Pendeen Watch and Dawlish Warren NNR

I wasn't initially planning on spending a second night but Liam, Matt and I thought we'd give Pendeen a casual go in the morning. Unfortunately, we played it a little too casual, getting there at 8.20am: just after the main action had finished. Still, we had three Balearic Shearwaters, two Sooty Shearwaters, 20 Storm-petrels, roughly 20,000 Manx Shearwaters, two Chough, an Arctic Skua, a Bonxie, a Knot, a Sanderling, two Ringed Plovers, a Redshank, 25 Dunlin, 12 Sandwich Terns and a Wheatear.





On the way home I called in at Dawlish Warren, where, fortunately, after a few hours gone to ground, the Melodious Warbler with a damaged eye afforded a couple of fairly brief views. A Willow Warbler and a couple of Stonechats were in the same area.

Porthgwarra and Withleigh (Tiverton)

Round two. I was set up with the other early risers around 6am but for what seemed like a couple of hours, no seabirds other than Manx Shearwater, Gannet, Kittiwake, Fulmar and Shag were seen, and things began to feel rather desperate! It was a huge relief when at last a Sooty Shearwater went by, and we then ended up seeing a few Balearic Shearwaters. I finished on just eight (and three Sooties) by the time I packed up late morning, though. A Guillemot was the only other notable seabird. A Rock Pipit called. A pair of Chough flew over the car park, where a Willow Warbler was calling.

seawatching at Porthgwarra

I meandered back towards home and stopped off to visit friends in Withleigh near Tiverton. The garden was impressively busy with birds on the feeders, including Siskin.

Falmouth, Dozmary Pool, East Budleigh and Blashford Lakes

My plan for the morning was scuppered as soon as Liam and I managed to lock ourselves out of his flat the previous night, leaving my car keys, phone and other essentials out of reach. After an aimless stroll around Falmouth, producing three Blackcaps and a Rock Pipit, things were sorted out mid-morning and I made tracks. My first stop-off was Dozmary Pool, where the adult drake Lesser Scaup showed distantly. So far, so good. Next was East Budleigh - I spent a quite pleasant but slightly awkward hour hanging around the village. A nice set of garden birds included a male Blackcap but sadly no Italian Sparrow. I may have to return. Time was running out in order to get to Blashford Lakes for the gull roost. Arriving on site to see Franko and Dom P scanning from the mound behind the Tern Hide, the target gull had not been seen and the light was fading. It was a huge relief when I picked the 2CY 'THAYER'S GULL' out on a distant island on Ibsley Water. I'd like to see it better, so may double in up with the sparrow for another trip southwest. Many Pintails and a handful of Goosanders and Goldeneyes were present on the lake, but was concentrating too hard on the gulls to count them, and three Yellow-legged Gulls were in the roost.

adult drake Lesser Scaup

2CY Thayer's Gull in the melee

Bowling Green Marsh RSPB, 12th November 2017

Back at Bowling Green for the second day running, I had a little more time to spare and ventured over to the estuary viewing platform as well as The Lookout. A flock of 12 Greenshanks was on the estuary, along with a lone Knot, 25 Bar-tailed Godwits, 300 Redshanks and 25 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, and the Marsh Harrier cruised the reedbed again while two Ravens were harrassed by the more regular corvids. A Cetti's Warbler gave one burst of song but was probably put off by the sharp showers and 45 Black-tailed Godwits were seen.

Bowling Green Marsh RSPB, 11th November 2017

My mum, dad and I found ourselves in Devon for a weekend visiting family friends that we haven't seen for a couple of years. It was a pretty miserable morning but, with a couple of hours to spare and the Exe Estuary being surprisingly accessible from the middle of nowhere (if you're staying by the M5), my dad kindly took me to Bowling Green Marsh where I saw the scruffy Ross's Gull in 2014 for a bit of a birding interlude. I chose to sit out the constant drizzle in 'The Lookout' which as its name might suggest gives a pretty good general view over the relatively humble but bird-filled freshwater scrape. Highlights included a quartering Marsh Harrier, a flock of 250 Avocets and some 41 Pintail.

part of the Avocet flock

White-billed Diver and a second helping of the Brünnich's

Ian couldn't get away yesterday so I jumped in his car as he headed southwest early this morning. An unpromising start at Portland Harbour saw the BRÜNNICH'S GUILLEMOT eventually show well, adding itself to Ian's list. After enjoying this bird we made our way to Devon for the bird that I was really there for which had taken up temporary residence in Brixham harbour. We soon picked up a Black-throated Diver and the odd Great Northern Diver but it turned out we were in the wrong part of the harbour as Liam Langley called to say that he was watching it in the inner section. We rushed round there and were soon on the White-billed Diver which showed spectacularly well at times; the bill truly was something to behold! How great it has been seeing this run of Arctic birds this winter in Britain. As a tag-on we called in at Broadsands to see the Cirl Buntings on the seed put out for them, a nice finish to my and Ian's first twitch together for too long!

White-billed Diver in Brixham harbour

Black-throated Diver in Brixham harbour

Somerset and Devon

I had an excellent day's birding yesterday with Liam Langley and Josh Burch, starting at Ham Wall RSPB where we connected with the PIED-BILLED GREBE (my second - I saw the Manchester bird in 2010 which wasn't as smart as this one but was a little less distant. We heard this bird call at one point - sounds like a gibbon) and the drake Ferruginous Duck as it skulked with Pochards among the reeds (my second, after the Holmethorpe bird in 2010). Other highlights here included a Great White Egret, a Water Pipit, about thirty Common Snipes, three Little Egrets, a Marsh Harrier, two Kingfishers in pursuit of each other, two booming Bitterns, lots of singing Cetti's Warblers, Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Shelduck, a couple of Water Rails and a female Pintail. It was great fun being surrounded by lots of marshland species like this that I don't often see on arable Surrey land.

