Saturday 10th August

The storm passed last night, the barometer sprung back up 18 mb (in 24 hours), the rain stopped and the wind shifted southwest. To catch any seabirds that had sheltered overnight in the relative calm of the bay before heading out into Lyme Bay, seawatching was underway from first light.  Reasonable numbers of Kittiwake, Gannet and Fulmar passed through, but overall the sea was a bit disappointing with just single Manx Shearwater and a shearwater sp.  Highlights were eight Arctic Skua, two Storm Petrel, an adult Little Tern.

Around The Bight, in front of the hide and along the beach on the neap, early afternoon high tide, selected counts were 300+ Dunlin, 232+ Ringed Plover, 63+ Sanderling, 15+ Common Tern, four juvenile Mediterranean Gull, three Whimbrel, a single Knot, a juvenile Black Tern and an adult Arctic Tern.  A Willow Warbler was heard in the bushes. 

Wildlife news: despite the breezy conditions, 15+ species of hoverfly were found in sheltered spots, including Batman Hoverfly Myathropa florea, the hornet mimic Volucella zonaria and Hook-banded Wasp Hoverfly Chrysotoxum festivum.  Also noted a bee-wolf, Jersey Tiger and a few Painted Lady and Red Admiral. 

 Batman Hoverfly Myathropa florea - Alan Keatley

 Hook-banded Wasp hoverfly Chrysotoxum festivum - Alan Keatley

Jersey Tiger - Alan Keatley

Friday 9th August

The much anticipated unseasonably low 981 mb depression centered on southern Ireland produced strong south-southeasterly winds and heavy showers.  Lengthy hours of seawatching didn't produce anything unexpected with only a light dribble of Gannet and Kittiwake through all day and counts of c.40 Common Scoter, 38 Balearic Shearwater, 36 Manx Shearwater and 22 unidentified shearwaters, a testament to the distances and conditions that are often involved in seawatching from this site; also 22 Fulmar, 17 Arctic Skua and three Great Skua.  Small numbers of various waders were also moving south-southwest. 

Overall counts of birds offshore, in the estuary, and in the case of five species of wader that utilised the sodden fairways of the golf course to forage, included 274 Curlew, 264 Dunlin, 211 Sandwich Tern, 209 Ringed Plover, 87 Bar-tailed Godwit, 86 Redshank, c.50 Sanderling, 39 Common Tern, 23 Cormorant, ten Turnstone, six Black-tailed Godwit, six Greenshank, five each of Grey Plover, Whimbrel and Common Sandpiper, and a Knot.  Highlights from the hide were the adult Roseate Tern, and also reported the juv Black Tern and an Arctic Tern. 

Thursday 8th August

Both levels of the hide were packed out with visitors during the lunchtime high tide period and the murky inclement conditions grounded many migrants for everyone to see with increases shown as 269 Dunlin, 192 Ringed Plover, 40+ Sanderling and 13 Common Sandpiper.  Also in the estuary and The Bight, counts included 225 Sandwich Tern, 22 Common Tern, 12+ Mediterranean Gull, five Turnstone, two Grey Plover, a Knot, a Greenshank and the Slavonian Grebe.  

The juv Black Tern continued its stay and a new adult (single metal ringed) Roseate Tern rested for spells among other terns in front of the hide between foraging sorties.  Sandwich Terns ringed in Belgium, Netherlands, Wales and Farne Islands were present, including one bird that has lingered here for nearly four weeks.  Terns continued to bring in 'whitebait' to feed their semi-dependent young, which stand about on in the estuary waiting to be fed. Neither Sandwich Tern nor Common Tern breed in Devon and the bond between parent and young clearly remains strong during their long journeys over hundreds of miles during autumn migration. 

Offshore, a dozen Common Scoter, two Arctic Skua and a Great Skua.  The bushes continued to hold a Coal Tit and yesterday's Treecreeper, loosely associated with a mixed tit and warbler flock. Overall totals included 13 Long-tailed Tit, 18 Blackcap, 13 Chiffchaff and four Whitethroat. With these birds and the finch flocks about, the sighting again of the female Sparrowhawk was unsurprising. 

