Sunday 15th November

Eventful weather with heavy squally, occasionally thundery showers interspersed with periods of bright sunshine. With a fresh breeze from the south overnight, a sea-watch during the first half hour of light saw moderate passage that involved  172 Gannet, 43 Kittiwake, 18 auk spp., four Great Northern Diver and two Common Scoter. A single Razorbill dropped into The Bight and later floated up the estuary.

Timings were right to allow the ebbing spring morning tide and rising evening spring tide to receive coverage. A solid set of waterbird counts and eight species with field reads of rings was achieved, probably a site record, so today was just as much about science and research as it was to enjoy fulfilling birding. Sightings were approximately 1,500 Dunlin, including a new metal-ringed Swedish bird. Some of the 1,015 Oystercatcher foraged in Eastdon Fields and on the empty fairways of the golf course.  There were many colour-ringed birds of the current Exe Estuary scheme among them and a 20-year old 'wasp-ringed' bird from a previous scheme; and also in The Bight the return of orange-ringed 84, ringed as a pullus on Skokholm island, Wales in June 2018.

A count of 498 Black-tailed Godwit that roosted in Railway Saltmarsh is exceptional and the fifth highest count here ever, but isn't the best of the year, exceeded by 530 on 12th March. The winter population of Limosa limosa islandica on the Exe Estuary has increased in step with its biogeographical population and thus the estuary continues to support internationally important numbers (GB threshold = 390, international threshold = 1,100); so today's site count was of national-level significance. Two of these birds were colour-ringed, one as an adult at Snettisham, Norfolk on 1st Sep 2019, and what was likely to be the adult ringed at Olfus, Auosholt, Iceland on 10th Jun 2017 and seen at Bowling Green Marsh 29th Dec 2019.

Also present, 369 Dark-bellied Brent Goose with three Pale-bellied Brent Goose, including the bird ringed as a juvenile at Alftanes, Fotbaltavollur, Iceland on 11th May 2017. Also, 93 Redshank, 89 Shelduck, a big count, with two colour-ringed birds from the Seaton Marshes project; 85 Grey Plover, 70 Turnstone, 43 Bar-tailed Godwit, 38 Knot, 31 Teal, 30 Cormorant on Finger Point included two sinensis-race, 19 Curlew, ten Great Crested Grebe, which is a lot for this part of the estuary; nine Sanderling, eight Little Egret, seven Mute Swan, five Red-breasted Merganser, four Greenshank, a pair of Canada Goose and the resident two female Mallard waddled about on the soaked fairways. Also, a Grey Heron, the drake Eider was sat on Bull Hill and the Slavonian Grebe was again seen accompanied by a Little Grebe. Gulls, except Herring Gull, were all counted, these were 56 Black-headed Gull, 33 Great Black-backed Gull, 21 Common Gull and an adult Mediterranean Gull.

At least six Rock Pipit were scattered about the site and three of these were considered to be Scandinavian Rock Pipit and remarkably one of these was the yellow-coloured ringed '632' individual that wintered here 26th Oct 2019 to 2nd Jan 2020, ringed Makkevika, Giske, Norway. This is highly likely to be the bird seen on site on 6th Nov and again too briefly some days afterwards. Research has indicated high fidelity to breeding territories (Taylor, 2007), but fidelity to winter sites, particularly by this ssp. in England is perhaps unknown, so today's sighting could be precedent-setting; further enquiries are underway.

record shot only of '632' Scandinavian Rock Pipit - David Flack

super-cropped and enhanced image of the bird's leg

Main Pond continued to hold three Shoveler, a few Moorhen and Water Rail and the drake domestic Mallard thing; and at dusk a murmuration of c.105 Starling assembled.

Woodlands held a few mixed tits, four each of Chiffchaff and Goldcrest; two each of Great Spotted Woodpecker and Bullfinch and singles each of Chaffinch and a vocal Firecrest. Other notables were two Reed Bunting, a Grey Wagtail and a Raven. Regularly counted residents were seven Pied Wagtail, six Cirl Bunting and four Stonechat. Nomadic finch flocks were in similar numbers of those of late, c.35 Goldfinch, 18 Linnet and c.10 Greenfinch. A few singles of Skylark, two Jackdaw and a single Lesser Repoll were the only birds noted overhead.  Report of a Black Redstart at the shops was unsubstantiated.  These bring the day-list to 76 species. 

