July 2007

Tuesday 31st:

An adult Roseate Tern was again present today, the first sighting for over a week.  Also on site 20 Whimbrel with 20 Little Egret and a Greenshank on the Railway Saltmarsh. During the evening large numbers of gulls and a few Common Tern were catching flying ants over the reserve.

Monday 30th:

A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull was in the Bight this morning with an adult Mediterranean Gull and 10 Whimbrel. Elsewhere there were 20 Little Egret and a Greenshank on the Railway Saltmarsh.

Sunday 29th:

Waders numbers had increased with 100 Dunlin in the Bight on the evening tide, with them were 34 Ringed Plover, 15+ Whimbrel but only three Turnstone and two Sanderling, also there 92 Great Black-backed Gull and one of yesterday's adult Mediterranean Gull. Offshore there were four Arctic Skua, c45 Common Tern and a juvenile Great-crested Grebe. Elsewhere 17 Little Egret were in the Railway Saltmarsh and fledged Sparrowhawk are still begging for food around the Main Pond.

Mediterranean Gull 29/07/07 © Darren Maynard

Saturday 28th:

Offshore there were still two Arctic Skua harrying the terns, with 11 Common Scoter and an adult Great-crested Grebe on the sea. Also feeding offshore an Arctic Tern with 47+ Common Tern. Over high tide there were 830 Curlew on the Railway Saltmarsh, the highest ever July count, with 60+ Redshank, 15 Little Egret and seven Grey Heron. Other wader count included 24 Dunlin, 22 Whimbrel, 20 Turnstone, 20 Ringed Plover, 16 Sanderling, two Greenshank and a Bar-tailed Godwit. Also in the estuary, 280+ Sandwich Tern, 74 Great Black-backed Gull, 60+ Kittiwake and a Red-breasted Merganser. Elsewhere two adult Mediterranean Gull were on the beach.

Mediterranean Gull 28/07/07 © Lee Collins
 

Friday 27th:

Autumn must be here with two site year ticks in one day! The first was expected, a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull in the Bight but the second, two Jay in Dead Dolphin Wood, were unusual for this scarce visitor to the reserve being the first July records. Elsewhere there was an increase in terns with 300+ Sandwich and 67 Common Tern in the estuary and offshore with four Arctic Skua still offshore. Wader numbers remain low with a lone Knot the highlight.
 

Thursday 26th:

The bad weather early on resulted in little passage close offshore but 30+ Gannet  were present feeding in the bay with up to four Arctic Skua.  In the estuary there were 30 Kittiwake sheltering in front of the hide with at least one Arctic Tern was still present with 24+ Common Tern. Wader numbers remain roughly the same each day and today there were 32 Dunlin, 30+ Sanderling, 15 Whimbrel, 15 Turnstone, two Bar-tailed Godwit and a Knot.
 

Wednesday 25th:

Two Arctic Skua were offshore this morning harrying the tern flock. In the estuary there were two Arctic Tern with 15+ Common Tern, 40+ Dunlin, seven Whimbrel and the one that got away - a stint, possibly a Temmincks, very briefly in the Bight.

The two Colour ringed Cormorant seen on Sunday have been traced by the BTO - one from northern France and the other ringed in the nest this year at Abberton Reservoir, Essex.

Tuesday 24th:

An Osprey was noted over the reserve on a couple of occasions, presumably the bird that has been present at Powderham in recent days. Other news included c200 Sandwich and 20 Common Tern, a single Knot and on the beach, a Common Sandpiper.

Monday 23rd:

Two Roseate Tern were again on site today, seen in the Bight late morning with around 80 Sandwich, 20+ Common and a Little Tern. Also in the estuary a juvenile Mediterranean Gull, 41 Sanderling, 10 Dunlin and three Knot. Offshore 20 Manx Shearwater flew south.

Sunday 22nd:

A WeBS count today produced  549 Oystercatcher, 44 Dunlin, 26 Sanderling, 12 Ringed Plover, eight Whimbrel, seven Turnstone, a Knot, a Redshank and a Bar-tailed Godwit in the Bight, with large numbers of Curlew and 19 Little Egret in the Railway Saltmarsh. Also in the estuary there were at least 150 Sandwich and 28 Common Tern, two Mediterranean Gull, an adult and a juvenile, and 24 Cormorant including two colour-ringed birds. Offshore 30+ Gannet were again feeding close in with another 20+ passing south in a half hour watch, an Arctic Skua harried the terns before also continuing south and 15 Common Scoter were on the sea. Elsewhere a Garden and two Willow Warbler were in Dead Dolphin Wood and a single Sand Martin flew south. A second adult Mediterranean Gull flew over the Buffer Zone late afternoon, at least the eighth and possibly the twelfth bird this week.

