Brents Back, Little Gull

One of two Whinchats on Orcombe Point, early this morning.

Orcombe Point - 17 Meadow Pipits, 7 Chiffchaffs, 5 Grey Wagtails, 2 Wheatear, 37+ Swallow, 3 Yellow Wagtails, 3 Pied Wagtails, 2 White Wagtails, 2 Whinchats and the first Goldcrest of the autumn, sneaking through cliff-top scrub.

There were thousands of gulls off the beach again but I just couldn't pick out anything unusual. Nearby, off Mudbank - 7 Dark-bellied Brent Geese (six new in), 1 Osprey, a juvenile Little Gull, c30+ Sandwich Terns, c5/10+ Common Terns, 1 juvenile Arctic Tern, 5 Great Crested Grebes, 4 Black-tailed Godwits, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 7 Pintail and c200+ Wigeon, though lots of wildfowl were missing whilst I was there, after high tide.

Wheatear.

Horse Chestnut. Also last night - 26 Rusty Dot Pearl, 3 Rush Veneer, 1 European Corn-borer, 1 Dark Sword-grass, 1 Old Lady, 1 L-album Wainscot, 1 Common Wainscot and a Green Carpet amongst the other usual stuff. A Hummingbird Hawkmoth was nectaring in a garden, just up the road, yesterday and on Orcombe today - good numbers of Rush Veneer and Red Admiral.

 A nice fresh Green Carpet.

Terns

For some reason there has been a roost of Sandwich Terns, beneath the seawall, over the last few days. It's not normal for them to gather off Mudbank in numbers but it's very welcome. Today, at least 50 gave fabulous views on the deck, as the tide started to drop.

Off Mudbank today - at least 1 juvenile Arctic Tern and 15+ Common Terns, along with 70+ Sandwich Terns. Also - 1 Osprey, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 6 Redshank, 2 Common Sandpipers, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 1+ Kingfisher, 4 Grey Herons, 2 Greenshank, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 10 Bar-tailed Godwits, 310+ Teal, 1 Pintail x Wigeon hybrid and 2 first-winter Mediterranean Gulls. I didn't count the Wigeon or Pintail today.

Earlier, on Orcombe Point - 5+ Yellow Wagtail, 2 or 3 Tree Pipits, 7 Grey Wagtails, 8 'alba' Wagtails, 2 Wheatear, 1 Willow Warbler, 1 Whinchat, 10+ House Martins, 20+ Swallows, 4+ Chiffchaffs, 5+ Blackcaps, 20+ Meadow Pipits and 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers. Offshore, at least 6 Balearic Shearwaters and 60+ Gannets along with a large feeding flock of gulls, that were presumably after whitebait. An adult Mediterranean Gull was on the beach and a Wheatear was on the cricket pitch.

First-winter Caspian Gull

Another Caspian Gull off Mudbank this afternoon, shortly before 4pm. Difficult to photograph in heavy rain, and it wasn't around long before a train passed and it headed upriver. Best described as in first-winter plumage - this individual has many more new, grey mantle and scapular feathers than the last one.

Off Mudbank today - duck numbers continue to rise with c6/700+ Teal, 104 Pintail, 420 Wigeon, 48 Shelduck and good numbers of Mallard. Amongst the masses were 2 Gadwall and 2 Shoveler, as well as the Pintail x Wigeon hybrid and single Dark-bellied Brent Goose. Also of note - first-winter Caspian Gull, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 8 Common Terns, 17+ Greenshank (a record count for me, here in Exmouth), 9 Redshank, 12+ Knot, a very probable Curlew Sandpiper (unfortunately too distant to be sure, on Cockle Sands with 5 Knot), 13+ Black-tailed Godwits, 4 Bar-tailed Godwits, 2 Whimbrel and 5 Ringed Plovers.

In the moth trap last night - 33 Rusty Dot Pearl, 1 White-point, 1 Rush Veneer, 2 Turnip, 1 Dark Sword-grass, 1 Silver Y and 1 Delicate, but not too much else.

Off Mudbank yesterday afternoon - c390 Wigeon, 11 Sandwich Terns, 3+ Common Terns, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, just 5 Pintail and a Little Tern.

Juvenile Common Tern off Mudbank.

YLG, Two Ospreys

Another Gannet was in the estuary this afternoon. The third in a week, assuming they're all different.

I finally got a juv/fw Yellow-legged Gull this afternoon, after work. It was on Cockle Sands on the dropping tide. I'm normally well into double figures at this time of year, but this season has been really poor. Also this afternoon - 2 Ospreys, 5 Common Terns, c60 Sandwich Terns, 1 Peregrine, 1 adult Mediterranean Gull, 2 Common Sandpipers, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 13 Grey Plovers, 4 or 5 Knot, 2 Greenshank, 1 Redshank, c160 Wigeon, 6 Pintail, c60/70+ Teal, 4 Black-tailed Godwits, 1 Gannet, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and 40 Shelduck.

