Guided Bird Watching Cruise 29th December 2024

As over one hundred eager passengers boarded the boat mid-morning, a light drizzle threatened a damp cruise, but the sunshine quickly won through shortly after setting sail, and we enjoyed a dry and calm sojourn on the Exe Estuary.

The lower parts of the estuary did not hold many birds other than scattered Curlew and Oystercatchers looking smart in the low winter sun, but by cruising up the centre channels we soon found Great-Crested Grebes, a few Red-breasted Mergansers, and scattered flocks of Dark-bellied (and therefore Siberian) Brent Geese feeding on the seagrass and weed in the shallow water.

As the tide rose, we headed briskly up river where the more muddy habitats held the greatest variety and numbers of the birds today. Close views were had of ‘an orchestra’ of Avocets, group feeding in the channel adjacent to the Turf Hotel, together with lower numbers of Bar-tailed, and Black-tailed Godwits, Greenshank, Redshank and Dunlin. A very distant Kingfisher was perched on the sea wall at the Turf Hotel garden, and spotted by an observant passenger.

Opposite Topsham we enjoyed a distant view of a Marsh Harrier over Exminster Marshes, and there was a dense flock of Golden Plover on the exposed mudflat. Having turned around at Topsham, we headed back, but the neap tide was only slowly covering the mud so we enjoyed good views of many waders for much of the return trip. Some stand-out birds included a single Bar-headed Goose in the flock of Canada Geese, looking very handsome despite its status as an escape, and we were also lucky to see two Great-Northern Divers in the flooding channels at the Turf, and again near Starcross. One final addition to our cruise list were some Sanderling, looking crisp and white on Bull Hill, the giant sandbank just north of Dawlish Warren.

Hopefully a good time was had by all.

Peter Hopkin