Other news: sea erosion of the dune-cliff has removed another couple of metres of width from critical areas and the beach level has dropped again by a quarter of a metre overnight.  The newly re-routed chestnut-paling lined path to access the hide area is again under threat of collapse and will need re-routing again.  The Environment Agency visited yesterday to stitch patches to the deliberately sabotaged Geotube and whilst some were saved were too late for the two or three sections that had already fully burst. 

EA repairing Geotube on Saturday with sections already emptied of sand - David Flack

sea erosion (left) of dune ridge with narrow access path to and back from the hide area - Ivan Lakin

Saturday 14th November

Wet and dank with a southerly that gusted to 25 to 30 knots, one observer braved the weather and during an hour seawatch only had 35 Gannet, three Kittiwake, a Razorbill and a Great Northern Diver. Five Shoveler were on Main Pond; little was found in the bushes, just four Goldcrest, one Chiffchaff, a Bullfinch and a Firecrest in Dead Dolphin Wood.

Late news: the pair of colour coded ringed Dark-bellied Brent Goose seen here on 6th November were ringed These were both ringed on 16th May 2019 at Friesland, Netherlands before presumably they departed to breed on the Taimyr Peninsula, northern Siberia. They then returned to winter around the Terschelling region of Netherlands and were recorded 27 Feb to 16 Apr 2020. The male is ringed lime-green '4' (left leg) and dark-green '=' (right leg); the female is ringed lime-green '0' (left leg) and dark-green 'P' (right leg). If see them, please report to Tracking Marked Geese and Swans website (here); may need to create a log-in to do so. Thanks to Bart Ebbinge for the results and tips.

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.

Wednesday 11th November

A huge passage of 751 Gannet (third best ever count in November here), 207 Kittiwake and many auks spp flew south mostly during the first 90 minutes of daylight in a stiff southerly wind. Also ten Common Scoter, five Red-throated Diver and two Great Northern Diver.

On Main Pond, four (3 drake, 1 female) Shoveler and the long-billed female Mallard, a Little Grebe, Moorhen and Water Rail. 

The woodlands and bushes, single-figures of tits, six Goldcrest, two Firecrest with one that favoured thick Ivy foliage for cover; just two Chiffchaff, a Song Thrush, Bullfinch and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

On the incoming mid-afternoon tide, counts of waterbirds included 657 Wigeon, 340 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 131 Dunlin, 103 Redshank, 51 Teal, 39 Grey Plover, 38 Shelduck, 34 Turnstone, 32 Ringed Plover, 31 Great Black-backed Gull, 20 Cormorant, 16 Knot, nine Common Gull, five Lesser Black-backed Gull, five Mute Swan, five Greenshank, three Little Egret, three Common Snipe in the saltmarsh; two Grey Heron, one Black-tailed Godwit, an adult Mediterranean Gull, the drake Eider and the Slavonian Grebe.  No counts were managed today of the Oystercatcher, Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Sanderling, Herring Gull and Black-headed Gull.

A Short-eared Owl flew over the golf course; this now totals 9 bird-days for the second half of the year with 7 weeks still to go.  The average (1970-2019) for this period is 6 bird-days, so 2020 appears to have been a good breeding season.  Research indicates relationships between the 3-4 year cyclical abundance of voles to Short-eared Owl breeding success that then leads to common, sometimes abundant and widespread overwinter dispersal.  By shifting site data to sum Jul to Jun, instead of the more normal Jan to Dec period, to present more clearly the combined autumn and winter bird-days totals, a roughly cyclical pattern just about emerged, interspersed periodically with influxes or/ and long-stayers, even at our rather small site.  

data analysis and presentation - Ivan Lakin

More regularly seen additional species today were 60+ Starling around the carpark, four Skylark on Warren Point, four Rock Pipit and a Kestrel.

Tuesday 10th November

In a light south-southwesterly, mild and overcast, overhead passage was only brief and involved c.160 Woodpigeon that flew south, two Jackdaw, a Rook and a Mistle Thrush.

On and over calm seas, five Common Scoter, four Red-throated Diver, a Great Northern Diver; single-figures of Guillemot, Razorbill and Gannet, and a Mediterranean Gull.

The lunchtime mid-range high tide was not enough to cover The Bight and other roost sites on the estuary, particularly under anticyclonic conditions (1023 mb). Incidentally, high tide predications by the UK's Hydrographic Office are based on average barometric pressure, which in the UK ranges from 1011 mb (in the north) to 1016 mb (in the south), so not calculated to 1000 mb. The units of millibars (mb) most commonly used by the Meteological Office is the same as hecto Pascals (hPa) used by UKHO. A change in 10 of either unit roughly equates to a 10 cm change in tide height, but storm surges influenced by wind can greatly exacerbate this. Combinations of low pressure, rain and wind have risen predicted tides locally on occasion by 30 cm, and when coincident with spring tides has resulted in much of the damage to the dunes.

