Backwater Birding - Seaton, Devon (1 Viewer)

[Gavin Haig]

Bucking the recent trend I actually managed almost a whole afternoon's birding. Which is probably why it rained. Surf Scoter and 4 Commons still off Beer, plus a distant Red-throated Diver. Colyford Common produced 2 Rock Pipits, 3 Water Pipits (not a hint of breeding colours yet) and 305 Lapwing (also 47 on the river giving a total of 352 for the estuary). The Greylag was on Bridge Marsh with Mute Swans. Very few gulls on the river, but 2 of them were Med Gulls - both half-hooded adults, one unringed and the other with a white colour-ring (code 3C10). I've sent off the details - another Belgian bird, I think. I seem to have lost the urge to keep track of all the different Med Gulls we get.......

Bit of excitement at last knockings, when Clive (from Sidmouth) found a drake Goosander on the river by Coronation Corner. Very smart bird, diving non-stop, and our first Goosander since Nov 2005. Lovely. 12 points for Clive, and he didn't even have to make it up!

EDIT - Wow! Got a reply on the Med Gull in less than an hour! Ringed in Belgium as an adult in May 2005, it has been reported 7 other times - 6 in Cornwall and once in Devon (Broadsands, July 2006, Mike Langman) - most recently 20/12/06 on Camel estuary. Great stuff.

 

[James McCarthy]

I was surprised at the difference between them. They are both adults and both rossicus (tundra), but one is larger and a lot paler on the head, neck and breast. The smaller bird is much darker, and this bird has a rather fabalis (taiga)-like bill pattern, as opposed to the larger bird, which had a standard rossicus-like small orange blob. Both birds have teeny bits of white around the base of bill (the larger one a bit more).
QUOTE]
I had always been assuming the larger paler necked bird was a male since it will always alert first while the second bird (with the larger orange patch on the bill) would happily keep on feeding unless you do something daft like get out of the car...indeed the location is completely wierd & for them to stay so long...

 

[Roger Boswell]

Would this Guillimot be considered a terminal case? It was resting in a totally inaccessible place on the rock armour beyond the Cobb. It was only when I saw the images that I realised it was oiled.

 

[Simon Wakely]

Hi All, Gavs right we are off track, we are worried now, Flying Ostriches very dangerous things when aircraft about, have managed to convince him to clip their wings.

 

[Nick May]

Hi All, Gavs right we are off track, we are worried now, Flying Ostriches very dangerous things when aircraft about, have managed to convince him to clip their wings.

Hi,

Hope you don't mind me asking but I took this picture today on the Axe estuary and I'm not to sure what it is( I wondered black tailed godwit)
cheers

Nick

 

[Steve Waite]

Hi,

Hope you don't mind me asking but I took this picture today on the Axe estuary and I'm not to sure what it is( I wondered black tailed godwit)
cheers

Nick

Hi Nick,

Yes that is a Black-tailed Godwit, there are about 9 on the river at the moment.

Thanks to Clive for ringing my Dad about the Goosander, a very VERY smart drake indeed, always nice to see a diving bird (other than a Cormorant!) on the river, whenever I do it just looks so right!! A very big :brains: to Gav though for attempting to steal Clives rightfully earned points....come on, fair play, you have be warned, the judge is always taking notes......:scribe:

James my man - yes very interesting with the Beanies, they were taking it in turns, one head up other one feeding, over comes a plane, both heads up, plane goes past, one keeps head up, other busy feeding. As Kev said to me, this is how large flocks of Geese work (some on lookout duty while the others stuff their faces!), so it makes sense, we are just watching a very very small flock, same principals apply.

Well done on nailing the Whooper Kev, you sure you're not year listing....????

 

[Steve Waite]

I seem to have lost the urge to keep track of all the different Med Gulls we get.......

I haven't, that's bird H Gav. Was the ring right or left leg?

 

[Gavin Haig]

I haven't, that's bird H Gav. Was the ring right or left leg?

Glad you're still trying to keep track, Steve - I feel a bit like the plate-spinner at the moment. Anyway, I've sent you a PM, as the nitty-gritty of Med Gull ring placement etc may be a little boring.......

