Bean Outta Exmouth

Mudbank in heavy drizzle this morning - 1 Goldeneye, 1 Spoonbill, 25 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Bar-tailed Godwit and 115+ Pintail.

This afternoon I was tempted out of Exmouth, once again, for a nice collection of wildfowl on Exminster Marshes. I managed to combine it with a trip to Mum's. Unfortunately it was all a bit distant but nevertheless good to see 1 Tundra Bean Goose, 1 adult Russian White-fronted Goose, 3 Whooper Swans, 1 Pale-bellied Brent Goose with c3/400+ Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 5 Bullfinches, 1 Pink-footed Goose, c240 Avocets and 1 Marsh Harrier. Seeing all this involved walking a few miles in old wellies so my feet are hurting a bit now.

Good to see Bob, Martin, Brian, Ken, Kev, Dave Stone, Dave Land, Rob and Steph.

Colour-ringed Dunlin - Mudbank. Left tarsus : blue ring with white lettering. Right tarsus : red ring above silver. Couldn't read the lettering. A quick internet search suggests this was ringed by the Devon and Cornwall Wader Ringing Group.

Three Whooper Swans - Exminster Marshes. I resisted the urge to twitch these when they first turned up yesterday, so was feeling a bit smug to catch up with them today, along with the Pink-foot, Tundra Bean and White-front. Just occasionally a little restraint pays off.

Unfortunately this Tundra Bean Goose remained mostly hidden in vegetation. I made the effort this afternoon because it's been a long while since I've seen this species in Devon. I may well be missing some but a quick trawl through my old records suggests the last one I saw in Devon was a 'self-found' on Bowling Green on 8/5/05! Prior to that I saw one (with 6 White-fronts and 25 Barnacles) on South Huish Marsh, on 19/12/95, and before that - 2 birds on Exminster Marshes on 2/1/92 (and again the following day).

A chance for me to show off my incredible photography skills - Russian White-front left, Tundra Bean right.

Pink-footed Goose - Turf.