Backwater Birding - Seaton, Devon (1 Viewer)

Gavin Haig said:

I park pretty much where Andrew described, which will be ok unless there's a bit of a twitch. Then it'll have to be up in the village.......



Like it! (assuming I am included?)

It certainly wasn't me you had a row with - I only use the Morgan for driving the grandchildren to school........

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I didn't think it was you Gavin as whilst this guy lived in Seaton he had a very strong Birmingham accent.
I always park the same side as the entrance if possible because when I first went there to see a Pectoral Sandpiper about six years ago the man who lives in the house the same side of the road that you park came out and told me that I shouldn't park either side of the road because it was too dangerous. He seemed to have a real bee in his bonnet, I believe he still lives there but perhaps he has now realised he was fighting a losing battle. Roger

I'd like to see that man when Gavin finds a Semi P!!!

Andrew said:

I'd like to see that man when Gavin finds a Semi P!!!

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If something rare turns up then there will be a problem. I have seen a couple of Pectoral Sandpipers, a Hoopoe and a Cattle Egret at Colyford which whilst good birds, they are not likely to attract crowds of visiting Birders. I seem to recall that we were originally told to park by the shop although as usual Birders were reluctant to walk the extra 200 yards or so and started to park by the gate to the reserve. That seems to be OK if only two or three cars are involved. Roger

A little Gadwall influx today. Had a quick whizz round late afternoon, which produced a pair at Lower Bruckland ponds, and possibly the same pair at Seaton Marshes. 4 (3 drakes) were seen together at Seaton Marshes earlier. Not exciting, exactly, but new, and new stuff keeps you looking...........

Local patches are great for making some commoner species very exciting.

I mean a Little Egret would be a collossal lifer for my patch!

A bit more new stuff today! Managed a quick look at the Scoter flock off Axe Cliff late afternoon and found 5 Eider with them (2 imm. males, 3 females). Along with the Velvet and 125+ Commons, quite a nice gathering. Perhaps something else will join the party.......

A couple of adult Med Gulls were on the estuary, while Steve had 7 Red-throated Divers off Branscombe early am. Very chilly NE today, encouraging lots of nice winter scarcities this way, I'm sure....

Gavin Haig said:

Had a look at the part-built hide at Colyford Common just before dusk. Solid construction - very nice it'll be, I reckon - but, for me, utterly superfluous........

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Just for you Gavin there's going to be a totally new viewing platform further north at CC overlooking the scrape across the tramline. So in even the most severe weather you will be able to tough it out!

Contractors made a mess of the access track though! Who would believe they only drove a tractor along there - looks more like a batallion of light infantry.

Could I ask all of you to keep an eye out for dogs on Colyford Common? I have seen a few large paw prints on the reserve and would like to catch up with the owner and gently point out the no dogs policy.

Saw you at Corination Corner the other day I presume Gavin while I was in the Marshes bird hide, still not caught up with you!

Cheers
James

Nasty weather here and more coming our way from the east.

Who'll wager a new bird turns up? Bean Geese anyone?

Andrew said:

Nasty weather here and more coming our way from the east.

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Too right! Rained/snowed/sleeted off work this afternoon - very wintry. Hadn't heard of anyone checking Weston recently, so trudged up the long track to have a look. Hairy old clifftop with the wind in your back! A Black-throated Diver made the walk worthwhile, plus 9 Common Scoters, but no surprises. Standing on a 300ft cliff in a biting NE and snow sure makes spring passage seem a long way off, but it's only 3 weeks to mid-March.

Steve texted that the Velvet Scoter and 5 Eider are still off Axmouth.

This afternoon, I had my mind on Weston Cliff providing a Long-tailed Duck soon.

An Axe valley biggie today. Steve (aka Mr. Jammy) phoned this morning to say a Greylag was flying S over the Co-op, ie., out to sea. Where was I? Couple of miles N.....oh well.....

Working until late afternoon, but managed a quick scoot round last thing - drew a blank with gulls on the estuary, 6 LBBs being the highlight. A Pochard at Lower Bruckland Ponds and 4 Gadwall (presumably from tuesday's 'influx') at Seaton Marshes.

The chill continues (strong, cold NE today) - presumably why Golden Plover have reappeared, with 73 near Boshill Cross with Lapwing this afternoon. Couldn't find anything else new though.....

Velvet Scoter and 5 Eider still off Axe Cliff, but Scoter slowly dribbling away again - c.110 here and just 8 off Beer. Am I the only one who isn't too crazy about February? There's the buzz of seeing new birds for the year in Jan, and the excitement of spring passage starting up again in March, and in between there's.....February. Always feels a bit flat..........is it just me?

I am happy to be proved wrong when it starts raining Smew tomorrow.

Bit of excitement late afternoon - a Rough-legged Buzzard at Seaton Marshes claimed by an experienced observer. Despite a few eyes searching last thing, no further sightings as yet..........think I'll be having a look first thing in the morning though. If gen, this is a Devon mega, I think.

To be honest I wondered whether to mention this, but, after all, this isn't a bird information service (oops - hope that isn't a copyrighted trademark), it's a local patch report, and all kinds of stuff happens on a local patch, from the 'it was one, but got away' or the 'it probably was one, but wasn't clinched'.....to total string. I do hope this doesn't fall into any of those categories, but becomes an 'it is one, and stays for a fortnight'!.......watch this space.

Didn't get out today, but Steve did, and will hopefully be posting later......

And here it is.......

