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