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Orcombe Point - 0500 - 0750 - 2 fs little gull (apparantly joined by a 3rd fs later), 1 fs mediterranean gull and a single black-headed gull. Also 2+ roseate tern, 11+ sandwich tern, 1+ common tern, 2 dunlin, 6 ringed plover, 10+ bar-tailed godwit, 1 sanderling, 1 red-throated diver, 1 great northern diver, 1 guillemot, 1 red kite perched briefly before heading low east, 1 goldcrest, 8+ whitethroat, 2 blackcap, 16 swallow and 1 jay high east.

Mudbank - the 5 scaup still present.

red kite - my first on Orcombe

May jay

No sign again of Bonaparte's Gull at low tide Friday pm. I haven't seen it since Wed. and suspect it may have gone. Little Gull present again briefly. Also an interesting (honestly!) large gull of apparently mixed parentage - fourth probable hybrid I've seen here in the last six months.

Apparent hybrid gull - Topsham 17/5/2013

Apparent hybrid gull - Topsham 17/5/2013

Orcombe Point - 0520 - 0635 - 8 swallow, 1 yellow wagtail, 1 arctic tern, 1 common tern, c20+ 'commic' tern, 3 sanderling, 1 goldcrest and a first summer little gull in from the east and on it's own so potentially not one of the 'north Exe' birds.

Mudbank - 5 scaup still present.

Orcombe Point yesterday - 1 red-throated diver, c20+ common scoter, 1 wheatear, 3 stock dove, 11 whimbrel, 4 dunlin, 4 sanderling, 1 diver sp, 33+ 'commic tern', 21 wader sp, 3+ roseate tern and a brief male cirl bunting. Cirls are very scarce this side of the Exe and infrequent visitors to Orcombe Point, averaging only one or two records a year in recent years.

07:00 - 08;30

5 bar-tailed Godwits; 10 Whimbrel; 3 Grey Heron and 1 Little Egret. 34 Shelduck.Apart from 14 Lesser black-backed Gulls the rest were Herring Gulls. Just 3 Common Whitethroat plus a few Long-tailed Tits, Gold and Greenfinches in bushes along Tarka Trail. 11 Mute Swans on Penhill Marsh with just 4 Canada Geese.

Saw a couple of drake Mandarin Ducks on a bank by the River Avon on the Woodleigh road this morning about halfway between New Bridge and Avon Nursuries. Maybe more present but i was driving. Not seen them here before.

Waders on the beaches / South Huish Marsh- 1 partial s/pl Grey Plover, 36 Whimbrel, 1 Dunlin.

1 F Yellow Wagtail on the golf course, . On South Huish Marsh - 1m 1f Yellow Wagtail, 2 Whinchat, 2 Wheatear

After a frosty start the morning became quite warm and calm. Few birds on the marshes apart from two hobbies motionless on posts. 15 whimbrel flew over and another two were at Turf. Also at Turf two little gulls (1s plumage) were feeding in the estuary. There was another little gull at Bowling Green Marsh and one avocet with about 30 whimbrel. In Topsham another or one of the previous little gulls was near the recreation ground. Here a hobby attempted to catch a fledgling starling. Another 3 hobbies were seen high over the Exminster Marshes.

Richard's Pipit feeding on short turf between 0930- 0950 hrs with skylarks & linnets. SX722364. Watched for a good 10 mins.

844 Guillemots on cliffs, 104 on water and 7 on island.

2 Razorbills still on cliff, getting very friendly!!!! so could be promising, first for at least18 years.

3 Harbour porpoise today, 5 yesterday.

c1000 Swifts feeding over Slapton Ley this evening. Also a couple hundred House Martins. Good to see loads of insects for them flying around.

Mid afternoon low tide visit. The Bonaparte's Gull was showing well as usual. A Little Gull also present for about ten minutes.

Little Gull - Topsham 15/5/2013

From the viewing platform at about 1.30 today an Osprey flew over heading over the marsh towards Darts Farm, mobbed by a Herring Gull. 10 Whimbrel on the estuary with 4 (more?) from the hide on my walk back to the car.

Seawatch yesterday evening 18.25-19.55hrs all birds moving south: 7 Storm Petrel, 8 Puffin, 20+ 'commic' Terns out in murk, 8 Sandwich Tern, 374 Manx Shearwaters, 31 Fulmar, 66 Gannet, 54 Kittiwake, and good numbers - 81 Razorbill with several hundred Guillemots also 14 Swift. 1 Harbour Porpoise off the head.

Between Lifeboat Station and Orcombe - 0600 - 0700 - 6+ roseate tern, c30+ 'commic' tern, c40+ common scoter, 21+ great northern diver, 1 diver sp, 12+ sanderling, 21+ turnstone, 30+ dunlin, 1 whimbrel, 1 ringed plover, 1 pomarine skua (full-spooned ad off Orc Pt), 1 storm petrel lingering off the Pt and 1 hobby 'in off'. Plenty of waders moving this morning, some stopping on Maer Rocks. 

Quick walk around Sharkham this morning first thing turned up 3 Spotted Flycatchers and a Reed Warbler.

