The fine breezy afternoon ensured that plenty of kite surfers were keeping the end of Pole Sands free of waders, but there were lots of gulls and Crows as usual – in fact a quick count of before we left Exmouth came to no less than 250 Carrion Crows. A few Brent Geese were feeding close to the beach walkers and dogs – they’re amazingly fearless (the geese that is!). Moving back into the estuary, a pair of Peregrines sitting on the sandbank known as Great Bull Hill eventually took flight and we were given the thrill of watching them zooming through and stooping down through the Crows!
Highlights in the central section were lots of Great Crested Grebes – it was hard to keep track of them as several took flight, but probably 15 in all – and 2 Goldeneye, plus a good number of Shags and Red-breasted Mergansers and large flocks of Brent Geese and Wigeon. It was nice to see 2 Sanderlings feeding in typical fashion on the edge of a sandbank in mid-estuary, 2 Greenshanks, a dozen Turnstones and about 25 Knot: there aren’t many of any of these around the Exe in winter. It was also a relief to find 20 or so Bar-tailed Godwits, a species which has been hard to find in the last month.
The tide was slow coming in today and unfortunately we ran aground for a while off Lympstone (the sediments in the estuary move around all the time!), but we were treated with two feeding groups of Avocets that moved right up to us. Between Turf and Topsham we had close views of Avocets (getting on for 400 in total) and hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits, Curlews, Redshanks and Dunlin with smaller numbers of Lapwings and Grey Plovers. There were also thousands of gulls arriving to bath and preen before heading out to sea to Dawlish Bay for the night. Finally, the resident Harbour (Common) Seal put in a brief appearance as we heading back to Exmouth, where it was getting dark as we made our tardy return.
Dave Smallshire
Monday 28 November 2011
Monday 14 November 2011
Saturday 12th November
 |
| Great Crested Grebe |
 |
| Goldeneye |
1 female Eider (off Exmouth),
2 Great Crested Grebes,
c50 Shags,
50+ Pintail,
1000+ each of Wigeon and Brent Goose,
1 Goldeneye,
c30 Red-breasted Mergansers,
2 Peregrines (sitting on Bull Hill),
250+ Lapwings,
 |
| Sanderling |
6 Sanderlings,
hundreds of Black-tailed Godwits, Redshanks and Dunlin,
1 Greenshank,
100+ Common Gulls
and 6 Lesser Black-backed Gulls among the thousands of Herring and Black-headed Gulls gathering in late afternoon.
Dave Smallshire
 |
| Pintail |
The First Cruise - 10th November 2011
Thankfully, the weather for the season’s first birdwatching cruise was much better than the Met Office had been forecasting a few days earlier! We had a nice mild, mainly sunny afternoon with a light wind: good viewing conditions.
November is the peak month for Shags to congregate in the Estuary to feed and today we saw dozens, including some sprouting crests ready for next year’s breeding season. Red-breasted Merganser numbers are still building up, but we still managed to see more than 30. The resident (flightless) Slavonian Grebe was near a couple of distant Little Grebes, but it was perhaps the 8 Great Crested Grebes that were the highlight for me; I don’t recall ever seeing this many inside the estuary before, although larger numbers spend the winter nearby in Dawlish Bay.
Hundreds of Brent Geese and Wigeon were feeding on algae and eelgrass, though the Wigeon were too distant to locate the American Wigeon that has been with them for a few weeks.
Three Greenshanks were feeding along the shoreline at Powderham and a pair of Tufted Ducks – unusual in intertidal habitat – sat amongst some Wigeon. Off Lympstone Camp large flocks of Dunlin and other waders gyrated in the sky: they had presumably been spooked by a Peregrine, although we couldn’t find it in the melee. Here also we saw our first Avocets feeding in the shallows, and later many more – over 200 in total – giving some typically great views as the channel narrowed towards Topsham. Several hundred Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks also gave us good views at the head of estuary, but a flock of 20-30 Golden Plover only gave us tantalising views. Over 100 Lapwings were also here, suggesting that winter is only just around the corner ….
Dave Smallshire
 |
| Shag |
 |
| Great Crested Grebe |
 |
| Merganser |
Hundreds of Brent Geese and Wigeon were feeding on algae and eelgrass, though the Wigeon were too distant to locate the American Wigeon that has been with them for a few weeks.
 |
| Wigeon |
Three Greenshanks were feeding along the shoreline at Powderham and a pair of Tufted Ducks – unusual in intertidal habitat – sat amongst some Wigeon. Off Lympstone Camp large flocks of Dunlin and other waders gyrated in the sky: they had presumably been spooked by a Peregrine, although we couldn’t find it in the melee. Here also we saw our first Avocets feeding in the shallows, and later many more – over 200 in total – giving some typically great views as the channel narrowed towards Topsham. Several hundred Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks also gave us good views at the head of estuary, but a flock of 20-30 Golden Plover only gave us tantalising views. Over 100 Lapwings were also here, suggesting that winter is only just around the corner ….
 |
| Lapwing |
Dave Smallshire
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)