Friday 1st February, 2019With yesterday evening’s snow still visible down to sea level, it was a cold journey up the estuary this morning. A Great Northern Diver was off Exmouth sea front, where a Grey Seal popped up briefly to look us over and several flocks of Redwings and Fieldfares passed over from the east: a…

Tuesday 22nd January 2019 This afternoon, one of the Grey Seals was hauled up on the back of a boat. The 3 immature drake Eiders were nearby, as was one of the Great Northern Divers, the second being off Powderham Corner. Several hundred Brent Geese flew off Starcross Golf Course onto the shoreline as we…

We had nice weather to begin with this afternoon, but the sun went in part way up the estuary and we had a little light rain on the return. A Peregrine was again on Exmouth church tower, later seen in flight heading out over the estuary. Both Grey Seals were together on the pontoon, where…

Sunday 20th January 2019 Another cruise in lovely calm, conditions. Highlights included the Great Northern Diver, Slavonian Grebe and 3 Eiders (immature drakes) off Cockwood. Two of the Eiders were out on Bull Hill Sandbank, with a Crow paying rather too much attention to one of them! There were an amazing 320(ish) Pintail around the…

Saturday 19th January 2019 Today was the first birdwatching cruise of 2019 in lovely calm, sunny conditions. Highlights included a Great Northern Diver and the usual Slavonian Grebe off Cockwood, c20 Great Crested Grebes, c250 Pintail around the mouth of the Clyst, 3 Eiders (immature drakes) between Exmouth and Cockwood, c30 Red-breasted Mergansers, 2 Sanderlings,…

Welcome to Stuart Line Cruises’ December Newsletter! Christmas Sailings Christmas Boat Party Guided Bird Watching Christmas Sailings In passing conversation, people have often remarked ‘oh that sounds like a fun career – very seasonal though? Must be nice to have the winter off!’ We giggle and swiftly correct them – how mistaken they can be!…

Exe Estuary birdwatching cruise, 6th December 2018 This afternoon’s cruise again witnessed spectacular numbers of birds in the estuary, especially the upper part. The Great Northern Diver was still present between Cockwood and Starcross, as were the usual Slavonian Grebe, 2 Little Grebes and 2 immature drake Eiders; the Eiders seemed to be feeding successfully on…

Welcome to Stuart Line Cruises’ November Newsletter! Devon Tourism Awards – We Won! Bonfire Night Cruise Christmas Cruises WE WON GOLD! We are thrilled to announce that we have won the Gold Award for ‘Small Attraction of the Year’ at the prestigious Visit Devon Tourism Awards 2018! We enjoyed a wonderful evening at the Highbullen Hotel, Golf…

Exe Estuary cruise, 22 November 2018 What a cracking afternoon on the Exe to kick off the new season of birdwatching cruises!  To start an afternoon full of estuary birds, we watched a Peregrine zooming around over the sea off Exmouth.  Having almost missed the resident Slavonian Grebe off Cockwood, we had much better views…

Welcome to Stuart Line Cruises‘ October Newsletter! “The wind was blowing very hard as Pooh neared Piglet’s house. ‘Happy Windsday, Piglet. I see you’re sweeping leaves.’ ‘Yes Pooh. But it’s hard. This is a very unfriendly wind.’” ~ Winnie The Pooh Certainly, one or two unfriendly winds have been and gone – the seasons are shifting but the River…