Saturday 21st:

An adult Roseate Tern was again in the estuary, with three Black Tern also present.

Friday 20th:

An adult Mediterranean Gull was the in the estuary with 90 Redshank, 52 Dunlin, 15 Common Tern, 14 Little Egret, nine Turnstone and a Knot. The Carrion Crow family around the hide killed their first juvenile Sandwich Tern of the autumn. A single Wheatear was also reported.

Thursday 19th:

An adult Roseate Tern was in the Railway Saltmarsh with 220 Sandwich and 15 Common Tern. Also in the estuary 59 Dunlin, two Knot, 12 Little Egret and seven Whimbrel. A Treecreeper in Dead Dolphin Wood was the first since February.

Wednesday 18th:

Four  Mediterranean Gull, an adult, two first summers and a juvenile were feeding on flying ants above the reserve along with 600+ Swift. Elsewhere 23 Sanderling, 16 Little Egret and two Knot were in the estuary, 77 Common Scoter were offshore and a Willow Warbler, the first for several weeks, was in Greenland Lake

Tuesday 17th:

The southerly winds overnight produced 50+ Kittiwake and three Arctic Skua offshore this morning with at least 250+ Sandwich and 60+ Common Tern also feeding out to sea, with them were at least two Roseate Tern.  Elsewhere a Common Sandpiper was in the Bight.

Monday 16th:

There are still good numbers of terns on site with at least 272 Sandwich Tern on the mudflats, the Roseate and Little Tern were also still present, however there were fewer Common Tern today. Offshore there were 40+ Gannet feeding during the afternoon with at least 15 Kittiwake, two of which were again in the estuary, two Razorbill and 85 Common Scoter. Wader numbers remained similar to yesterday with 40 Dunlin, 19 Whimbrel, 16 Sanderling, seven Ringed Plover and the juvenile Little Ringed Plover still around the Bight. Two summer plumaged Knot and eight Turnstone were however new birds. Two Mediterranean Gull were on the beach with Black-headed Gull this evening, a juvenile and a new adult, the fifth bird in two days. A Garden Warbler was an early autumn migrant.

Sunday 15th:

Tern numbers continue to increase with 295 Sandwich and 48 Common Tern roosting in the estuary on the rising tide. The single Roseate Tern remains on site, often roosting  with Sandwich Tern and single Little and Arctic Tern were also present on the sandbars along with 400+ Herring Gull, 86 Great Black-backed Gull and more unusually 55 Kittiwake. A wader count over the morning high tide revealed an increase in both numbers and species with 358 Curlew, 22 Redshank, 13 Whimbrel and seven Little Egret in the Railway Saltmarsh. With them were eight Black-tailed and five Bar-tailed Godwit and the first two Greenshank of autumn. Around the Bight there were 220 Oystercatcher, 44 Dunlin, 19 Sanderling, eight Ringed Plover, a Common Sandpiper, a Turnstone and the juvenile Little Ringed Plover made a reappearance. Also on site today three Mediterranean Gull, two adults and a first summer and offshore there were 50+ Shag and 40+ Common Scoter.

Saturday 14th:

The first Great-crested Grebe of the autumn was off the seawall, also on the sea 60+ Common Scoter and a single Razorbill. At least 202 Sandwich Tern were present around the reserve with at least five juveniles, 35+ Common Tern were also present on the sandbars offshore but the flocks were generally too distant to check for scarcer species. An adult Mediterranean Gull was on Bull Hill with four Dunlin, four Ringed Plover and three Bar-tailed Godwit in the estuary. Elsewhere Sparrowhawk have fledged two young, only the second breeding on the reserve and a Reed Warbler in song in the Buffer Zone may have been a late migrant.

Sparrowhawk 09/07/07 © Phil Walsh

Friday 13th:

The Roseate Tern remained on site along with a Little and two Arctic Tern. Offshore a single Balearic and two Manx Shearwater flew south late morning, with c50 Common Scoter on the sea. Over high tide the Red-breasted Merganser was still present in the estuary where there were 140 Curlew, six Dunlin and three Bar-tailed Godwit. Also at least 12 Kittiwake in the estuary with another 20+ out at sea, a Peregrine was seen distantly up the estuary and 17 Whimbrel were on the beach.

