Easterly and Migrants

A cold grey dawn and a chilly easterly greeted me at Orcombe this morning.

 

A few birds about this morning - Orcombe Point from 0645 - 7+ Chiffchaff, 4 Blackcap, 8+ Sandwich Tern, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 1+ Swallow, c25+ Meadow Pipit, 8+ Willow Warbler, 1 Firecrest (in song), 1+ White Wagtail, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Snipe, 1 Wheatear, c15+ Linnet and 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Off the seafront - 1 Brent Goose, 1 Curlew and 1 Little Tern (cheers Lee), and off Mudbank - 4 Red-breasted Merganser and 1 Osprey.

The Osprey spent a long time fishing off Mudbank this morning. I watched it dive into the water several times but it wasn't having a lot of luck.

Quite a few Green-winged Orchids are out on Orcombe Point.

Chiffchaff

Firecrest - this male was singing regularly and was just a few metres away from the spot where I last had a singing male a few years ago - in scrub near the gateway in to Sandy Bay caravan park.

Small Tortoiseshell, Small White, Peacock and Holly Blue in the garden today.

Several Willow Warblers in today.

Sandwich Terns and Arctic Skua

A flock of 28 Sandwich Terns feeding between Maer Rocks and Orcombe Point after work this afternoon. Two first-summer Mediterranean Gulls joined them briefly and an Arctic Skua headed east at 1715. Otherwise, a flock of 10 Common Scoter and small numbers of Gannet, Kittiwake and Fulmar.

On Tuesday evening my second Osprey of the spring was watched flying upriver, from the back garden, thanks to a text from Lee.

Stormy conditions this afternoon but there was some shelter beneath the raised beach huts.

This Sandwich Tern was off Mudbank and a further 17+ were off the Imperial - probably birds that were earlier off the seafront.

Red Kite

Chiffchaff - Maer Farm

 

I popped home for a quick lunch, which fortuitously coincided with a Red Kite heading south-east over the town, viewed from the back garden. It's my first this year but unlikely to be the last, assuming we get some more high pressure conditions over the coming weeks.

A quick check of Orcombe after work produced just 1 Wheatear, 1 Meadow Pipit, 1 Blackcap, 2 Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler.

Nearby the female Ring-necked Parakeet is still behind Maer Farm but there was no sign of any other birds (an additional two males were reported on Devon Birds). Also present were a female Wheatear, Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Sparrowhawk and a Curlew. Nice to bump into Martin Noakes and Chris Stone.

Osprey

Redwing - one of two late birds that were heavily streaked below - candidates for Icelandic race?

 

Today's best bird was my first Osprey of the year. I was sat in the back garden, enjoying a cuppa with mum, dad and Lu, when it powered upriver leaving a trail of Oystercatchers and gulls in its wake. It flew through at 1620.

A dawn visit to Orcombe was followed up with a brief afternoon 'whiz round' which produced just a handful of sightings - c20/30+ Linnet, 1+ Blackcap, 1+ Bullfinch, 4+ Chiffchaff, 2 or 3 Willow Warblers, 2 Wheatear, 2+ Meadow Pipit, 1 Curlew, 2 Redwing and my first Swallow of the year.

On the 29th - 1 Snipe and 1 Goldcrest seen on a late afternoon visit to Orcombe with 1 Pale-bellied Brent Goose and 6 Dark-bellied Brent Geese off the Imperial.

A notable increase in Linnet numbers today.

This male Blackcap is singing on territory on Orcombe.

Always good to see the first Willow Warblers arriving on Orcombe - difficult to photograph though as they kept their heads down in the cold conditions.

Note the heavily-marked underparts with 'tear-drop' streaking extending down the flanks and strongly-marked under-tail coverts. 

 

 This last shot is of the second bird - another fairly swarthy individual.

Barnacle Goose

The Barnacle Goose, that has been seen a couple of times of the Warren, was with Brent Geese shortly after dawn. The birds were on the beach between Maer Rocks and Orcombe Point. This is only my second Exmouth record following one off Mudbank in October 2017.

 

An early look at Orcombe Point produced 36 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 1 Barnacle Goose, 5+ Chiffchaff, 1 Curlew, 2 Goldcrest, 7+ Meadow Pipit, 8 Canada Goose, 1 Siskin and just 1 'alba' Wagtail. The weather was beautiful but the sky too clear to ground migrants, and I had to scrape ice of the windscreen following a chilly night. Such conditions rarely produce the goods!

One of two Goldcrests seen on Orcombe today.

Two White Wags - Dung Heap

 

Serin

This was my first Wheatear of 2019. It was by the Geo-needle shortly after first light. Ironically, in a year when migrants have been turning up unusually early, I believe this is my latest  'first Wheatear' for many years!

 

A really good morning on Orcombe this morning with the highlight being a Serin which flew west over the top of Gore Lane at 0714. Other notable sightings included 5+ Wheatear, at least 13 Chiffchaff, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 15+ Meadow Pipit, 1+ Redwing, 1 Goldcrest, 1 or 2 Siskin, 2 or 3 Bullfinch, 2 Linnet, 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 1 Kestrel, 4+ 'alba' Wagtail, 2 White Wagtail, 3+ Goldfinch and 1+ Chaffinch over. Great to be birding with Derek again.

Nearby, in Maer Valley, another 4+ Chiffchaff, 1 Jay and a male Blackcap.

Some news from earlier in the week - on 19/3 a female Cirl Bunting on Orcombe Point and off Mudbank - 6 Wigeon, 2 Goldeneye (male + female), 12 Teal, 6 Red-breasted Merganser and the three Eider.

On the 21st - Orcombe Point - 2 Chiffchaff and 2 Pale-bellied Brent Goose with 11 Red-breasted Merganser, 2 Goldeneye, 1 Greenshank and 1 Eider off Mudbank.

Three male Wheatears (all shown above) have spent the day on the dung heap.

This Red-legged Partridge was a surprise sighting on 19/3. It was in the Straight Point military firing range complex which ironically is probably a lot safer than being on whichever farm it was released from!

Pale and Dark-bellied Brent Geese - Orcombe Point - 21/3.