Tuesday 8th October

The Long-billed Dowitcher remains in the estuary, flying to the Bight with Redshank when disturbed by strong winds and heavy showers. They all returned to the saltmarsh (no general access) when the weather cleared. Closer views revealing the extent of moult since its arrival on 13 September. 

Long-billed Dowitcher - Alan Keatley

Also in the estuary 83 Dark and a Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 82 Shelduck, 64 Dunlin, 60 Ringed Plover, 46 Turnstone, 18 Greenshank, 12 Sandwich Tern, four Sanderling and a Whimbrel. 

The female Eider was again on Finger Point with six birds offshore, an eclipse male and presumed returning the three male and two females. Elsewhere nine Swallow flew through and four Chiffchaff were on site.

Other Wildlife: The weather also affected the few insects that were about, including a Hairy-backed Boxhead Wasp Crossocerus megacephalus in a torpid state on an evening primrose. The flight period is normally to September, so this record is particularly late.

Hairy-backed Boxhead Wasp Crossocerus megacephalus - Alan Keatley

Monday 7th October

A White-rumped Sandpiper was an all too brief visitor to The Bight on the dropping tide, the fourth for the Warren after birds in May & July 1998 and November 2013.  An incredible third North American wader in the last three weeks, the Long-billed Dowitcher, in an area with no general access, again getting second billing.

White-rumped Sandpiper - Lee Collins

Also in the estuary 74 Dunlin and Ringed Plover, 21 Bar and a Black-tailed Godwit, 19 Greenshank, 10 Sandwich and a Common Tern, a Pale-bellied Brent Goose and a Kingfisher.

Elsewhere four Arctic Skua and a Balearic Shearwater flew S early morning and a Cetti's Warbler was on the Golf Course, occurring for the eighth successive autumn.

Year list addition:

176. White-rumped Sandpiper

Other Wildlife: The recent weather continues to encourage fungi, including a new species for the Recording Area, Shaggy Scalycap Pholiota squarrosa along with Steely Bonnet Mycena pseudocorticola and Purple Jellydisc Ascocoryne sarcoides.

Shaggy Scalycap Pholiota squarrosa - Alan Keatley

Steely Bonnet Mycena pseudocorticola - Alan Keatley

Insects included at least eight Common Darter, three Migrant Hawker, ten Speckled Wood, five Small White and two Peacock.

Hoverflies are also beginning to reduce in number, but did include Gossamer Baccha elongata and Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus, Spotted Meliscaeva M. auricollis and Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax.

Sunday 6th October

The Long-Billed Dowitcher was in the estuary with on the dropping tide, with 236 Dark and two Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 83 Dunlin, 66 Ringed Plover, 63 Shelduck and 11 Sandwich Tern. With no reports in recent days the five Eider may have relocated to Poole Harbour. 

Elsewhere a Common Sandpiper was on the beach around groyne 15, an Arctic Skua flew low over the car park pursued by a Carrion Crow, eight Chiffchaff and two Goldcrest were on site and offshore just 35 Gannet in 1 hr 45 minutes in poor visibility early morning with even fewer during the afternoon's weather.

Saturday 5th October

Highlights from today on site. A Cory's Shearwater S at 08:43, about an hour and a half into a 2.5 hr sea watch with other highlights being 221 Gannet and eight Common Scoter.

In the estuary, a juvenile Caspian Gull, the Long-Billed Dowitcher in Shutterton Creek, 487 Wigeon, 401 Teal, 118 Dark Bellied Brent Geese, 41 Shelduck, single Scandinavian Rock Pipit, Snipe, Black-tailed Godwit in the estuary corner, and the usual suspects.

Caspian Gull - both David Flack

Best from the bushes, single Goldcrest and three Chiffchaff.

Friday 4th October

No sign of either the Semipalmated Sandpiper or Long-billed Dowitcher today, with the dowitcher relocated at the north end of the estuary off Turf this evening. 

