Saturday 15th June

Hopes of seabirds as last night's rain cleared early morning in the breezy southerly were soon dashed with only a dozen distant auks, low single-figures of Manx Shearwater, Fulmar, Gannet; two Swift flew south and two first-summer Mediterranean Gull flew in off.  

On the dropping tide, the only suggestion of weather induced change was 20 Sandwich Tern.  Further up the estuary, a Common Tern quartered over Cockle Sands, Exmouth and the long-staying Spoonbill was visible from the hide on the Exe-Clyst confluence, 4.5 miles north and so way outside our recording boundary.  More expected, and on site, were 80 Oystercatcher, 48 Curlew, seven Mute Swan, seven Cormorant, six Dunlin, six Great Black-backed Gull, four Little Egret, three Shelduck, single Grey Plover, Redshank, Ringed Plover (heard only) and the resident, 13-year-or-so old Slavonian Grebe.  Only three Oystercatcher were on Finger Point during high tide, the rest were seen to fly into the estuary from the direction that matches a recent report, and past sightings, of these birds roosting in Sandy Bay, east of Exmouth.  A Fox, which was yet again wandering aimlessly around Finger Point and The Bight in the daytime on the dropping tide remains a possible culprit for this mass displacement.

On the ponds were nine Mallard including a female with nine tiny ducklings; Little Grebes and two new broods of Moorhen on the Main Pond and Golf Course Pond.

No sign of yesterday's Marsh Tit, but woodland oddities Nuthatch and a juv Coal Tit, as well as roaming flocks of tits on site were perhaps more than just coincidental.  Deluges of rain over recent days and the cacophony of chainsawing emanating from local areas were noted.

Wildlife news: the sun appeared late morning and in sheltered spots there were two Hairy Dragonfly, Wasp Beetle, Small Skipper, various hoverflies such as Hornet Hoverfly Volucella zonaria and the common Helophilus pundulus. The colourful, nationally scarce Ornate Brigadier Odontomyia ornata, a soldier-fly, has been recorded here annually since 2016. Lots of toadlets were crawling around the undergrowth at the pond end of Greenland Lake. 

 Odontomyia ornata Ornate Brigadier, a soldier-fly

 Episyron rufipes Red-legged Spider Wasp  

Small Skipper - Alan Keatley

Looking at the best now, counts of 36 Bee Orchid spikes and 22 Pyramidal Orchid spikes can be viewed from around the temporarily fenced areas (do not pick!). 

Pyramidal Orchid - Alan Keatley

Friday 14th June

A Marsh Tit calling and showing in Dead Dolphin Wood this evening was the first record since 2010 and only the 11th since 1964.  About half of the records are in mid to late-summer records, perhaps relating to post-breeding dispersal.  

The evening high tide supplied more predictable offerings of 51 Curlew, ten Mute Swan, ten Ringed Plover, six each of Cormorant, Dunlin and Great Black-backed Gull, five Shelduck, four Canada Goose, only two Oystercatcher and a single Grey Plover.  

On the Main Pond, a pair of Little Grebe engaged in some display and ignored their remaining two nagging chicks for a while. 

Brief glances out to sea produced two Arctic Skua (dark and a pale phase) lingering far offshore; two Manx Shearwater, two Sandwich Tern and a Fulmar.

A flock of 64 Starling roamed the grassy areas and two mobile fledgling Stonechat explored Warren Point.

Thursday 13th June

Rain all day and the tide had dropped, so numbers were a little low, though representative counts were likely to have been seven Ringed Plover, four Canada Goose, four Little Egret, four Dunlin, two Shelduck and just two Oystercatcher. The estuary also held 12 Black-headed Gull.

Off the seawall, a summer plumage Great Northern Diver and just one Gannet during a short session of seawatching.  Although just one today, mid-summer adult Gannet have been regular visitors here for some decades now and tracking data shows that birds from the expanding Alderney colony forage into Lyme Bay as close as the Devon coast.  

