The Backward Birder

Egrets in trees, Fremington Pill. 16 Cattle Egret and 3 Little Egret.

Zooming in, you can see the lone Little Egret in this picture is sporting a plumes, compared to the punky style of the Cattle Egrets.

While failing to find a Glossy Ibis on Saturday, I checked the roost at the head of Fremington Pill.
I count 19 egrets in this photo, and 16 of them aren't Little.

Not massive numbers compared to the three-figure counts around the Exe, but still nice to see. {Unless you're a frog...}
🦉

Yellow-legged Gull in the sunshine! Yes, sunshine!

I got a bit closer, and the cloud arrived.

Hordes of Lesser Black-backed and Herring Gulls arriving!

Upper Tamar Lake was descended upon by a horde of LBBS & Herring Gulls at noon, quite a sight!
Before they arrived, I was admiring this beast...
🦉
2/

Male Willow Tit. He was singing {and another answered!}. Not, you may note, posing. I admit I just zapped a few shots off, then just enjoyed the birds. {Yes, should have checked I'd got something good, but I'm a birder first}

Cattle Egret, seen from Tarka Trail. One of four there {16 later roosting at Fremington Pill}

Part of a 'too big to count as I couldn't get them in one shot' flock of Linnet on Home Farm Marsh. Also, is that what it looks like on the right, there?

Bullfinch, munching buds on Home Farm Marsh.

Saturday.
Went up North {no fog there!} & was made to walk for a Willow, but the singing was worth it!
😍🎶
Then gambled on Isbis vs Whooper & lost. Doubley.
Double drat. 😖

Some nice birds seen {and heard}, though.
🦉
1/

Daffodils, IMD

Interesting Daffodil variant, found on slope of Daddyhole {presumed garden escape}

Great Northern Diver, Hope's Nose

Friday.
Gave the Patch a good bashing but still no Wheatears to be found.
😔
At least it wasn't foggy this time {so I could see I was failing}.

Have some Daffydowndillies and one of four Great Northern Divers {1 @ Nose, 3 @ Meadfoot}, so at least there's something birdy!
🌼🦉

I'm not sure quite what Wheateras are/is, but I'm pretty sure I haven't seen one...
🤦

Nor yet a Wheatear this year, either.

Though it is a bit dark, now.
Maybe tomorrow?
🤔

Aaaand they're back again.

Ok.

{Posts, that is, not Wheateras here, yet}

A lot of my posts seem to have vanished.
🤨
Also, tried for Wheatear again at the Nose today. Did get sunshine. Didn't get Wheatears.
Drat.
😔

The night sky, some stars and an actual planet are in view. Can you identify it? My camera REALLY doesn't like the dark, even with a NightShoot mode {hmm}, so I had to keep some land in view and thus missed out on recording the more distant worlds. Not that they'd be more than dots, and I'd be unlikely to be able to resolve the Jovian moons, but I'd have liked to try. I do have shots of 'that bit of sky' but it's black.... Oh well. Still have memories. :D

After the weekend's abject failure to see the Planetary Parade, a sudden realisation of clear sky last night led to me dragging my li'l old reflector out & Joy of Joys seeing almost all of them {'twas rather late for Mercury}, including all 4 Galilean Moons!
🪐🔭
I'm still a bit giddy.
😁

The South Side, Hope's Nose. 'Slightly' obscured visibility and definitely no Wheatears seen....

Gratuitous Violets {they're Sweeties, really}

Proper wild Nose Primrose {Sunday, but still there today}

Gave the Nose a go after work today, with winds to the East & actual sunshine forecast {yes, yes, I'm Charlie Brown}.
No Wheatears, indeed, very little of anything more mobile than a flower to be seen, for, er, some strange reason..??
🌫️🌼

Scoter sp. Very bad grainy pic. All-dark belly and seeming dark primaries?

Scoter sp., possibly showing sloping forehead? Primaries not shining in sunlight?

Scoter sp, showing possibly sloping forehead, dark belly {I think that one's given}, uppersides of wings {sort of visible} look more brownish as of 2cy {maybe?} than the slivery translucency in primaries but not primary coverts of Common. I am aware these are crap pics, but those to the south of the Nose should at least keep an eye out on the off chance it's interesting.

Don't look at this scoter sp.

