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ALLNMARK
GOES BIRDING |
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(as in Al ‘n’ Mark) |
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TRIP REPORTS – DEVON 2009 (With a little
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Holidays are upon us again! Remote as ever, we camped in mid
A daytrip to and a quick twitch to Somerset ;o) |
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Day 1
Trip count 33
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Saturday 15 August: Well, my excuse
was……if we dropped into Alli picked up a
Kingfisher on Herons Green Pool, but it had fled before I crossed the road,
I could see a footnote to my holiday list before we had even started but at
Herriot’s Bridge another Kingfisher kindly flew across the pool to greet us. Other highlights were Gadwall, two Little Grebes and a pair of soaring Buzzards………and there were no queues when we
finally joined the M5! On into Then arrived at the
campsite – wow it’s just what we wanted!;
quiet, friendly and buzzing with birds, the air is a sea of mixed Swallows and House Martins. A short walk
along the farm trails found very promising wooded groves, already throwing
up, Blue, Great
and Coal
Tits. I’ll be visiting early one morning
;o) |
Day 2
Trip count 44 |
Sunday 16 August: My early morning hunch
that the birds would roost around the larger fishing lake paid off this
morning where yesterdays tit flocks now included Long-tailed and Marsh Tits as well as the resident Fox. So, off to pick up
the kids from
Every
list needs a Starling – and if they are cute its
a bonus! No
sign of the Hooded Meganser as we swept past Radipole, but we did manage to remember the kids, so
the holiday can start tomorrow! |
Day 3
Trip count 61 |
Monday 17 August: My early morning constitutional brought what, I thought initially to
be a hobby amongst the Swallows and House Martins, as they got closer I
realised it was a Kestrel being well and truly mobbed! Then
off to Powderham: past the church, along to the
pull in, find the dead tree, find the Osprey – just like it says on the tin!
Also present were a pair of Little Egret and enough Carrion Crow to spook
the osprey every 15 mins! We
then spent the next half hour playing the parlour game for all the family
– digiscoping for beginners! In
first place;
Osprey at Powderham
– no one can be sure who took it though! Next
stop Cockwood, were we weren’t quite so
lucky, no Slav Grebe but the Red-breasted Merganser was drifting around
along with Greenshank
by the outlet and a single Curlew.
The
rest of the day was spent at Dawlish Warren, where apart from a few hundred
grockles, we quickly added hundred or so Shag,
Gannet,
Sandwich
Tern, 15 Common Scoter (which had Cameron bouncing
– Life Lister!) Cam
and I soon got bored and headed along to the hide, Along
the reserve we added Linnet and a handful of juvenile Stonechats,
but nothing special from the beach – too many people! As
soon as we dropped o the hide, the story changed, a million Oystercatcher, Great
Black-backed Gull, Dunlin with a few Sanderling
amongst them, a Little Egret that promised, but never quite managed to get
close enough for great pictures and a constant supply of Sandwich Tern
:o) A
drink, ice cream and bit of pink skin later we headed home. By the wonders of sat-nav
we took the not so obvious route of “it’s a direct road –
forget the grass in the middle!”, ending up with a little less
exhaust but with a treat of two adjacent telegraph poles topped by a Raven,
and an Yellowhammer. Again, nice
photo opportunity had the road been wide enough to open the door! Then,
as I sat writing this entry – Tawny Owl calling on site, cue the owl prowl! |
Day 4
Trip count 62 |
Tuesday 18 August: No, of course I didn’t get to find a Tawny Owl, but I
identified 3 in different wooded areas calling until about 5:15 this
morning. No real birding today, but a Great Spotted Woodpecker attacking a telegraph pole
at Lapford. Also from the beach at |
Day 5
Trip count 73 |
Wednesday 19 August: Nats had a horse ride booked
and Alli tried her favorite slot machines in the
launderette, so Cam and I escaped the campsite lest we got roped in on the
great tidy through; Stop 1: Bowling Green Marsh
in Topsham – 200ish Canada Geese took centre stage with a couple of Greylag
Geese, a handful
of Lapwing,
Teal and
Shoveler squeezed in, while the stars of the show were
undoubtedly a flock of about c200 Goldfinch in the tree tops, 11 Little Egret and the Green
Sandpiper;
Stop 2: Warren House on Stop 3: Fernworthy
Reservoir; the birds were sparse, but a lap of the lake breathtaking. We did manage to add a Jay and Willow
Warbler, however
surprise of the day went to the Swallow that flew into the hide, past us
and up to the nest where a nest of young were still being fed!
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Day 6
Trip count 73 |
Thursday 20 August: Heavy showers and strong wind kept me in the tent this morning
– ballast! We headed to Torquay and a
trip around Kents Cavern, great experience and,
oh!, close enough to Broadsands
in Paignton for lunch! The beach was fairly empty which made for
a pleasant afternoon. Needless to say,
I slipped off to prowl the overflow car park and surrounding fields for Cirl Buntings – naught! Whilst disappointing, it was
understandable given the disturbance of exercising dogs, cars and children. I settled for a gaze across |
Day 7
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Friday 21 August: It’s all gone Pete Tong
– two days with nothing new! Heavy showers all day, so we
caught the train to Exmouth!