Counts from the estuary included 420 Wigeon, 249 Curlew, 175 Redshank, 121 Teal, 107 Dark and six Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 43 Dunlin, 36 Ringed Plover, 18 Sandwich Tern, eight Greenshank, three Great Crested Grebe, three Sanderling and a Black-tailed Godwit. 

Wheatear - Dave Jewell. One of three on site today

Thursday 3rd October

The Semipalmated Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowitcher were again around The Bight over both tides. The sandpiper with around 120 mixed Dunlin and Ringed Plover, the dowitcher with 346 Redshank and seven Knot on Finger Point.

Semipalmated Sandpiper - Mark Bailey

Semipalmated Sandpiper (with Ringed Plover) - Mark Bailey

Also around the estuary three Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 14 Greenshank, two Mediterranean Gull, five Turnstone, two Whimbrel and a Spotted Redshank, with a Kingfisher on the Main Pond.

Wednesday 2nd October

The Warren's fourth Semipalmated Sandpiper, the first October record and the second this year, was found in The Bight on the dropping morning tide, reappearing on the evening for 15 minutes before presumably roosting unseen on Warren Point. 

Semipalmated Sandpiper - Lee Collins

Semipalmated Sandpiper - Dean Hall

Another transatlantic vagrant, the long-staying Long-billed Dowitcher was again present with Redshank on both tides, dropping on to Finger Point in the evening.

Long-billed Dowitcher - Dean Hall

Other records from the estuary included two immature Spoonbill with counts including 370 Wigeon, 294 Teal, 79 Dark and three Pale-bellied Brent Geese, 73 Ringed Plover, 64 Dunlin, 38 Shelduck, 21 Bar and two Black-tailed Godwit, 20 Greenshank, seven Knot, six adult Mediterranean Gull, five Eider, four Turnstone and a Whimbrel 

Elsewhere a Great Northern Diver, five Sandwich and a Common Tern were offshore, four Sanderling and a Grey Plover were on the beach, a Kingfisher was on the Main Pond, six Chiffchaff, a Goldcrest and a Wheatear were on site with 35 House Martin, 19 Swallow, 10 Meadow Pipit, three Chaffinch, two Jackdaw and a Rook were overhead.

Tuesday 1st October

There was no sign of the Yellow-browed Warbler but a Pied Flycatcher in the Entrance Bushes mirrored one on the same date last year. There have only been two other October records, both on the 3rd in 1974 & 1980. 

Pied Flycatcher - Jim Summers

Elsewhere five Chiffchaff were on site, the Long-billed Dowitcher was again in an area with no general access, five Sandwich and a juvenile Common Tern were on Finger Point and a Buzzard flew low over Dead Dolphin Wood, mobbed by the resident Kestrel. 

Other Wildlife: In the warm weather a total of nineteen Common Lizard were basking in a favoured area, mostly small immatures, suggesting a good breeding season on site. Also active in the warm weather, a “late” Early Mason Wasp Ancistrocerus nigricornis, several Common Darter, a few Migrant Hawker, a Comma and a Clouded Yellow.

Early Mason Wasp Ancistrocerus nigricornis - Alan Keatley

Other records included the first attempted breeding of Rosemary Beetle, and on the beach, Black Marram Weevil Otiorhynchus atroapterus and hundreds of cockles deposited by the recent gale.

Rosemary Beetle - Alan Keatley

Black Marram Weevil Otiorhynchus atroapterus - Alan Keatley

Cockles - Alan Keatley

The only Clouded Yellow butterfly I’ve seen this year. Fantastic to see. Dawlish Warren nature reserve Devon @WarrenBirding @savebutterflies @ukbutterflies @Natures_Voice @WildlifeMag #butterflies #devon #dawlish pic.twitter.com/JidvPqNfCc

— Tim Ridgeway (@TimTim292) October 1, 2024

Monday 30th September

Early morning a few of yesterday's terns were seen leaving the estuary with a distant flock of 16 'commic' Tern south along with three Arctic and a Black Tern and single Pomarine and Arctic Skua. 