Thursday 12th:

The highlight was the first Little Ringed Plover of the year - a fresh juvenile showing well in front of the hide. This was also site's earliest ever autumn record. A single Roseate Tern was also present in front of the hide, roosting on the post with Sandwich and two Common Tern. Also in the estuary there were 30+ Redshank, at least 12 Whimbrel, four Dunlin, a Bar-tailed Godwit and a Red-breasted Merganser. offshore there were c40 Common and a Little Tern with 20 Gannet fishing close inshore. Elsewhere 100+ Starling roosted in the Golf Course pond, 80+ Swift were feeding overhead and the first juvenile Black-headed Gull and Sandwich Tern were noted.

Little Ringed Plover (juv) 12/07/07

Wednesday 11th:

A Balearic Shearwater remained offshore and a Roseate Tern remain in the estuary with a single Little Tern and an adult Mediterranean Gull.

Tuesday 10th:

The Roseate Tern was still present today in the estuary with 120 Sandwich and 20+ Common Tern, five Dunlin and three Little Egret. Offshore a Balearic Shearwater was on the sea feeding with 209 Shag, and 50+ Common Scoter. Elsewhere the Osprey put in another appearance and over 100 Swift were feeding overhead.

Monday 9th:

A single Roseate Tern was still present offshore, with 400+ Curlew, 40+ Redshank, three Ringed Plover and two Dunlin in the estuary. A single Sand Martin flew south.

Sunday 8th:

At least one Roseate Tern was again on site along with two Mediterranean Gull, an adult and a first summer. The few waders present included seven Dunlin and three Black-tailed Godwit. Other news included seven Sand Martin south over the reserve, the first of autumn.

Roseate Tern 08/07/07 © Phil Stidwell

Saturday 7th:

Three Roseate Tern were again present around the reserve today along with three Little and an Arctic Tern. A Great-spotted Woodpecker was in Dead Dolphin wood.

Friday 6th:

Seawatching was again the order of the day with large groups of terns offshore, the highlight though was Storm Petrel with at least 50 moving through during the morning.  A single Roseate Tern was found amongst the 70+ Common Tern present along with singles of  Little and Arctic Tern. At least 10 Storm Petrel remained offshore in the evening, some showing well close in from the seawall. The Roseate Tern was also offshore this evening with an Arctic Tern, two lingering Manx Shearwater, 10 Common Scoter and flying south, two Sanderling and a Whimbrel. Elsewhere a Common Sandpiper and a Bar-tailed Godwit were in front of the hide with 45 Redshank in the saltmarsh and a Wheatear on Warren Point.

Thursday 5th:

Tern numbers remain high in the estuary with two Arctic and a single Little in with 70+ Common Tern. The first juvenile Ringed Plover was noted in the Bight with a single Black-tailed Godwit. Elsewhere an Osprey again caught a fish in front of the hide this morning, an early juvenile Wheatear, complete with downy feathers on the crown,  was on the wader roost and a Manx Shearwater was offshore.

Wednesday 4th:

An Osprey was seen fishing in the Bight early morning, presumably one of the birds that have been on the Exe recently. A single Roseate, 50 Sandwich and 20+ Common Tern were reported in the estuary. 

Tuesday 3rd:

At least one Roseate Tern was still present in the estuary this evening along with 60+ Common Tern. Also in the estuary 43 Redshank, seven Whimbrel and a Bar-tailed Godwit. Elsewhere four Common Scoter, an Arctic Skua and a Guillemot were offshore, a Ringed Plover was on the beach and a Kestrel was hunting over the Buffer Zone.

Monday 2nd:

Seawatching produced a single Storm Petrel and 10 Manx Shearwater with nine Little Tern and an Arctic Skua also offshore. The only other record received was a first for the year, an Osprey which was seen over the reserve before heading north up the estuary.

Sunday 1st:

Three Roseate and an Arctic Tern were again present offshore and on the Railway Saltmarsh, with 100+ Sandwich Tern. 130+ Common Tern were also seen during the day, with groups moving south down the estuary before feeding and eventually heading south. A single Arctic Skua was also offshore. Wader numbers remain low as is typical mid summer but there were three smart Black-tailed Godwit along with two Dunlin and single Ringed Plover, Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit. Elsewhere 55 Common Scoter were offshore and both Stock Dove and Great-spotted Woodpecker were on site.

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