Fantastic views from behind Bowling Green Marsh from the train, but
only the Canada Geese and Mute Swans stand out at that speed :o) Then Alli suggested a boat
trip along the Exe, I couldn’t refuse could I! I should have though,
it was the lowest tide for two or three years, which meant we went as far
as Powderham in the Centre channel, too far out
for most waders. Herring, Great
Black-backed Gulls and a million Oystercatcher
were the norm with 49 Sandwich Terns and a Common Tern helping a little. |
Day 8
Trip count 74 |
Saturday 22 August: We headed out onto W managed a couple of hours and survived the first few showers,
before the cloud dropped leaving us shrouded in mist. As expected a few Stonechat and several Sky Lark were along the paths. We then changed clothes on the moor and reverted to finding the
letterboxes located in |
Day 9
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Sunday
23 August: All bets were off today, Nats
woke up feeling poorly and Alli woke up on the floor! So a morning watching Nats
sleep, followed by a drive to Tiverton (which closes on a Sunday!) to find
an airbed for Alli! However, along the lanes half
a dozen Pheasants were playing Kamikaze road crossings |
Day
10
Trip count 77 |
Monday
24 August: A very wet start gave way to a
passable day so we ventured to Exmoor Zoo, witch is a big experience in a
little package – never seen a Penguin share a lake with Red-breasted
Geese and Goldeneye before! The highlight, of
course, after 10 days Nats found a Robin :o) We didn’t leave the zoo
until late in the day so rather than Hartland Point, we headed for the
beach at Instow, where a walk on the incoming
tide gave us a Mediterranean Gull amongst the Black-headed Gulls, fly bys from
Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit and Turnstone – but not one within camera range! |
Day
11
Trip count 79 |
Tuesday
25 August: Alli and Nats decided they
fancied a couple of hours at the Miniature Pony Centre at Postbridge – a little cute for We dropped Alli and Nats off
and headed for
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Day
12
Trip count 80 |
Wednesday
26 August: To make the best of a bad
job, We couldn’t believe our
luck, and the time we’d save, when a local dog walker bumped into us
at the gate and told us that the Great White Egret was at the other end of
the reservoir than had been reported…until we got down there and saw
the Great White Egret more than half a mile away, just where it had been reported! -
Thanks Mr! As we walked back along we realised we didn’t have the digiscope camera either – oops!)
-it’s a record shot ;o) We managed to get some
relatively close views of this fabulous bird and were also captivated by a
family of Goldfinches, some gorgeous Great Crested Grebe chicks and a
Kingfisher that flew past us a few times, but time was now pressing so back
to Tiverton and a sole destroying 2 hour wait whilst 2 tyres and an exhaust
were sorted, a 45 minute job at home - and for half the price! (sulk) |
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Day 13
Trip count 84 |
Thursday
27 August: It cost a brownie point or
three, but whilst the rest of the family visited Powderham
Castle, I escaped for one last chance of the summer plumage Slovenian Grebe
– dropped everyone off at 11:10, had the Slovenian
Grebe in the bag
by 11:20, along with better views of the Red Breasted Mergasner,
plus a Sandwich Tern and Seven Mute Swans ‘a swimming’ upstream
(…gawd, it’s less than 4 months to
Christmas!) That meant I had a few hours spare! ; Osprey at Powderham
– gone but a host of 70 plus Little Egrets on the castle stream! Exminster Marshes – twiddled my thumbs for over an
hour with Goldfinch and Black-tailed Godwit all I had to show for it! Maybe try the Osprey again…. As I
was leaving three local birders were scanning the cows. I quickly parked up and joined them
watching Yellow Wagtails under the cows – two year list birds in
two days, and in celebration a Cetti’s Warbler called and bounced in the hedge behind us ;o) Back just in time to pick up
the family, we headed to Dawlish Warren for lunch….and a walk of the
reserve where I found dogs – lots of dogs! Just as I gave up and headed to the dunes
a Wheatear
bounced across the bushes next to me! Content with my four new
birds I joined the family, and occasionally glanced seawards….toward Gannet,
more Sandwich Tern and Shags.
Severn
Swans, Red-breasted Merganser, Slav Grebe, Sandwich Tern,
Wheatear…and an appointment with the optician or the Camera shop! |
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Day 14
Trip Count 85 |
Friday
28 August: Stop Press: Dad missed one!
On the way back from Dawlish yesterday, we had a quick stop at Bowling
Green Marsh, an unremarkable visit due to ground work being carried out –
except, as was pointed out, we did add a Stock Dove to the list! Heavy showers in the morning and
forecast to get worse in the afternoon, we decided to head up the M5 Friday
afternoon rather than in the Bank Holiday Chaos of
Saturday…….then found out it had been closed at Avonmouth and remained so for over 7 hours…so
Tiverton to Yate via every A and B road that
would get us home without stopping :o( |
