.
Here we stopped at Statts Bridge and heard the Snipe drumming around us... a very VERY eerie noise if you don't know where its coming from. Its actually a display technique, vibrating stiffened outer tail feathers to create the sound. Just as dawn was breaking we nipped back to Bennet's Cross where the magic could really begin. Only perhaps a jungle dawn chorus would beat this for me...on exiting the car we were instantly greeted to a churring Grasshopper Warbler, the happy tick-tock of a Cuckoo from down in the valley, an aerial Skylark greeting the new day, and - the icing on the cake - a cackling Red Grouse! Its probably been about 10 years since I heard these on Dartmoor, and it added to the pure magic of this moment as we stood in the May frost amidst these wonderful noises as the first rays of daylight crept over the bleak moor hillside. I even managed to spot one of the Grasshopper Warblers - only the second time I've seen one! We had a search for Ring Ouzel but there was no sign of these birds - sadly their UK population is in decline, the 10 pairs breeding here have now been reduced to possibly zero.Dawn creeping across the moor...
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Once the sun itself began to appear we continued our journey, all the while keeping our eyes and ears open. We looked everywhere for Winchat as we travelled, stopping for every little bird perched atop a bush! No Winchats revealed themselves, but we did manage to spot Tree Pipit, Yellowhammer, Redstart and Stonechat.
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We travelled down the East Dart river, spotting Dipper on the way (the Dart wouldn't be complete without its Dippers!) and filling in some of the more common garden birds that were beginning to arise around civilisation. The moor was alive with Willow Warblers - one of my favourite songs.
We continued down the Dart through Holne Chase where we stopped briefly to listen for woodland birds and check the river for Gooseander. We managed to find very little so continued on to Hembury Woods.
Hembury was a little more alive - though not with Lesser Spotted Woodpecker which we were hoping for. We walked down through the spring-green ancient woodland towards the river. Wood Warblers were singing all around, and I listened intently to familiarise myself with a relatively unheard song. On arrival down at the river we were treated to a quick fly-by view of a female Mandarin Duck. But she was soon gone round the bend and out of sight. Sadly there was no Gooseanders to be seen - but there was a distant Peacock calling. Dad would not allow me to add this to the list. We walked back uphill to the car, enjoying the sights and sounds of this stunning English woodland.From here we headed round on the A38 and back onto the moor past Ashburton... up through Hallsanger Common with a quick stop to check for Dartford Warbler. But no luck - I hope this little guys have survived the winter OK.
From here we continued over to Haytor to check for more possible Winchat sites - and another Dartford Warbler attempt. We saw a very smart Wheatear on the way, and managed to see a few more Yellowhammers and some conveniently passing Redpolls alerted us with their calls. A lot of heathland here had been burnt so there wasn't much hope for sightings - only one of a Whitethroat.
From here we crossed over to Yarner Woods, which were looking fabulous in the morning light (it was 8.30am by now) and we were greeted with yet more Wood Warblers and our first confirmed Marsh Tit. We walked up to the hide, failing to hear any woodpeckers whatsoever. But our view from the hide was made all the more stunning by the little discreet yet delightful Pied Flycatcher that perched and sang on a nearby branch in full view! The best views I've ever had of this jolly little summer visitor.
Now we cut across country and headed for Hennock and its reservoirs. Here, amongst the majestic Larches and Firs we listened for Crossbill, but only found Bullfinch. Dad shouted at me to hurry as he had spotted a Goshawk...but within two seconds it was gone. I'd missed it. Gutted! I scanned the sky and waited but it did not reappear! What a shame, something I have wanted to see for ages - its been at least 12yrs since I last saw one.
Once I had recovered from the annoyance, we moved on down towards the Teign Valley, distracted en route by a thermal of Swifts, a Sparrowhawk and a Peregrine. At Whetcombe Barton we scanned the sandy riverbanks for Kingfisher but had no luck. We also failed to find Treecreeper and Great Spotted Woodpecker here, which are usually guaranteed! This meant a trip to Stover was required, via a luckless Dartford check at Ch Knighton Heath. At Stover we were advised to go to the Arboretum which did indeed yield a Treecreeper and the Great Spot! As a bonus the pair of Great Crested Grebes had returned to the lake! Now we went to Bovey Heathfield DWT reserve for a last ditch attempt at Dartford Warbler. We played them song continuously but to no avail; and just as we were about to give up, we turned to face a little dark purple bird with a cocked tail, saying "bsssshb" at us in a very displeased manner. We had not noticed him sat right behind us! Brilliant! It put my mind at rest that one of my favourite British birds was continuing to survive here after such a nasty winter!Onwards...
We began to panic that we would miss getting Kestrel. A quick return trip up the clay road yielded nothing, so we decided to visit Chudleigh Quarry. We failed to find the Kestrel nest here, as the area it usually is had been taken over by the Peregrines - she peered at us from over the top of her scruffy twig pile, her piercing yellow eyes asking us kindly but firmly to bugger off! So we did, to avoid further disturbance. I look forward to spotting the youngsters circling noisily above the house in coming months!
