Great to see this adult Osprey fishing in the newly created LORP habitat yesterday evening!
Cream Tea Birding
Birds and other wildlife at home in the UK and Overseas. Plus the odd pudding or cake!
Thursday, 14 September 2023
Friday, 8 September 2023
Ortolan Bunting!
On Wednesday 6th September, I felt like I needed a break from my daily checks of LORP, as despite it looking great for waders it still seemed to be attracting very little in the way of passage waders. Therefore I decided to head up to the West Cliffs and Budleigh Golf Course.
Wryneck was very much on my radar, as there had been a large influx into the SW recent days and the hedgerows in this area of the Golf Course look so good. However, literally the first bird I saw in the hedge was a male Cirl Bunting, a species I have never recorded up here, so a great sign birds are spreading! It then became apparent as I walked along the nearby hedge that there were at least 10+ birds in the vicinity including many juveniles. Then in with the flock I was suddenly stopped in my tracks by a bunting with a striking eye ring, pink bill and clear creamy sub-moustachial stripe - Ortolan Bunting!
This was a bird that I had always hoped to find on the patch, but I had always imagined it in the stubble fields to the east of Otter Head. It just shows how important it is to mix up your birding sometimes and try something different to your usual routine. I was certainly glad for the change of scene and what a great morning!
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Cirl Bunting and Ortolan Bunting together on the patch! |
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Friday, 18 August 2023
Red-footed Booby
These days, I am motivated by putting my effort into finding my own scarce and rare birds rather than twitching. However, every now and again certain birds in certain locations do still tempt me. Since my first visit in October 1989, I have always had a very strong affinity to the Isles of Scilly and it is a place I really love to visit, so with the recent news of Britain's 2nd record of a Red-footed Booby (a pantropical species) along with huge numbers of Cory's Shearwaters and other seabirds present in the South West approaches, it just seemed too good an opportunity to miss!
Therefore I took a day trip on the Scillonian and had a thoroughly enjoyable day. To be honest, one of the best highlights for me was seeing so many Shearwaters at close range from a very calm Scillonian crossing! A good couple of hundred Cory's Shearwaters, 6 Sooty Shearwaters and thousands of Manx Shearwaters. Plus great views of numerous Common Dolphin, Harbour Porpoise and Risso's Dolphin.
A great day and fabulous seabird spectacle with a bonus rarity, albeit a reminder of the worrying trend of seabirds heading out of their normal range as sea temperatures rise....
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Cory's Shearwater |
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Cory's Shearwater |
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Manx and Cory's Shearwaters |
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Sooty Shearwater |
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Common Tern |
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Common Tern |
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Bishop Rock Lighthouse |
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First views of Red-footed Booby on top of Bishop Rock Lighthouse |
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Light morph Red-footed Booby |
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Light morph Red-footed Booby |
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Light morph Red-footed Booby |
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Bishop Rock Lighthouse |
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St Agnes |
Colour-ringed Great Egret
Pleased to catch up with this colour-ringed Great (White) Egret on LORP during the last couple of weeks. It was ringed as a chick in the nest on 23rd May 2023 at RSPB Ham Wall and has been on LORP since early August.
Tuesday, 4 July 2023
Spotted Redshank
A nice surprise today on LORP was this moulting Spotted Redshank. It is only the 4th record for me on the site, so very pleased to find this and the first time I have seen a bird on the patch showing any signs of summer plumage.
My previous records were:
2nd September 2011, 12 Nov 2012 and 19th March 2018
Thursday, 15 June 2023
Spoonbill LORP
This adult Spoonbill was an unexpected surprise on the Otter today.
First seen circling high over LORP and then later commuting between the southern section of LORP and the main estuary. An odd time of year and hopefully not a sign birds are struggling further south due to drought. Note the metal ring on the left leg.
My last Spoonbill on patch was March 2018 - See link below:
http://creamteabirding.blogspot.com/2018/03/spoonbill.html
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Sunday, 11 June 2023
Savi's Warbler
At around 9.45pm on 31st May after having taken a small Devon Beaver Tours group to see our local beaver population, I arrived at White Bridge and was saying goodbye to everyone when I thought I heard a brief Savi's Warbler singing!! I said my goodbyes as quickly as I could and then headed closer to the reedbed not truly believing what I thought I had heard. Then, I heard it again, a Savi’s Warbler on the patch!
Almost in disbelief, I made the following recording on my phone using the Merlin App: https://ebird.org/checklist/S141111355
Despite the bird being very close, I never actually saw it and concentrated on obtaining a recording rather than using my binoculars as there was very little light. I returned the following morning at around 5am but there was no sight nor sound up until around 7am, so I assumed it had simply moved on.
I had another evening beaver walk and returned to White Bridge at 9.50pm and amazingly, the bird sang briefly again, but similar to the previous evening, it was just giving very short reels. This time I recorded the bird using video on my phone below, but again did not see it other than in my thermal camera! However, I did manage to leave out my sound recording equipment at the site.
In the above video, you can even hear the "start up" notes preceding the "reel"
1 - I never saw it, other than a thermal red blob on my thermal camera!😂
2 - Nobody else was likely to ever see it because it never sang in daylight!
The RBBP believes that Savi's Warbler are one of a number of species that are:
"especially vulnerable, and we suggest that no records of these species in circumstances suggestive of breeding or potential breeding habitat are shared in the public domain during the breeding season, unless public viewing has been arranged."
Previous Savi's Warbler Records from the Otter Estuary:
1979: 22 April and 4-8 May
1990: 28 April
Most recent Savi's Warbler records in Devon
2012: Exe Reedbeds 11-25 June (20th Devon record)
2013: Mansands 30 May (21st Devon record)
2012: Exe Reedbeds 11-25 June (20th Devon record)
2013: Mansands 30 May (21st Devon record)
Wednesday, 19 April 2023
Nocmig Scoters and Godwits
Nice to get some Common Scoters and Bar-tailed Godwits migrating over the house a few days ago. I particularly like the Tawny Owl in the background to add to the mood!
Both species were recorded during the early hours of the 17th April.
Common Scoter at around 01.42hrs and Bar-tailed Godwit at around 02.30hrs
Tuesday, 18 April 2023
Night Heron
Found this adult Black-crowned Night Heron on the lake at the Bicton Park Botanical Gardens yesterday! No sign today despite two visits in and around the grounds of the Botanical Gardens, but I will try again.....
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Adult Black-crowned Night Heron, Bicton Park Botanical Gardens |
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Adult Black-crowned Night Heron, Bicton Park Botanical Gardens |