Mudbank

 

Wildfowl off Mudbank with Starcross in the background.

 

Football all morning in Okehampton. The match was at Simmon's Park - a lovely spot next to the river, complete with Dipper and Grey Wagtail. A 4-1 win was a good result with Joel hammering a low free kick into the opposition's goal, which put a bigger smile on my face than the Dipper did.

This afternoon I managed to pop down to Mudbank where wildfowl numbers had again increased - 112 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 2 Pale-bellied Brent Geese, c800+ Wigeon, 85+ Pintail, 47 Mute Swans and a number of Mallard. Also recorded were 3 Sandwich Terns, 3 Grey Plovers, 4 Bar-tailed Godwits, 5 Dunlin, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Great Crested Grebe and 1 Mediterranean Gull. Two Ospreys were hunting together upriver at 330pm.

 

 

These adult Pale-bellied Brent Geese kept away from the Dark-bellied flock. The bird on the right was about as dark as I've seen for a Pale-bellied. Both were very worn-looking and brown-toned.

 

 

Barred Sallow - the first I've seen in a long while. It was a bit too windy last night to be any good. Just 1 Rusty-dot Pearl and 2 Silver Y on the immigrant front.