, I was able to add
them to my year list. (But see below!!)
Tuesday was a day for a bit of exploring, but en route we
went to Haldon Forest Park a large woodland area west of Exeter off the A38. A 10-minute
viewing of the large feeding station was rewarded with loads of Siskins, and as a bonus scouring the ground, a Tree Creeper!
Dodging the weather, we went down to Teignmouth and to
the RSPB Labrador Bay nature reserve, which I had visited before. A walk along the coast path was
enough to disturb c15 Cirl Buntings.
Wednesday we enjoyed a train journey up and down the Exe
to Paignton and picked up by my brother Simon and Sarah for a tour round
Brixham. After coffee with my sister Lynette and her husband Julian, we went to
Berry head for a snack lunch and then a look at the cliffs.
Guillemots were nesting in good numbers, a few Fulmars and Gannets were
circling round, and I came very close to kicking a Rock Pipit on the cliff edge!! But probably the highlight for all 4 of us
was seeing 3 Porpoise swimming just off Berry Head.
………. And finally, our last day I popped into Bowling
Green Marsh the RSPB reserve off the Exe near Topsham, for the reported Long
Billed Dowitcher….Wrong. BUT I picked up the still wanted tick with plenty of Greenfinches on the feeding station.
To ease my conscience, and make sure, I went back to the
RNLI station to double check on the Purple Sandpipers.
Turnstones were in evidence, but I had to go some way across the rocky terrain
before one Purple clearly popped up on a rock right in front of me. Conscience
clear!!!
Well, sorry again for the length but you can understand
that 23 ticks, Storm Ciara, a good antique fair, and a year to date of 109 is
worth writing about.
Happy Birding
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