The Water Pipit was again in the saltmarsh (no general access) with the Avocet, 121 Teal and seven Wigeon feeding in Shutterton Creek on the rising tide. Also in the estuary 226 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 95 Curlew, 57 Redshank, 22 Ringed Plover, 12 Sanderling, seven Greenshank, two Red-breasted Merganser and a Peregrine.
Elsewhere 36 Great Crested Grebe and four Eider were offshore, four Shoveler were on the Main Pond with three Siskin and a Chiffchaff in the bushes.
The spring like conditions saw the first two Buzzard of the year drift over site with six Lesser Black-backed Gull, two Peregrine and a Stock Dove overhead.
Counts around the estuary over the high tide included 1015 Dunlin, 60 Redshank, 51 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 26 Shelduck, seven Greenshank, two Red-breasted Merganser and an Avocet.
Elsewhere nine Red-throated and a Great Northern Diver, four Eider and two Common Scoter were offshore, four Shoveler and three Little Grebe were on the Main Pond, a Water Pipit was in the saltmarsh, a Grey Wagtail was by the seawall and three Bullfinch and single Chiffchaff, Redwing, Great Spotted and Green Woodpecker were in the bushes.
103. Buzzard
104. Redwing
Early morning a Greylag Goose past the sea wall was the first since October 2023, it appeared to be heading up the estuary, on the sea were the four Eider, three Common Scoter, two Great Northern and a Red-throated Diver.
Elsewhere the Cetti's Warbler made another rare appearance, this time in the Buffer Zone, with 12 Long-tailed Tit and a Goldcrest in the bushes and two Little Grebe at the Main Pond.
102. Greylag Goose
A grey, overcast day with a stiff northly wind adding a rare wintry feel. Some Oystercatcher have however already left on spring migration with just 189 birds present today. Numbers were also reduced by the low neap high tide, with other counts from the estuary including 380 Dunlin, 115 Teal, 35 Shelduck, 20 Sanderling (19 remaining on Bull Hill throughout), 14 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, eight Greenshank, five Grey Plover, two Red-breasted Merganser and a Knot.
Elsewhere single Common Scoter and Great Northern Diver were offshore and five Teal, three Shoveler and a Little Grebe were on the Main Pond.
Ringing News: In the conditions 19 Dunlin reads was a good effort, a similar number of Oystercatcher included singles first ringed in 1997 & 2004.
Other Wildlife: Larval mines of the fly Agromyza nigrescens were noted in crane's-bill leaves, a scarce/under-recorded species.
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| Agromyza nigrescens - Kevin Rylands |
A low high tide reduced the number of waders in The Bight, with the Peregrine again present and making a couple of attempts to capture one of them. Counts included 700 Dunlin, 175 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 27 Ringed and 25 Grey Plover, 23 Bar-tailed Godwit and a Sanderling.
Elsewhere four Red-throated Diver flew south offshore early morning, two Little Grebe were back trilling at the Main Pond, four Pheasant were by the Visitor Centre and two Chiffchaff were on site.
Other Wildlife: Today’s good weather encouraged more insects to be active, including some first appearances of the year, although the first Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax was one of few insects on the wing.
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Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax - Alan Keatley
Bugs in sheltered areas included a few Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina, the leafhopper Mocydia crocea and the groundbug Peritrechus geniculatus.
Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina - Alan Keatley 
Peritrechus geniculatus - Alan Keatley 
Mocydia crocea - Alan Keatley
Beetles on the beach included the ground beetles Bembidion lunulatum and Demetrias atricapillus, with the tiny clover weevil Ichnopterapion virens hiding under cover.
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| Bembidion lunulatum - Alan Keatley |
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| Demetrias atricapillus - Alan Keatley |
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| Ichnopterapion virens - Alan Keatley |
Counts from the high tide included 265 Dark-bellied Brent Geese, 152 Curlew, 144 Grey Plover, 101 Knot, 62 Redshank, 34 Ringed Plover and seven Greenshank.
Grey Plover - Lee Collins
Elsewhere six Great Northern Diver, 36 Great Crested Grebe, four Eider and two Common Scoter were offshore, seven Rook were overhead and three Chiffchaff were on site.
