Jasonbirder
Jason-occasional-twitcher
Saturday 31st January
Although the weather forecast was extremely bad (Gale force winds and heavy rain) I decided to continue with my plan to visit Devon and Dorset – my main target was to see the long staying Penduline Tit at Slapton Ley. Conditions were as bad as expected driving down the M5 and the coming of first light didn`t improve things! We took the Dartmouth Ferry and drove round the coast road to Slapton Ley.
Slapton Ley
Parking by the stone bridge separating Higher Ley from Lower Ley, we got out of the car and walked north past the ringing hut. The Ley itself looked like a miniature sea with high waves being driven across the water and the local Tufted Ducks and Coots were taking shelter against the reeds! The only birds visible were large numbers of Rooks feeding on the turf of the Sheepfields inland from the Ley, a few Robins could be heard taccing but that was about it! We continued north along a very muddy footpath before crossing the Reedbed by way of a boardwalk and began to search the reeds for any sign of the Penduline Tit. It was really a bit of a hopeless task – the high winds meant any small birds would be cowering deeply in cover and the reeds were constantly in motion – as heavy gusts blew through they would be bent over almost horizontally and a constant driving rain meant we were having trouble keeping our optics clean! Despite the appalling conditions a Cetti`s Warbler began to sing close-by its explosive burst of song was unmistakeable, it was probably in one of the small trees or scrubby bushes growing within the drier parts of the reedbeds but we couldn`t spot the elusive little warbler. Having no luck we split up to cover the area more effectively – but with no greater success. The Penduline Tit had usually been seen feeding on the tops of the Reedmace stems and I really couldn`t visualise it managing that in these conditions! The bird has been reported as quite mobile and having failed at this end of the Ley we retraced our steps and began to search the area between the Ringing hut and the slipway, again apart from a few windblown Chaffinches and a single Stonechat we briefly (and bravely) perched atop a bush adjacent to the coast road, there was little to be seen, even a moral boosting Snickers bar couldn`t lift my spirits and after a while we trudged back to the car for a coffee to defrost before trying again. Leaving the car a second time a Cetti`s Warbler could be heard repeatedly sing from a dense bramble patch adjacent to the stone bridge but despite waiting patiently it refused to show itself. Another assault on the two reedbed areas were unsuccessful and having spent the best part of three hours on site decided that we should push on – perhaps an inland site would be a little more sheltered!
The Dartmouth – Kingswear ferry provided us with great views of a shag attempting to swallow an Eel about two sizes to large for it and its constant grappling and shaking amused us as we headed across the river!
Clennon Valley, Paignton
If anything the rain was coming down even heavier as we arrived here. After mistakenly pulling into the adjacent YMCA carpark (and leaving hastily in case any village people look-alikes came out!) we parked at the leisure centre and walked across the football pitches.
Good numbers of Black-headed Gulls and Common Gulls, grounded by the wind and rain were resting on the grass. A brief circuit of the three lakes produced a few confiding Pochard and Tufted Ducks alongside the commoner Coots, Moorhens and Dabbling Duck. A very noisy rookery was on a wooded slope to the west of the westernmost lake whilst on the grass below was the largest flock of Magpies I have ever seen – there were at least 22+ birds, I hadn`t realised they could be that social even in winter. The dense cover of birch, hawthorn and willow at least provided some cover from the wind and small passerines were very active including 2 Goldcrests (my first of the year) and a mixed party of Blue and Great Tits, noisy Wrens scolded us from the undergrowth and a couple of territorial Robins faced off against each other on the same branch for our entertainment. We returned to the end of the East Lake, the area that our target bird Dusky Warbler had been frequenting and began to search. Hopefully its distinctive metallic chakk call would help us locate it – the previous Dusky`s I have seen have all proved very elusive except when calling! Walking down along the ditch and searching the scrub we instantly saw 2 Chiff-Chaff feeding actively and mobile amongst the branches of the willow trees running along the branch tips and flitting out to “flycatch” they seemed unconcerned by the damp conditions, small, olive with dark feet and legs and an understated supercilium they obviously weren`t our quarry though! We walked the length of the stream a couple of times but never heard a single call, though at one stage another Chiff-Chaff did its best to convince us it was a Dusky Warbler – this individual was much more grey and white and was very terrestrial in its habits, creeping in the lowest vegetation and on the ground – it was also very confiding, not flushing even as we approached it quite closely. If anything I would have said this was even tinier than the other two and with an extremely fine dark bill – no doubt one of the grey and white Chiff-Chaffs which can cause so much debate as to their possible Scandinavian origins! We were by now wet, muddy and miserable! Another blank under our belt we headed off to Exminster surely that wouldn`t let us down.
