Med Gull showing well (plus patch update)

A brief look from Tower Hide late afternoon showed that all 4 male Pintail were on Black Hole Marsh (I only had 3 on the 18th after the initial 4 on 17th) along with the lingering Grey Plover. A look over the gulls on the estuary yielded a 2nd Winter Mediterranean Gull and 60 - 80 Commons; they kept flying up so an accurate count was impossible.

Nice rear ends at Black Hole Marsh

17th:
A quick look over BHM and the estuary at around midday yielded nothing of interest initially. I chose the wrong moment to leave however as Len spotted 4 male Pintail land on the river a few minutes after I went to have a look around elsewhere. Fortunately Ian Mc relocated 3 of them on BHM from Tower Hide and then I relocated the 4th at the North end of BHM. They were still there when I left at 17:00 as was the lingering Grey Plover. As the light was fading 20+ Sand Martins flew over BHM but I still haven't managed to pick out a House Martin or Swallow amongst them. Other local news of interest is that Ian Mc had a Greylag on Bridge Marsh this morning and Bun had 7 male Wheatear on Beer Head at lunchtime. Spring migration has certainly picked up a notch.

3 of the 4 Pintail were still present at Black Hole Marsh on 18th.

Signs of Spring

It took a little longer than for some of the other local birders but I finally saw some Sand Martins with 40+ around Black Hole Marsh at 17:15. The Avocet continues to show near(ish) Tower Hide and there has been an increase in number of Chiffchaffs around BHM with perhaps 8 in the corner near the main entrance to the reserve and likely many more elsewhere. Away from the Axe a few pairs of Grey Wagtail have been showing well on the Coly.

Grey Wagtail

A few of the Sand Martins pictured flying over the BHM car park

Patch update and pics

I spent a few hours out around the patch today but only saw the usual suspects plus the lingering patch scarcities; 1+ Cattle Egret still at Colcombe Farm and both the Avocet & Grey Plover still on Black Hole Marsh. There was probably more than 1 Cattle Egret amongst the Little Egrets at Colcombe Farm but I was viewing distantly from Chantry Bridge and could only positively identify 1 as being a Cattle Egret.

Here's a few snaps taken around Black Hole Marsh today. Light was dull so these were all between ISO 3200 - 4000:

Goldcrest

Goldcrest

Long-tailed Tit

Robin

Avocet still at BHM

A check of Colyford Common, Black Hole Marsh and the estuary (from Tower Hide) yielded nothing of interest other than the lingering Avocet which spent a third day here. I was hoping to get a Wheatear now that they have fallen both East and West of us in small numbers but this will have to wait a little longer.

Just to make sure this post isn't visually boring here's a recent pic taken at Lower Bruckland Ponds. I'm looking forward to photographing a wide variety of insects here in few weeks time!

Short-eared Owl & Avocet on Patch

Many thanks to Ian Mc for the messages this morning; I was just about to head out for the SEO when he sent another message saying Avocet still on BHM. Being closer to home it was logical to try for the Avocet first. It was on show as soon as I got to Tower Hide and feeding in the same area as the bird in Autumn of last year. This bird is ringed so it'll be interesting to find out where else it has been. The pics aren't great due to the moderate distance and dull light but worth posting none-the-less:

With a Grey Plover in the background

After seeing the Avocet I proceeded to Seaton Marshes to see if the Short-eared Owl was still showing. It was showing but quite a long way off and partially behind cover. If you thought the Avocet pics were dodgy then prepare yourself for this one; it was far too distant for DSLR pics. A superzoom or digiscope arrangement would have been better suited but still not easy!

Lambert's Castle Hill

There was some glorious sunshine here this morning so we took the pooch out for a walk around Lambert's Castle Hill in Dorset. Not expecting to see much wildlife I only took a wide angle lens for pics but obviously had a pair of bins around my neck too. Bird activity was even worse than anticipated with a few corvids and a Robin being the highlights...

Here are a few snaps; the light wasn't from an ideal direction for pics but the views were stunning!

A brief walk along a short stretch of the Coly yielded views of 2 Dipper, 1 Kingfisher, 2 + Treecreeper and 6 + Redwing.