Evening walk around Scabbacombe head toward Ivy Cove the night before turned up a single Spotted Flycatcher with a great selection of the regulars too

Between Lifeboat Station and Orcombe Point - 1630 - 1930 - 9+ fulmar, c120+ manx shearwater, 2 storm petrel, 6+ arctic skua, 2 skua sp, c30+ 'commic' tern, 6+ sandwich tern, 8+ roseate tern, 1 little tern, 1+ great northern diver, c40+ common scoter, c 50+ kittiwake, 5+ auk sp, c15+ dunlin, 3 whimbrel, 4 turnstone, c20+ wader sp, and 87 swift 'in off' (largest flock 30).

Seawatch from beside the NCI station 16:55 - 18:40: 1 dark-phase Arctic Skua, 78 Manx Shearwaters, 25+ Common Terns, 29 "commic" terns, 40+ Kittiwakes, 1 Whimbrel, 15+ auks all heading south. In addition at least 20 Sandwich Terns, 15 Gannets and 3-4 Fulmars moving up and down the coastline.

In keeping with the general theme of sea watching today;

Exmouth Front

An hours visit to Exmouth front at lunchtime revealed 2 Little Terns, 1 Roseate Tern, 1 Arctic Tern, c6 Common Terns and 1 pale phase Arctic Skua. Also 2 swifts in-off.

Budleigh Salterton

A four hour seawatch resulted in 2 Great Northern Divers, 1 Red Throated Diver, 6 Whimbrel, 28 Kittiwake, 3 Storm Petrels, 2 Common Terns, 2 Arctic Skuas (1 pf, 1 df), 18 Common Scoter c12 Sandwich Terns and 18 Swifts together in-off.

2 Dotterel were present throughout the day but seen clearly as the clouds lifted at about 13.30. Up to 12 Puffin were visable, as the clouds lifted, on the cliffs.

A single Great Skua seen on outward leg.

2 seawatching visits with totally different results  - 07.30- 9.00  7 Gannet, 6 Guillemot and 1 Whimbrel . Tonight 17.00-18.30 just as the front moved through - 410 Gannet, 440 Manx Shearwater, 21 Kittiwake, 26 Common Tern, 2 Arctic Tern, 11 Fulmar, 1 Great Skua. , 1 Arctic Skua, 4 Common Scoter, 7 Whimbrel 10 Auks, 9 Swift - all flying east

Sea watch from the lifeboat station from 17:15 - 18:15 in what were, it has to be said, pretty challenging conditions! Following birds all heading east-ish.

2 Arctic Skua (1 l.p., 1 d.p.), 4+ Roseate Terns, 2 Arctic Terns, 15+ 'commic' terns, 12+ Manx Shearwater, 1 Swift in-bound

Supplemented by Gannets, Kittiwakes, Sandwich Terns and a lone Fulmar (first I've seen off here for a while).

I could also see distant Manxies heading - at blistering speed - back in a S-SW direction, so I suspect some circular movement was going on.

Phil

Continued to 1630 after Mike left at 1500. An additional 4 Storm Petrels , 1 Puffin and 245 Manx Shearwater flew south. Heavy rain when I left and few birds moving-Mike is going back for another check when the front clears.

A kite was floating SW into the wind over Lower Mackham Farm near Hemyock. Unmistakeable with long forked tail, this individual was missing a block of feathers from each wing but flying with no apparent difficulty. I could not see the colour of the tail. 

Seawatch 13.30-15.00hrs all birds moving south, 3 Pomarine Skuas, 2 Great Skuas, 6 Storm Petrels, 6 Puffin, 34 Kittiwake, 93 Manx Shearwater, 17 Razorbill among the many passing (local?) Guillemots, 52 Gannets. Dave Norman was staying on a while longer... 

An uneventful dawn fishing session near the Geese quarries was brightened up by a hobby flying downstream.

The following prior to 09:10: 3 Poms (including 2 very close west), 1 Storm Petrel, 3 Great Northern Divers, 53 auks, 11 Gannets, 10 Manxies, 24 Kittiwakes, 2 Turnstones, 2 Oystercatchers, 36 Whimbrel, 1 Barwit, 5 Ringed Plover, 8 Dunlin, 4 Sanderling, 26 assorted small wader sp., 1 diver sp., 2 very distant skua sp. (probably Arctics), 13 Sandwich Terns and a Common Gull. Also a few Swifts and hirundines in-off.

Another look from 12:00-12:55 produced a really close (for Seaton) Stormie, 3 Sandwich Terns, 8 Gannets and a Kittiwake. Much, much quieter.

Almost everything flew west. Steve can add at least another Stormie and a Bonxie.

Edit. Forgot to mention 18 Common Scoter this morning, and the drake Velvet still close inshore off the Yacht Club for its 18th day.

Mudbank - 5 scaup again this morning but only 3 of the original 5 - now 2 drakes and 3 females.

After visiting a few sites (always at the wrong time) I finally caught up with the Bonaparte's Gull. I opted on a quick visit to Topsham recreation ground after work just before 17:00 and it was showing very well. Lovely bird and really nice to finally get sight of It.

After a very quiet day yesterday a 3 hr seawatch from Warren Pt produced some good sightings

65 Gannet, 33 Kittiwake, 1 1st s Little Gull ( feeding off the point ) 2 Common Tern, 1 dp Arctic Skua ( sat on the sea for 15mins before flying off west )13 Manx Shearwater, at 10.28 the first Balearic Shearwater  of the year flew west. 33 Guillemot and 2 Razorbill on the sea .

On the beach 8 Whimbrel, 3 Turnstone

Quick visit to the hide at lunch time - the female Ruff was at the back of the main water.