2024
First Trip : Five of us caught the train to Topsham and walked down to Bowling Green Hide where we met two of the RSPB volunteers that had been on the Aylesbere nightjar expedition last year. The weather was perfect, the coffee was good and we saw lots of different species of birds and a fox. Birds seen included:- Little egret, Mute Swan, Pintail Widgeon, Avocet, Brent goose, Canada geese, Redshank, Black tailed, Godwit, Shelduck, Greylag geese, Shoveller, Cormorant, Coot, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Snipe, Curlew, Teal, Blackheaded gull Mallard, Robin, Crow, Blackbird, Magpie, Fox.
July 2024 : 9 of us met on Friday for our longer trip to Seaton Wetlands. It took around 70 minutes to get there, slightly longer if you met the great tractors of Devon the way there. Although it was forecast to be clear until 2pm, there was some drizzle as we made our way to the first hide. This didn't deter the swifts and martins who whirled above our heads as we walked. Greenfinches and other small birds posed on the hedges. The first hide looks over the Ax estuary. There were the usual gulls and waders, but no common gull, which I had hoped to see. We past the next hide as the project of loos and lunch beckoned - in that order. The hide by the Discovery hut looked onto what seemed to be an almost empty pond, but then the baby moorhen and the swans made their appearance. Our patience was rewarded as the small birds started to make their appearance in the reeds. There were definitely appearances by Reed Warblers, confirmed later by the Merlin app and a dark warbler, that must have been the rarely seen Betti's Warbler. Usually you hear them but song see them, for us it was the other way round. And then a kingfisher streaked past. After wandering round the insect ponds and admiring the Sand martin's nests, we went back to the hide we had missed out, though the wind was beginning to pick up. By the time we got back to the estuary hide, the rain was coming down strongly and even the gulls just sat looking miserable - only the ducks were unaffected. I think our list for the day looks something like: Herring Gull, Black-Headed gull, Greater Black Backed Gull, Lesser Black-Backed Gull (probably), Cormorant, Curlew, Redshank, Oystercatcher, Common Sandpiper, Black-tailed Godwit, Little Egret, Shelduck, Mallard, Sand Martin, Swift, Swallow, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Crow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Pheasant, Chiffchaff, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Reed Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Robin, Blue Tit, Kestrel, Kingfisher.
August : On a lovely warm day six of us met at Meeth Quarry Nature Reserve. Our first find was a lovely new toilet facility, always a bonus when our birdwatching. We walked as far as the bird hide, on the way stopping to observe waterfowl, all on the far side of the lake. Lots of great crested grebes, coot, mallard, cormorant, grey heron, tufted duck and a single canada goose. The trees were full of little birds great tit, blue tit, wren, coal tit and we also heard chiff chaff, nuthatch and gold crest. We also noted crow, herring gull, wood pigeon and jay. Many dragonflies and a large number of fish (perch) I think in the small pond. As we decided to walk back to the cars a few drops of rain started to fall. A beautiful peaceful place to visit with lots of wildlife and plenty of walks to explore.
November Five of us met up on 11 November at the Station car park and four joined us later at the Bowling Green hide. We parked up at Dart’s Farm and walked across the boardwalks. An early highlight was a group of at least five snipe we spotted from the boardwalk on a small island in the reeds in the rising tide. They were beautifully marked and clear as they paddled across the shallow water. When we got to the hide a dozen or more egrets were in the field to the left and the pool was full of birds as the tide continued to rise. There were dozens of godwits, with one bar-tailed amongst the black-tailed (or so we were told), but no avocets or spoonbills this year. The birders got very excited about the Marsh Harrier on the far side by the railway, until it turned out to be a buzzard. A lovely afternoon with clear views in the bright sunshine. The bird list included: crow, rook, magpie, jackdaw, little egret, snipe, bar-tailed godwit, black-tailed godwit, redshank, lapwing, mute swan, canada goose, teal, mallard, wigeon, pintail, buzzard, kestrel, house sparrow, robin, pied wagtail, wood pigeon, feral pigeon, herring gull, black-headed gull.
December. Six of us braved the cold northerly winds at Budleigh on 9 December. We heard and saw stonechats before we had even left the car park and would see several more as we walked round the flooded plain. There weren’t huge numbers of birds but there was a wide variety of species on the mudflats or by the river. There were a number of highlights, such as the several little grebes we saw diving in several places. However, this was eclipsed by what we were all convinced was a whimbrel. It had a shorter but slightly curved dark bill than the many curlew we could see and its plumage was lighter and more mottled. It isn’t impossible as there are whimbrel in Devon but we didn’t expect to see one. The one disappointing part of the day was finding that the cafe on the front had closed by 3pm and so the hot chocolates we were looking forward to to warm us up didn’t happen.
Birds seen included: oyster catcher, black-tailed godwit, redshank, curlew, whimbrel, Canada goose, shelduck, mallard, wigeon, teal, gadwall, little grebe, black-headed gull, herring gull, greater black-backed gull, heron, little egret, crow, rook, magpie, stonechat, robin, pied wagtail, blackbird, reed bunting, wood pigeon.