There was no news on the dowitcher with counts from the estuary including 411 Wigeon, 62 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 20 Shelduck, 12 Cattle Egret, four Great Crested Grebe and a Pintail. Around The Bight, the six Eider were on Finger Point with waders numbers limited to 32 Ringed Plover, 31 Dunlin and two Bar-tailed Godwit amongst the Oystercatcher.

Elsewhere a Yellow-browed Warbler was in Dead Dolphin Wood, the first September record for the Warren, the earliest previous record was on 3rd October 1988. The only other migrants reported were six Chiffchaff and a Wheatear with 15 House Martin overhead.

Year list addition:

175: Yellow-browed Warbler

Sunday 29th September

Two hours seawatching from 7.30am saw good numbers of Kittiwake heading south along with at least nine Arctic Skua, some lingering and eight skua sp, two of which were probably Pomarine, a Balearic Shearwater, four Arctic and a Common Tern.

A short afternoon watch showed little moving offshore as the rain arrived, but the conditions had driven many birds into the estuary. Counts were challenging with a constant movement of birds through The Bight, especially as conditions improved, over 50 Common and Sandwich Tern headed out to sea with an adult and six juvenile Arctic Tern, a flock of four and a single Arctic Skua and juvenile Black Tern and Little Gull.

Black Tern - Lee Collins

Little & Black-headed Gull - Lee Collins

Arctic Skua and Curlew - Lee Collins

With the exception of Oystercatcher, roosting waders were well dispersed with 56 Turnstone the only counts.  A minimum 92 Great Black-backed Gull were present, a good recent count of although with constant movement, actual numbers were likely higher. In one count of 83 birds, 19 were juveniles indicating a successful breeding season. 

Ringing News: Over 80 of the DCWRG ringed Oystercatcher were recorded today, an incredible return. These included several birds over 25 years, several new returns for the winter and enabled a couple of mystery birds to be resolved.

Unfortunately an increasing numbers of the individual colour-rings are becoming too worn to read in the field meaning they can no longer be unrecorded. The metal ring of one such bird was read today confirming the durability of the Oystercatcher previously known as 8Y, last recorded in 2020.

Away from Oystercatcher, recoveries included a 1cy Great Black-backed Gull from north France along with regular birds from Looe Island, Cornwall and Portland Harbour, Dorset; a Scandinavian ringed Lesser Black-backed Gull and a Sandwich Tern from Cemlyn, north Wales.

Saturday 28th September

The Long-billed Dowitcher was seen briefly in an area with no general access, in flight with a small flock of Redshank on the dropping evening tide. Also in the saltmarsh, 348 Curlew, six Knot, four Lapwing and single Snipe, Whimbrel and Cattle Egret.

Also in the estuary, 22 Sandwich Tern were on Bull Hill and 80 Ringed Plover, 74 Dunlin, 49 Dark and three Pale-bellied Brent Geese were in The Bight.

Elsewhere five Eider, three males and two females, were off Warren Point, 15 Sanderling were along the beach, 460 Black-headed Gull were feeding offshore and 16 Chiffchaff, two Blackcap and a Wheatear were on site.

Other Wildlife: Good numbers of hoverflies with ten species recorded. Amongst the many Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax were several Batman Myathropa florea, Large Tiger Helophilus trivittatus and Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus.

Batman Hoverfly Myathropa florea - Alan Keatley

Other insects noted were a Red-legged Shieldbug, Field Digger Wasp Mellinus arvensis, White-zoned Furrow Bee Lasioglossum leucozomium and a Chalk Snailkiller Dichetophora obliterata.

Red-legged Shieldbug - Alan Keatley

White-zoned Furrow Bee Lasioglossum leucozomium - Alan Keatley

Chalk Snailkiller Dichetophora obliterata - Alan Keatley

Butterflies on the wing included good numbers of Speckled Wood, with several Red Admiral, Small and a few Large White on the move. Michaelmas Daisy attached Common Blue, Meadow Brown and Small Copper. 

Basking in the autumn sunshine were a few Common Darter and Migrant Hawker with numerous Ivy Bee busy around flowering Ivy.