Seriously, you'll be sorry.

It picked a moment when I was trying to photo 2 passing RTDs {I missed}, so I only got on it as it was level with me. But I had camera in hand 📸
Through scope it seemed to have dark primaries & a sloping forehead but the pics... Well. 🤷

🦉

It was sunshine and showers. Lead Stone on the left, Ore Stone on the right, sunny here and rainy there.

Five Grey Seals in Hope Cove, today. A blacky one, a whitey one, and three browny ones.

Eight Grey Seals on Thatcher Rock, 10 mins earlier {and even they can't swim that fast}. A blacky one {longest arrow, note pale edges to rear flippers}, a whitey one, and six browny ones.

Nose today & first seawatch since Dec.!! {Been slightly broken}
No shears or skuas, but 1 of Brixham's Caspo horde {fishing well out, + a nfy YLG 😁} & a lone scoter {poor pics below} the best of it. 3 RT Diver past, 3 GND on sea {no GCG at all?!?}.
No fewer than 13 Grey Seal present, look down;
🦉🐋

Spectacular view of all the planets {bar one} in an arc across the sky. Well, it would be but for the clouds getting in the way. Bugger.

Wonderful views of the Planetary Parade this evening...

🔭🪐

Yeah. Loving that weather.
😔🌧️

Ooh, the look you're getting in that first pic; "How DARE you photo me before I've finished moulting!"
🤣

Feral breeding Black Swans {it you tick Canadas, Mandarins, Little Owls etc. people... ;p }, performing courtship at Bowling Green Marsh. Later 3 2cy Mute Swan arrived and were seen off with much display.

One of these godwits is not like the others. Bar-tailed Godwit with Black-tailed Godwits.

Male Marsh Harrier. I think a well-advanced 3cy rather than 4cy, though I could be wrong {Mr Forsman, I am not}

See! See! I said there were two females with the male Pochard, didn't I? And I was right! At long range, into the Sun and howling wind, I was right! {I am probably far too happy about that. Oh well. }

Bowling Green this pm & no sign of any Spoonbill, but still plenty to look at.
Black Swan pair courting {& beating up 2cy Mutes}, 2 Barwits in with the Blackwits, nice 3cy-ish ♂️Marsh Harrier, & proof I was right at Exminster... 3 Pochard!
Observe, regardez, lookit;
😆🦉

A rainy window and my camera just will not focus past it to the four Greenfinches on a mixed seed feeder beyond. {I did have to be very careful not to flush the birds, though} Also a fat feeder and {just in sight, the tip of the roof}, a clingon sunflower seed feeder for the tits when the finches hog the perch ones! Plus Heather for the bees {ok, flowering in Feb maybe less helpful} and a UV sicker to try to stop the Woodpigs flying into said window...

Male Pied Wagtail {tell me I'm wrong, I dare you ;p }, mid-puddlebath, Haldon Pier. One of three present {Pieds that is, many more puddles}, plus a Rock Pipit, though very little else, on Saturday.

This pretty little female Missing-sector Orbweb Spider {Zygiella x-notata} was loitering on my building, and while photo'd from multiple angles, hid her eyes every time.. {No, no flash used}

For WindowWednesday {go with me on this}, I present a rainy Sunday morning window, with beyond it; a feeder fully-stocked with 4 Greenfinches! 😍 {& 3 more were present! 😃*}
🦉

Bonus Content: "How do you know I'm a Pied Wagtail?"
AND
A spider!! 😱🕷️

{* Where were they were during BGBW though..?? 😖}

Marsh Tit, unringed.

Proper Dartmoor Primroses!

Yarner copper mine is reclaimed by the Wild. A lovely mix of coniferous and deciduous trees surround overgrown and ruinous mine buildings, in actual sunshine with blue sky and fluffy clouds and everything..!!

And finally, an unringed Marsh Tit, plus some scenery; close-to and wide-angle.
😄🦉🌼

Poor photo, but you can see the end of the ring and 'AW'

A few seconds of feeding on a seed later, the ring has shifted to show 'C32'

Time gap, but again, I am pretty confident this is the same bird. '32' then a join in the ring visible. 'AWC32'? {Or must there be three numbers?}

Second Marsh Tit...
🦉

Marsh Tit, Yarner. 8A in view

Same bird, shifted slightly. 30 in view {then probably 8}

What I am pretty confident is the same bird, shot earlier {I have other images of the same bird}. ARL in view. Thus 'ARL308'. Maybe.

