A New Year and a Blog!

 

So, I woke up at 8 am on 1st January 2024 after getting to bed at about 2 am, having consumed 'a few beers'. As I lay in bed contemplating if today was the day that I would start my birding/wildlife blog, I heard a Green Woodpecker calling from outside. Was it laughing at me? Probably not, but that spurred me into action, and I was up and out of the house just after nine.

I decided to walk from home to the estuary and head towards the seafront via Mudbank and the Imperial Recreation Ground.

It was good to hear two Song Thrush singing in the trees that line the 'wibbly-wobbly' path between Lympstone Manor and Lower Halsdon Farm. Unfortunately, the dull day was not ideal for photography, but here is one of the plucky songsters...

The taller trees nearer the marshy area by the cycle path held a large and noisy flock of 100+ Redwing and a few Goldfinches, Greenfinches and Chaffinches. A group of 4-5 Meadow Pipits circled the farmland.

The tide was high but falling on the estuary, and I scanned the area from the cycle path looking for diving ducks, apart from about half a dozen Great Crested Grebes, it was very quiet.

Nearer towards Mudbank was a large flock of Pintail (40+) and Wigeon. Three Little Egrets were fishing close to the shore, and a flock of a dozen Turnstone were feeding between them.

There was a larger flock of perhaps 40+ Turnstone at Mudbank.

A few more Turnstone were close to the wall by the Duckpond area.

Also, on the duckpond, was this obliging 2nd-winter(?) Common Gull.

I walked the path around the Imperial Recreation Ground. There were Brent Geese and Oystercatchers on the rugby pitch, including this group of Pale Bellied Brent Geese:

However, the flock soon took off as the tide dropped on the estuary...

At the southern end of the path around the recreation ground, in the trees by the play area, was a large flock (25+) of Goldfinch and a mobile flock of  4+ Cirl Buntings, which were flitting between the trees and a weedy area by the creek.

I made my way through the docks to the seafront, but the New Year's Day powerboats had just started their noisy racing, so no chance of seeing any divers or auks in the area between the docks and Dawlish Warren.

Making my way back, the Brent Geese and Oystercatchers were now on the Duckpond, along with a few Turnstone, Redshank and one Dunlin.

I saw just over forty species this morning; not an amazing number but a good way to start the New Year and my Blog!