Nearly 12 hours of solid coverage on site was not enough to find either of today's two highlights which instead were achieved from the Exmouth side - a flock of ten Cattle Egret flew past Exmouth Quay and continued up river at 07:55 and were followed shortly afterwards by an eclipse male Tufted Duck; see details here.
Selected counts on the mid-afternoon high tide were 305 Curlew, 214 Oystercatcher, 108 Redshank, 94 Sandwich Tern, 18 Whimbrel, nine Little Egret, five Mute Swan, five Dunlin, four Ringed Plover, three Greenshank, two Bar-tailed Godwit and a juv Shelduck. Masses of small gulls present early morning dispersed and may have supported more, but throughout the rest of the day only about 20 Mediterranean Gull were seen. There were also singles of Yellow-legged Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Common Gull and Common Tern.
On flat calm waters offshore, 21 Common Scoter, 16 Gannet and five distant Manx Shearwater. Just six Swallow and a couple of Swift overhead. The Entrance Bushes were lively as a mixed flock moved through with totals of 24 Chiffchaff, 14 Long-tailed Tit, six Blue Tit and two Great Tit. Long-staying notables were the two Raven, the male Kestrel and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.
Wildlife news: the occasional 'plop' in the Main Pond was improved on today with two Water Vole actually seen.
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