Wildlife news: despite the conditions, a few invertebrates were found with European Beewolf Philanthus triangulum the highlight.

European Beewolf - Alan Keatley

  

Wednesday 7th August

Lots of visitors gravitated to the hide today to watch the spectacle of birds gathered for the lunchtime high tide roost, and for the chance of seeing any of the more unusual tern species seen recently.  Whilst most small terns in the estuary today seemed to be foraging over Cockle Sands and The Ridge, including two Little Tern and 30+ Common Tern, the juv Black Tern eventually came over and spent time perched on a distant buoy.  

Also present during the high tide period, 785 Oystercatcher, c510 Black-headed Gull, 321 Curlew, 238 Sandwich Tern, 181 Dunlin, 135 Ringed Plover, 22 Whimbrel, 21 Mediterranean Gull, 17 Cormorant, 16 Common Tern, 15 Mute Swan, 10 Common Gull, eight Great Black-backed Gull, five Black-tailed Godwit, four each of Grey Heron, Little Egret and Turnstone, three Bar-tailed Godwit, three Sanderling and single Grey Plover, Knot, Common Sandpiper, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and the Slavonian Grebe. No counts of 'tringas' today.  Multiple Welsh and Dutch-ringed Sandwich Terns were again present today.    Two Wheatear were around The Bight.

A few Swallow, an immature Kestrel and a lone House Martin, so far very scarce this autumn, flew south west.  On and in bramble patches and wooded areas, the family (of 4) plus a pair of Stonechat; also eight Blackcap, four Chiffchaff, two Whitethroat, two Willow Warbler, a Coal Tit and the usual tit flocks and finches.

Wildlife news: a few Small Red-eyed Damselfly in tandem were on the Main Pond.  One or two Emperor Dragonfly and Common Darter also present.  Butterflies were still plentiful with a light sprinkle of Painted Lady and Red Admiral, lots of Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Common Blue still, and a few Speckled Wood, Small White and Green-veined White.  Two Jersey Tiger, one of which flew over the car park, and can be met with throughout the site in the right conditions and singles have been seen over the past few days. 

Tuesday 6th August

With a fresh southwesterly and heavy showers coinciding with the late morning high tide, hopes were raised for an influx of birds taking shelter in The Bight and estuary. In the event, numbers were on a par with recent days though by collecting close in front of the hide, visitors were treated to some great views and of fascinating insight of their lives as revealed by their uniquely colour-coded and metal rings.

Present were 700+ Oystercatcher, 383 Curlew, 246 Sandwich Tern, 217 Redshank, 193 Dunlin, 147 Ringed Plover, 57 Canada Goose, 29 Whimbrel, 24 Mediterranean Gull (17 adult, 1 ss, 3 fs, 3 juv), 16 Common Tern, 13 Cormorant, 11 Common Gull, six Great Black-backed Gull, five Mute Swan, four Little Egret, three each of Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderling and Greenshank, two Turnstone, a Common Sandpiper again on the island, the juv Black Tern present for its 3rd day, and the resident Slavonian Grebe.

Among these was a 2nd-calendar year metal-ringed Ringed Plover, the third recorded at this site from Germany, near the Denmark border.  These are of the nominate race hiaticula, the same as those that nest in the UK; a multi colour-ringed Dunlin from Wales (as a migrant there); a number of coded red-ringed Sandwich Tern from Wales, two coded yellow-ringed birds from the Netherlands, and metal-ringed Sandwich Terns from Germany and one from Lady's Island Lake, Co. Wexford, which was ringed as a pullus there in June 1993, making it over 26 years old! This is its 3rd autumn seen here.  The oldest ever recorded Sandwich Tern is 30 years 9 months old. 

Sandwich Terns (middle bird 'KJC' was ringed in Wales) - Lee Collins

Sandwich Tern ('T87' was ringed in the Netherlands) - Lee Collins

Not breezy enough for this site, nothing of note was seen at sea.  Eleven Swift dodged the showers heading south.  A Treecreeper in the Entrance Bushes was new for the year, where also found were two Coal Tit and two Willow Warbler. A Wheatear was the only other obvious migrant. 