Yesterday's post-rain amble about Yarner with the Folks was marked by some well-behaved Marsh Tits {apologies to ill-led searchers 😆}, so things devolved into an attempt to actually get some ring-reads.! 🙃
First bird!
{Yes, more than one...}
🦉

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Exeter Ship Canal, north of Turf. You can't see the wind, but you can see the blue sky, and rainbow in the leading edge of a big shower...

Exminster lagoon. Looking into the Sun and wind. Male Pochard on the right, female on the left, tow Tufted Duck closer-to, and a third bird far left, which looked like a second female Pochard? I couldn't get them both side-on together better than this.

The two female ducks {plus a Tuftie, front left}. Right bird showing sloping brow, left pyramidal head shape. Both Pochard? {{Oh, the state of the world where you're wondering if we might have THREE Pochard in Devon.........}}

Looking towards Topsham {not the watersports area down stream}, a kite surfer {who had a white kite with black edging and a two bulls butting logo, btw} going over the flats and flushing hundreds of assorted waders. He did tricks, too. Another kite surfer was doing his thing in the proper area past the yacht club and not disturbing the birds, it is to be noted.

Nipped up to Exminster {via Powderham, due to the hole in Station Road...} Monday pm, where it was a wee bit blowy, with mixed Sun & showers for extra viewing fun. 🙃
That didn't stop me from finally finding Pochard ✅ & Knot ✅,
though a kite-surfer made things harder for the birds 🤬
Pics ensue;
🦉

Male Mandarin getting a bit Spring-y {ie. beating each other up...}

Green Sandpiper, keeping an eye on a passing Buzzard.

Earlier... Queen's Marsh in the rain. With extra rain and a side order of rain and a few damp ducks. Teal the most interesting species on view. I was both soggy and unamused. I may have said a few Words. Evidently the rain was so offended that it left! :D

Snowdrops of the non-garden variety. All very scenic.

Slight shift today, with 🌧️ more than ☀️ 🤨, but on the upside, when the Sun did make an appearance I not only found the birds I was looking for but even got pics..!!
::Faints::
{Not good pics, but this me here 🤷}
Queen's Marsh, Dartington; ~12 Mandarin, 1 Green Sandpiper, 44+ Teal.
🦉🌼
Nice ☕&🍰, too 😁

Ford across the Mardle, a deeply-incised upland {small} river in a deeply-incised channel in a steep-sided valley. Lots of hints, there. Usually you can get across ok if you're quick and are wearing gaiters {or wellies, if you're nutty enough to Moor walk in them..}, but here it is thigh-deep {ie. >2 feet} at the thalweg and flowing rapidly. Crossing inavisable!

Iced surface of a leat, Holne Moor. The leat had been dammed by sand swept in by recent rain, and the standing water was lightly iced-over. Nearby flowing leats were ice-free.

Hoar frost on the banked edge of a gert {artificial gulley created by tin working} on Ryder's Hill.

As to the weather {What? Still British, here!}, I managed to find a little ice on a leat, some nice hoar frost on the flank of Ryder's Hill, and the River Mardle being.. a bit frisky.
😬 This is a ford. It's usually boot-deep in the middle, today it was thigh-deep..
I crossed {well} upstream.
❄️🌊

Sky with strange blue glow to it, and no water falling at all...?!?!? {I am a bit worried, could be the End Times} View is of Buckland from Holne Moor. There are two soaring raptors in this shot, though you'll be doing well to even see dots..!!

Ok, this is far too arty. Looking back towards the Patch. Fluffy little clouds stop it being too perfect.

This one was entirely deliberate. i saw the sky, went 'ooooh' and here you are. Ain't Nature grand? View from summit of Ryder's Hill looking at The Sub, with Plimoth Sound in the distance. Lit up cumulus clouds with high hazy altostratus behind them.

Weird bright thing in the sky today, so went up on t'Moor for an amble 😄
Amazingly quiet, given the lack of ice {I had to look for some to photo}; I wasn't complaining!
Here are some nice bits of scenery - all arty and stuff - which is definitely for the Art and not 'cause I missed all the birds.. 🤭

Greenshank, Blaxton Meadow.

