2015 Review - THE PATCH

Well that's another year over and done with! A year which has seen a heck of a lot of change in my life - redundancy, owning a new business, being offered (& my subsequent acceptance of) a Directorship role for a very exciting company, my partner getting a dog (Millie the Cockapoo), me being involved in my first car crash... the list goes on!

Now for the important stuff. BIRDS.
2015 was another good year on patch with a few scarce birds being added to my patch list. Also it was another successful year of conservation locally with the fantastic maintenance of Black Hole Marsh and the surrounding areas bringing in heaps of birds. I did manage to get out for a couple of twitches this year but I will keep this post about the Patch as that's where my main interest firmly lies. I missed a few good birds this year due to business trips, but thankfully none of them were patch ticks (particularly Bittern, Spotted Crake & Wryneck). My patch ticks this year were:

Slavonian Grebe
Yellow-Browed Warbler
Baird's Sandpiper
Temminck's Stint
Penduline Tit
Barnacle Goose (yes really...)

Other notable (locally scarce) species were:
Short-Eared Owl
Glossy Ibis
Nightjar
Wood Sandpiper (34 at once!)
Curlew Sandpiper
Yellow-Legged Gull
Osprey

Here's a few pics of some of the aforementioned species:

Penduline Tit

Short-Eared Owl

Baird's Sandpiper (natural reflection)

Wood Sandpiper x 2 (natural reflections)

Yellow-Legged Gull

Curlew Sandpiper x 2 (natural reflections)

Glossy Ibis

Yellow-Browed Warbler

So that's a wrap!

2016 promises to be a very exciting year for me with my new jobs, roles and responsibilities; hopefully it'll be exciting on the bird front as well!

All the best for 2016 everyone - I hope you all have a healthy and prosperous year!

PURPLE SANDPIPER dodging the rough waves

A brief off-patch venture to Lyme Regis

BARNACLE GEESE at Bridge Marsh (River Axe)

Thanks to Tim Wright for the heads up about the 3 Barnacle Geese which were on Bridge Marsh this afternoon. I was actually heading down to that area to look for the Firecrest which Tim had reported earlier - I didn't find it. When I checked Bridge Marsh, there were 3 geese flying away from me and I couldn't help but think that they were the Barnacle Geese. Unfortunately these views were un-tickable. However... they then did the decent thing and flew back towards me and I was indeed correct that they were the Barnacle Geese (good job they came back too otherwise the ID would have been a 'maybe' at best).
Naff pics due to distance, light and the weather; the (overdue) patch tick was satisfying though.

SHORT-EARED OWL at Black Hole Marsh

I've seen 3 Short-Eared Owls on patch in my life, and they've all been this year! The first was the Axe Cliffs bird in March. Next was a bird frequenting BHM and the fields towards Seaton Marshes, and now this one; hopefully it'll stay for a while like the other two did. It was getting dark when I heard about the SEO but there was just about enough light to get a few pics (although slightly noisy due to high ISO used). Great birds! Thanks for the Tweet Robin Morrison.

A Painful Patch Dip

Despite making a rapid exit from home, I didn't connect with the Hen Harrier that Steve Waite found this afternoon. It would have been nice to add this to the patch list after having a few Marsh Harriers and a Montagu's Harrier in recent years (see here and here for the Montagu's). I did get a couple of snaps of a passing Sparrowhawk though; it was taking a swipe at the Starling flock:

YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER at Seaton Marshes

Well done to Steve Waite for finding this little beauty yesterday morning. I didn't go for it at the time as walking is still uncomfortable, although a text this morning saying 'close and prolonged views' got me moving. Warblers are often elusive and this one was no exception; I didn't get any nice pics but it was good to see none-the-less.

DAURIAN SHRIKE In Devon

Having never seen a Shrike in the UK, the opportunity to see a Daurian Shrike in my home county of Devon was too tempting to resist. I rarely twitch off patch but this was an exception. However, the day did not go to plan; not at all to plan. Cutting long story short, the trip cost me my car as well as possible damage to my camera gear (yet to be inspected fully) due to a serious error by another driver. Not only that, this happened on the way TO the bird, rather than the way back - the wait for the recovery truck and a car to pick me up was not an enjoyable one. So now I'm without a car and also disallowed from driving for 2 to 3 weeks due to the effects of medication prescribed to help pain relief for the injuries sustained.

The one positive from the trip is that I did eventually (and rather uncomfortably) connect with the target bird, albeit briefly before it went to roost.