Benign conditions today saw reduced numbers of some selected counts that included 348 Dunlin, 169 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 37 Shelduck, 16 Ringed Plover, 12 Mute Swan, 12 Grey Plover, five Little Egret, four Sanderling, three Red-breasted Merganser, two Grey Heron, two Mallard and the drake Eider. Also a Peregrine over the estuary.

On Main Pond, five Moorhen, three Water Rail, two Shoveler, a Little Grebe and another Mallard.

In the woods, 15 Long-tailed Tit, ten Chiffchaff, single-figures of Blue Tit and Great Tit, four Goldcrest, four Chaffinch, four Siskin, two Bullfinch, two Lesser Redpoll and single Firecrest, Coal Tit, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush and a Sparrowhawk. Mixed finch flocks had c.70 Goldfinch, c.40 Greenfinch and c.30 Linnet; and also in the Greenland Lake area, most of the 13 Meadow Pipit, three Cirl Bunting and a Reed Bunting.

Wildlife news: regularly seen these days, two Water Vole were on Main Pond. Four Grey Seal (one offshore and three resting on a barge) was a large count here. As temperatures topped 14°C, single-figures of Buff-tailed Bumblebee, a Red Admiral and a Common Banded Hoverfly Syrphus ribesii were active.

Monday 9th November

In wet conditions, a brief visit after dawn found a fall of 16 Goldcrest in the woods, the highest site count since Oct 2004; also a flock of 16 Long-tailed Tit, five Siskin, four Chiffchaff and notably a Brambling in the Alders. On Main Pond, three Shoveler and a couple of Water Rail called.

Wildlife news: a Water Vole swam across a channel of Main Pond.

Sunday 8th November

Humid, warm, overcast and with a light southerly, these balmy conditions were in sharp contrast to that of just two days ago when the weather was characterised by frosts, clear skies and a bitter cold northerly.

From early morning passage was noted offshore and later in remarkably clear and calm conditions, there were a few rafts of Wigeon, 105+ Gannet (flew S), 21 Common Scoter, singles and small flocks of mixed auks; six Great Northern Diver, four Great Crested Grebe, three Red-throated Diver and a Kittiwake.

Overhead visible migration was virtually non-existent with one flock of 140 Woodpigeon (SW), 85 Redwing departed NW & NE at dawn; 23 Jackdaw (NE!), 13 Siskin (NE), six Chaffinch (NE), three Song Thrush (NE), two Rook, two Skylark, a Golden Plover (S.

The late morning tide continued the cycle toward neaps and noticeably fewer waders than yesterday, partly due to the exposure of some of Cockle Sands and -   what is an increasingly rarified event these days - that area was not disturbed by kite-surfers. Some reduced counts then were c.675 Dunlin, 497 Oystercatcher (plus c.270 on Cockle Sands); 123 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 61+ Redshank, 40 Knot, 35 Ringed Plover, 32 Grey Plover, 30+ Turnstone, 28 Bar-tailed Godwit, 27 Shelduck, 22 Cormorant, 20+ Canada Goose, ten Greenshank, nine Sanderling, seven Curlew, three Mute Swan (yesterday's newly arrived immatures), another two Great Crested Grebe, two Little Egret (another far out at sea and ten more foraged in Eastdon Fields); a Whimbrel, a Red-breasted Merganser, a Little Grebe, the Slavonian Grebe and the usual drake Eider. Wigeon and Teal were not counted due to boat disturbance from Eales Dock.

On the Main Pond, 13 Mallard departed pre-dawn; three Shoveler, Water Rail, another Little Grebe also. In the woods, eight Goldcrest, six Chiffchaff (all P. c. collybita) single-figures of tits including a Coal Tit, two Lesser Redpoll and single Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker and Bullfinch. A feverishly active flock of 30 Long-tailed Tit gained height NE from Windmill but was probably the same flock seen back in the village some time later. Around the Greenland Lake area, a mixed flock of c.70 Goldfinch, c.30 Greenfinch, c.20 Meadow Pipit and c.10 Linnet; also two Reed Bunting and a Kestrel. Also on site, c.70 Starling near the shops, six Stonechat, six Cirl Bunting and a Raven on Warren Point.

The exceptional run continues and with 80 species recorded today is the twelve date in 2020 with ≥80 species, which equals the annual record set in 2010 when such records began.

