Wood Sand

A stroll around Bystock mid-morning revealed at least 1 Marsh Tit still present. Also 1+ Spotted Flycatcher on the fence at the bottom of the meadow. Two Snipe flew up through the reserve calling - presumably flushed by one of the many dogs off the lead up there.

Very little time proper birding today but the clear highlight was a Wood Sandpiper present on the shrinking Cockle Sands between 0744 and 0755 when it flew off high north. Remarkably only my third ever in Exmouth! The only other stuff noted was the continuing flock of 300+ Mallard and lingering 2 Common Gulls. An earlier walk round Orcombe produced at least 5 Willow Warblers but little else.

Yesterday Orcombe early on - 1 Mediterranean Gull, 1 juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull, 4 Canada Geese, 5+ Willow Warblers, 5+ Sedge Warblers, 4+ Blackcaps and 1 Whitethroat.

 Snipe - Bystock.

Osprey

Clouded Yellow - Orcombe Point. Seven Vestals were disturbed from a weedy corner of one of the top fields. In the moth trap last night - 16 Small Mottled Willow, 3 Silver Y, 3 Rusty Dot Pearl, 1 Dark Sword-grass, 1 Turnip Moth, 1 Portland Ribbon Wave and 1 Tree-lichen Beauty.

My first Osprey of the year was hunting the lower stretch of the river this afternoon. Also off Mudbank - the Mallard flock continues to swell with c320 this afternoon. Additionally - 1 Greenshank, 2 Redshank, 2 Common Gulls, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 44 Whimbrel, 1+ Mediterranean Gull, 30+ Sandwich Terns and 32 Canada Geese.

Very quiet on Orcombe earlier with just the lingering Lesser Whitethroat of any note. 

Last Couple Days

Striped Hawkmoth. Also trapped on 29/7 - quite low numbers included 3 Marbled Green, 2 Silver Y, 1 Rush Veneer, 6 Small Mottled Willow, 1 Dark Sword-grass, 1 Canary-shouldered Thorn, 1 Waved Umber and 1 Turnip.

Waved Umber. Normally a spring species - apparently a second brood is sometimes triggered by hot weather.

Orcombe Point (29/7) - 35+ Canada Geese, 2 Stonechats and 1 Yellow Wagtail. Also - a flock of c20/30 Linnets, 1 Kestrel, 1 Peregrine and 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers.

In the recycling centre - the 6cy Yellow-legged Gull.

Mudbank - 1 Redshank, 45 Whimbrel, 270+ Mallard, 69 Curlew, c50 Sandwich Terns, 2 Dunlin and a juvenile Willow Warbler.

28/7 - Orcombe Point from 0610 - 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Stonechat, c20+ House Martins and c10/20 Swallows. Also a singing male Cirl Bunting (with at least 1 female/juv present) and presumably a family party of 6 Rock Pipits.

Juvenile Kestrel - Orcombe Point 29/7/26. Juveniles of Rock Pipit, Linnet, Green Woodpecker, Robin and Song Thrush all point towards it being a pretty successful breeding season on Orcombe Point.

Small Marbled. Trapped on 28/7 along with 1 Portland Ribbon Wave, 6 Silver Y, 1 Tree-lichen Beauty, 2 Rusty Dot Pearl, 5 Small Mottled Willow, 1 Rush Veneer, 1 Vestal, 1 Dark Sword-grass, 1 Turnip Moth, 1 Cream-bordered Green Pea and 1 Jersey Mocha amongst some more regular stuff.

Jersey Mocha.

Cream-bordered Green Pea.

Common Wainscot.

Vestal.

Southern Migrant Hawker - Exminster Marshes 28/7/26. I cycled over to Exminster Marshes yesterday and found at least 5 Southern Migrant Hawkers in the dried-out ditches.

Juvenile Green Woodpecker - Orcombe Point.

Common Sand record!

On June 13th I had thirteen Common Sandpipers off Mudbank but I broke that record today with a flock of fifteen! What's going on? Also off Mudbank today - 39 Whimbrel, c230 Mallard, 2 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 20+ Sandwich Terns, 1 Curlew and 2 Common Gulls.

An early morning look at Orcombe produced 1 Lesser Whitethroat (presumably Saturday's bird), 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Willow Warbler, 9+ Whitethroats and 2 Blackcaps. Also - 2 Red-legged Partridges, 3+ Cirl Buntings and 2 juvenile Stonechats.

Eleven of the 15 Common Sandpipers off Mudbank.

Tree-lichen Beauty.

Not many moths last night but catch included 1 Tree-lichen Beauty, 1 Bordered Straw, 4 Silver Y, 1 Rusty Dot Pearl and 1 Rush Veneer. Also Southern Wainscot, Pebble Hook-tip and Oak Eggar of note.

Radford's Flame Shoulder? Not sure about this one. Possibly a very dull brown Flame Shoulder? Comments welcome.

Bordered Straw.

Southern Wainscot.

 Small Mottled willow.

Gropper, YLGs

Juvenile Willow Warbler - Orcombe Point.

Orcombe again reasonable this morning with 1 Grasshopper Warbler (another species I missed in the spring), 4+ Willow Warblers, 9 Swifts (west), 12+ Swallows, 1 Wheatear and 1 Ringed Plover. Also - 1 Peregrine, 1 Kestrel, a flock of 14 Skylark and small numbers of Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Whitethroat.

Mudbank counts included 214 Mallard, 3 Ravens, 1 Redshank and my first two juvenile Yellow-legged Gulls of the summer. As predicted, the 6cy Yellow-legged Gull was back in the coastal waste recycling centre.

Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull - Mudbank.

The same bird on the deck.

The second, much smaller bird.

Both birds together (with adult Herring gull). A huge difference in size presumably means they're different sexes.

.

Surprise, surprise! Back in the recycling centre for another summer.

Y Wag, Lsr Whitethroat, SM Hawker

Juvenile Yellow Wagtail. This is my first Yellow Wag in Exmouth this year. Hopefully they'll be a regular sight over the next month or so.

Orcombe was unexpectedly good this morning with 1 Greenshank, c140 Starlings, 4+ Willow Warblers, 3 Sedge Warblers, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 3 Blackcaps, 8 Whitethroats, 4+ Swallows and 1+ Cirl Bunting recorded on a short early morning walk.

Mudbank - 170+ Mallard, 30 Whimbrel, 2 Common Gulls and 2 Redshank.

One of three Sedge Warblers this morning. I failed to see this species in Exmouth this spring, along with a load of other common migrants.

Lesser Whitethroat.

Clouded Yellow.

I popped  over to Exminster Marshes this afternoon to look for my first Southern Migrant Hawkers. This male was located pretty quickly. Fortunately its displaced/damaged wing didn't seem to affect its flight.

6cy YLG - Back Again!

Had a feeling I'd see this bird again! Now in its 6th calendar year I reckon I'll be seeing this bird in the recycling centre pretty soon...

Mudbank today - 1 Yellow-legged Gull 163+ Mallard, c230 Oystercatchers, 35 Whimbrel, 31 Canada Geese and 2 Common Gulls. I cycled over to Topsham to see Mum and popped into Bowling green Marsh where 4 Green Sandpipers, 1 Common Sandpiper, 2 Spotted Redshank, 5 Knot, 220+ Redshank, 2 Lapwing, 75+ Dunlin and 120+ Black-tailed Godwits were logged.

Spotted Redshank (and Redshank) - Bowling Green Marsh.

The second bird lacking the dark breast markings.

Two of the five Knot.