Rain

Getting a bit late for Swifts now. This bird flew north over Orcombe Point this afternoon.

Rain is almost always productive when it comes to birds. Following yesterday's deluge I spent some time looking at the estuary today (Mudbank/Imperial/Shelly Beach). Numbers included 1 Osprey, 1 juv/fw Little Gull, 75+ Common Terns, at least 50 Sandwich Terns (probably considerably more), a very probable juvenile White-winged Black Tern, 8 Redshank, c350+ Canada Geese, 1 Greenshank, 120+ Teal, 80+ Wigeon, 23 Pintail, 4 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 11+ Turnstones, 1 Common Sandpiper, 140+ Curlew, 20 Mute swans, 62 Shelduck, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Kingfisher, 12 Great Crested Grebes, c60+ Dunlin, 2+ Sanderling, 8 Knot, c60+ Swallows (upriver), 2+ Mediterranean Gulls, 1 Wheatear and 1 Yellow Wagtail.

A Spoonbill was on Pole Sands (cheers Kev!) and on Orcombe Point this afternoon - 3 Wheatear and 1 Swift. At least 2 Sand Martins were with good numbers of Swallows and House Martins.

This aberrant Wheatear was on the imperial recreation ground. The whitish fringes to the crown and mantle feathers rendering it rather attractive.

Typical juvenile Wheatears on the dung heap.

Osprey on Cockle Sands. This bird was seen at least three times today.

Garganey

This beautiful Garganey (eclipse male by the looks of it) arrived with a mini influx of 8 Pintail today - off Mudbank late this afternoon.

A quick look on Orcombe after work revealed 1 juvenile Whinchat, 4 Wheatear, 5+ Chiffchaffs, just 1 or 2 Yellow Wagtails and my first Goldcrest of the autumn. I thought the Red-legged Partridge party had all gone but one was flushed from the dung heap. It has obviously been keeping its head down during the breeding season.

Mudbank - 8 Pintail, 30 Wigeon, 1 Garganey, 3 Whimbrel and 1 Black-tailed Godwit.

Yesterday off Mudbank - 8 Common Terns, 1 juvenile Little Tern, 4 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Kingfisher, 30 Wigeon, 12 Great Crested Grebes, 5 Teal, 8 Black-tailed Godwits, 6 Knot, 1 first winter Mediterranean Gull, 4 Redshank, 3 Greenshank and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Nearby off Shelly Beach - counts of 55+ Sandwich Terns, 7 Common Terns, 4 Mediterranean Gulls and 23 Sanderlings. The fourth-winter Yellow-legged Gull was in the recycling centre.

Orcombe Point was quiet with just 1 Stonechat, 1 Redshank, 4 Yellow Wagtails and 1 Wheatear of any note. A wader flock on the beach, at dawn,  was repeatedly flushed by dog-walkers but I managed to count 42 Ringed Plovers, 2 Dunlin and 1 juvenile Curlew Sandpiper.

This afternoon's juvenile Whinchat was on the dung heap. My first of the autumn but unlikely to be the last. We usually get individuals in September and even October.

Wheatear - dung heap.

This juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was on the beach early yesterday morning. This photo was snatched before the flock (consisting of 42 Ringed Plovers and 2 Dunlin) was flushed by a dog-walker.

Tree Pipits

One of two Tree Pipits on Orcombe Point this morning.

Orcombe Point - 11 Common Scoters, 1 Eider, 1 Manx Shearwater, 2 Balearic Shearwaters, 5+ Common Terns, c10/15+ Sandwich Terns, 1+ Ringed Plover, 10+ Swallows, 14+ Chiffchaffs, 1 Willow Warbler, 4+ Grey Wagtails, 2 Tree Pipits, 15+ Yellow Wagtails, 1 juvenile Stonechat, 7 Wheatears, 2 Cirl Buntings, 1+ Whitethroat and 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Mudbank - 3 juvenile Bar-tailed Godwits, 8 Black-tailed Godwits, 40+ Ringed Plovers, c10 Dunlin, 2 Turnstones, 1 juvenile Common Tern, 1 Kingfisher, 19 Teal, 10 Wigeon and 2 Whimbrel.

Yellow Wagtails - Orcombe Point. A bit harder to get a handle on numbers this morning but a minimum of 15 still present. Others likely feeding with other cattle herds.

