Sutton Bingham - Tue 6 Apr

A late afternoon visit after work produced the first Common Sandpiper of the spring present on the northern causeway at 5pm. There were still thirteen Tufted Ducks on the West Pool.
On the main reservoir there were small numbers of both Herring and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. A Collared Dove flew over, and a Green Woodpecker was seen.
At the southern end around fifty Sand Martins and twenty Swallows were feeding.

Dawlish Warren NNR - Mon 5 Apr

The last day of the Easter weekend, and Ellie and I headed off for the coast and spent a few hours at Dawlish Warren. We took the long walk out along the sand dunes to the hide where we saw very little! A Great Northern Diver was in the channel, but the only waders around were Oystercatchers and Curlews.
As we wandered back to the car the only things of note were a male Stonechat and a singing Skylark.
Ellie then sat in the car and read the paper for fifteen minutes whilst I did a little bit of sea-watching. Out to sea I did see a single Fulmar and a Sandwich Tern, but the scoter flock was rather distant and I could not pick out the Velvet or Surf Scoter amongst the Common Scoters.
UK list for 2010 now at 162 species.

Sutton Bingham - Sun 4 Apr

An hour long visit this morning did not yield that much. West Pool still held eleven Tufted Duck and a pair of Pochard.
The southern end of the reservoir produced a pair of Teal and a pair of Mandarin in the flooded wood where there were also good numbers of Willow Warblers and Chiffchaffs. Two Snipe were flushed from the water's edge.
About twenty Swallows were feeding and at least eight Buzzards were soaring overhead.

Beer, Greylake RSPB and Ham Wall RSPB - Sat 3 Apr

Sensing a break in the persistant rain, we headed off late morning to the Somerset Levels, making straight for the area north of the small village of Beer near Othery. It did not take us too long to locate a female Great Bustard, one of the Salisbury Plain reintroduction scheme birds that has been wintering in the area. Whilst there we also had a great view of a Peregrine, a single Swallow flew through, and a Skylark sang overhead.
We then drove on to Greylake RSPB reserve where a Short-eared Owl had been seen the day before. We had our picnic in the hide, but did not see the owl (it was found dead a couple of days later). In fact, it was rather quiet with just a few Little Egrets milling around and a Raven flying over in the distance.
Leaving Greylake we then headed up and took a walk at Ham Wall RSPB. As we walked along there were good numbers of Willow Warblers, Blackcaps and Chiffchaffs around. From the second viewing platform we found a Great White Egret which showed really well.
A Cetti's Warbler but on a bit of a show, and when we got back to the car we could just make out a booming Bittern.

Sutton Bingham - Fri 2 Apr

I dropped Ellie off at choir practice and took advantage of a pleasant evening to pop up to the reservoir. I drove straight down to the southern end and parked up. There were a good number of Swallows feeding with a few Sand Martins, and a single House Martin.
A pair of Mandarin flew from the vegetation up towards the north of the reservoir as a Grey Heron flew south. Three Buzzards were in the air, taking the opportunity to stretch their wings whilst the rain held off. Five Wigeon were also present, as was a Little Grebe.
Back at West Pool there were ten Tufted Ducks and a pair of Pochard. A Green Woodpecker also flew over. As time was limited I headed off after a pretty good three quarters of an hour.

Budleigh Salterton - Fri 2 Apr

The first of four days off work, and Ellie and I had hoped to take advantage and get out and about. However, we awoke to pouring rain which made for a bit of a dilemma. So we checked the weather forecast online and decided to head west and chose Budleigh Salterton and a walk along the River Otter.
We arrived in sunshine and after a packed lunch, seeing three Linnets from the car, we headed north along the river. There were several Herring Gulls milling around, but surprisingly no waders. As we neared the "White Bridge" we saw a pair of Red-breasted Mergansers on the river.
Further on there was little about, though a Raven flew over and a couple of Grey Wagtails were seen on the river bank. As we returned to the car we were treated to an extremely showy Cetti's Warbler and a few Little Egrets.
The rain kicked in again just as we got back to the car, but at least we got a bit of fresh air!

Meare Heath NNR - Thur 1 Apr

Ellie and I popped up to Meare Heath NNR for an hour long visit in the early evening. As we walked out to the hide at Noah's lake we stopped briefly to look over the partially drained second lagoon where we saw two Little Ringed Plovers feeding on the area of exposed mud.
We then carried on to the hide and had a quick look out over Noah's Lake. There were still a couple of Wigeon about, and the female Long-tailed Duck was showing well, still present after over two months.
There were several Swallows and Sand Martins flying about, and as we returned to the car we took another look at the lagoon...no sign of the Little Ringed Plovers that we had seen less than a hour earlier, but six Black-tailed Godwits had appeared!
Just as we neared the car park we were lucky enough to see a Barn Owl, a perfect end to a nice evening out.