The tail of Storm Eowyn had long passed by first light, seawatching saw most birds passing distantly S, these included 136 Gannet, with no 1cy birds, 18 Red-throated and four Great Northern Diver, three diver sp and a Fulmar. Two Great Northern and a Red-throated Diver were also on the sea.
Elsewhere on a low high tide 870 Dunlin, 49 Common and a Mediterranean Gull, 30 Grey Plover and a Sanderling.
Ringing News: A total of 30 Exe-ringed Dunlin were recorded.
A late afternoon visit saw 29 Great Crested Grebe, 10 Common Scoter, the three Eider, three Red-throated and a Great Northern Diver offshore, with 124 Teal, 71 Shelduck, nine Wigeon and two Red-breasted Merganser in the estuary.
Elsewhere three Water Rail and a pair of Shoveler were at the Main Pond.
Other Wildlife: A Water Vole showed well at the Main Pond at dusk.
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| Scarlet Elfcup Sarcoscypha coccinea - Alan Keatley |
A late afternoon visit saw 31 Great Crested Grebe, three Common Scoter, the three Eider and two Great Northern Diver offshore, with 432 Dark and a Pale-bellied Brent Geese moving between the mudflats and fields at Eastdon.
Elsewhere three Water Rail, a pair of Shoveler and single Chiffchaff and Goldcrest were around the Main Pond and half a dozen Wren roosting in a nestbox in the Entrance Bushes.
98. Feral Pigeon
Other Wildlife: Not surprisingly no flying insects on a dull chilly day. Hidden insects included Lesne's Earwig under marram grass and Syntomus foveatus, a ground beetle, under driftwood.
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| Lesne's Earwig - Alan Keatley |
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| Syntomus foveatus - Alan Keatley |
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| Kingfisher - Martin Overy |
Early morning saw good numbers of birds feeding offshore including a fairly even mix of c50 Guillemot and Razorbill, the three Eider and 19 Red-throated and 11 Great Northern Diver.
Counts from the estuary on a big high tide included 1300 Dunlin, 200 Snipe, flushed by the rising waters, 185 Curlew, 156 Teal, 104 Bar-tailed Godwit, 70 Knot, 53 Cormorant, 46 Turnstone, 30 Ringed Plover, 24 Wigeon, 22 Sanderling, four Greenshank, three Red-breasted Merganser and a Mediterranean Gull.
Elsewhere 30 Siskin, three Bullfinch, two Chiffchaff and a Goldcrest in the bushes, male Kestrel and Sparrowhawk on Warren Point and three Stock Dove, two Jackdaw and a Rook overhead.
96. Kittiwake
97. Razorbill
Ringing News: A couple of notable reads amongst the Exe ringed waders. Dunlin AM was ringed as a 1cy on 7 September 2020 and has been seen regularly the last five winters and Oystercatcher EP, ringed here as a 2cy on 12 October 2021 and a non-breeding resident until Mar 2023 which was its last recorded sighting. Its apparent absence last winter likely due to wear making the colour-ring unreadable.
Other Wildlife: The Grey Squirrel remains resident on the Golf Course.
The Green-winged Teal was again in the estuary late morning and was then seen briefly at Exminster Marshes this afternoon. Also in the estuary a Kingfisher and an adult Mediterranean Gull. The first three Stock Dove of the year, over the Main Pond, was the only other news received.
93. Stock Dove
94. Mediterranean Gull
95. Firecrest (w/e 17th)
Ringing News: The metal ringed female Stonechat remains in Greenland Lake, it was ringed in the nest at Kingswear, south Devon in May 2022 and has been resident since April 2023, successfully breeding here the last two years.
Stonechat - Lee Collins
In the estuary 44 Exe ringed Dunlin were noted, including seven new birds from the recent catch.
Thick fog prevented coverage of the high tide with two Greenshank and two Red-breasted Merganser present in the estuary at low tide. Viewing offshore was also limited early morning but 49 Great Crested Grebe, seven Pintail and two Great Northern Diver were present late afternoon.
Elsewhere nine Skylark were in The Bight, three Siskin, and single Chiffchaff and Goldcrest were in the bushes with three Shoveler on the Main Pond.
92. Pintail
Other Wildlife: Several Petalwort Petalophylum ralfsii were growing well in the translocation area by the Entrance Bushes.
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| Petalwort Petalophylum ralfsii - Alan Keatley |
The Grey Squirrel was on the Golf Course with a Grey Seal off Langstone Rock. Smaller finds included the first Western Yellow Centipede Stigmatogaster subterranea for the Recording Area, one of the UK's longest species at over 70mm.
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| Western Yellow Centipede Stigmatogaster subterranea - Kevin Rylands |
Also under dead wood the rove beetle Paederus littoralis with the first Common Bluebottle Calliphora vicina of the year on the wing along with the grass fly Eutropha fulvifrons and the picture-winged fly Geomyza tripunctata.
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| Geomyza tripunctata - Alan Keatley |
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| Paederus littoralis - Alan Keatley |
A foggy start hampered counts offshore and in the estuary but an Egyptian Goose and 27 Sanderling were in The Bight with the usual species at high tide. A late afternoon visit saw 391 Dark and a Pale-bellied Brent Geese fly in to roost with 200 Carrion Crow, 72 Shelduck, five Jackdaw and four Greenshank on the mudflats and a Water Pipit in the saltmarsh.
Elsewhere 43 Great Crested Grebe, 11 Red-throated and four Great Northern Diver were offshore with two Chiffchaff and two Goldcrest in the bushes.
90. Egyptian Goose
91. Water Pipit
Ringing News: Despite the conditions 27 Exe ringed Dunlin were noted. So far 69 of the 99 birds marked 11 days ago have been resighted.
A good day with the best weather of the year so far with almost unbroken sunshine and very light wind. This created flat calm conditions offshore where there were three Eider, 20 Great Crested Grebe, 18 Red-throated and a Great Northern Diver. There was also an unconfirmed report of single Red-necked and Slavonian Grebe.
The highlight was offsite, a White-tailed Eagle from the IoW reintroduction scheme, watched from Warren Point, circling above Powderham, mobbed by corvids and a pair of Buzzard. Unfortunately it didn't head towards the Warren.
On the Warren itself an increase in finches with 30 Goldfinch, 15 Greenfinch and four Lesser Redpoll in the bushes, with single Chiffchaff and Goldcrest. A brief calling Cetti's Warbler and five Shoveler at the Main Pond.
Other Wildlife: A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus on Warren Point was the first hoverfly of the year on a good day for invertebrates.
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| Red Marsh Ladybird Coccidula rufa - Alan Keatley |
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| Common Damselbug Nabis rugosus - Alan Keatley |
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| Demetrias atricapillus - Alan Keatley |
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| Aphodius sphacelatus - Alan Keatley |
