Merlin

Darts Farm, Topsham, Devon - 2nd December
A quick visit after work at sunset. I looked around the ponds and hide area. First bird I saw was a Common Kingfisher. My first one at this site for quite some time. From the hide were decent numbers of Brant Goose but the best bird was a Merlin hunting the pond area briefly.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Mudbank Lane, Exmouth, Devon
A quick look after work. The tide was out and everything was up Estuary, so I walked up the railway footpath to view. Really high numbers of Eurasian Wigeoan and Brant Goose (a couple of which were Pale-bellied). I’m still looking out for a Black Brant and I still can’t seem to catch up with a Red-Crested Pochard. Good numbers of Black-tailed Godwit and Northern Pintail but nothing else of real note. On arrival though I was treated to a stunning rainbow.

Stunning Rainbow 

Wildfowl Numbers Are On The Up

Mudbank Lane, Exmouth, Devon
I havent been here for a few weeks so I decided to have a quick look after work. Eurasian Wigeon Numbers were very high with my best guess being around 900 plus birds. Around 30 Black-tailed Godwit, 25 Northern Pintail and nice to see the Brant Goose numbers rising with a few hundred birds on site.

Well I’m off to hopefully see the Brown Shrike in Cornwall tomorrow. It has so far answered my prayers and stuck around. Just one more day please!!

A Very Odd Gull Indeed

Mudbank Lane, Exmouth, Devon
I had a brief look after work. Not a great deal going on when I first turned up. A pair of distant Red-breasted Merganser, a single Brant Goose and the regular Gull and Wader species. Matt Knott then turned up and we both started scanning. Matt picked out a Gull that I must of initially overlooked or it turned up after I had scanned that particular group.

Anyway it made us both stop and wonder. Now I am the first to admit that Gulls are my weak point in my birding skills. Yes I can tell the obvious but I do struggle a tad with ageing and subtle differences of the Herring Gull taxon. This bird made us think Hmmm European Herring Gull but a weird one at that and worth a closer look. We both went through the thought process. Subtle hints of American and possible Argentatus etc. etc.

So on to the bird in question. It was a 1st winter individual. The bill colour was pink with a black tip (almost Glaucous looking in structure). Pink legs. One of my shots shows barring on the arse end of the bird. As far as I've read, this is something to look out for when looking for American Herring Gull but it should be excessive and I'm not sure my pictures have captured that much barring. My pictures don't reflect the colouration (I expect Matt has better ones) but it was a drab brown (very uniformed on the neck and chest (another pointer to American?) It was also aggressive to near enough ever other Gull that came into its personal space. Perhaps its just a grumpy Gull but I find myself asking "Is this a trait of a particular species or subspecies? It was noticeably larger than the other Gulls, which actually goes against American as they are generally similar in size and structure. I did think that it wasn't dark enough to be American (text book bird) but I now know that that isn't a reliable driving factor in the ID process.

So then are we on to Argentatus? Now I'm not that great on that subspecies so I need to refresh myself to assess the possibility of this. The only other options left are - Hybrid (due to the size but with what?) but I'm not really on board with this. Or its quite simply a very odd looking European Herring Gull, probably the most likely option.

Just to note, that there was a report of an American Herring Gull on the 18th February at Hayle in Cornwall photo here American Herring Gull, Hayle Estuary, Cornwall unfortunately there's not a lot of detail in the photo to compare but interesting that there has been (and could still be) one out there in the South West.

If nothing else it was an interesting Gull and gave Matt and I something to mull over as there was little else on offer. At present its in the note book as a European Herring Gull but undecided as to whether is Argenteus or Argentatus but there's something going on with this bird in my mind. I guess its the curiosity in me and I hate it when I have to just let a species go a "Its just a weird one". I guess its the OCD in me, that needs to exhaust all avenues to tag it to a particular species before I do admit defeat. If I do come up with anything else I will of course update.   

Here are my photos.

Odd Herring Gull

bird on left being aggressive

Odd Herring Gull

large pink bill / black tip

Odd Herring Gull

rear view

Odd Herring Gull

barring on arse

Odd Herring Gull
top bird

Odd Herring Gull
bird on right

noticeably larg

Mediterranean Gull

A3052 near Crealy, Devon
After my interesting Buzzard on Sunday I decided to have one more look after work but no joy. I guess it will have to go down as a WTF was that bird.

Otter Estuary, Budleigh Salterton, Devon 
I decided to give the Otter a look over to see what Gulls we’re hanging about. On arrival there were 4 Common Ringed Plover resting on the edge of one of the channels. They were accompanied by 2 Dunlin and there were several Common Redshank around. I moved up the footpath, to the first viewing platform and noticed a few Gulls on the river but they were obscured for a lot of the time. In amongst the Black-headed Gulls was a smart adult winter Mediterranean Gull (my first of the year). Try as I might I couldn’t get a photo. The Tawny Owl was roosting in a hole in one of the larger trees to the right hand side of the scrapes. Also on the river was a Little Grebe, some Eurasian Wigeon and Eurasian Teal.

The Gulls looked like they would be viewable from the beach path so I relocated but once I got there they had mostly cleared off. There were however 18 Brant Geese close in and a very brave Eurasian Rock Pipit.

Common Ringed Plover

Eurasian Rock Pipit

Brant Goose

European Herring Gull

Finally.... A Stonechat

Darts Farm, Topsham, Devon
A very swift lunchtime walk to the hide, gave me my first European Stonechat of the year. I can’t believe it’s taken me until now to see one! 2 individuals feeding in the reeds to the left of the hide. From the hide 10 Northern Lapwing, C30 Eurasian Curlew and a few (very frozen looking) Eurasian Teal.

Otter Estuary, Budleigh Salterton, Devon
A walk after work for the white bridge to the mouth of the estuary. 4 Little Grebe around the bridge, a single Northern Lapwing on the scrapes near the hide, 2 Eurasian Rock Pipit on the cricket pitch, a group of Brant Goose near the estuary mouth and a calling (but not seen) Tawny Owl in the direction of the farm shop, were the best of the bunch.

Western Cattle Egret

Quay, Exmouth, Devon

An early morning look from the Quay in hope of the Bonaparte’s Gull proved fruitless but there were 2 Ruddy Turnstone scuttling around the edges near the dock and 1 Common Eider off the Warren.

Imperial ground, Exmouth 

I decided to move on to the Imperial ground area where on arrival there were good numbers of Gulls on the grass area. Many Black-headed Gulls and European Herring Gulls plus 4 Mew Gull but no Bonaparte’s Gull. The Brant Geese were in close by the seems grass area (car park) so viewed them from the car. Also there were a few Dunlin and Red-breasted Merganser. I then noticed a Little Egret and was watching that and noticed a smaller bird tucked away in the sea grass. The bird finally lifted its head to reveal a Western Cattle Egret! I watched it for a moment before deciding to take a photo. I have to take my photos via my iPhone through my scope. As I got out (slowly) to get my scope from the boot, the bird flew. I tracked it as it headed for the rugby ground. As it flew I was able to see the bird better and got all the features for the ID. I went to have a look at the rugby pitch but no joy. 

Quay, Shelley Beach and Imperial Ground, Exmouth, Devon 

After work I went back for another look for both the Western Cattle Egret and Bonaparte’s Gull at the Quay, Shelley Beach and Imperial Ground after work, with no success. There was however a Common Loon and Common Eider from the Quay.