NOT boring, though, is the topic of Bonanza Points Theft!!

Now string, exaggeration, fabrication, invention, and all other types of 'making stuff up' is one thing, but STEALING someone else's rightfully earned Bonanza points???? Absolutely beyond the pale! Even if someone were to say to me: "Gav, Gav, let's pretend you found it, eh? You can have the points". And if we all chuckled merrily at the prospect of pulling the wool over the judge's eyes. And if the ploy seemed virtually foolproof......well, all I can say is: NEVER would I stoop so low! That IS low - especially if there was a risk of being caught. And especially not for a only 12 points! After all, the single Brents that I had flying W today at 08:00, 11:15, 13:50, 14:25, and 15:50 have already added a cool 75 points to my tally........... |=)|

Did I neglect to mention them earlier??

I guess I'd better make sure the next couple of birds I find get seen by someone else or I'm gonna get a red card!

 

[Steve Waite]

Hello all, work work and work today.

But here is a basic table (made up by Gav) showing how the Bonanza is going.... I'm sure it will look very impressive come the end of the year...Bee-eaters, Rollers, Black Storks...etc..... I will update and re-post it every now and then.

 

[Andrew]

Had a great day down your way today.

Little Gull flying west past Branscombe this morning with a Black-throated Diver on the water. A gobsmacking Dipper on the tiny stream by the car park. Went round to Beer to see the Surf Scoter and had a Velvet right next to it and three Black Redstarts which is more than the usual one. A Long-tailed Duck flew east during a peek at the horizon. Ended up at Colyford Common and had a Barn Owl flying about while looking for the Water Pipits in vain.

How many points is that Steve?

Okay, I admit it, I was nowhere near Seaton today!

 

[Gavin Haig]

Had a great day down your way today.

Little Gull flying west past Branscombe this morning with a Black-throated Diver on the water. A gobsmacking Dipper on the tiny stream by the car park. Went round to Beer to see the Surf Scoter and had a Velvet right next to it and three Black Redstarts which is more than the usual one. A Long-tailed Duck flew east during a peek at the horizon. Ended up at Colyford Common and had a Barn Owl flying about while looking for the Water Pipits in vain.

How many points is that Steve?

Okay, I admit it, I was nowhere near Seaton today!

I was sucked in, didn't smell a rat until I got to Velvet Scoter, then realised you were having a day just like some that I plan to have soon! If you weren't so hampered by a conscience you could have been walking away with the Bonanza cup.....

A very brief seawatch first thing produced 5 Red-throated Divers (1W, 3E and 1 on the sea).

3 adult Meds on the river this afternoon - one was C310, the oher 2 were unringed; one of them looked like the bird Roger photographed (post 1844), the other had a well developed hood except for a patch between the eyes and a little white on the throat. Greylag and 92 Shelduck at Colyford.

At Seaton Hole the Surf Scoter and 4 Commons were reasonably close(ish) and I could only find 1 Med Gull in the roost.

 

[Simon Wakely]

Hi All, Nothing much to add to latest reports. Farm Gate,both geese still here am. Shellduck numbers going up 78. Dunlin Flock gone from 2, now its over triple the size and more 7. Nick, as Steve has reported ,Black Tailed Godwit nice to see them here, been stuggling this year for waders. Uncle rang, sounded very flat his Ostrich farm is costing him a fortune.We told him 2 years ago it would, (Never take Off.)

 

[dan pointon]

Another good bird for the patch just been reported....who was it this time?!?!?!

 

[Steve Waite]

Another good bird for the patch just been reported....who was it this time?!?!?!

What a day! With the most amazing end!!!

I'll start at the beginning of the day, and Colyford Marsh (which was really full of water!): 4 Meds (incl 1 colour-ringed 1st-winter), 150 Common and 12 Lesser Black-backed (incl. 2 intermedius) amongst lots and lots of Gulls, otherwise the Greylag, the Gypo, 12 Shoveler, 1 littoralis Rock Pipit and a Chiffchaff. It was really really good birding!

