Fresh Birding

Freshly Stuffed Great Black-headed Gull, Exeter, June '17 (Copyright T D Wright)

Stuffed Bufflehead, Exeter, June '17 (Copyright T D Wright)

Pickings are sparse in birding terms when I'm in Exeter. Rougemont gardens provided me with excellent views of juvenile Goldcrests and the Peregrines sometimes put on a show. Apart from that, the odd LBBG breaks up the monotony of Herring Gull activity. And there's some tits & finches in Rougemont too. But that's about it unless you've got time to wander further afield. However, the RAMM is worth a look - especially if it's raining - and it's fun to ponder the extraordinary birds which have turned up here in the past. Back home in the evenings, I've lost the Dippers since they fledged. I'm still seeing lots of Grey Wagtails (good numbers of juvs.) on the Coly & Umborne brook plus Kingfishers and even 2 juvenile Green Woodpeckers in these dead trees so it's nice that so many species have fledged this year...                                                                                                               

Woodpecker trees, Colyton, June '17(Copyright T D Wright)

I've also had a few Ringlet butterflies and spotted Tawny Owl and Little Owl at dusk. There's plenty of Swift & Hirundine activity over Colyton which is conspicuous by its absence in central Exeter. If only I could find time to get back down to those Seaton Wetlands!                                                

Colyton from the West, June '17 (Copyright T D Wright)

Colyton at Dusk, June '17 (Copyright T D Wright)