Wildlife news; a few Painted Lady still.

Monday 5th August

The clouds of gulls and terns present in the estuary over the past few days had largely dispersed and the site had a more sedate feel about it today. Despite overnight movement, interest could still be found during the late morning high tide with the presence of two Little Tern (adult & juv) and the juv Black Tern among terns roosting on Finger Point and in front of the tide, totaling 221 Sandwich Tern and 11 Common Tern.  Of the Sandwich Tern, at least two were Dutch; yellow colour-ringed 'T87' was ringed as a pullus in 'Utopia', Texel, Holland in 2015 and was seen at Dawlish Warren a few times that autumn and in 2017.  Other sightings of it have been at Salcombe, south Devon and Namibia in Nov 2016. 

Other counts included 326 Curlew, 195 Dunlin, 98 Ringed Plover, nine Mediterranean Gull, three Bar-tailed Godwit, two Grey Plover, and single summer-plumage Knot, juv Black-tailed Godwit, and juv Common Sandpiper.

Common Sandpiper - Dave Jewell

Nothing of particular note at sea, nor overhead, nor in the bushes, just the Coal Tit again and a Collared Dove.

Wildlife news: Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirpites was spotted near the Back Meadow; an Emperor quartered the Main Pond and scattered around the site were a few Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Silver Y. 

Sunday 4th August

The advantage of long hours of daylight was again taken and both spring tides were covered as numbers of waterbirds continue to rise, today producing 773 Oystercatcher, 288 Redshank, 286 Dunlin, 246 Sandwich Tern, 139 Ringed Plover, 32 Sanderling, 27 Mediterranean Gull (various ages), 16 Canada Goose, 12 Mute Swan, 12 Cormorant, eight Little Egret, eight Great Black-backed Gull, seven Greenshank, six each of Common Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull, five Shelduck, four Bar-tailed Godwit, three Grey Heron, two Grey Plover, the first two Knot of the autumn, two Turnstone, a mobile noisy juv Little Ringed Plover, one Black-tailed Godwit, and 'Herbert', the resident Slavonian Grebe.  

juv Little Ringed Plover - Lee Collins

Highlights were an adult (unringed) Roseate Tern and the juv Black Tern, both at times close in front of the hide.  One of the South Africa ringed Sandwich Tern was also present again.  

Roseate Tern (note quite extensive red at bill base on this individual) - Lee Collins

A juv Peregrine put everything up briefly.  And the 'Tunes In The Castle' concert at Powderham, even at two miles away, was absurdly loud enough to get some visitors' hackles up, though attributing increased alertness of waterbirds in response to this additional potential source of disturbance was less straightforward.   

On the Main Pond, the first two Water Rail of the autumn squealed from the reedbeds where also heard were Reed Warbler continuing to feed their young and a Sedge Warbler 'tcheked' and popped out after a bit of 'spishing'. 

Offshore, rafts of c20 Shag, 15 Common Scoter and just single figures of Gannet and Kittiwake, plus a single Great Crested Grebe.

Saturday 3rd August

Another humid day with an onshore easterly breeze in the morning coinciding with a spring tide and plentiful shoals attracted big numbers of gulls and terns to the lower estuary with year-max counts including c.750 Black-headed Gull, 256 Sandwich Tern and 38 Common Tern, joined by a single adult Arctic Tern at times with a juv Black Tern.

juv Black Tern - Lee Collins

The evening tide was also covered and counts for the day included 632 Oystercatcher, including the returning partial albino bird, 329 Redshank (a year-max), 317+ Curlew, 117 Dunlin, 84 Ringed Plover (a year-max), 48 Whimbrel, 30 Canada Goose, 29 Mediterranean Gull (16 adult, 2 ss, 3 fs, 8 juv); 28 Cormorant (2 juvs), 27 Sanderling, nine Mute Swan, nine Great Black-backed Gull, six Greenshank, five each of Little Egret, Turnstone, Common Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull, three Grey Heron, two Mallard, two Grey Plover, two Bar-tailed Godwit, the first Teal of the autumn, a mobile juv Little Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper, a Black-tailed Godwit flew north, a juv Yellow-legged Gull and the resident Slavonian Grebe.

