Monday 26 December 2016

An Overdue Update

Thought it time I put together a post as it has been quite a while since the last.  I'll start with my Christmas morning trip up the lanes behind Axmouth before a wonderful Christmas dinner and entertainment provided by some very good friends.  The weather was dull and drizzly but it was still great to see between 15 and 20 yellow hammers bathing in puddles along the hedgerows and quite a few red legged partridges.



As you can see the yellow hammers were a bit distant for my set up



A couple of weeks ago there were 3 gadwall by the FSB though they didn't stay long


and moving on to some more common varieties there were 32 dunlin flying up and down the river today and quite a few black tailed godwits again in the fields the last few days.  The fields around Colton have plenty of redwings and fieldfares though the cattle egret has so far managed to elude me.  By Seaton sewage works there were several goldcrests today with the finches and tit flock while the kingfisher provided a different background to the usual.


One of the many trusting robins around the reserve


The grey plover still puts in and occasional appearance along with the  common sandpiper


A beautiful stone chat



and dunlin from Ferrybridges


and a red breasted merganser


a redwing


and a snipe all from Topsham