Horrendous conditions today and precious little in the way of birds. This is Exmouth quay and part of the seafront shortly after dawn.
Thought I'd at least get a Little Gull or two today but if anything the weather was too bad with apparently nothing moving at sea and very little on the estuary. I just about managed to pick out the Red-necked Grebe, alongside a Great Crested Grebe, off Shelly Beach this morning and 14 Grey Plover flew towards the Warren late afternoon. Otherwise 26 Pied Wagtail on the cricket pitch and 15 Brent Geese on the Imperial rugby pitch were the only things noted.
Yesterday was better with Mudbank counts including 4 Pintail, 2 Redshank, 1 Greenshank, 13 Dunlin, 3 Goldeneye, 70+ Shelduck, 11 Grey Plover, 1 Peregrine, 30+ Wigeon, c40 Common Gull, 6 Red-breasted Merganser, 100 Brent Geese, 130+ Curlew and a tight-packed flying flock of 18 Cattle Egrets towards Starcross (with a further 3 sitting on a wreck).
A very quick look off Maer Rocks produced just 1 Red-throated Diver, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 20 Kittiwake. The Red-necked Grebe was off Shelly Beach with 9 Red-breasted Merganser.
No shelter in the estuary today. This was the view from Shelly Beach this morning. The Red-necked Grebe was out there alongside a Great Crested Grebe but difficult to pick up in the choppy conditions.
This strikingly pale Black-headed Gull was off Mudbank late yesterday afternoon.
Two of fifteen Dark-bellied Brent Geese on the Imperial rugby ground this afternoon.
Matt, thanks very much for the instructions for the RNG on Sunday, I managed to show it to my group from a slightly sheltered corner of the Yacht Club before we boarded the cruise.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got it Mike. Haven't seen in the last couple of days. Amazed you went out in that weather! All the best. Matt
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