Pied-billed Grebe, Ham Wall

drake Ferruginous Duck, Ham Wall

Great White Egret, Ham Wall

Water Pipit, Ham Wall

We wondered what to do next but the vote was cast and the first-winter Rosy Starling at Exminster won. This was a lot less trouble to locate than I thought, with a quick mooch around the churchyard soon giving the bird up. People slag these things off sometimes but I rather like them. There was still some light left so we decided to drive just a little bit further to Labrador Bay where we enjoyed, at the very least, seven Cirl Buntings - possibly up to fifteen. Thirty-odd had been seen earlier in the morning. These were real stunners to watch especially when feeding on the ground at close quarters - only my second British sighting. A Raven finished the day off nicely and we all felt most gratified for the effort we'd put in. I'd seen three birds I'd only seen once before in Britain and another I'd seen twice before, Liam got three lifers and greedy Josh wallowed in a whopping seven! The plan really came together and the 450+ miles of driving were soon forgotten.

first-winter Rosy Starling, Exminster

Cirl Bunting

1 out of 2 yank herons

To the south west today with Rob 'Dizzy' and a couple of Sussex birders Micheal and Dan. I was confident that the American Bittern would still be around and was more than very keen to see this bird as I'm fond of herons and already dipped the bird when it was at Trewey Common. It got to past 9.00am and no news had come out, I started having doubts. As we were nearing the site negative news came through on the pager, I was completely and utterly gutted and my mood instantly sank.

Green Heron

We thought that if people had been looking for about three hours already and the bird had been showing well throughout the week the bird had gone. We decided the best game plan would be to visit the Lost Gardens of Heligan and get something out of the day. After a bit of orientational confusion we eventually found each other again and the GREEN HERON which showed very well, better views were had than when I visited the Hythe bird a couple of years ago.

We called in at Exminster on the way back, because Micheal and Dan needed American Golden Plover. This was my third visit to the site in as many weeks and to our surprise the bird was not present, it transpired that it had moved on the Dawlish Warren (probably because of fireworks the previous night) so we headed home; the Green Heron was nice but I'm still quite disappointed about the Bittern . . . I suppose it's one to get another time . . .

Devon

I spent Saturday and Sunday nights near Tiverton, Devon, with my parents this weekend, seeing friends and trying to mop up a couple of British ticks.

Arriving Saturday afternoon, I straight away went on a brief walk along the river near the B&B, hoping to get Dipper. Alas, I didn't succeed but I did find a couple of Mallard broods. One brood of 11 appeared abandoned. At our friends' house that evening, a single Swallow flew over.

I was up early Sunday morning for another attempt at Dipper. The apparently abandoned Mallard brood had dropped in number to 8 and I found one dead duckling on the bank. A pair of Ravens flew low over a field higher up the valley. A Kingfisher dashed past while a Grey Wagtail was feeding on rocks at the weir. After a while staking out the weir I got onto a Dipper as it dashed past, not very satisfying, I really wanted better views. A Swallow and a Common Buzzard were also present amongst other things.

I recommended Dawlish Warren as a great outing for all and I immediately sloped off up the spit to scan the sea for the female Surf Scoter. I scanned and scanned from all angles, picking up a few yearticks but not the Scoter in question. I was dragged back by the others after a couple of hours to pretend to enjoy the amusements while I was longing to go back and desperately scan some more. The trip to Dawlish ended tragically when 'positive' news came through on the pager just as we were leaving - and there was no turning back - we had to meet the others at Labrador Bay. Yearticks here were Fulmar, Common Scoter and Shag. Gannet and Red-breasted Merganser were also seen.

Cirl Bunting

I grumpily walked around a couple of steep fields at Labrador Bay. It was pretty dead, not many birds could be seen or heard. I was on the verge of giving up when I heard the unmistakable rattling song of a Cirl Bunting, and another one nearby, phew. After a bit of waiting, I eventually got very, very good views of one of the singing males (which was at an area of cleared woodland). A nice and much-needed British tick, thanks to Joe Ray for the site recommendation.
After having dinner with the friends at a nice carvery, we drove up to the edge of Exmoor and enjoyed excellent views over the stunning area at dusk, dodging Pheasants on the way.

Cirl Bunting

Early Monday morning saw me seeking better views of Dipper. The Mallard brood had disappeared. A Grey Wagtail was feeding on the rocks, a Kingfisher piped away but passed unseen and after a while watching the weir I lifted my binoculars to enjoy good views of a feeding Dipper! I managed a poor digi-binned record shot. I haven't seen this species since I spent two weeks in Wales in 2007. A very pale Common Buzzard flew low overheard in excellent light and set 2 Swallows off on one.

Dipper

Dad took me to Dawlish again in the morning for another desperate stab at the Surf Scoter and I again failed miserably, seeing only Shag, Red-breasted Merganser, Common Scoter etc. The tide being out again probably didn't help, as well as the sun being directly in front of me and there being a fair bit of heat haze over the unsettled sea. We went to see our friends one last time, seeing a Sparrowhawk on the way. Sitting in their garden another Sparrowhawk unsettled the many House Sparrows and a couple of Swallows flew over.

The journey back saw even more Common Buzzards (a species I saw an awful lot of during the trip) and a Red Kite that dad skillfully picked out over the M4 (yeartick).