The juv Kittiwake was again on Finger Point. Alas no sign of yesterday's Stone-Curlew. A couple of Arctic Skua floated together offshore in the morning, but the biggest surprise of the day was a flock of four pale phase Arctic Skua in the estuary over Cockle Sands, likely attracted in by a huge cloud of terns and gulls there, which they chased around, creating quite a commotion.  The loose flock of skuas then took height, soared around and drifted up the east side of the estuary.  This is highly unusual behaviour by this species.

Three generations of Moorhen again wandered the fairways at dusk and a Sedge Warbler was near the Main Pond earlier.  Single Sparrowhawk, Peregrine and 25+ Swallow overhead. The Marsh Tit was back again with a mixed tit and 'phylosc' flock, including Coal Tit again and two Willow Warbler, calling and mobile.  Two Collared Dove also in bushes and the male plus three juv Stonechat were again predictably around the 14th to hide area.  Modest-sized flocks of Linnet and Goldfinch continue to roam the site but 105+ House Sparrow pre-roost flock in scrub around the golf course outbuildings was another year-max.

Wildlife news: lots of active insects, images of two of the more showy species below are Sand-tailed Digger-wasp Cerceris arenaria and the parasitic wasp Gasteruption jaculator.

Sand-tailed Digger-wasp Cerceris arenaria - Alan Keatley

parasitic wasp Gasteruption jaculator - Alan Keatley

Friday 2nd August

A Stone-Curlew present all day and into the late evening was the main attraction.  It ranged from the golf course to the end of Warren Point.  This was the fourth bird since 2013 but only the eighth record since 1867.  It spent the morning high tide stood, incongruously, among the large and noisy mixed aggregation of Oystercatcher and Sandwich Tern on Finger Point.  It reigned a small circle of unfamiliar awe around it, though occasionally an Oystercatcher would walk up closer to inspect the interloper, before running off. For a brief time, things got stranger still when a juvenile Kittiwake, a scarce bird on Finger Point, got close enough for both species to eye each other.  One has to wonder how many times that's ever happened.

 Stone-Curlew - Lee Collins

Stone-Curlew - Lee Collins

Little else received attention today though a few counts of birds in the estuary were of 600+ Oystercatcher, 330 Curlew, 207 Sandwich Tern, 85 Dunlin, 50 Ringed Plover, 25 Sanderling, 27 Common Tern (7 juvs), 22 Whimbrel, 21 Canada Goose, eight Mute Swan, eight Greenshank, five Little Egret, five Mediterranean Gull, four Grey Plover, three Bar-tailed Godwit, two Turnstone, a Little Ringed Plover, a Grey Heron and the resident Slavonian Grebe. 

Little Ringed Plover - Lee Collins

Another huge find today was a Marsh Tit, seen and heard with a mixed tit flock, including a Coal Tit, a notable species this time of the year, moving up through the site.  Seems likely this is the same bird as one here on 16th June, though still constitutes only the 12th record for site.  Migrants in the bushes were two Willow Warbler, a Sedge Warbler and a Wheatear beside the hide.

Elsewhere, a trickle of Swallow passing through all day, plus a couple of Swift.  A small number of Mediterranean Gull joined other small gulls and hirundines anting overhead.  

Thursday 1st August

Into a cycle of morning spring tides, counts were of 610 Oystercatcher (5 juvs), 145 Sandwich Tern, 41 Ringed Plover, 19 Whimbrel, 13 Sanderling, 12 Common Tern, two Shelduck (the first for some weeks), a juv Little Ringed Plover, a Roseate Tern, and new for the year, a juv Ruff on Finger Point.  

At least 60 Swallow passed through but the bushes held no obvious migrants and the most noteworthy record there was of two Collared Dove still.