Slowing Down

View from Kingsdon Hill, Colyton towards the Axe estuary (Copyright T D Wright)

Painted Lady, Colyton 21/05/2020 (Copyright T D Wright)

Red Kite, Colyton 20/05/2020 (Copyright TD Wright)

    Well, May often starts well but quickly slows down around here and lockdown has not altered that. I still managed a couple of waders on a rare visit to BHM on Saturday 16th. Little Ringed and Ringed Plovers were both present and 4 Curlew outnumbered the 2 Whimbrel for a change.
     A lone Red Kite brightened up my exercise walk to Colyton Hill on 20th. The next day, I saw my first Painted Lady of the Spring. Not much to report then but May can often have a sting in the tail!

Coly Update

Dippers 12/05/2020 (Copyright T D Wright)

Dipper 12/05/2020 (Copyright T D Wright)

Common Whitethroat (Copyright T D Wright)

      Being concerned about our Coly birds after the recent pollution incident I took a stroll along it yesterday. It was great to see things looking more normal for mid-May with fledgling Dippers being fed by adults and other riverine birds about. Some Mayflies were on the wing but I didn't see any Demoiselles or Damselflies. Lots of Sand Martins still although I'm not sure if they are breeding birds. I will try to keep an eye on things and hope that some of you will let me know if anything comes to light regarding the river's condition and its wild inhabitants' welfare.
      Colyton Hill was disappointing today but there were birds about yesterday on the upper Axe. A showy Common Whitethroat was nice but star bird was a Turtle Dove settled in a ploughed field. I've had a few of these near Colyton before but they are getting rarer these days so who knows if we will still have them in the future? Mike Blaver found this one so well done to him on turning up so many birds on his exercise walks during lockdown. Let's hope he doesn't now start driving more and therefore misses all the birds!

Turtle Dove 12/05/2020 (Copyright T D Wright)

Kites, Hobbies, Worms and Flycatchers

Red Kite, Colyton Hill, 09/05/2020 (Copyright T D Wright)

Spotted Flycatcher, Colyton Hill 07/05/2020 (Copyright T D Wright)

Slow Worm, Colyton, 09/05/2020 (Copyright T D Wright)

     Well, Cownhayne was good for a while with another Whinchat on 3rd with Lesser Whitethroat, Swifts and myriad hirundines. On 5th, BHM held 2 Ringed Plover, 9 Dunlin, 7 Whimbrel and 2 Curlew. The Bar-tailed Godwit from 2nd was still present on the estuary.
     On 7th, a walk to Jobble's Lane produced my first Spotted Flycatcher of 2020 on Colyton Hill. The 9th was very warm and sunny and several Slow Worms were out on the tarmac around Colyton. As I climbed higher past Whitwell Lane I saw my first Red Kite of the year thermalling towards Colyton Hill. At last! Then, like Red London Buses they piled through en masse and I soon had double figures. Within an hour I counted 11 but just as suddenly as they started, they dried up. 7 Common Buzzards, 2 Kestrels and 2 Sparrowhawks added to the raptor count but I had to wait until Sunday to see my first Hobby from Colyton picnic site. Today (11th) I got more glimpses of Hobby from Clay Lane but how many are there? People from Rousdon to Southleigh and North to Axminster have also been reporting Hobbies as they pass through our neighbourhood so when that settles down we might work out if they are breeding this year. Stay ALERT, everyone!

Whinchat, Cownhayne 03/05/2020 (Copyright T D Wright)

Iceland Gull

Iceland Gull 1stWinter, Axe Estuary, 30/04/2020 (Copyright TD Wright)

        Well, my Lockdown Luck hasn't been too bad really. Even though I found out from 'Magic' Mike Blaver that I'd missed out on a pair of Garganey, I wasn't too bothered as I've seen plenty of them in our area previously. Steve's cracking female Ruff was showing really well last evening so I thought I'd probably have to settle for that. However, I did that thing of saying "Right, I'm leaving" but then having one last look at the estuary. One final scan. Corblimey luvverduck a blinking whitewinger plopped in amongst the bathing gulls by Coronation Corner! Immediately an Iceland Gull immature, it later became a first-winter when I checked my hastily grabbed video and pictures. The bill is the most obvious pointer to that, along with the darkish eye. Anyhow, see for yourself...

      The other video I took is too long so needs to be cropped for Blogger! If I can be bloggered. Anyway, try another still...

Iceland Gull 1stWinter, Axe Estuary, 30/04/2020 (Copyright TD Wright)

      Incredibly, Steve Waite managed to see the bird without leaving his house! I'd put it out straight away on WhatsApp but nobody came down for it. I suppose they had all used their daily exercise and couldn't. I was glad to hear that at least one Seaton birder had seen it, albeit at some distance. It flew North, which makes me think that it might turn up at Torr or Chew next. Sorry I couldn't make it stay for everyone but you've all seen whitewingers here before and will again. At least it wasn't an even rarer gull species!
     As for other birds since my last update, Tuesday 28th was rain-blessed with waders and I was lucky to see 2 Grey Plovers with the 40-strong Dunlin flock. Also female Barwit, 3 Ringed Plover, 2 LRP and 11 Whimbrel. My second Swift of the year was with a massive throng of 3 hirundine species and along Cownhayne 4 Wheatears still remained. An amazing number of House Martins on this day included 50+ over Colyton WTW and 50+ on wires at Cownhayne farm simultaneously. Brilliant to see!
     I would say that May has been thrown down the gauntlet by a decent April. With all Whitford, Seaton, Beer and Coly Birders still confined to local 'exercising', what else will lockdown bring?