It was a nice bright, calm day when the boat set out from Exmouth. I was on "Secondary Spotter" duty, so while Dad was doing the commentary I could be spotting birds from the other side of the boat.
The sky in the sea
Great Norther Diver - Gavia immer
I was very pleased to spot four of these birds for the boat (plus a possible Black-throated Diver) in the estuary - some of the best views i have had of Divers. I'm used to seeing them far out at sea!
We were also treated to great views of a Common Seal sitting out on the sand. Though having seen these many times in the estuary, this was my first view of one out of the water. I was pretty excited...he was pretty dirty from the sand!! While we were watching him I spotted another nose poking out of the water - so at least two were present in the estuary. My bird of the day, for sure!
After returning to shore we drove to the opposite side of the estuary to find the flock on Brent Geese with which a Red-breasted Goose has been feeding. The flock was so far away and mostly obscured by trees so we could not find it, but we did have nice close views of a feeding Snipe over the wall in the Powderham Estate. We popped in briefly to visit an old friend - the Little Own in the grounds of Dad's old Starcross offices. You are virtually guaranteed to spot him in his willow tree on the left hand side of the drive.
No comments:
Post a Comment