Exe estuary boat trip

27 Feb - showery weather for a boat cruise on the Exe. Earlier, I'd travelled via Yelland to check out Isley Marsh for Spoonbills, but they were not present, apparently being on the other side of the river at Braunton. I made do with Little Egrets, Grey Plovers, Turnstones, and some commoner waders with a couple of flyover Ravens.
The rising tide on the Exe gave us some good views, the highlights being 3 Great Northern Divers (4), a Slavonian Grebe and good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers, together with a wide selection of waders including Bar- and Black-tailed Godwits, Sanderling, Knot, Grey and Golden Plovers, Greenshank, Spooted Redshank and of course Avocets (2,3).
A check of the sea off Exmouth after the trip produced views of the wintering female Surf Scoter with Common Scoters, also a Long-tailed Duck on a considerable swell. Photos by JM.

RB Merganser still present in CWP

26 Feb - a quick check of pits 29 and 30 at CWP prior to dusk revelaed no sign of any Smew, but the female Red-breasted Merganser was still present with 20 Goosander that flew in to roost.

CWP and Blakehill again

21 Feb - an afternoon visit to Blakehill, where a Common but not a Jack Snipe was present. The Peregrine flew across the plateau again and fed on prey on the ground. Then a check on the CWP - the female RB Merganser still on pit 30 with a roost of 21 Goosander, and 5 Smew including 3 males on pit 29.

South Coast (and Coate Water)

20 Feb - another south coast trip in fine but cold weather. En route, an early morning visit to Coate Water produced excellent views of the roosting Tawny Owl that has been present for a while now (photo 1, copyright Graham Cox). Alongside the A4 at Froxfield I saw a Little Egret and a Green Sandpiper on the roadside stream.
First stop was Walpole Park, Gosport, and while the Ring-billed Gull could not be located, I got excellent views of a winter-plumaged Mediterranean Gull (2,JM). Ringed Plovers and Brent Geese were in the creek here. Next, on to Southsea and the rising tide produced excellent close views of 14 Purple Sandpipers on the rocks here (3,4JM). A couple of Rock Pipits were also present, and a flock of Sanderlings flew past. Finally, Hill head near Titchfield gave fairly distant views of the 3 long-staying Velvet Scoters offshore.
En route home, I stopped at Bury Down and 3 Short-eared Owls(5,JM) were seen well, perched in the evening sun.

Blakehill and CWP again

16 Feb - another quick look at Blakehill, and I couldn't see the Jack Snipe(1) on the ground until I flushed it, so no photo. Also a singing Mistle Thrush, and Raven and Buzzard over.
In CWP, the female Red-breasted Merganser(2) was still on pit 30 late afternoon with 7 Goosander (5m,2f). A redhead Smew(3) was on pit 29, and another on pit 17. Pit 44 held 5 more Goosander (3m,2f).

Blakehill and Dudgrove

14 Feb - a lunchtime walk at Blakehill with directions from Robin Griffiths took me to the Poor Field, and walking through the marsh I flushed the Jack Snipe that has been present for a couple of weeks - small with a short bill, flew silently and circled round. Also seen, a female Peregrine perched on a trough on the plateau. A couple of Skylarks were singing in the sun!
Late afternoon and a visit to Dudgrove produced no sign of the Bittern by 5.55pm but a real bonus, a flock of 5 Bewick's Swans flew over going E and a Peregrine over at 5.40pm. Also present 15 Goldeneye and 32 Shoveler.

Sawbill bonanza in CWP!

13 Feb - a late afternoon visit to CWP 29/30 area was well worth it as I found a female-type Red-breasted Merganser on pit 30, in the company of no less than 26 Goosander, mostly smart males. A redhead Smew on pit 29 later flew to pit 30, so all 3 Sawbills were on the pit together! The above Thorburn print shows these, with the addition of Hooded Merganser (a North American species).

Sweden postscript

13 Feb - an atmospheric shot of the Rough-legged Buzzard we saw at Flackebo on the trip last week, taken by our guide Daniel Green (www.birdsafarisweden.com). This was one of the highlights of the trip for me - a striking and iconic Scandinavian species, perched up on a pine in vastness of the snowy landscape.

Pink-footed Goose - a Wiltshire tick

11 Feb - a visit to Inglesham, just south of Lechlade, and distant scope views of the Pink-footed Goose with the Greylag flock, just on the Wilts side of the Thames - my 226th Wiltshire bird. Photo, copyright Paul Masters.

Sweden in Winter 4-7 Feb 2010

4-7 Feb - I enjoyed the Naturetrek "Sweden in Winter" trip so much last year that I did the trip again! A lot more snow than last year, some morning mist, and one beautiful sunny day. Highlights included once again a Hawk Owl, though rather distant, and White-tailed and Golden Eagles, as well as a perched Rough-legged Buzzard (see entry 13 Feb for photo). Nutcrackers and Siberian Jays (10,11) showed very well at the feeding stations, along with Crested (6) and Willow Tits (7). We had several sightings of Grey-headed Woodpecker, as well as an excellent close pair of Three-toed (2), but no Black Woodpeckers. Waxwings were seen distantly in flight, along with many Crossbills and Northern Bullfinches. A couple of Great Grey Shrikes were seen briefly. All in all, another successful trip in an amazing, quiet, snowy landscape. All photos JM.