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.
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| Shag |
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.
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| Great Crested Grebe |
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| 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.
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| 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 ….
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| Lapwing |
Dave Smallshire
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