Pied Fly

One of 22 juvenile/first-winter Mediterranean Gulls on the beach, by the lifeboat station, yesterday morning.

The birding has picked up a little bit over the last couple of days. I did three short trips up to Orcombe today, where the highlight was a Pied Flycatcher, which moved rapidly through the treetops of the Bristiol Schools Camp, before vanishing. This is my first Pied Fly in Exmouth since August 30th 2018! Also today - 25 Swallows, 11 Chiffchaffs, 3 Whitethroats, 1 Wheatear, 1 Sedge Warbler, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler and 8 Tree Pipits. A high-flying, river-bound flock of c30 waders was almost certainly Black-tailed Godwits - an assumption backed up by the presence of a flock of 33, off Mudbank, shortly afterwards. A male Kestrel was the first one I've seen on Orcombe in a while. Lovely to catch up with Libby this morning too.

Off the lifeboat station - at least 8 Common Terns and a Yellow Wagtail over, and off Mudbank - the aforementioned 33 Black-tailed Godwits, 24+ Ringed Plover, 11 Sanderling, 3 Dunlin, 5 Wigeon, 6 Redshank, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose and 3 Mediterranean Gulls.

Yesterday off Mudbank - 6+ Common Terns, 3 Teal, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 9 Mediterranean Gulls (7 juvs), 1 Turnstone, 1 Ringed Plover, 5 Wigeon, 4 Dunlin, 33 Little Egrets and a Sparrowhawk. A flock off 22 juvenile/first-winter Mediterranean Gulls, and a single adult, were on the beach, and on Orcombe Point - 5 Wheatears, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Sedge Warbler and 1 Tree Pipit.