First port of call this morning was Dawlish Warren for the Bonaparte's Gull. On route we stopped off to view a flooded field just outside Goodrington as Lee Evans had been informed by local contacts that it contained some 'easy to view' Greenshank. His local contact was spot on, it contained 8 Greenshank about 50m away, the field also contained a bonus Spotted Redshank.
91. Greenshank
92. Spotted Redshank
92. Spotted Redshank
Once the Greenshank was secured we carried on to Dawlish Warren NR for the Bonaparte's Gull, we walked the length of the beach head to groyne 13 as it had been reported to be frequenting groynes 8-13 but we were unable to locate it. We did see Red-throated Diver out at see which was a bonus however the flock of Black-bellied Brent Geese were nowhere to be seen. The geese were then spotted in the far distance feeding in a field so it was a quick dash back to the car. As we approached to field a tractor entered it putting the geese up who then flew across to the Exe estuary - back to where we'd just come from. There was no way to view them from our location as the estuary is hidden by a raised railway line so it was back into the car and back to the nature reserve. Unbelievably, by the time we'd arrived the geese had moved back to the field however another birder thought he had the Bonaparte's Gull, he was spot on, we managed so great views as it sat on the sea about 25m out from the shore, we didn't get too close as we didn't want to spook it so taking photos was difficult as it travelled with the tide.
93. Bonaparte's Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
93. Bonaparte's Gull
After a good half hour with the Bonaparte's Gull we headed back to the field containing the Brent Geese, found a half decent viewing position and scanned for the Black Brant which was located after about 5 mins, the views were hit and miss as the field was on a slope with a dip to the rear which the Black Brant kept disappearing into, unfortunately the views were too distant for photos.
A good start to the day with 2 lifers for me, Bonaparte's Gull and Black Brant.
Satisfied with 3 of our target species in the bag we headed down to Broadsands for Cirl Bunting
We arrived at Broadsands, parked up and was treated to some great views of Common and Siberian Chiffchaff flitting around a drainage ditch, a really great opportunity for some close up comparisons.
We then also managed to get onto a flock of Cirl Bunting showing really well, I believe seed is put out for them at this location so sighting is almost guaranteed. We attempted to move slightly close to get some photos but they seem to spook very easily and disappeared into some fields in the distance. We waited for about 10 minutes but then decided to have a look in the bay. We had some great views of a Razorbill which was very close in, I then noticed a Rock Pipit feeding quite close to me which was very confiding and allowed me to get a lot of shots off. A shag was feeding quite close in too.
94. Rock Pipit
95. Shag
On returning to the car we had another quick look for the Cirl Bunting, we managed to locate them but could only get distant views in the telescope, deciding to move on, a few birds flew into the tree beside us, Greenfinch and a cracking female Cirl Bunting (The numbering is a little out of order as I'd forgotten I had another SD card of photos to sort and I certainly am not redoing 30 photos for the sake of numbering, it all balances out in the end)...!
122. Cirl Bunting
122. Cirl Bunting
With 3 lifers in the bag (Cirl Bunting) and it still being mid-afternoon, today was shaping up nicely. Our next stop was Brixham Harbour for a Black Guillemot so it was back in the car, we managed to get some directions from a local birder we'd got chatting too whilst viewing the Cirl Buntings so we were able to go directly to the correct spot.
We arrived at the AstraZenica car park as instructed and started to scan the harbour, it was devoid of birdlife! Further scanning of the harbour mouth revealed, Razorbill, Black Guillemot and Red-throated and Black-throated Divers plus the usual handful of Shag.
Scanning patiently for the Black Guillemot, we failed to notice a pair of Black-throated Divers moving into the harbour until they appeared right in front of us, numbering is still out as these were the same SD card.
123. Black-throated Diver
123. Black-throated Diver
123. Black-throated Diver
123. Black-throated Diver
We were then treated to some cracking views of a Grey (I think) Seal - right in front of us off the harbour wall, curious fellow he was, this was the first time I'd ever seen Seals in the wild.
Grey Seal
Grey Seal
We finally managed to locate the Black Guillemot, we'd overlooked him because he was close in but further down the harbour, slowly but surely he drifted out into the harbour mouth, this was my 4th lifer of the day, awesome!
124. Black Guillemot
A bonus as we were about to leave was an Iceland Gull found by Lee Evans (as were about 99% of the birds) from a quick scan of some rooftops.
125. Iceland Gull
All in all I think we had a very good day today, hitting most of our target birds, we didn't have time to catch the Ring-necked Duck on Bodmin and failed to locate a local Cattle Egret. We now had a long drive up to the Forest of Dean for tomorrows Two-barred Crossbills, Hawfinch's and Goshawks - not sure if that's asking a bit too much but we'll see...... We phone the local Travelodge (M48) but they were full but fortunately found a pub in Whitecroft with 4 vacant rooms, unfortunately there is no mobile phone coverage at all so I was unable to speak to the misses on my birthday, not a happy bunny....
I saw a total of 67 species today of which 4 were lifers! I'm now at 136 for the trip:
1. Red-throated Diver
2. Black-throated Diver
3. Great Northern Diver
4. Great Crested Grebe
5. Cormorant
6. Shag
7. Little Egret
8. Canada Goose
9. Dark-bellied Brent Goose
10. Black Brant
11. Shelduck
12. Mallard
13. Shovelar
14. Wigeon
15. Teal
16. Velvet Scoter
17. Common Buzzard
18. Oystercatcher
19. Avocet
20. Ringed Plover
21. Grey Plover
22. Lapwing
23. Turnstone
24. Dunlin
25. Redshank
26. Spotted Redshank
27. Greenshank
28. Black-tailed Godwit
29. Bar-tailed Godwit
30. Curlew
31. Black-headed Gull
32. Bonaparte's Gull
33. Common Gull
34. Great Black-backed Gull
35. Iceland Gull
36. Black Guillemot
37. Common Guillemot
38. Razorbill
39. Stock Dove
40. Woodpigeon
41. Collard Dove
42. Green Woodpecker
43. Rock Pipit
44. Meadow Pipit
45. Pied Wagtail
46. Wren
47. Dunnock
48. Robin
49. Song Thrush
50. Blackbird
51. Common Chiffchaff
52. Siberian Chiffchaff
53. Goldcrest
54. Great Tit
55. Coal Tit
56. Magpie
57. Jackdaw
58. Rook
59. Carrion Crow
60. Starling
61. House Sparrow
62. Chaffinch
63. Goldfinch
64. Greenfinch
65. Reed Bunting
66. Cirl Bunting
67. Herring Gull
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