Common Darter - Kevin Rylands

Dasineura trifolii a clover gall midge New for the Recording Area - Kevin Rylands

A Grey Squirrel was in Dead Dolphin Wood.

Friday 27th September

A juvenile Arctic Tern, a Great Northern Diver and two Mediterranean Gull were offshore with eight Chiffchaff and four Blackcap around the Entrance Bushes. 

With no news on the Long-billed Dowitcher there are no plans for access this weekend.

Other Wildlife: Toothed Fireweed Senecio minimus was discovered by the Boathouse, a new plant for the Recording Area and Devon. A native of western Australia and New Zealand, it is well established on the Isles of Scilly but with only five other UK records.

Toothed Fireweed - Kevin Rylands

The recent rain has brought out a range of fungi, with Blackening Waxcap in Greenland Lake and Velvet Shank and Tawny Grisette in the Entrance Bushes.

Velvet Shank Flammulina velutipes - Kevin Rylands

Tawny Grisette Amanita fulva - Kevin Rylands

Thursday 26th September

The Long-billed Dowitcher remains in the estuary corner with Redshank, only visible from an area with no general access. Wildfowl continue to increase with 636 Teal and 270 Wigeon, with wader numbers largely similar to yesterday including 32 Turnstone, 17 Greenshank, seven Bar and two Black-tailed Godwit, six Knot, two Whimbrel and the Spotted Redshank.

Also present a flock of 15 Cattle Egret, which dropped into the Railway Saltmarsh around 2pm and then moved to fields at Eastdon, 17 Sandwich Tern, six Mediterranean Gull and two Kingfisher, both later at the Main Pond. 

Seawatching for 40 minutes before 8am saw 39 Balearic Shearwater head south with a close juvenile Arctic Tern and a distant flock of c25 'commic' Tern. An hour's watch in the evening saw another 51 Balearic Shearwater head south with two skua sp, single Pomarine and Arctic Skua and a Great Northern Diver offshore.

Other records included a Buzzard low over the estuary flushing waders, three Jackdaw were foraging on the mudflats, 13 Chiffchaff, two Blackcap and two Wheatear were on site and a Grey Wagtail was overhead.

Wednesday 25th September

The Long-billed Dowitcher remained in the estuary corner, eventually showing to a small group on the dropping after long, wet wait. Only visible from an area with no general access. 

Long-billed Dowitcher - Lee Collins

Also in the estuary a long-staying (20 minutes) Green Sandpiper, 321 Wigeon, 310 Teal, 124 Ringed Plover, 67 Turnstone, a significant increase, 66 Dunlin, 18 Sandwich Tern, 14 Greenshank, six Knot, five Shelduck, two Kingfisher, two Mediterranean Gull, two Whimbrel and single Black-tailed Godwit, Snipe and Spotted Redshank. A probable Garganey was in the estuary during the heaviest spell of rain but could not be relocated.

Elsewhere the site's first Ortolan Bunting flew over calling before the rain, six Balearic Shearwater, two skua sp, an Arctic Skua and a Red-throated Diver were offshore, 20 Swallow and a Sand Martin were also overhead and a flock of 10 Wheatear were around the Bight.

Year list addition:

174: Ortolan Bunting

Other Wildlife: Despite the conditions new insects for the year are still being found, an Ivy Wasp-grabber Leopoldius signatus was stalking Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris in the willows by the Main Pond and a Dark Swordgrass, a migrant moth, was almost underfoot at the dowitcher twitch. 

Ivy Wasp-grabber Leopoldius signatus - Alan Keatley

Twin-spot Centurion Sargus bipunctatus - Alan Keatley

More suiting the conditions, three ground beetle Oxypselaphus obscurus were under the same log in the Education Area.

Oxypselaphus obscurus - Alan Keatley

Tuesday 24th September

The Long-billed Dowitcher remains in the estuary corner with 312 Redshank, only visible from an area with no general access. Viewing tomorrow - meet at the golf course clubhouse at 13.00, donations to Devon Wildlife Trust welcomed.

