Northam Burrows, Hartland Point and Yelland - Sun 19 Sep

Up at 6.15am and picked up at 7.00am myself and the "usual suspects" headed off to the north-west corner of Devon for a day of much-needed birding. We arrived at Northam Burrows at around 8.30am and drove out to the area known as The Skern. We were after a few quality rarities that had been in the area for a few days. Setting up our scopes near a few other birders we scanned across the area, picking out a few White Wagtails, several Wheatears (including a couple of Greenland Wheatears), and numerous Meadow Pipits. But none of these were what we were after, so I approached the other birders to try and get some gen, and was told that a Lapland Bunting was just in front of us. Calling the others over, we soon got on the bunting as it showed really well, often in the company of a couple of Meadow Pipits. Despite the fact it was always on the move, I still managed some of my top-quality record shots with my mobile phone:

We were also told that the Buff-breasted Sandpiper had been showing distantly within the last hour, so we continued scanning over the area, but the bird was being rather elusive! So after drawing a blank with the sandpiper we walked back down the road in an attempt to find the Grey Phalarope that had been around for the previous few days, but like the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, this usually obliging wader failed to show itself. So we walked back to the car, though on the way I thought I'd have another look over the mudflats and found the Buff-breasted Sandpiper! We got some good, if somewhat distant, views of the bird, and decided to continue to the car in the hope of getting nearer to the bird. I soon got back on it, and whilst it was slightly nearer it was still rather distant.

Having connected with this rare trans-Atlantic vagrant we set off for Hartland Point and a spot of sea-watching. We arrived late morning and set up on the headland to see what sea birds might be passing through. There were loads of Gannets and a fairly steady passage of Manx Shearwaters, but nothing out of the ordinary. We were lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins.
Checking the pager we got a message that the Grey Phalarope had been seen again at Northam Burrows, so leaving Hartland Point we drove back to The Skern to try and find the bird that had eluded us earlier in the day. We spent an age scanning the area where the bird had been seen before a fellow birder spotted it just a few metres from us...we had been expecting the bird to be in the near distance, and not under our noses! Even I managed a few semi-decent record shots of this cracking juvenile Grey Phalarope with my mobile:

We started the homeward journey but took a detour to Yelland and the (badly-signposted) RSPB reserve of Isley Marsh. We were looking for three Spoonbills, and it did not take that long to find them on the salt marsh. There were plenty of Curlews and Little Egrets here, but little else. However, a small flock of Wigeon flew through, a sign of birds returning for the winter?

Having exhausted the area with regard to quality birds, we decided to call it a day and headed home.

UK list for 2010 now at 212 species.