Exminster
There was no let up in the near gale force winds as we crossed into the field at Exminster - a circuit of the field following the line of the hedge only produced a party of Chaffinches in the bare trees before we reached the bottom of the slope. Good numbers of finches and buntings in mixed parties were commuting between the new housing estate and the set-aside at the bottom of the slope. The dense, weedy cover made viewing difficult on the ground but the birds were easily observed in flight and consisted of good numbers of Chaffinches and Linnets with a few Reed Buntings thrown in for good measure. Searching along the bottom of the field our attention was called to a gentle sipp call from the undergrowth - a Cirl Bunting! The bird continued to be invisible as we approached slowly and eventually it flew up and over our heads into the housing estate behind us. In flight the lemon and chestnut colouration was obvious, but unfortunately we were unable to relocate it. We trudged up to the top of the hill enjoying a large party of boldly coloured Goldfinches before we managed to locate two Woodlark, which flew in and settled elusively on the ground. In flight their distinctive short-tailed appearance instantly drew our attention but it was harder work locating them on the ground, even at close range. Eventually we picked one up stood motionless only twenty or so yards away in front of us. The stong supercilium stretching round to its nape, chestnut-brown earcoverts and “scaley” plumage appearance being its most note-worthy features.
Studland Little Sea
We had spent so long both at Slapton and at Paignton that my plans for the day had gone completely awry, so abandoning thoughts of Yellow-browed Warbler and Great-white Egret we headed down the A33 & A35 towards Poole Harbour – perhaps the long staying drake Lesser Scaup would enable us to finish the day on a high note! We arrived at Studland Heath to find the wind seemingly even stronger – we had to lean forward into it to make any progress as we walked across the heath towards the raised bund on the west side of the lake. If conditions had been more clement we would probably have seen or heard Dartford Warblers amongst the gorse but we clenched our teeth and continued before setting up our scopes to scan the water. The water here was living up to its name of “Little Sea” as large waves marched across the surface – most of the birds apart from a few hardy Pochard and Tufted Duck still diving in the centre were tucked up in the shelter of the leeward bank and the leeward side of the Island.
8 boldly coloured Shelduck immediately caught our attention, but careful scanning revealed at least 4 tightly packed groups of Duck, mainly Pochard but also including good numbers of Tufted Duck, Gadwall and Pintail – both boldly plumaged drakes and the more delicate but still elegant females. Despite viewing the lake from a couple of points there was no sign of any Goldeneye or Scaup and we dejectedly walked back to the car before the light failed completely and made the walk back dangerous.
All in all a miserable end to a miserable day – today (Sunday) the weather is much better and all of my target birds Penduline Tit, Dusky Warbler, Lesser Scaup, Great-grey Shrike etc have been reported so it won`t be too long before I try again – in better conditions next time I hope!!
Although the weather forecast was extremely bad (Gale force winds and heavy rain) I decided to continue with my plan to visit Devon and Dorset – my main target was to see the long staying Penduline Tit at Slapton Ley. Conditions were as bad as expected driving down the M5 and the coming of first light didn`t improve things! We took the Dartmouth Ferry and drove round the coast road to Slapton Ley.
Slapton Ley
Parking by the stone bridge separating Higher Ley from Lower Ley, we got out of the car and walked north past the ringing hut. The Ley itself looked like a miniature sea with high waves being driven across the water and the local Tufted Ducks and Coots were taking shelter against the reeds! The only birds visible were large numbers of Rooks feeding on the turf of the Sheepfields inland from the Ley, a few Robins could be heard taccing but that was about it! We continued north along a very muddy footpath before crossing the Reedbed by way of a boardwalk and began to search the reeds for any sign of the Penduline Tit. It was really a bit of a hopeless task – the high winds meant any small birds would be cowering deeply in cover and the reeds were constantly in motion – as heavy gusts blew through they would be bent over almost horizontally and a constant driving rain meant we were having trouble keeping our optics clean! Despite the appalling conditions a Cetti`s Warbler began to sing close-by its explosive burst of song was unmistakeable, it was probably in one of the small trees or scrubby bushes growing within the drier parts of the reedbeds but we couldn`t spot the elusive little warbler. Having no luck we split up to cover the area more effectively – but with no greater success. The Penduline Tit had usually been seen feeding on the tops of the Reedmace stems and I really couldn`t visualise it managing that in these conditions! The bird has been reported as quite mobile and having failed at this end of the Ley we retraced our steps and began to search the area between the Ringing hut and the slipway, again apart from a few windblown Chaffinches and a single Stonechat we briefly (and bravely) perched atop a bush adjacent to the coast road, there was little to be seen, even a moral boosting Snickers bar couldn`t lift my spirits and after a while we trudged back to the car for a coffee to defrost before trying again. Leaving the car a second time a Cetti`s Warbler could be heard repeatedly sing from a dense bramble patch adjacent to the stone bridge but despite waiting patiently it refused to show itself. Another assault on the two reedbed areas were unsuccessful and having spent the best part of three hours on site decided that we should push on – perhaps an inland site would be a little more sheltered!
The Dartmouth – Kingswear ferry provided us with great views of a shag attempting to swallow an Eel about two sizes to large for it and its constant grappling and shaking amused us as we headed across the river!
