A golden opportunity to get amongst the Cirl Buntings at Broadsands!
Ladies first:
The gents stole the show - just what I was hoping for!
Reed Buntings amongst the other locals....
These pics have a lot answer for though! The Clennon Valley Pools Penduline Tit had decided to fly at 10.00 (I arrived at 10.10) Three hours of searching vain plus a scour of the nearby Young's Waterpark, where it normally drifted off to! Never mind, it can wait - I'm back down in Devon in two weeks time - but will it stick??
There were at least five overwintering Chiffs providing a little distraction....
There were two Cattle Egrets together with several Little Egrets in the sheep field by the church at Powderham....
Most of the weekend was spent in the company of local birder Joe Ray - great guy , check out his site if you're visiting the area! We got some solid birding in, covering most of the hot spots and cleaning up (bar the Bean Geese at Exminster!) - eventually totting up a creditable 19 year ticks for me!! OK, it was my first trip of the year to the coast but at Dawlish Warren .... ** Surf Scoter ** .... plus plenty of decent other birds including: RB Merganser, RT Diver, BN Grebe, Eider. Then, Bowling Green Marsh and the Clyst estuary yielded Blackwit, Barwit, Knot, Grey Plover, a single Spotted Redshank plus other long overdue species!!
Footnote: guesss what turned up again Monday morning at Clennon Valley pools - NOOOOOOOO, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
