Saturday 31st August

A juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was in the Bight with 200+ Dunlin and smaller numbers of Ringed Plover, Knot, Sanderling and Turnstone. Also in the estuary the Slavonian Grebe, 20 Sandwich and two Little Tern.

 

Elsewhere single Yellow and Grey Wagtail were overhead and there was a large feeding aggregation out in Lyme Bay with 70+ Manx Shearwater, 65+ Gannet and 50+ Kittiwake close enough to identify.

Thursday 29th August

Three Curlew Sandpiper, an adult and two juveniles, were amongst the Dunlin and Ringed Plover in the Bight with a Ruff, a Little Ringed Plover, 24 Knot, eight Sanderling, seven Grey Plover and a Lapwing. Elsewhere three Little Tern were in the estuary, the first Tree Pipit of the autumn flew over with a Lesser Whitethroat in Dead Dolphin Wood.

Wildlife News: A Lesser Hornet Hoverfly Volucella inanis was found near the Tractor Compound, a new species for the Recording Area. This species lays its eggs in wasp nests, this species uses ground nests, whilst its close relative Hornet Hoverfly Volucella zonaria uses tree nests. Butterflies included a Clouded Yellow, double figures of Painted Lady and Red Admiral and a Wall.

 Lesser Hornet Hoverfly - Alan Keatley

 Autumn Ladies Tresses - Alan Keatley

Common Darter - Alan Keatley

 

 

Monday 26th August

The first Curlew Sandpiper of the year, a fresh juvenile, was in the Bight with 259 Dunlin, 100 Ringed Plover, 29 Knot, 14 Sanderling and four Grey Plover. Also in the estuary the first three Teal of autumn, 395 Curlew, 366 Redshank, 14 Sandwich Tern, seven Greenshank, four Black and three Bar-tailed Godwit, two Mediterranean Gull and the Slavonian Grebe.

Elsewhere a Spotted Flycatcher was by the Tractor Compound but other migrant numbers were much reduced, with two Grey and a Yellow Wagtail were overhead with just 10 Swallow, a House Martin, three Rook and a Jackdaw.

 

Wheatear - Charles Fleming

Sunday 25th August

A misty start to the day lifted just too soon with the birds moving to the east of us presumably following the cloud line just to the north of the Warren. As a consequence there was virtually no movement overhead with just 35 Swallow, four Yellow and a Grey Wagtail noted. Grounded migrants were however more numerous with two Lesser Whitethroat, a Whinchat, at least five Wheatear, a Garden Warbler, 11 Whitethroat, nine Chiffchaff and eight Blackcap.

Lesser Whitethroat - Charles Fleming

The estuary was also busy with an Osprey mid morning, a juvenile Black Tern, a Little Ringed Plover, 331 Curlew, 294 Redshank, 226 Dunlin, 97 Ringed Plover, 49 Sandwich and four Common Tern, 47 Knot, a Greenshank, the first Snipe of the autumn and the Slavonian Grebe. A second Black Tern joined over 700 Black-headed and 10 Mediterranean Gull anting over the estuary and surround areas.

Wildlife News: Two Clouded Yellow were seen and the Grey Seal was in the estuary.

Saturday 24th August

A small fall of migrants included only the second Lesser Whitethroat of the year amongst 12 Whitethroat, 11 Blackcap, a Garden Warbler and a Wheatear. Also around the bushes two Treecreeper and a Coal Tit. Over the high tide two juvenile Little Ringed Plover were in the Bight with 1018 Oystercatcher, 345 Dunlin, 129 Ringed Plover, 79 Sandwich and a Common Tern, 15 Knot and 13 Sanderling. Also in the estuary the Slavonian Grebe and an adult Cormorant feeding a juvenile bird, not something previously noted on site.

Wildlife News: The first Clouded Yellow of the year was in Greenland Lake along with 20+ Painted Lady and at least three Red Admiral.