Clennon Valley, Paignton
If anything the rain was coming down even heavier as we arrived here. After mistakenly pulling into the adjacent YMCA carpark (and leaving hastily in case any village people look-alikes came out!) we parked at the leisure centre and walked across the football pitches.
Good numbers of Black-headed Gulls and Common Gulls, grounded by the wind and rain were resting on the grass. A brief circuit of the three lakes produced a few confiding Pochard and Tufted Ducks alongside the commoner Coots, Moorhens and Dabbling Duck. A very noisy rookery was on a wooded slope to the west of the westernmost lake whilst on the grass below was the largest flock of Magpies I have ever seen – there were at least 22+ birds, I hadn`t realised they could be that social even in winter. The dense cover of birch, hawthorn and willow at least provided some cover from the wind and small passerines were very active including 2 Goldcrests (my first of the year) and a mixed party of Blue and Great Tits, noisy Wrens scolded us from the undergrowth and a couple of territorial Robins faced off against each other on the same branch for our entertainment. We returned to the end of the East Lake, the area that our target bird Dusky Warbler had been frequenting and began to search. Hopefully its distinctive metallic chakk call would help us locate it – the previous Dusky`s I have seen have all proved very elusive except when calling! Walking down along the ditch and searching the scrub we instantly saw 2 Chiff-Chaff feeding actively and mobile amongst the branches of the willow trees running along the branch tips and flitting out to “flycatch” they seemed unconcerned by the damp conditions, small, olive with dark feet and legs and an understated supercilium they obviously weren`t our quarry though! We walked the length of the stream a couple of times but never heard a single call, though at one stage another Chiff-Chaff did its best to convince us it was a Dusky Warbler – this individual was much more grey and white and was very terrestrial in its habits, creeping in the lowest vegetation and on the ground – it was also very confiding, not flushing even as we approached it quite closely. If anything I would have said this was even tinier than the other two and with an extremely fine dark bill – no doubt one of the grey and white Chiff-Chaffs which can cause so much debate as to their possible Scandinavian origins! We were by now wet, muddy and miserable! Another blank under our belt we headed off to Exminster surely that wouldn`t let us down.
Exminster
There was no let up in the near gale force winds as we crossed into the field at Exminster - a circuit of the field following the line of the hedge only produced a party of Chaffinches in the bare trees before we reached the bottom of the slope. Good numbers of finches and buntings in mixed parties were commuting between the new housing estate and the set-aside at the bottom of the slope. The dense, weedy cover made viewing difficult on the ground but the birds were easily observed in flight and consisted of good numbers of Chaffinches and Linnets with a few Reed Buntings thrown in for good measure. Searching along the bottom of the field our attention was called to a gentle sipp call from the undergrowth - a Cirl Bunting! The bird continued to be invisible as we approached slowly and eventually it flew up and over our heads into the housing estate behind us. In flight the lemon and chestnut colouration was obvious, but unfortunately we were unable to relocate it. We trudged up to the top of the hill enjoying a large party of boldly coloured Goldfinches before we managed to locate two Woodlark, which flew in and settled elusively on the ground. In flight their distinctive short-tailed appearance instantly drew our attention but it was harder work locating them on the ground, even at close range. Eventually we picked one up stood motionless only twenty or so yards away in front of us. The stong supercilium stretching round to its nape, chestnut-brown earcoverts and “scaley” plumage appearance being its most note-worthy features.
Studland Little Sea
We had spent so long both at Slapton and at Paignton that my plans for the day had gone completely awry, so abandoning thoughts of Yellow-browed Warbler and Great-white Egret we headed down the A33 & A35 towards Poole Harbour – perhaps the long staying drake Lesser Scaup would enable us to finish the day on a high note! We arrived at Studland Heath to find the wind seemingly even stronger – we had to lean forward into it to make any progress as we walked across the heath towards the raised bund on the west side of the lake. If conditions had been more clement we would probably have seen or heard Dartford Warblers amongst the gorse but we clenched our teeth and continued before setting up our scopes to scan the water. The water here was living up to its name of “Little Sea” as large waves marched across the surface – most of the birds apart from a few hardy Pochard and Tufted Duck still diving in the centre were tucked up in the shelter of the leeward bank and the leeward side of the Island.
8 boldly coloured Shelduck immediately caught our attention, but careful scanning revealed at least 4 tightly packed groups of Duck, mainly Pochard but also including good numbers of Tufted Duck, Gadwall and Pintail – both boldly plumaged drakes and the more delicate but still elegant females. Despite viewing the lake from a couple of points there was no sign of any Goldeneye or Scaup and we dejectedly walked back to the car before the light failed completely and made the walk back dangerous.
All in all a miserable end to a miserable day – today (Sunday) the weather is much better and all of my target birds Penduline Tit, Dusky Warbler, Lesser Scaup, Great-grey Shrike etc have been reported so it won`t be too long before I try again – in better conditions next time I hope!!
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