Yellow Wags, fw YLG

At least 35 Yellow Wagtails in with cattle on Orcombe Point this morning. The best showing so far...

Orcombe Point from 0705 - 1 Mediterranean Gull, 8 Grey Wagtails (including 6 together, heading east), 25+ Swallows, 1 Little Egret, 8+ Chiffchaffs, 1 Meadow Pipit, 35+ Yellow Wagtails, 13+ Wheatears and my first Reed Bunting of the autumn.

Mudbank - 8 Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Yellow Wagtails, 19 Wigeon, c30 Teal, 41 Shelduck, 1 Shoveler, 1 Redshank, 80+ Ringed Plovers, 18+ Dunlin, 2+ Sanderling, 2 Whimbrel, c10 Knot, c40 Sandwich Terns, 2 Turnstones, 1 Greenshank, 7 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Common Gulls and 1 fw Yellow-legged Gull.

Wheatear - at least 13 on Orcombe this morning.

First-winter Yellow-legged Gull - Mudbank.

Garden Warbler, Knot

The Yellow Wagtails showed really well this morning but I still struggled to photograph them. At least 10 birds knocking around the area.

Orcombe Point - 10+ Yellow Wagtails, 1 Garden Warbler, 4+ Chiffchaffs, 2+ Grey Wagtails, 13+ Swallows, 1 Sand Martin, 1 Tree Pipit, 2 Grey Herons, 1 Collared Dove, 1 Jay, 3+ Blackcaps and 2 Cirl Buntings (female and juv). Offshore - 3 Common Terns, 1 Fulmar and 13 Canada Geese (west). Really good to bird the site with Martin VT this morning.

Mudbank this evening - 29+ Knot, 7 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Redshank, 40 Curlew, 28 Shelduck, 40+ Sandwich Terns, 19+ Teal, 3 Wigeon, 2 Grey Wagtails, 1 Rock Pipit and a Kingfisher.

Wheatear - Orcombe Point.

At least 29 Knot off Mudbank this evening. Twenty-two pictured above.

Pintail, Hobby etc.

A nice early returning Pintail and a reminder, if needed,  that we're staring straight down the barrel of autumn!

Orcombe Point - 11 Yellow Wagtails, 1 Firecrest, 3 Whitethroats, 4 Blackcaps, 6+ Chiffchaffs, 3 Grey Wagtails, 3 Tree Pipits, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 2 Meadow Pipits, 2 Wheatears, 35+ Swallows, 1 Willow Warbler, 9 Whimbrel, 45+ Linnets and 1 Cirl Bunting.

A quick scoot round Bystock produced 1 Hobby, 1 male Redstart, 1 Firecrest, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Kestrel and 2 Kingfishers.

Mudbank - a returning Pintail, 4 Wigeon, 2 Whimbrel, 2 Redshank, 5 juvenile Knot, 13 Teal, 21 Ringed Plovers, 1 Kingfisher and 1 Osprey.

Nine Whimbrel heading east over Orcombe Point.

A brief Hobby over Bystock - my first in Exmouth this year.

Osprey - Mudbank.

Waders

Juvenile Greenshank - Mudbank.

A nice selection of waders off Mudbank today - my first (and, statistically, probably last) juvenile Curlew Sandpiper of the autumn was with 90 Ringed Plovers, feeding on Cockle Sands, with at least 3 Dunlin, 3 Turnstones and my first Snipe of the autumn. A little closer were another 3 Turnstones, 2 Dunlin, 2 Greenshank, 1 Redshank, 2 Whimbrel, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, c200+ Oystercatchers plus a small number of Curlew. Also off there - 15 Great Crested Grebes (an increase from the regular six), 3 Wigeon, 3 Common Terns, 6+ Sandwich Terns, 1 Kingfisher, 1 Rock Pipit and 3 Mediterranean Gulls.

Orcombe Point was a little more lively first thing with at least 13 (probably in excess of 20) Yellow Wagtails, 28+ Swallows, 3 Meadow Pipits, 6+ Tree Pipits, 1 Grey Wagtail and 1 Wheatear. Offshore, two Harbour Porpoises were easy to pick out in glass-like sea conditions. The concerning lack of Willow Warblers persists with none seen again today. 

 Black-tailed Godwit - Mudbank.