Clouded Yellow - Alan Keatley

Thursday 22nd August

Counts over a low high tide included 273 Dunlin, 136 Ringed Plover, 45 Sandwich Tern, 26 Sanderling, five Turnstone, two juvenile Mediterranean Gull and a Bar-tailed Godwit. Elsewhere a Whinchat was on the Point, with 12 Blackcap, six Whitethroat, two Willow and a Sedge Warbler also on site and a Yellow Wagtail overhead.

Wildlife News: Sea Daffodil is again in flower on Warren Point; the Warren one of just a handful of locations in the UK for this plant. 

Sea Daffodil - Alan Keatley

Elsewhere at least 20 Painted Lady were on site with two Red Admiral also new arrivals. Six Small Red-eyed Damselfly were on the Main Pond and good numbers of Yellow-legged Mining Bee Andrena flavipes and their cuckoo Painted Nomad Bee Nomada fucata.

 Yellow-legged Mining Bee - Alan Keatley

Painted Nomad Bee - Alan Keatley

Monday 19th August

A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was on Finger Point, a colour-ringed bird from the Atlantic coast of France that has been at Exmouth recently. Also present over the high tide 260 Sandwich, four Common and a juvenile Arctic Tern and seven Mediterranean Gull. Wader counts included 322 Redshank, 310 Dunlin, 250 Ringed Plover, 31 Sanderling, 25 Knot, eight Whimbrel, seven Common Sandpiper, five Greenshank, and single Bar and Black-tailed Godwit.

 Yellow-legged Gull - Lee Collins

Elsewhere a single Swift was overhead with a dozen House Martin, a Wheatear was in the Bight and a Ring-necked Parakeet added some colour. Blue phase birds are only known from captivity not feral or wild populations. This may be an escape or one of an increasing number of illegally released birds in Devon.

Ring-necked Parakeet - Lee Collins

 

Wildlife News: At least two of the nationally rare cranefly Geranomyia bezzi were recorded in the Bight, the first sighting since the sea defence work. The Warren is the only regular UK site for this species.

 

 

Sunday 18th August

A juvenile Arctic Tern was the highlight over high tide in with 171 Sandwich and four Common Tern. Also in the estuary 395 Dunlin, 279 Curlew, 232 Redshank, 203 Ringed Plover, 29 Sanderling, 19 Whimbrel, 14 Knot, 13 Mediterranean Gull, four Greenshank, two Black and Bar-tailed Godwit and the Slavonian Grebe.
 
Elsewhere 112 Gannet and 80 Kittiwake were offshore, two Swift were overhead with 11 Swallow, five Sand and a House Martin with four Willow Warbler, two Wheatear, a Coal Tit and a Green Woodpecker on site.

Wildlife News: A Grey Seal was in the estuary.

Saturday 17th August

Seawatching first thing saw four Balearic Shearwater head south out of the bay with 190 Kittiwake, 75 Gannet and 65 Common Tern but the numbers soon dropped off. Small numbers of Common Tern remained over high tide with 160 Sandwich Tern, with wader counts including 385 Dunlin, 268 Curlew, 239 Ringed Plover, 178 Redshank, 42 Sanderling, including the first juvenile, seven Knot, six Whimbrel, two Bar-tailed Godwit and two Greenshank. Also in the estuary 10 Mediterranean Gull and the Slavonian Grebe.

Whitethroat - Alan Keatley

Elsewhere the first Grey Wagtail and two Meadow Pipit of the autumn were overhead with a Wheatear on Warren Point and a Treecreeper and Coal Tit were with the Long-tailed Tit flock in the Entrance Bushes.

Wildlife News: A Black Mining Bee Andrena pilipes by the Entrance Bushes was the highlight. This nationally rare species likes later-flowering umbellifers and brambles, nesting in banks of bare sand.