Wildlife news: two Water Vole swam about in the Main Pond and another 'plop' was heard in Entrance Pond.

Saturday 7th November

Some observers rued the egregious decision to first look offshore briefly at dawn where only low single-figures of Gannet, Razorbill, Kittiwake and Common Scoter passed. Meanwhile, 'vis-mig' was of high quality if not matched by volume. The highlight was a Richard's Pipit that was seen and heard as it flew NE at 07:10. This neatly follows the extraordinary find of three Richard's Pipit at Orcombe Point yesterday afternoon (reported here), the imposing headland 1.75 miles east of the site Then a Short-eared Owl chased by Carrion Crows was lost from view over the golf course. Most action was noted within the first hour of daylight except for a large mixed pipit and finch flock that lingered around the Greenland Lake and Back Path area. Totals were (all flew NE unless otherwise stated) 91 Goldfinch, only 48 Woodpigeon, c.47 Greenfinch, 46 Redwing, 32 Meadow Pipit, 25 Chaffinch, 20+ Linnet, four Siskin, three Lesser Redpoll, three Stock Dove, three Fieldfare, a Golden Plover, a Song Thrush and a Great Northern Diver high north up the estuary. Also, in addition to those on the estuary, three new three immature Mute Swan flew N through the site.

The mid-morning, mid-height tide pushed into The Bight area the big Oystercatcher flock, 929 Dunlin, most of the 130 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 97 Bar-tailed Godwit, 86 Grey Plover, 52 Shelduck, 48 Knot (including 20 that flew S), 34 Ringed Plover, 27 Cormorant, 13 Sanderling, 12 Great Black-backed Gull, ten Greenshank, a year max count of eight Lapwing; eight Lesser Black-backed Gull, the usual drake Eider and an adult Yellow-legged Gull.

drake Eider in front of hide area - Lee Collins

Adult Yellow-legged Gull on Finger Point - Lee Collins

Around and in the estuary corner and Railway Saltmarsh, 1,044 Wigeon, 182 Teal, 115 Redshank, many of the 70 Turnstone, 38 Common Gull, most of the five Curlew, three Great Crested Grebe, three Common Snipe, two Black-tailed Godwit, two Little Egret, and a Gadwall, a Kingfisher, a Little Grebe and the Slavonian Grebe. Another dozen or so Little Egret wandered Eastdon Fields, just outside the recording area, and these birds are often around the cattle.

On the Main Pond, five Shoveler, five Moorhen, a couple of Water Rail and a domestic Mallard departed at dawn. Aware to avoid potential duplication of counts of dinky passerines that ventured as far up the site as The Spinney and Dune Pond area, there were at least 18 Blue Tit, 11 Long-tailed Tit, eight Goldcrest, six Chiffchaff, four Great Tit, one Great Spotted Woodpecker and possibly the same elusive Firecrest of recent days buried itself inside an Ivy covered bush.

Also today, 65 Starling around the shops, eight Cirl Bunting, six Stonechat, three Bullfinch, two Sparrowhawk and two Raven. Today's day-list of 88 species is the site's new November record.

Wildlife news: two Migrant Hawker, one was over the Main Pond.

Other news: access to the hide area was re-established yesterday after storm damage to the dune cliff had recently washed away another section of the dune ridge path. As it has always been, the hide area is a dead-end and the only public access back to the car park and village is back along the same route you came. The golf course has no public access; Warren Golf Club management has reiterated this as remaining the case during the nation's 'soft lockdown' period. Those individuals whom have been granted access can continue to do so. If visitors see staff and persons on the course, please don't follow them!

re-established access to hide area - photo by Ivan Lakin

Friday 6th November

A bit milder and winds shifted to a fresh ENE this morning with the effect of visible migration a distinctly muted affair compared to recent days with only 1,835 Woodpigeon of which 325+ flew low northeast in the reverse direction from usual, a larger reverse movement than that seen yesterday (excluded from that day's total). Unless otherwise stated all flew northeast: c.50 Goldfinch, c.30 Greenfinch, 17 Meadow Pipit, c.15 Linnet, 15 Siskin, 14 Chaffinch, three Skylark (W), three Pied Wagtail (NE), two Great Northern Diver did a circuit high overhead; two Jackdaw (WSW), single Song Thrush (N), Blackbird (NW), a Rook and a late Swallow.

