Christmas break...

Well, things have been a bit quiet for me over the Christmas holiday. Plenty of R 'n' R with the family, which is great and how it should be. I managed to get them all down to Lyme Regis for a walk on the 27th December - an opportunity for me to check out the Purple Sandpipers for the first time this winter too. Haven't noticed any reports of them this year and was beginning to wonder if any had been seen but a walk along the Cobb Wall soon put that concern to rest as I found ten birds huddled just under the top of the wall.

Purple Sandpipers: R. Harris

Purple Sandpipers: R. Harris

9 of the 10 Purple Sandpipers: R. Harris

No sign of any Black Redstarts around the usual places in the town though, only a handful of Rock Pipits and a Grey Wagtail near the river mouth.

Grey Wagtail: R. Harris

My father-in-law suggested going out again today as he fancied getting some fresh air so naturally I suggested a drive down to south Devon for my annual Cirl Bunting trip. They didn't disappoint either with 20-25 birds present along with a couple of reed buntings - despite a brisk, cold, easterly wind.

Cirl Bunting, male: R. Harris

Cirl Bunting, male: R. Harris

Cirl Bunting, male: R. Harris

Always impressive birds to see.

Didn't connect with the Yellow-browed Warbler, Firecrest or Sibe Chiff that have been around recently but neither had anyone else I met so I didn't feel to bad about that. A brief sea watch produced a single drake Velvet Scoter, a red-throated diver and a few gannets drifting through the bay but little else. Great afternoon to be out and about though.

Twite in Somerset!

Twite in Somerset is a very rare treat indeed and at the moment there appears to have been a small influx on the north Somerset coast. Initially four were present on the salt marsh at Brean Down but since then the tally has risen in the area to include up to eight reported in one flock and at least another five close by! The weather on Saturday was superb - a bright, clear, crisp, sunny winter's day so  after I received a text from Dave Helliar asking if I was interested in going up for them, we were soon heading off to Brean to try and find them for ourselves.

As soon as we arrived we could see a few photographers lined up in the distance and a birder returning to his car confirmed that the flock of four were still showing well. Ten minutes later we were at the spot but there were no Twite to be seen and the small group of people had scattered in different directions leaving us to wonder whether we had just dipped them!

We stayed put though and the birds returned about 20 minutes later and sat up on the fence along the edge of the salt marsh giving fantastic views in beautiful conditions. They are smart little birds with bags of character and always nice to see:

Twite, Brean Down: Dave Helliar

Two of the four: R. Harris

Would have been nice to get them a bit closer but they seemed a little skittish so we kept our distance. I did get a short video as well:

Satisfied we'd nailed the Twite, we then made our way over to a shingle ridge on the edge of the salt marsh where a snow bunting has been hanging out for the last week too. We soon located it and had great views:

Snow Bunting, Brean Down: R. Harris

Snow Bunting, Brean Down: D. Helliar

Snow Bunting, Brean Down: R. Harris

As we left the Snow Bunting and made our way back to the path, we kicked up a short-eared owl - a first for the winter! There was also a Water Pipit in the area but that one didn't materialise for us. By the time we returned to where the Twite had been seen earlier a handful of birders and photographers had assembled and I left Dave there to go and look for a showy male Black Redstart back near the car park. WRONG decision. Fifteen minutes later I still hadn't found the Black Red but Dave and the others had connected with a flyover Lapland Bunting that had been seen earlier in the week! I didn't go back but Dave and I met up shortly afterwards and the Black Red finally put in an appearance just as we started to loose the light and what a beauty it was:

Black Redstart, Brean Down: Dave Helliar

Not a bad afternoon's birding considering we'd only had about three hours to see everything. If only I could have a few more days like that...

Barred Warbler...

It's a a while since I've successfully got to grips with a Barred Warbler and the temptation to go and see a very showy young bird frequenting the Bird Observatory garden at Portland, finally got the better of me this morning. There have been some amazing photos of this individual coming out on social media in the last week or so (and I certainly don't include mine in that category). They are normally extremely skulking birds, so this was a real treat. It was very overcast, which helped get pics of such a pale bird but on the flip side the ISO makes them quite grainy:

1st winter Barred Warbler, Portland: R. Harris

1st winter Barred Warbler, Portland: R. Harris

1st winter Barred Warbler, loving the apples: R. Harris

1st winter Barred Warbler, Portland: R. Harris

It was very defensive over the apples that have been put out by the bird feeders and frequently called and saw off any other contenders interested in them. Managed to get a bit of video too - apologies for the 'breezy' conditions, sounds like concord taking off at times:

Don't forget - if viewing the video in YouTube you can click on the settings option below the video and select 1080p to see it in its original HD quality. Warning! this doesn't necessarily mean they'll be any better!

Dawlish Warren..

Last Sunday morning found myself and Andy Grinter heading off to Dawlish Warren in Devon in the hope of picking up one or two good birds that have been present during the last week. The hoped for Bonaparte's gull didn't materialise but a drake Long-tailed duck was great to see. Despite good numbers of Brent Geese there was no sign of the Black Brant that's been moving around the estuary again this autumn either. We did connect with the water pipit, which showed in front of the hide at a distance along with good numbers of Dunlin, Blackwits, Grey Plover and a few sanderling.

Then the Tweet came in that three Penduline Tits had been seen at Bowling Green Marsh 20 minutes up the road! We soon abandoned the Warren and trudged back along the sand dunes to the car. We arrived to the news that they hadn't been seen for an hour-and-a-half and unfortunately that was to remain the case. What a great find though!

Is a log? Is it a pebble? No, it's a poor phone-scoped
shot of the water pipit: R. Harris

Gray Plovers in the early morning gloom: Andy Grinter

Brent Geese: Andy Grinter

Brent Geese: Andy Grinter

Little Egret: Andy Grinter

Redshank: Andy Grinter

Curlew: Andy Grinter

Red Crested Pochard...

Dave and Andy caught up with the Devon Red Crested Pochard yesterday, a female that has been lingering around the Budleigh Salterton area since 16th November.

Red Crested Pochard: Dave Helliar

Red Crested Pochard: Andy Grinter

Good numbers of Avocet nearby on the River Clyst too:

Avocets on the Clyst: Andy Grinter

Avocets: Dave Helliar

And adding a splash of colour to the early winter days is Spindle (Euonymus europaea) - putting on a great display at the moment.

Spindle: Dave Helliar

Richard's Pipits...

Yes, Richard's Pipits!  Three in fact...and in Somerset too!  Great find by Julian Thomas on Saturday, initially a single bird, which was then joined by a second and a possible third present too. Roger Musgrove confirmed three present early on Sunday and so a trip to the North Somerset coast was in order. Didn't expect to connect with them as easily as we did and they showed well...for Richard's Pipits. Though never much closer than 30+ metres they did at least sit up on the tussocks and nearby fence a few times. The light was behind them the whole time but Andy Grinter managed to get a couple of shots and I got some video for the record:

Little 'n large - dwarfing the meadow pipit: Andy Grinter

Richard's Pipit, one of three: Andy Grinter

Richard's Pipit: R Harris