Guided Bird Watching Cruises
Guided Bird Watching Review – Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th January.
Guided Bird Watching Review – Friday 22nd January 2016 The old adage “rain at 7, fine by 11” held true today and we left Exmouth in sunshine, which made for very pleasant conditions! There were 2 Great Northern Divers in the channel off Exmouth, with 2 others more distant. Shags were plentiful, maybe over…
Read MoreGuided Bird Watching Review – Friday 8th, Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th January
Three consecutive trips with variable weather conditions but excellent birding every day. Saturday, despite wind and rain proved the day of surprises. A Sandwich Tern, which would normally have migrated south months ago was seen fishing at Cockwood and also a Guillemot drifting down river near Turf. Recent flooding has caused a change in feeding…
Read MoreBird Watching Cruise Review- Thursday 10th December
Today’s cruise was simply brilliant! The weather forecast seemed to put some people off coming, but apart from a bit of light drizzle, everything was fine. So often the weather is much better in the estuary than in surrounding areas: please don’t be put off by a bad forecast! That said, wind surfers were taking…
Read MoreBonaparte’s Gull sighting 24th November 2015
My first trip of the year was a real treat. At least forty species seen with some surprises amongst them. As we headed out towards the Mouth there were many Brent Geese feeding on the vegetation at the edges of the shore the first of the many hundreds that we saw throughout the trip but…
Read MoreSunday 8th November 2015 – our first cruise of the season
It was good to be back for the first bird watching cruise of the winter. Although breezy with drizzle at first, it proved to be a good one. In the estuary mouth, just off the seaward side of Dawlish Warren, was a female or immature Long-tailed Duck – let’s hope it stays for the winter!…
Read MoreBird Watching with Dave Smallshire, Saturday 7th March
We had a lovely afternoon for the last birdwatching cruise of the season, with the early spring sunshine showing up the colours of many birds to good effect. The inevitable human activity off Exmouth meant rather few birds there, although a couple of Turnstones were sat on rocks near the marina. We couldn’t find the…
Read MoreBird Watching with Ian Waite, 5th March 2015
My last trip of the winter featured a couple of smaller birds. At Topsham a Kingfisher posed for photographs, and at Powderham on our return sitting on a wall was the Snow Bunting. A very confiding bird which fortunately for us chose the closest location possible to the boat, which Jake had stopped for us..…
Read MoreGuided Bird Watching with Dave Smallshire, 4th March 2015
Another lovely sunny morning with fabulous light showing up the glossy green of the Shags and drake Red-breasted Mergansers to best effect. Rather few of the former are in the estuary now, most of them being back on their breeding cliffs, but there are still lots of Mergansers. Groups of five then six Great Crested…
Read MoreGuided Bird Watching with Dave Smallshire on Sunday 1st March
Another lovely sunny morning for the cruise, with a fresh westerly wind. Shag numbers have declined as the breeding season approaches, but there were still some nice adults sporting crests in the outer part of the estuary. The Spotted Redshank was with half a dozen Greenshanks off Powderham and several groups of Sanderlings fed along…
Read MoreReviews of 17th, 18th and 19th February Bird Watching Cruises with Ian Waite
Three consecutive trips with some sightings common to them all, particularly the Avocets. It has been a privilege to experience the aerial ballet performed by these magnificent birds as they flew alongside both sides of the boat, in front and behind the boat and overhead. One of nature’s wonders on our doorstep. It was a…
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