Goosander, Avocet

This Goosander was off Mudbank early this morning. Never an easy species to see in Exmouth.

Early morning and mid-afternoon birding today, with temperatures still  hovering not much above zero. Two looks off Mudbank (dawn and mid-afternoon) produced 1 Goosander, 1 Avocet, the female Scaup, 2 Great Northern Divers, 2 Pintail, 1 Goldeneye, 12+ Great Crested Grebes, 5+ Red-breasted Mergansers, c190 Wigeon, c50 Mallard, 2 Ringed Plovers, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 1 Greenshank, 110+ Curlew, 7 Grey Plovers and c60 Dark-bellied Brent Geese.
On an icy Orcombe Point - 2 Cirl Buntings, 2 Chiffchaffs, c190 Skylarks, 15+ Redwings, 9 Snipe, 11 Lapwing, 74 Golden Plovers, 13 Meadow Pipits and 2 Song Thrushes. Nearby, a Black Redstart was on cliffs near Sandy Bay whilst Lu and I walked the dog, and the brook provided 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Black Redstart and 2 Grey Wagtails.
A female Blackcap was in gardens along Belle Vue Road along with a couple Redwings and a Fieldfare.

Another difficult species to catch up with in Exmouth - this Avocet showed well off Mudbank this afternoon. 

I was pleased to see this flock of c190 Skylarks on Orcombe Point today. The highest count in years. 

Cirl Bunting - dung heap. One of two birds wintering on Orcombe.

One of 2 Chiffchaffs on the dung heap.

The Orcombe Point Golden Plover flock numbered 74 birds today.

One of two Black Redstarts seen in Exmouth today. This one was in the brook, near Park Road. The other was on the cliffs between Orcombe Point and Sandy Bay.

Fieldfare - Belle Vue Road.

Redwing - Belle Vue Road.