A beautiful saturday, feeling more like September rather than December, saw myself and Gavin off on a tour of the Exe estuary. and what a day it was. Gavin was keen to follow up reports of seals on the estuary, while I was determined to get him birding!
We caught the early train from Exeter down to Exmouth, a few mixed flocks of greenfinch and goldfinch on the way to the station got us underway, and Exton station had a large flock of barwits feeding on the sand. Once in Exmouth we walked over to the river mouth to have a look at the pole sand. Sitting in a cafe garden overlooking the sea, a 'Magificent 7' breakfast was woolfed down while watching cormorant, shag, oystercatcher, red breasted merganser, brent geese, and assorted gulls. A great start.
We then walked round to the estuary via the docks, which gave great views of a female common scoter feeding in the moorings. Lots more brents here as well, and Gav got some stunning photos of a turnstone (Photos to follow). We then started back to the shore, when Gavin spotted a sea mouse. This beautiful mammalian-looking worm was distraction for 20 minutes or so as we tried to get some good photos.
We walked up the weasel run and poped over the stream at mudbanks lane and walked up the estuary. Wigeon, mallard, more brents, curlew and redshank set the soundtrack while a large mixed flock of pintail and shelduck were looking gorgeous in the early winter sunshine.
We got to Lympstone and as we walked to the station there was a small gull floating over the water, a second look revealed it to be a common tern, feeding successfully in the shallows. Back on the train, Exton station turned up trumps again, and made Gavin's day by having a grey seal hauled out on the sand banks - Gavin claims he didn't get time to ID positively, but bull-neck and roman nose was enough for me to rule out common, but Gav is terribly pedantic when it comes to furry things.
Lunch was had in unarguably the best pub in the UK - the Bridge Inn, Topsham. Quirky in all the right ways, and keeping the best beer in the entire world. Sitting outside to maximise birding time, we were rewarded with a female sparrowhawk, little egrets, little grebe, great and blue tits, wren, dunnock, pied wagtail, buzzard, jackdaws and crows.
Off to Bowling Green hide, where a gaggle of birders were there pointing out the dullest duck of the year, the falcated - I concur Mr Rylands. Teal, shoveller, starling, coot, moorhen, lapwing and blacktailed godwits made up the birds not yet seen, then in flew a stunning flock of golden plover shimmering in the afternoon sky. Seconds before we left the river's avocets splashed in and we were off for a pointless high water wander along the goat walk. Walking through the town, blackbird, magpie, jay, house sparrow added themselves to the list, while we dragged ourselves to the station for the last short hop home to Exeter, both agreeing we spend too much time during the week behind a desk. I didn't have the heart to let Gavin know this was a pretty typical working day for me!
Always nice to celebrate your own doorstep and be able to enjoy a day's birding and beer drinking and not have to rely on the car.
Right, I've got withdrawl from the regular patch now, so off for a Leach's Petrel update on the Seaton blog..
James