Hello there. With this blog I intend to enlighten readers about any avian activity of interest around the Exeter area. Being in Devon, UK, it means I have access to some of the best birding sites in the country, for example the Exe Estuary and various sites around Dartmoor.
I live in the suburbs of Exeter, so I'm not gifted with a garden that attracts daily red legged partridges and what-not, but from time to time we get a few gems. For a few weeks now we have had a neighbouring male blackcap; during the RSPB big garden birdwatch, the female showed up instead, which was nice.
This is my 3rd year of birding, and being a student, I'm not able to get out all the time, but I do whenever I can. I have so far clocked up 79 species this year, highlights being the immature female surf scoter at Dawlish Warren, a great northern diver also at Dawlish Warren, and 3 tricky woodland species - nuthatch, treecreeper and marsh tit, all from the hide at Yarner Woods.
I intend, with every entry, to provide a useful hint for locating a particular species around the area. For this entry I'll tell you where to get almost guaranteed peregrines. St. Michael's church in Exeter is home to nesting peregrines and has been for some years now. There is a very nice view of the church from the top floor of the Guildhall car park, which is signposted. Alternatively, you can see the nest site more clearly from the Iron Bridge, just over the crossroads from the lower end of North Street. A scope is the best way to see the birds, as the nest is quite high up the church.
I live in the suburbs of Exeter, so I'm not gifted with a garden that attracts daily red legged partridges and what-not, but from time to time we get a few gems. For a few weeks now we have had a neighbouring male blackcap; during the RSPB big garden birdwatch, the female showed up instead, which was nice.
This is my 3rd year of birding, and being a student, I'm not able to get out all the time, but I do whenever I can. I have so far clocked up 79 species this year, highlights being the immature female surf scoter at Dawlish Warren, a great northern diver also at Dawlish Warren, and 3 tricky woodland species - nuthatch, treecreeper and marsh tit, all from the hide at Yarner Woods.
I intend, with every entry, to provide a useful hint for locating a particular species around the area. For this entry I'll tell you where to get almost guaranteed peregrines. St. Michael's church in Exeter is home to nesting peregrines and has been for some years now. There is a very nice view of the church from the top floor of the Guildhall car park, which is signposted. Alternatively, you can see the nest site more clearly from the Iron Bridge, just over the crossroads from the lower end of North Street. A scope is the best way to see the birds, as the nest is quite high up the church.