The two grown, first brood Little Grebe and four Mallard were on the Main Pond.  A dozen Swallow quartered low over the site in the rain.  Three juvenile Stonechat were around the hide.

Sunday 9th June

A flat calm sea revealed a summer-plumage Great Northern Diver and an immature Red-throated Diver, but the inky expanse supported little else; a raft of 21 Shag, five Sandwich Tern foraging distantly and two Mediterranean Gull in off, the only additions of note.

The medium-height high tide managed to push in 22 Dunlin, 16 Curlew, 11 Sanderling, ten Great Black-backed Gull, eight Cormorant, seven Mute Swan, five Canada Goose, three Shelduck, two Little Egret and single Whimbrel, Turnstone and Oystercatcher.  Reports of whereabouts of the missing hundreds of Oystercatchers will be appreciated. 

Quiet overhead, six Swallow, the usual immature male Kestrel and an unseasonal Rook flew north.  A party of 34 Long-tailed Tit passed through the entrance bushes and parent Little Grebe and Reed Warbler continued to feed their young on the Main Pond.  The pair of Great Spotted Woodpecker also continue their routine of foraging and commuting to a nest somewhere off site.

 immature Little Grebe (from the 1st brood) - Lee Collins

Wildlife news: small counts of common bird species above illustrate how challenging birding here can be, especially entering mid-June, but there is plenty else to see. In a brief warm sunny spell, attention turned to wooded margins of flowering Hemlock Water-dropwort, that which hadn't been cut down, and were rewarded with an abundance of life, including Tree Bumblebee, Volucella pellucens, Hairy Dragonfly, Cucumber Green Orb Spider and the locally distributed moth Telechysis tripuncta.

Araniella cucurbitina (Cucumber Green Orb Spider) - Lee Collins

 Hairy Dragonfly - Lee Collins

 Telechysis tripuncta - Lee Collins

 Tree Bumblebee (worker) - Lee Collins

Volucella pellucens - Lee Collins

Saturday 8th June

On the late morning tide, 24 Dunlin, 23 Sanderling, eight Curlew, seven Cormorant, six Ringed Plover, four Shelduck, three Grey Plover, single Grey Heron and Little Egret, the resident Slavonian Grebe but not a single Oystercatcher again.  No sign either of the Bonaparte's Gull today on the Exmouth side.

Grey Plover - Lee Collins

Up to 40 Manx Shearwater flew south but little else at sea apart from a Great Crested Grebe.  A Swift and a couple of Swallow seemed to be local birds.

The highlight in the bushes was a Cuckoo, the second of the year, calling a few times from Dead Dolphin Wood as the drizzle stopped.

juvenile Blue Tit - Lee Collins

Friday 7th June

Storm Miguel was certainly wet and windy but relatively short lived here and failed to sustain winds for long in a productive direction. Consequently seawatching was tough going with the only reward being a European Storm-petrel and a skua sp. Also small numbers of Gannet, Fulmar and Kittiwake; four Common Tern, three Manx Shearwater, two Common Scoter, two Sandwich Tern and a single Guillemot.  

On the mid-morning tide, c130 Oystercatcher, five Ringed Plover, five Dunlin, three Grey Plover, two Whimbrel, single Turnstone and a first-summer Medieterrean Gull.

Thursday 6th June

In pleasant conditions, an Osprey flew south out to sea from 07:50 and watched out to sea for 15 minutes, so it was some surprise to learn of an Osprey over Exminster Marshes at 09:50; presumably it has second thoughts and doubled backed.  Since the first in 2011, this is now the fourth June record here. 

Osprey - Lee Collins

On the mid morning tide, 39 Oystercatcher, 16 Ringed Plover, 12 Sanderling, ten Dunlin, five Curlew, four Shelduck and three Sandwich Tern,  The Bonaparte's Gull was in the estuary feeding among a melee of Black-headed Gull up the estuary, outside of our recording area.

