Guided Bird Watching – Tuesday 1st March

The highlight of today’s birdwatching cruise was an adult Spoonbill on the mud near Topsham, which brightened up a damp afternoon no end! Nearby, a Spotted Redshank was on its favoured patch of mud, while the other waders were much as yesterday, apart from about 300 Golden Plover roosting on the mud near Turf and about 25 Knot near Dawlish Warren. A Peregrine was just about visible on Exmouth church tower and a bedraggled Pied Wagtail that stayed on the boat with us was happy to accept pasty crumbs! More than a dozen Great Crested Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers were in the upper half of the estuary, while about 50 Pintail were scattered around Lympstone. Although some species seem to have declined in numbers over recent weeks, there were still thousands of birds feeding across the mudflats to delight the birdwatchers.

Dave Smallshire