Hi, with the disappointment of the Topsham Recreation Ground yesterday with the highlight being an
immature Sparrohawk hunting, I was yet again seeking retribution...
My Grandma dropped me off at around 10AM, with a scope, pair of binoculars, Collin's Bird Guide and a keen eye I was on a mission for... Well I had no idea what was in store but it sure was good!
The first birds my eyes met were
Black-Tailed Godwits, a flock of around a 100 that were well distributed round the site...
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| 1 Bar-tailed Godwit was in the flock |
A quick scan through the flock revealed a
Bar-Tailed Godwit, also two unusually strong coloured summer plumage
Black-Tailed Godwit. Straight away I had my suspicions of the two birds being
Islandicas,
an Icelandic race of
Black-Tailed godwit that occasionally finds itself in the British Isles. Unfortunately my camera couldn't handle the distance however, looking back I realise that I should have attached the camera onto my Grandma's tripod.
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| Far enough for a crisper image, Islandica pictured middle right. |
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| Shaky Hands! Islandica pictured middle left behind "normal" Black-Tailed Godwit |
After that I managed to see two separate Water Rails that were either too far away or were shadows in the reeds. Following on from that, I went further up the Topsham Recreation ground, towards the M5 Bridge, that goes over the River Exe. A few days ago a report of a juvenile
Yellow-Legged Gull surfaced, my only
Yellow-Legged Gull I have seen being form the Topsham Rec! Knowing that Juvenile gulls are like finding a needle in a haystack, I thought spamming the photo trigger on juvenile Gulls then looking back at them later would be the best bet! Here is my best bet, that I believe to have some feature similar to a
Yellow-Leg...
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| Note: White head; fairly light-coloured wings and long wing trojectary. |
The only down side to this bird is the less weighty bill which is normally a characteristic i.d. to a
Yellow-Legged Gull. Moving on, while walking back I noticed a few fish by the side of the river that I'd say were some
Thick-Lipped Grey Mullet. they showed off their freshwater super powers by being practically in a saltwater free zone!
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| Correct me if wrong! |
After being half an hour late, my Grandma told me, I was off on my tod at Goosemoor, a recently opened cycle/walking path that has a few scrapes by the walkways. Before reaching there my Grandma dropped me off at Darts Farm, a large field with a small pond in the middle, literaly! I was hoping to find some
Green Sandpipers however I got sidetracked by a huge flock of Hirundines which included 100s of
House Martins and
Swallows a peppering of
Swifts and a lone
Sand Martin (I think!) I then focused on my main mission,
Green Sands... My quest had been completed by spotting two (most likely a pair of them), being harassed by the flock of Hirundines! This disturbed them into my view which was rather kind of them! Sadly though I didn't have my camera at the ready because I left it in the car not expecting anything, lesson learnt!
Now I was relocated nearby on the tarmac track of Goosemoor, my hopes were high after my Grandma handed me a copy of the reserve from above (Google Earth), that revealed a few tasty looking scrapes! While crossing the bridge that went over the Clyst, a 50ish year old man with a very nice manor started talking to me probably because of my scope. We shared our experiences in a long chat while looking across at the estuary. He recommended sites and told me where I should look for birds, thanks if you're reading this, and remember who I am! Back to birding...
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| Although common now, Little Egrets are still beautiful! |
The first walk round Goosemoor rewarded me with 4
Green Sandpipers and a flock of Redshank. I then carried on towards Bowling Green, a lagoon that has harboured a
Ross's Gull recently as you might recall. I began touring the reserve with an annoying disadvantage... My Grandmas tripod was too small which made it difficult to birdwatch without the stability. I managed to make out through my binoculars a large flock of both
Black-Tailed Godwit and
Black-Headed Gulls but nothing else because of the tripod. The only birds that I was happy with were 2
Stock Doves, that were obviously feeling the effects of a dry, hot summer due to taking refuge by a small pond...
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| Quite a nice couple, blatantly the boy looking at me and the girl turning her back, ignorant... |
After that I decided to double check Goosemoor's scrapes, by going to the first lagoon. My favourite bird I saw was a stonking
Greenshank that was obviously
moulting between plumages, FANTASTIC!
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| Range again did cause slight blur. |
One solitary
Whimbrel also resided with some
Black-Heads...
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| I like this shot, enables you to see the black crown on top. |
One of the
Green Sandpipers sat far away from any other bird minding its own business...
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| One-legged wonder, the Flamingos aren't the only one ;) |
There were around 20
Redshanks in this flock...
So that was that for Goosemoor, Darts Farm and the Topsham Rec, but was I done there? Yes *Anti-Climax ALERT!* Yep that's all folks! Sorry if that's disappointing, My eyes are bloodshot from tiredness and "bruises" or blue moons are underneath them! Also I didn't do anything more that day you'll be pleased to hear, this blog post seems to never end... Quicky, four birdwatchers were at the Topsham Rec in search of the Yellow-Legged Gull. They "found it" however, after I lined it up I think that they got over excited at a juvenile
Lesser Black-Backed Gull!!! My full list of the day (ignore
Nightjar top left from previous post!):
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