Before i started work (at half 11, that's what i call a start time!) I took advantage of the flat calm conditions at sea. My first port of call (also with Dipper in mind, but no luck) was Branscombe. 2 Black-throated and 10 Red-throated Divers were viewable, but distant, as they all seemed to be hanging around off Weston, as were 10 Common Scoter. Straight out (but VERY far out) was an almost constant westward passage of Auks, in one five minute block I counted 210! Flocks of up to 70 birds. Also a few Kits and Gannets blogging.

Enroute to the next stop had to take a slight detour to fill up with fuel (my car,not my belly), a brief scan of the neighbouring pig field produced an adult Med Gull, always nice to see.

Then to Axe-cliff, despite Gav's several visits here this was only my first, I just strain my eyes looking from Seaton Seafront, but it is so much better, worth the extra effort! But nothing new, the Velvet and the 5 Eider (really bad record shot attached!), among 105 Common Scoter (8 off Beer aswell), Auks were still going through at a similar rate to earlier, it was now 09:30, I first noticed them at half 7, that's A LOT of Auks!!!....

Just before i came back for Breaki a quick look along the river produced another adult Med Gull.

After work and just before dinner was when the real excitement started. I do love twitching 'potential' patch MEGAS (we will see tomorrow if it is what its thought to be)!! And Gav, I beat Phil there, he must be getting slower in his old age!!! :-O

Seems one was travelling roughly in a direction towards your area today so sounds like a good call to me.

First report was of one flying south west over Didcot Parkway early this morning then the second was an adult reported late afternoon in Hampshire (details not clear). May have hugged the coast to your patch?

Hope you pin it down. :t:

Just a quick half hour look about this afternoon, the only highlight being 22 Goldies with Lapwing besides the A3052 at Colyford, i'm sure over the next few days the numbers will multiply, with snow and cold northerlies set for us..... (yummy!!!!!).

Barwit (just the one) was the only notable bird on the river.

I have the whole of tomorrow morning out birding....... (even more yummy!!!!)

(Oh and no sign of any white-tailed Buzzards!) :-C

The year list went up a notch today when a lady Blackcap visited the garden briefly. It's taken a long time to see one this year! Bit of irony here, I think....the first new bird for the year since Whitefront on Feb 5th - that's 3 weeks of no ticks, and it's not like I haven't been trying - comes along when I'm not birding! So at the end of Feb I'm exactly where I was last year, on 115.

Shame the Rough-legged Buzzard has come to nowt so far..........

Steve Waite said:

....with snow and cold northerlies set for us...... (yummy!!!!!)

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There speaks a man who works indoors! Roll on a bit of warmth, I say!

Snow and a lot of water around in valley first thing this morning. I started with a look from the farm gate just north of Axmouth, this provides a excellent view point for looking over the flood plain (including Colyford Common). Highlights from here included an adult Med Gull among the feeding Gulls, a pair of Gadwall and a female Peregrine causing havoc. Nice, but no grey geese or rare diving Ducks!!!! When the river has flooded the whole valley it looks so fantastic, it becomes a different place. Ducks and Gulls are everywhere, and most the Waders (especially Snipe) seem confused because there is nowhere to land....it's all water!!! It's brilliant.

I then went for a look around the upper reaches of the valley (well our part of the valley), Musbury, Whitford and Kilmington, but saw very little indeed, the Swan flock still contains only Mutes...and still no Great Bustard! So I headed back south, only to find the water levels had already dropped considerably.

A scan through the Lapwings near Boshill Cross produced some Golden Plover, and as predicted the number of birds had increased, dramaticaly!!! A good count of 91 (22 yesterday). Then the suprise of the day...

I was not prepared for this!!!! Looking south from the bridge over the Axe on the A3052 at about 10:00 (Gav will know better if he reads what time he received my text!), i noticed a plop in the middle of the river, 'oh, what's that that's just dived' (images of a fine drake Smew were entering my head)..... But then..... 'A tail?' Then up popped the head of a Otter. An Otter and a half!!!! It was a biggen, a head like a seal....seriously! I watched it for about four minutes right in the middle of the river (which is narrow at this point). It was tumbling around, disappearing under the water for up to 20 seconds. I lost it when the tide drifted it around the corner and out of sight. This is the first time i've seen one on the Axe, and i know very few who have. What a thrill. Isn't birding great, gets us to see things like that.

Anyway, after a quick look over Seaton Marshes, seeing nothing but 4 Gadwall (probably including the pair i had already seen today) it was time for breaki and then work, but that wasn't it for the day.

A look out to sea from Axmouth Harbour late afternoon rewarded me with Eider number 6, the five were still with the Scoter flock, but the new girl in town was playing it solo. Well for now, i'm sure she will join the five soon enough. Then a quick look at the Gulls on the river could turn up nothing better than an adult Med Gull, maybe the same bird as earlier (hard to tell as all the adults we have here seem to be in similar moult at the moment).

So a very pleasent birding day, no real winter goodie though. It's cold outside tonight so who knows what tomorrow will bring (just a Goldeneye would be fine!)...... But maybe it will be a drake Smew that pops up!!!! |8.|

Steve - you truly are the world's streakiest individual! Yes, I sign up to the point of view that you have to be out there to stand any chance of seeing stuff, but you take the biscuit!
I'm going to start insisting on following you around in future and hope something rubs off.
Jealously,
James

Nice one Steve.

Best I have had is seeing Otter latrines on the Otter estuary.