One of the Ospreys appeared mid-river just before 5pm and shortly afterwards a second bird was circling over the Powderham estate. Both birds were on view simultaneously. The first bird spent a long time feeding off Starcross and the second bird eventually drifted off.

Yesterday - 20 Sandwich Terns, 1 Grey Plover, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 1 Redshank, 1 Osprey (1545), c40/50+ Teal and the Pintail x Wigeon hybrid. Really nice to catch up with John.

Spoonbill

 

What is presumably the same juvenile Spoonbill that has been at the north end of the river, appeared, as if by magic, off Mudbank at 1453. It's always annoying when you don't notice large white bird fly in!

A couple looks off Mudbank, either side of high tide, produced 1 Spoonbill, 7 Black-tailed Godwits, 10 Teal, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 1 Greenshank, 1 Mediterranean Gull, c125 Wigeon, 3 Pintail, 7 Gadwall, 26 Knot (flocks of 8, 17 plus 1), 3 Great Crested Grebes, 9 Bar-tailed Godwits, 15+ Sandwich Terns, 1 Little Tern, 1 juvenile Common Tern, 1 Grey Plover, 49 Shelduck, 1 Yellow Wagtail over, 7+ Ringed Plover, 1+ Osprey (on Cockle Sands at 0958 and upriver with a fish at1506). An adult Gannet was with a small group of Herring Gulls, in pursuit of the Osprey this afternoon. A peculiar sight indeed!

Earlier - a sea-watch from the raised beach huts was ultimately pretty fruitless but it was good to see Dave back in action. The only birds to make the notebook were 3 Arctic Skuas, 9+ Common Scoters, 2 Kittiwakes and 10 Sandwich Terns.

First Stonechat and Mipits

Yellow Wagtail - Orcombe Point.

My first Stonechat of the autumn was on Orcombe Point this morning, along with 16+ Yellow Wagtails and a couple Grey Wagtails. A count of 11 Skylarks is indicative of some breeding success.

Off Mudbank - 8 Black-tailed Godwits, 14 Teal, 110+ Wigeon, the returning Wigeon x Pintail hybrid, 1 Greenshank, 2 Grey Plovers, 39 Shelduck, 30 Little Egrets, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 3 Pintail, 4 Sandwich Terns and 2 juvenile Common Terns.

Yesterday off Mudbank - 1 Tree Pipit over, 9 Teal, 30+ Cattle Egrets (on a wreck north of Starcross), c100 Wigeon, 50 Pintail (another increase), 1 Greenshank, 5 Black-tailed Godwits, 215+ Curlew, 1 juvenile Knot, 1 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 1 Kestrel (flying downriver) and c7/800+ Oystercatchers (roosting on Cockle Sands, having presumably been disturbed from the Warren).

Orcombe was again quiet, but it was nice to log my first 3 Meadow Pipits of the autumn. Also - 9+ Yellow Wagtails, at least 1 Clouded Yellow, 3 Wheatear and a Vestal.

 Riband Wave. I see masses of first-brood RWs but very few second-broods like this one, which was trapped the night before last, along with 35 Rusty Dot Pearl, 3 Portland Ribbon Wave, 2 Rush Veneer, 2 Pearly Underwing, 2 Turnip, 1 Pale Mottled Willow, 1 L-album Wainscot, 3 Lesser Yellow Underwing, 1 Old Lady, 1 Maiden's Blush and a few other 'usual suspects',

Vestal - Orcombe Point - doing a pretty good job at hiding in the dry grass.

Duck Increase

Two Maiden's Blush in the trap last night (both pictured). Otherwise, few migrants but variety that included 5 Portland Ribbon Wave, 38 Rusty Dot Pearl, 1 Dark Spectacle, 3 Rush Veneer, 2 White-point, 1 Pale Mottled Willow, 1 Garden Pebble, 1 Old Lady, 1 Bee Moth, 1 Dark Sword-grass and my first Feathered Ranunculus of the autumn.

Duck numbers up off Mudbank this morning with 20 Pintail, 100+ Wigeon and 2 Teal amongst a load of Mallard. Also - 7 Knot, 1 Black-tailed Godwit, 4 Whimbrel, 1 Greenshank, 17 Shelduck, 2 Stock Doves, 1 Common Tern and 2 Sandwich Terns. The Osprey was seen a number of times, from the back garden, and a hirundine flock was buzzing around the house early on. It consisted of c20 House Martins, 1 Sand Martin and a small number of Swallows.

A very short spell on Orcombe produced 1 Tree Pipit, 1 Sand Martin, 1 Ringed Plover, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Whitethroat and 15+ Yellow Wagtails.

Garden Pebble.

Feathered Ranunculus.