Time allowed for the high tide period to be covered and most waterbirds were counted - 1,115 Wigeon, 552 Dunlin, 256 Teal, 159 Redshank, 84 Grey Plover, 50 Bar-tailed Godwit, 31 Ringed Plover, 26 Curlew, 26 Knot, 21 Great Black-backed Gull, 18 Cormorant, 12 Pale-bellied Brent Goose among a three-figure count of Dark-bellied Brent Goose; a few Mute Swan, eight Sanderling, seven Little Egret, four Greenshank, four Lesser Black-backed Gull, three Grey Heron, two Mallard, two Common Snipe, single Canada Goose, drake Shoveler, immature Pintail, the usual drake Eider, a 'red-head' Red-breasted Merganser, a Little Grebe, the Slavonian Grebe and perhaps yesterday's Lapwing.

A second-winter (male?) Caspian Gull showed well on and around Finger Point for while before it flew off southwest down the spit at 11:17. This is the site's seventh record; all have been since April 2014.

second-winter Caspian Gull on Finger Point - Lee Collins

Ringed birds produced much of the interest with the Icelandic-ringed Pale-bellied Brent Goose again; two Swedish metal-ringed Dunlin, the return of 'J9Y', a Polish colour-ringed Dunlin that was ringed as an adult in early-July 2017 on the Baltic Sea coastline and seen at Dawlish Warren in Dec 2019/ Jan 2020. The long-staying German metal-ringed Ringed Plover again, and to the dismay of the observer, a too briefly seen yellow colour-ringed pipit in The Bight.

In the Entrance Bushes, four Goldcrest, three Chiffchaff, three Bullfinch and the Firecrest was elusive and remained largely hidden in the thick foliage of an Ivy-covered tree for shelter against the strengthening wind.

Thursday 5th November

Similar conditions to yesterday with a frosty dawn and a chilling northerly winding around a huge high pressure (1041 mb) stationed over the North Atlantic. The first pigeon flock rose above the estuarine fog and flew WSW at 07:05 and passage continued all morning with some large flocks passing SSW down the west side of the estuary to total 9,340 Woodpigeon that contained only seven Stock Dove and four Feral/ Racing Pigeon. Passage was moderately heavy and steady for hours, involving 309 Chaffinch (NE), 207 Jackdaw (W), c.190 Goldfinch (NE), 100 Linnet (NE), 65 Siskin (NE), 63 Lesser Black-backed Gull (S), 53 Starling (NE), 43 Meadow Pipit (NE), c.40 Greenfinch (NE), 37 Skylark (NW), 13 Song Thrush (NW to NE), seven Lesser Redpoll, six Reed Bunting, six Pied Wagtail (WNW) plus a White Wagtail that landed briefly; five Redwing (NW to NE), three Buzzard, three Coal Tit (flew NE then double-backed); three Brambling (NE), two Golden Plover in off (NW), two Mistle Thrush, two Grey Wagtail (NE), two Bullfinch (NE) plus another two in woodland; only one Rook, an adult-winter Mediterranean Gull in off (NW), and a Great Northern Diver that flew south out of the estuary.

The counts today of Lesser Black-backed Gull, Buzzard, Jackdaw, Song Thrush, Redwing, Mistle Thrush, Brambling, Chaffinch and Reed Bunting were all the highest or equal highest counts here of the year so far.

On the Main Pond, the pair of Shoveler, at least one Little Grebe, a Common Snipe, the female Mallard, a few Moorhen and Water Rail was heard, as usual.

A group of 21 Long-tailed Tit adventurously explored brambles beyond Dune Pond and associated with them one or two of the seven Chiffchaff, six Goldcrest and even the Firecrest reached this far up the site.

Offshore, a raft of eight Common Scoter, four Great Crested Grebe, the usual drake Eider, a Red-throated Diver and just a single Gannet. The tide was missed again to concentrate on 'vis-mig' and from a distance the usual range of species were noted present, except for a single Lapwing. This contributed to another impressive day total of 84 species, one species shy of the November record here. 

Wildlife news: one or two Migrant Hawker and Common Darter were seen on the wing when the air temperature had climbed to about 10°C, having survived the past two nights when temperatures dipped to nearer 3°C. 

Other news: Environment Agency staff worked on temporary repairs to the Geotube ('sand-sausage') today that had clearly been vandalised with long lateral cuts to a number of sections.  It is bewildering why anyone would do this.  Not intended to be exposed, its purpose is as a last line of defence against a sea breach to protect from damage important habitats and species; the Warren golf course, homes and infrastructure.  If you have any information about this crime, you can contact Devon & Cornwall Police via 101 or online, and anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

vandalism of geotube sea defences - photo by Ivan Lakin