Also in the estuary three Cattle Egret in the Railway Saltmarsh early morning, 352 Teal, 156 Wigeon, 110 Ringed Plover, 60 Dunlin, 19 Knot, 18 Greenshank, 17 Sanderling, five Bar-tailed Godwit, four Whimbrel, three Mediterranean Gull, three Sandwich Tern, a Pintail and the Spotted Redshank. 

Elsewhere a Great Northern Diver was offshore, two Rook were overhead, a Grey Wagtail was at the Main Pond and 15 Chiffchaff, two Blackcap and a Wheatear were onsite. 

Other Wildlife: A new moth for the Recording Area, White-legged Case-bearer Coleophora albitarsella, was discovered near the seawall, with the larval case and feeding signs noted on the leaves of Ground-Ivy.

White-legged Case-bearer Coleophora albitarsella - Kevin Rylands

A Grey Squirrel by the station continues the upward trend in sightings.

Monday 23rd September

The Long-billed Dowitcher and a Spotted Redshank were in the saltmarsh corner (no access) with Redshank, with 110 Ringed Plover, 59 Dunlin, 23 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, a Sanderling and a Common Sandpiper also in the estuary.

An early morning seawatch in calm conditions saw a surprising 155 Balearic Shearwater head west in just 50 minutes along with two Pomarine Skua, three Sandwich and a Common Tern, with three Great Northern Diver on the sea.

Ringing News: The influx of Ringed Plover included a colour-ringed immature from Norway. 

Other Wildlife: An expected reduction in insect numbers as autumn progresses. However, a Red-banded Sand Wasp Ammophila sabulosa was still active with a Pied Plumehorn Volucella pellucens amongst the small numbers of hoverflies. Day flying moths were represented by a migrant Diamond-back and a Yellow Shell.

Red-banded Sand Wasp Ammophila sabulosa - Alan Keatley

Pied Plumehorn Volucella pellucens - Alan Keatley

Diamond-back Moth - Alan Keatley

A new fly for the Recording Area was discovered, the widespread muscid Helina impuncta, with two other additions to the annual audit, the ground beetle Pterostichus niger, typically found under a rotting log and on foliage the barkfly - Ectopsocus petersi.

Helina impuncta - Alan Keatley

Ectopsocus petersi - Alan Keatley

Sunday 22nd September

The first Wood Sandpiper of the year, a late record, was with Redshank in the estuary along with the Long-billed Dowitcher, 400+ Teal, 390+ Wigeon, 19 Ringed Plover, 11 Knot and two immature Spoonbill.

Elsewhere four Cattle Egret flew east offshore early morning, a Kingfisher and a Water Rail were at the Main Pond with eight Chiffchaff, four Blackcap, a Wheatear and a Whitethroat on site.

Year list addition:

173. Wood Sandpiper

Other Wildlife: An unexpected Wall Brown was on the Golf Course.

Saturday 21st September

The Long-billed Dowitcher was in the estuary corner with Redshank for just over an hour on the dropping tide. Only visible from an area with no general access. Viewing tomorrow - meet at the golf course clubhouse at 13.15, donations to Devon Wildlife Trust welcomed.

Also in the estuary 85 Dunlin, 20 Ringed and five Grey Plover, 14 Sanderling, 10 Bar-tailed Godwit and three Knot.

Elsewhere a mobile Coal Tit was the only other news received. 

Ringing News: Regular monitoring of the Oystercatcher roost has shown that at least 135 of the c300 birds colour ringed by the DCWRG since 2018 have been recorded this month, already returned for the winter. A large number of the plastic rings have not coped with the rigours of being on an Oystercatcher leg and are unfortunately unreadable, but the accompanying BTO ring may be read with patience and proximity.

Individuals recorded today included a bird first ringed as an adult at the Warren in 1989, back for at least its 36th winter. This bird is know to breed in Holland. One of several non Exe-ringed birds present include a metal ringed Welsh bird last recorded in 2018 but no doubt present each winter. 

Silver Y - Kevin Rylands A few popping up in random places