Little Barwit & Stint

          The flow of birds continues! Brendan Shiels had a Little Stint on BHM on Friday which I checked out in the evening. An adult bird as opposed to the juveniles we usually seem to get more of. Scanning the Blackwit flock for the 3 missing Ruff I stumbled upon a Barwit, a very diminutive looking individual dwarfed by the Blackwits beside it! And so the wader list continues to rise. Several of Thursday's birds still present; 3 Curlew Sands & a Knot.
          At Coly Common a lone Whimbrel again among the Curlew. Also Yellow Wagtail distantly, on Bridge Marsh with the cattle.

Fresh Waders

      Just a quick update as last evening I popped down to BHM and Coly Common to find that Phil Abbot had discovered some new migrant waders on BHM ahead of me. A moulting adult Curlew Sandpiper was flanked by 2 juveniles and 3 Ruff were also fresh in. Whilst scoping them I stumbled across a juvenile Knot too. Two Greenshanks and a Green Sandpiper plus the usual suspects were also present.
      At Coly Common 2 Yellow Wagtails were my first of the Autumn and at least one Wheatear was about. Another Green Sand joined the Curlews on the scrape but not too much from the hide.
      Apparently the Osprey is still about too! That's all for now though.

August Bank Holiday 2019

Painted Lady,Axmouth, 25/08/19 (Copyright T D Wright)

Wood Sandpiper, BHM, 26/08/19 (Copyright T D Wright)

     Well we always seem to get something of interest over the August Bank Holiday weekend and this year was true to form once again. The most extraordinary find was a new species of butterfly for Seaton & Axmouth. Long-tailed Blues have been hoped & looked for here for many years (especially by KW I'm told) but it was an anonymous visitor that struck lepidopteran gold and enabled Lloyd Evans to astound us all with news of 2-4 individuals on our Sea Pea by the mouth of the Axe. This coincides with a large arrival of this species along the Channel coast, with no less than 17 being recorded in Sussex. Also present were Clouded Yellows & Painted Ladies carried in by the warm cross-channel winds.
     As far as birds are concerned, the lingering juvenile Osprey entertained us all at various points; the Marsh Harriers & 3 species of falcon provided the supporting cast of raptors. Best waders were 3 Wood Sandpipers, 2 Greenshank, 7 Ringed Plover and Whimbrel plus the usual Dunlin, Blackwits and Redshanks in large numbers. Snipe have certainly become more visible as one would expect at this time of year. At Colyford Common 2 Wheatears were possibly in addition to ones seen on the estuary and BHM on separate days. I won't include birds I didn't see myself but there were reports of several local scarcities as well.It seems that a good time was had by all!

Wood Sand, Dunlin & Ringed Plover, BHM, 26/08/19(Copyright T D Wright)

Long-tailed Blue, Axmouth, 25/08/19 (Copyright T D Wright)

Osprey, Axmouth, 25/08/19 (Copyright T D Wright)

Wheatear, Colyford Common, 26/08/19 (Copyright T D Wright)

Gratuitous Long-tailed Tit Pics

Long-tailed Tit, Colyton, August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Long-tailed Tit, Colyton, August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

A close encounter with what would be our smallest bird if it wasn't for the outrageously long tail is always a joy. On this occasion, however, I actually had the camera handy. So I couldn't resist giving you all some zoomed-in birding porn to savour. Hope there's no offence caused!

Long-tailed Tit, Colyton, August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

There were at least 8 of them and they chased away the Painted Ladies, Small Tortoiseshells and Large Whites from this Buddleia bush. Or ate them?!

Marsh Harriers & Waders

Unorthodox Marsh Harrier shot, Coly Common, 15/08/19 (Copyright T D Wright)

Marsh Harrier, Coly Common, 15/08/19 (Copyright T D Wright)

Not the best pictures of them but it was terrific last Thursday to be watching a Marsh Harrier from CC hide and have another fly behind it through my bins. On the scrape there was still a Turnstone, 2 Green Sands, many Dunlin & Ringed Plover plus a Whimbrel amongst the Curlews. Kingfisher & Barn Owl on the reserve. Peregrine on the marsh flushed everything too! Greenshanks were all at BHM. End communication.

Barn Owl versus Crow

Barn Owl, Seaton Wetlands, August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Barn Owl versus Carrion Crow, Seaton Wetlands, August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Excellent display from the Barn Owl on Sunday,which evaded this corvid attack to continue hunting the area between BHM and Seaton Marshes...

Barn Owl, Seaton Wetlands, August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Barn Owl,Seaton Wetlands,August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Greenshank & LRP:Recent Photographs

Greenshank, BHM, August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Greenshank,BHM,August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Greenshank,BHM,August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Greenshank,BHM,August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Greenshank,BHM,August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Greenshank,BHM,August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Little Ringed Plover,BHM,August 2019 (Copyright T D Wright)

Tower Hide Rules

       Haven't got time for photos but Sunday evening in the Tower was excellent. The chiff-iff-iff of a Wood Sandpiper interrupted the chew-chews and the bird showed itself amongst the Greenshanks & Redshanks on the estuary late on. Before that, 3 Turnstones were present but flew toward the Tramsheds area. Marsh Harrier, Barn Owl & Kingfisher all showed nicely as did several Kestrels.
       Dunlin & Ringed Plover numbers have increased, with groups on the estuary, BHM and further up the valley as a flock of 7 Ringos came flying past Tower having emanated from Coly or Bridge Marsh. Common Sandpiper numbers remain in double figures. A probable juvenile YL Gull was out on the estuary too. Should've photographed it really! Some pictures next time or I'll lose my blog audience, won't I?!

Tower hide update

       Just managed to cycle to Tower Hide yesterday evening and was directed onto 2 Ringed Plovers by Miss Yallop. I noticed 2, possibly 3 Greenshanks by myself and counted 26 Dunlin on the estuary. The Wigeon and Greylag Goose were still there but otherwise the birds were as you'd expect at this time of year. Except that there were no waders on Black Hole Marsh! When will our Autumn get as interesting as that of other South West birding hotspots? Soon please!

August Update

    Apologies for lack of news lately but other things have got in the way of my blogging. On Saturday 3rd August I managed a brief visit to BHM and noted one LRP (juv.) and several Common Sands. From Tower hide I added Greenshank, 5 more Common Sands and an eclipse male Wigeon.
    Apparently a Spoonbill was seen by Mike Blaver earlier in the day but no further sightings. That's all for now but we'll get a nice arrival of birds soon I expect. Ospreys have been reported and passerines have started to move. Now for the waders...