I managed to get out for a couple of hours this morning and we headed south and made for Ferrybridge. Parking at the visitor centre I braved the cold wind and spent an hour wandering around. There were at least one hundred Mediterranean Gulls on the water of varying plumages and ages and a fair-sized flock of Dark-bellied Brent Geese. After a lot of searching I finally located the Snow Bunting that had been present for a few weeks...and I must have walked past it several times before finally seeing it.
I also saw a Meadow Pipit and a couple of Skylarks whilst at Ferrybridge but with time getting on I headed back in to Weymouth and drove up to Sandsfoot Castle where I spent a little bit of time scanning Portland Harbour.
Ten Great Crested Grebes were gathered in the north-east corner of the harbour whilst much further out a Great Northern Diver was seen. Eventually I located the two Velvet Scoters, one of which did a very obliging wing stretch to clinch identification! About six or so Black-necked Grebes were also seen as well as several Red-breasted Merganser.
And that was that, time was up and I headed back home for lunch.
An afternoon out in dismal weather, so I took a drive around Tealham and Tadham Moors in a second attempt to locate the Whooper Swans and Cattle Egret that we missed out on last week....well we missed out again this week!!
Constantly stopping and scanning the moors I saw at least twenty Little Egrets and several hundred Lapwing were out in the fields, and thought the latter were often taking to the air I could not find any raptors harassing them. However, I did count a small flock of six Golden Plover and then another slightly larger flock of twenty birds. So a year tick and not a completely wasted afternoon out.
My afternoon out did not go to plan as I failed to locate any Whooper Swans or the Cattle Egret that were present at the start of the week to the north of Westhay. So I headed down to Catcott Lows NR and took Tristan for a walk. There were loads of duck around, predominately Shoveler, Pintail, Wigeon and Teal. A Great White Egret was a welcome sight. Eleven Lapwings flew over and as the light started to go hundreds of Starlings and winter thrushes flew through. A dozen Pied Wagtails were feeding in front of the hide and a pair of Bullfinches were seen along the track to the car park. Finally, a Cetti's Warbler was blasting out it's song next to the car, but failed to show itself.
My visit to the reservoir this year, and I skipped past the northern end as there was nothing about and instead took a walk along the water's edge at the south. A total of twenty-eight Snipe were present and there were a few duck present, with at least sixty Teal and three Wigeon in with a few Mallard. Overhead three Raven flew through and a Marsh Tit was heard calling.
I stayed local this morning and whilst Ellie went shopping I took Tristan out and we popped down the road to Norton Sub Hamdon. After parking the car and getting Tristan ready we set off and within a minute or two I found what I was after with an rather smart Hawfinch perched in the top of a tree near the church. Over the next hour or so I saw at least one more until eventually having walked round to the church, I counted ten Hawfinch in the tall trees that ran alongside the churchyard, including some really nice looking male birds. Unfortunately I was not able to get that close to any of the birds, but still got a couple of record shots with my phone!
As I wandered around the village I also saw my first Coal Tit and Goldcrest of the new year, and a flock of sixty or so Fieldfare flew over. So all in all a pretty good morning!
Our final stop of what had been a long but enjoyable day was the Axe Estuary. Opposite Axmouth Football Club we soon located a pair of Bewick's Swans and it was then down to the estuary to scan the gulls. An adult and 1st-winter Mediterranean Gull were present and a Grey Wagtail was also seen. After a bit of inside information from a local birder we decided to head down to the sea front at Seaton and see if we could locate a Black Redstart that was seen earlier in the day. Unfortunately, we missed this bird, but it had been a wonderful start to the year and we had seen some cracking birds.
UK list for 2013 now at 87 species.
Leaving Exminster we drove on to Dawlish Warren. A rather smart winter-plumaged Black-necked Grebe was on the pond next to the visitor centre, whilst out to sea we added Slavonian Grebe to the year list. There was not much else of note to be seen (and we missed a very brief Serin that had been reported earlier in the day...a very unusual winter record). The alder trees held Lesser Redpoll and Siskin and a small flock of Common Scoter flew west far out to sea.
Our penultimate stop of the day was at Starcross. Scanning the Exe Estuary we added Goldeneye and feeding on the exposed mud a rather smart Spotted Redshank and several Greenshank. A small number of Ringed Plover were also present.
I then parted company with everyone (except Dave as I was giving him a lift home) and headed back towards home.