Then I remembered the old buildings at Hams Barton where Kestrels had nested in previous years - lo and behold, there was another falcon-face peering back at us, this time from within a hole in a wall! We looped round via Watercress Farm where the trout ponds provided us with two very smart summer plumage Little Grebes and, unusually, a singing Reed Warbler - the first record for the Parish! Then it was onto Haldon for Crossbill and Turtle Dove. Both of which we failed miserably to find.
Now onto the second section of the day : wetlands! We'd got most of the woodland, moorland and urban species that we could, now was time to concentrate on sea and wetland birds. It was 1.20pm when we arrived at Matford Marsh RSPB reserve to find Greylag Geese, and various other forms of wildfowl... many with ducklings/goslings/chicks of some sort. We also found here Lesser Whitethroat, another song I'm not all that familiar with - a very loud rattling song for a little bird!Then down to Exminster Marshes - my RSPB patch!
Our first stop in a gateway revealed two Hobbies, one perched one hunting. As we continued down the road we found a total a four birds, hunting and resting around the lagoon. The pair of Gadwall I found last volunteers day were still visible, luckily, and we got our first chance to look over at the Estuary for Cormorants, Gulls and Little Egret. A white bird flying in over the marshes caught my eye - not a swan, not an egret...its the Spoonbill! It landed out of view, but we knew our route and would get another chance! We drove round to Powderham Marshes to look from the platform, and check for Cirl Buntings. There was not a bunting in sight, but we got great views of the Spoonbill feeding!A quick trip round to Exminster for Cirl Bunting and Woodlark was fruitless, but the drive towards Starcross did reveal a pair of Red-legged Partridge.
We headed down to Dawlish Warren where we conducted a seawatch from the railway bridge at Langstone. Gannet, Guilemot, Shag, Arctic Skua and Common Scoter were soon additions to the list. We could not find Rock Pipit from our vantage point so decided to climb up onto the rock itself. We still didn't find the bird in question, but the sun came out and I tool the opportunity to lye down and rest in amongst cushions of Thrift.
The coast path
View back towards the Warren
From the top, towards Dawlish/Torbay
Exmouth & Thrift
Thrift
Nap time!
By now I was beginning to feel a little bleary-eyed and despondent at missing some silly birds! We cheered ourselves up by visiting our Little Owl at Starcross - he wasn't in his usual tree, but peeped out from a little hole before flying out and into the open! Fab!
Then onto Bowling Green Marsh for the high tide roost... our tally was boosted by the sleeping waders, but the lack of duck species was disappointing and we missed out on some things. As we stared through the telescope trying to distinguish between sleeping Curlew and sleeping Whimbrel, we decided that we would not be able to go the distance... and with a final drive through Exeter to tick off Lesser Black-backed Gull while at the traffic lights, we headed home for a much needed rest..and cup of tea!
So I suppose the big question you're asking is how may species we saw?
Especially for you, here is the final list... (in taxonomical order, naturally)
Little Grebe
Great Crested Grebe
Fulmar
Gannet
Cormorant
Shag
Little Egret
Grey Heron
Spoonbill
Mute Swan
Greylag Goose
Canada Goose
Shelduck
Mandarin Duck
Mallard
Gadwall
Shoveler
Pochard
Common Scoter
Buzzard
Sparrowhawk
Goshawk
Kestrel
Hobby
Peregrine
Red Grouse
Red-legged Partridge
Pheasant
Moorhen
Coot
Oystercatcher
Grey Plover
Lapwing
Knot
Dunlin
Greenshank
Black-tailed Godwit
Bar-tailed Godwit
Curlew
Whimbrel
Snipe
Arctic Skua
Black-headed Gull
Common Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Kittiwake
Sandwich Tern
Guillemot
Feral Pigeon
Stock Dove
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Cuckoo
Tawny Owl
Little Owl
Swift
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Skylark
Sand Martin
House Martin
Swallow
Meadow Pipit
Tree Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Wren
Dipper
Dunnock
Robin
Redstart
Wheatear
Stonechat
Song Thrush
Mistle Thrush
Blackbird
Garden Warbler
Blackcap
Lesser Whitethroat
Whitethroat
Dartford Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Grasshopper Warbler
Cetti's Warbler
Reed Warbler
Willow warbler
Wood Warbler
Chiffchaff
Goldcrest
Pied Flycatcher
Great Tit
Coal Tit
Blue Tit
Marsh Tit
Long-tailed Tit
Nuthatch
Treecreeper
Magpie
Jay
Jackdaw
Rook
Crow
Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Lesser Redpoll
Golfinch
Greenfinch
Siskin
Bullfinch
Reed Bunting
Yellowhammer
117
Some annoying silly misses...
Kingfisher
Woodlark
Cirl Bunting
Nightjar
Tufted Duck
Wigeon
Teal
Rock Pipt
Winchat
Slavonian Grebe (the resident bird on the Ee was nowhere to be seen - he would have looked great in his summer plumage!)
Manx Shearwater
Crossbill
Ring Ouzel
Turtle Dove
Razorbill
Redshank
Common Sandpiper
As you can see, there is the potential to get a very grand total indeed! But there always has to be some silly misses. Though this time, a few of our misses were made up by unexpected/unusual species like Spoonbill and Yellow Wagtail!
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