Ringing News: A total of 48 Dunlin reads over high tide included two new birds from the January catch, 87 of the 99 birds rung have already been resighted. Other recoveries today included the regular Swedish ringed Turnstone and Welsh ringed Knot and four Exe ringed Grey Plover.
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| Dunlin - Lee Collins |
One of today's Dunlin, YA, was recorded for the 10th time since ringing on 4th January. This is also the only bird so far recorded away from the Exe, interestingly it has also visited the Otter Estuary. Would be great to know if this was a regular feeding movement.
Other Wildlife: A Common Seal was on Bull Hill, with two Grey Seal hauled out on a pontoon further up river outside the Recording Area.
Common Seal - Kevin Rylands
A seawatch early morning saw some movement offshore with 188 Guillemot, 41 Razorbill, 22 Kittiwake, 12 Gannet, four Red-throated Diver and a Fulmar heading south in just 30 minutes.
Elsewhere six Red-breasted Merganser were in the estuary, four Shoveler and a Little Grebe were on the Main Pond and five Long-tailed Tit, two Chiffchaff and a Bullfinch in the bushes.
Ringing News: Details have been received on two recent metal ringed birds, both read in the field. An Avocet present on 30th January had been ringed on Brownsea Island, Dorset in 2011, the first Warren recovery for this species.
The second was a Redshank present on 1st February which had been ringed at Exminster Marshes on 25th February 2023, the ninth Warren recovery overall, but the first since 1986.
A late morning visit on the dropping tide saw the usual mix of waders and wildfowl well dispersed on the estuary, including 92 Teal, three Greenshank, two Red-breasted Merganser and two Wigeon. A gathering of at least 320 Black-headed Gull showed a marked spring arrival.
Elsewhere three Shoveler and two Chiffchaff were around the Main Pond with Cirl Bunting, Greenfinch and Song Thrush amongst numerous species in full song.
Other Wildlife: The sunny conditions saw beetles more active with Common Springtail-stalker Notiophilus biggutatus and the darkling Phylan gibbus amongst those on the beach, with two weevils, Hypera meles and Trichosirocalus troglodytes in the dunes.
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| Common Springtail-stalker Notiophilus biggutatus - Alan Keatley |
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| Phylan gibbus - Alan Keatley |
Other first appearances of the year included Turtle Shieldbug Podops inuncta, Zebra Jumping Spider Salticus scenicus and a Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis.
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| Nursery Web Spider Pisaura mirabilis - Alan Keatley |
The low temperatures however still limited numbers of flying insects although the first few Yellow Dung Fly Scathophaga stercoraria of the year were on the wing along with single Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus and Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corallae.
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| Migrant Field Syrph Eupeodes corallae - Kevin Rylands |
Early morning nine Common Scoter, seven Red-throated Diver and the four Eider were offshore, with one of the latter roosting an sandbars at low tide.
In the estuary 22 Teal and five Red-breasted Merganser with the usual waders around The Bight at high tide, disturbance of the Finger Point roost unfortunately keeping them flighty.
Elsewhere 25 Linnet and the nine wintering Skylark were on Warren Point, a pair of Shoveler were on the Main Pond, and in the bushes, five Long-tailed Tit, four Chaffinch, two Bullfinch and a Goldcrest.
Other Wildlife: On a cool overcast day the single Alexanders in flower attracted the flies Spotted Meliscaeva M. auricollis and Suillia variegata.
Suillia variegata - Alan Keatley
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| Pterostichus vernalis - Alan Keatley. One of several ground beetles found on the beach today. |
Counts over the high tide included 133 Dark-bellied Brent Goose, 132 Grey and 27 Ringed Plover, 130 Curlew, c.100 Bar-tailed Godwit, 82 Knot and 30 Cormorant.
Elsewhere two Eider were off the estuary mouth in choppy conditions.
Ringing News: A total of 61 colour-ringed Dunlin were recorded, including two ringed last night on Exminster Marshes, a Grey Plover from the same catch was also present.
