Friday 13 November 2020

Friday 13th November

Rain stopped before dawn and the day became pleasantly sunny, calm and mild. A half-hour seawatch from first light saw 102 auk spp., 69 Gannet, 11 Kittiwake and single Great Northern Diver, Red-throated Diver and a diver sp. depart south out of the bay. Two Great Crested Grebe floated offshore. Wooded areas were busy with 22 Long-tailed Tit, 14 Blue Tit, eight Goldcrest, seven Great Tit, seven Chiffchaff, four Chaffinch, three Coal Tit, two Bullfinch, two Great Spotted Woodpecker and a juv male Sparrowhawk found stunned in Dead Dolphin Wood; perhaps it crashed into something whilst in pursuit of prey.  Despite good numbers of foliage dwellers on site, the absence of Firecrest was possibly explained by one or two individuals seen in gardens of Dawlish Warren village today. 

On Main Pond, most of the seven Moorhen, four Shoveler, three Water Rail and two Mallard, including a domestic-type thing which has been seen before to commute towards Dawlish town down the coast. Mobile around the site, small feeding flocks that totaled c.40 Linnet, c.30 Goldfinch and 18 Greenfinch.  Also a Stock Dove circled Greenland Lake; other representative counts were eight Skylark, six Meadow Pipit, four Raven, four Cirl Bunting, four Stonechat, a Grey Wagtail and a Rook.  The tide was too low to enable meaningful counts of other waterbirds in the estuary.

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