This Greenshank showed very nicely, {once the hi-vis goons had stopped flushing everything off Blaxton.. 😡}, so gets a solo post!
🦉

Snowdrops and Daffydowndillies at Saltram; twas all weird; this Sun thing in the sky...?!?!

The 'highly mobile and elusive' female Red-crested Pochard. Yes, she's asleep on the duck pond by the gift shop.....

Ring-necked Parakeet, blue morph. These very mobile and annoying {hardly elusive, noisy beggars}, but got an actual Blue for the first time!

South Efford Marsh was a bit muddy {though hardly awful, I remember the Brown Shrike twitch at Staines Res being FAR worse...}, but very pretty. Also very pretty but utterly unable to be hit were the Yellow-browed Warbler and Siberian Chiffchaff {there may have been two of those, or one VERY slippery one?}. Even the regular-flavour Chiffies weren't playing, or the Siskin, the Firecrest, the three GSW in view at once... I was steaming up a lot, which may have been a factor, I admit.

Saltram & Efford Marsh {walked over from former to latter; it's just over there!} today and while lots of new birds for the year, only a few were willing to be 📸 🤷
Pretty scenery to compensate!
😁
🦉🌼

The Laughing Man, with Laughter Tor in the background. Yes, it is raining; not quite sideways, but at a good angle...

Hut circle, Bellever compound. Stones from far side wall visible, pole is in the near side wall. Pound {?} wall heading away and left, covered in Heather, below lone conifer.

To add some archaeology to all this, we have another nice shot of one of my favourite Standing Stones, even in the 🌧️, the Laughing Man of Laughter Tor!
🗿
Also a stealth hut circle, in what looks like a Pound, inside the Bellever compound. Hard to see, & clearer in person {also when not raining...}
⛏️

The day's weather in a photo. Teeny tiny bit of ACTUAL SUNSHINE WOOOO!!! in between massed rain and More Rain {with Extra Rain for afters}

Tiered bracket-ish fungus growing on dead Gorse stem. The usual Yellow Brain on nearby plants, but this stood out. Very white edges and underneath, with ochry yellow on the upperside near the base. Poplar Bracket is the closest I can find in the Big White Fungus Book {That's Phillips, btw}

More than half of 190+ thrushes {I counted 196, but couldn't get them all in one photo to be certain}, with only Fieldfares calling {and they went almost overhead, I'd have heard anything else vocalising}, which flew over - presumably heading to roost - in a gap in the late afternoon rain. I know they're funny-shaped blobs, but they are thrushes, honest.

More from soggy Sunday, where there was the odd patch of ☀️ in all the 🌧️, see?
🙃
Also an interesting fungus on some Gorse {Poplar Bracket, maybe?} + an actual photo of some birds! Ok, blobs, but a Big flock of thrushes {Fieldfares only heard, could be others with them} went over & I did my best 🤷
🍄🦉

The Laughing Man, Laughter Tor, Dartmoor. It is slightly raining. Shocking news, I know...

Standing Stone Sunday is here, so here is the Laughing Man.
This was taken today, and you can be assured I got thoroughly rained-on for my pic...
🌧️🌧️
🗿

Growing out of a fallen Oak branch on a Yarner trackside - and displacing lichen doing it! - is this Bonfire Cauliflower??

Hairy Curtain Crust growing only on the sapwood of a felled Oak, Yarner.

Bay Polypore growing out of a Silver Birch double stump, Yarner.

From Sunday's amble with the Folks, for Fungus Friday.
A rare one {I think?!? Certainly one I've not seen before 🤔}, an interestingly arty one, and a four-for-one. 🙃
🍄

View from Big Bank blind {downstream one} 1. Yes, those are raindrops. 2. Zoom in for two Spoonbills.

Itsa Spoonbill. See, the spoony bill.

Spotted Redshank. Close range from the causeway {White Bridge side}. Wowzer!

Yes, that's a Hare. Really.

It was... a little damp on the Otter today 🌧️🌊
🏊
Eventually found the 2 1w Spoonbill; hiding up by Big Bank {invisible from the causeway.!}. Worth the soaking as a Spotshank showed wonderfully on my return, & in a distant field... a Hare!
😍
🦉