Black Mining Bee Andrena pilipes - Alan Keatley 

 

Other invertebrates recorded included several Beewolf Philanthus triangulum and Hornet Hoverfly Volucella zonaria, Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Dark-winged Flesh Fly Nyctia halterata and the nationally scarce weevil Sibinia arenariae, the latter both new to the recording area. Butterflies were also present in numbers with 13 species recorded including Brown Argus, Wall, Holly Blue and numerous Painted Lady.

 

 Hornet Hoverfly - Alan Keatley

Dark-winged Flesh Fly - Alan Keatley

 

 

Friday 16th August

A wet and windy day but seawatching was disappointing with just four Manx Shearwater far enough into the bay to identify but 110 Kittiwake and 20 Gannet did also pass south. The conditions did however bring good numbers of terns to the estuary the highlight being a juvenile Roseate Tern along with 270 Sandwich, 94 Common, two Arctic and a juvenile Little Tern. Wader counts included 302 Dunlin, 170 Ringed Plover, 15 Knot, eight Greenshank and four Grey Plover, including three smart summer plumaged birds.

Thursday 15th August

Small wader numbers had declined overnight, with counts of 220 Dunlin, 58 Ringed Plover, 12 Sanderling and a Turnstone. Other counts included 810 Oystercatcher, 322 Curlew, 243 Redshank, 182 Sandwich and three Common Tern, 19 Whimbrel and six Greenshank. Other migrants included two juvenile Willow Warbler and a Wheatear.

Wildlife News: There were double figures of Painted Lady on the wing with several Common Blue, Large and Small White, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood alongside two Red Admiral, a Wall and a Brown Argus.

Wall - Alan Keatley

Over a dozen hoverfly species were on the wing; predominantly Batman Hoverfly Myathropa florea, Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax and Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus, with lesser numbers of Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax, Stripe-faced Dronefly Eristalis nemorum and Long Hoverfly Sphaerophoria scripta. Others included Common Spotted Eupeodes Eupeodes luniger, Large Pied Hoverfly Volucella pellucens, Hornet Hoverfly Volucella zonaria, Thick-legged Hoverfly Syritta pipiens, Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus, Slender Melanostoma Melanostoma scalare and Small Spotty-eyed Hoverfly Eristalinus sepulchralis.

Long-winged Conehead - Alan Keatley

Wednesday 14th August

A juvenile Wood Sandpiper in front of the hide early morning was the highlight on another busy day. Counts from the estuary included 461 Dunlin, 330 Ringed Plover, 208 Sandwich Tern, 16 Sanderling, 15 Common Tern, 10 Mediterranean Gull, eight Knot, six Greenshank, a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull, an Arctic Tern and the Slavonian Grebe.

Yellow-legged Gull - Lee Collins

Offshore a mixed feeding party of shearwaters included nine Balearic and five Manx with 130 Kittiwake and at least two Arctic Skua also present.

Monday 12th August

The high tide continued to impress with large flocks of waders including 329 Dunlin, 143 Ringed Plover, eight Whimbrel, three Knot, two Common Sandpiper, a Greenshank and a Bar-tailed Godwit. Also in the estuary 221 Sandwich, 10 Common and a Little Tern, 10 Mediterranean Gull and the Slavonian Grebe.

Sunday 11th August

The mid-afternoon high tide waterbird roosts were studiously  counted and the results were 771 Oystercatcher, 445 Dunlin, 364 Redshank, 320 Ringed Plover (including the German/ Danish ringed bird), 286 Curlew, 196 Sandwich Tern, 51 Sanderling, 39 Whimbrel, 26 Turnstone (15 juvs), 23 Great Black-backed Gull, 20 Cormorant, 15 Common Tern, 14 Mute Swan, 14 Canada Goose, eight Little Egret, five Greenshank, four Mediterranean Gull, four Bar-tailed Godwit, three Black-tailed Godwit, three Common Sandpiper, two Knot, single Grey Heron, Grey Plover, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull and 'Herbert' the resident Slavonian Grebe  The presence of two Sparrowhawk and a Peregrine made them all a little jumpy.

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.