With single Grey Heron and Cormorant on the Main Pond, the Little Grebe chicks were secreted away in the reeds.

Elsewhere, two Common Scoter on the sea; six Swallow flew by and evidence of breeding in the diminishing areas of bushes were three recently fledged Stonechat near the hide (the first brood was predated) and a family of Chiffchaff.  

 juvenile Chiffchaff - Lee Collins

juvenile Stonechat - Lee Collins

Wildlife News

 

 Hairy Dragonfly - Simon Thurgood

Large Skipper - Simon Thurgood

Monday 3rd June

On the evening tide within the estuary and along the beach, selected counts were 138 Oystercatcher, 67 Sanderling, 44 Dunlin, 18 Ringed Plover, nine Great Black-backed Gull, nine Canada Goose including a pair with their remaining four goslings; six Sandwich Tern, five Mute Swan, four Little Egret and three Curlew.  

The first-summer Bonaparte's Gull found early morning off Shelly Beach, Exmouth was seen distantly from Dawlish Warren, but outside the recording area.

Wildlife News: Both male and female Ornate Brigadier Odontomyia ornata were on Hemlock Water Dropwort around the Entrance Bushes. These plants are key to the survival of this nationally scarce species.

 Ornate Brigadier (male) - Steve Fuller

 

Ornate Brigadier (female) - Steve Fuller

Sunday 2nd June

As usual, the early morning was the most productive time for  sea-watching and among a light passage of Gannet, Kittiwake and auks south was a Puffin at 07:10, a scarce bird here and fitting in with the remarkable count of 91 today off Berry Head, located 22 km to the south. Also at sea, 18 Swift (plus two more over later), seven Common Scoter, six Great Northern Diver, four first-summer Mediterranean Gull, three Sandwich Tern and single Little Tern and Great Crested Grebe.

The tidal cycle today returned to higher tides and this morning's 3.5 metre high tide was hoped to produce the hundreds of missing Oystercatcher, but only 11 individuals turned up.  Also in the estuary, The Bight and along Warren Point beaches, 62 Sanderling, 38 Dunlin (of which two were putative 'arctica'), 18 Ringed Plover, nine Mute Swan, five Shelduck, two each of Curlew, Little Egret and Grey Heron, and one Turnstone.

Sanderling - Lee Collins

The bushes and dunes weren't given much attention today. A noisy flock of 38 Long-tailed Tit, the largest flock here since Nov 1985, foraged up the site as far as 'windmill' (near groyne 9).  The day's oddest sighting was a Nuthatch that circled The Bight and dropped into bushes behind the hide, the fifth June record for the site. A Kingfisher at the Main Pond was however equally unseasonal.

Whitethroat - Dave Jewell

Saturday 1st June

An unseasonal Dark-bellied Brent Goose on the evening tide flew in from Cockle Sands, Exmouth where another six brent ssp lingered.  Also in the estuary and along the beaches during high tides were 48 Dunlin including 3 putative 'arctica' race individuals based on structural and plumage characteristics; 29+ Sanderling, 28 Ringed Plover, a paltry count of 18 Oystercatcher, eight Mute Swan (highest count so far this year), five Sandwich Tern; a dinky immature sinensis Cormorant in the six birds present in The Bight, and two first-summer Mediterranean Gull.

At sea, at least 11 Great Northern Diver rafted were seen early morning as the mist cleared.  Single-figures only of Gannet, three Common Scoter, singles only of Fulmar, Guillemot and a Common Tern, the first seen from this site since late-Apr and follows the first time in modern recording history its absence in May, saved only by sightings from the Exmouth side on 7th & 8th. Overall, it has been a remarkably poor spring here for terns.

With no scrub now remaining along Warren Neck after the failed flood defence works of 2017 and subsequent erosion, a juv Coal Tit ditched into Marram-grass but later found safer sanctuary in the patch of Sycamores on Warren Point. Just three Swallow and two House Martin passed overhead.

Yellow Shell - Dave Jewell