After lunch nipped off patch to show Dad the two Bean Geese - very nice, showing well again - but too wet and dull for pics.

Came back home, cup of tea, then down the river. Quick look through large Gulls by tramshed....nothing doing here. Then pulled up adjacent to a small gathering of Gulls about halfway up river, started scanning with bins, and on about the third bin-full....STOP! 'Heck that looks pale-mantled' I thought to myself!!! Jumped out the car, scope out.....hmmmm....this looks interesting.... rang Gav to get him moving and that is that, a 2nd-winter Ring-billed Gull! Definitely not the most obvious individual, but subtly - very striking (if that makes any sense whatsoever). Anyway, I got these half decent pics of it, which are a hundred times better than the dozen shots I fired off while waiting for back-up to arrive!!! Note the apparent small patch of oil on the tertials. My first find-tick of 2007 I believe, very pleasing.

To cap it off, the 1st-winter Iceland Gull was off Coronation Corner and Med Gulls were dotted about here and there (Gav counted these proper).....what a collection of Gulls!

While looking at the pics, when comparing to the Common Gull note: pale mantle, broader bill with thick black band, narrow tertial cresent and slightly longer legs.

 

[Simon Wakely]

Hi Forum, thought we'd put a couple of garden bird pics on, seems to be mostly river and estury birds at the moment. Hope they come out alright and you like them.

 

[Gavin Haig]

Nice to see plenty of pics being posted - wish I got Woodpeckers in my garden, Simon. Those Ring-billed shots have come out miles better than I was expecting - brilliant, Steve (and congrats on a good find, by the way!).

Finished work mid-afternoon, had a bite to eat, and was just grabbing optics ready to head for the estuary when Steve called. We've been searching pretty hard for a Ring-billed Gull, so it's about time we had a pay-off. I really like Ring-billeds - as Steve has intimated, they are subtle, yet satisfyingly distinctive at the same time. The eye-catching paleness shows very well in the photos. As can be seen, not always big birds - this one looked a little smaller than some of the Common Gulls, in fact. Steve's dad, Ian, and Karen rolled up, so I wandered up to Coronation Corner where there were a load of gulls loafing. Unfortunately they were all head-on, and a bit tricky, so I carried on up to the first layby N of Axmouth. Much better. Amongst the big gulls was an Iceland Gull - looked rather like the blotchy bird I had last week, but in the better light it was obviously a first winter. Knew I wouldn't get away with trying to claim yet another new bird, so didn't push my luck......

Could have been, though!

Med Gull situation was interesting. I had at least 6, including 2 1st-winters (one was Steve's green-ringed individual). Steve had 2 other adult birds (including C310), giving us a total of 8 for the day.

What a day for gulls! Definitely the best collection I've seen here. The goodies just keep rolling in..... |=)|

EDIT - Just struck me how educational those Ring-billed photos are, Steve, superb comparison with Common Gull. Lovely.

 

[Steve Waite]

Thanks very much for the kind comments Gavin, always love to see my photos appreciated.

I do agree, they give the chance to look closer at some of the features of the bird. That bill really is stubbier and thicker - more so than I noticed in the field, but I'm sure the legs were yellower than the photo shows!!

 

[Roger Boswell]

I know I am not in the local patch but there were 14 Purple Sandpipers on the Cobb this morning - the highest number I have seen this season. Ten were holed up in the wall behind Victoria Pier with the others on the small beach together with several Pied Wagtails and Rock Pipits.

Quite a few birds with white primaries - but on closer inspection they were all Pigeons/Doves!

Got home to find this female Blackcap in the garden; lucky my wife had cleaned the windows.

 

[bun]

Thanks for the call steve, good find and nice bird - so far this year seems to be year of the gulls with icelands, good numbers of meds and now the ring billed....Great stuff.

 

[bob hastie]

I'm not sure whats happening to me. I actually got excited about you guys finding the ring billed. Maybe all this rain has finally soak through the top of my head and addled my brain.
Anyway nice find Steve and great photos showing the differences very well indeed.
P.S. I haven't been ignoring the patch, just nothing to report and all the photos have been rubbish