Saturday 2nd
April 2011
A relatively small group of us met up on a dull
Saturday morning in the Berry Head car park.
Some people were held up by roadworks in Paignton, so we were slightly late starting. First we visited the southern fort near the car
park, in the hope of seeing some newly-arrived Wheatears. From the cliffs we had good views of Fulmars
flying around with their stiff wings, Guillemots on the water and a group of
Shags joining nesting gulls on a rocky island below. Cirl Buntings posed
well on the bushes, but we couldn’t find the Wheatear that a couple of local
birders said they had seen.
We then gently walked towards the main fort on Berry
Head itself, enjoying Great and Blue Tits in the brightly flowering Blackthorn
bushes and hearing Chiffchaffs all around.
By this time the clouds were clearing, and it was turning into a sunny
morning. As we neared the gateway to the
main fort, a Wheatear was perched on one of the gate posts, as if on
guard. From behind the cafe, we looked
across to the cliff below where we had recently been standing - there were
literally hundreds of Guillemots crowded on the ledges, with several pairs of
Fulmars too. On the nearby rocks there
were several more Wheatears - they had probably moved down there to keep away
from all the people who were out taking their dogs for a walk.
Walking towards the lighthouse, we paused a while to
see which warblers we could find hiding in the bushes. Besides the Chiffchaffs, there were at least
a couple of Willow Warblers. Somebody
told us they had seen a Whtethroat, but we didn’t
find one. From the headland, we looked
out across the sea that was, at first sight, empty of birds. But in the distance was a fishing boat, and
all the seabirds seemed to have gathered around it in the hope of a free
meal. As well as all the gulls there
were a few Gannets.
We’d heard that a Black Redstart had been seen. On the walk back, Lyndon spotted it - but
most us just got a fleeting glimpse, if that.
Looking back across the quarry, there was a likely second sighting - but
it was a long way away and the bird was not showing itself well. We took a path through the woodland. Besides more Chiffchaffs, we heard a
Blackcap’s song. Only a couple of us
managed to see it, but fortunately there was another pair further along the
path which I think everyone got a look at.
We also had a fly-past from newly arrived Swallows - not to mention a
not so newly-arrived Jay. All too soon,
it was time to go back to the car park before our parking time expired. It had been a very pleasant morning and it’s always good to see
those newly arrived migrants to show that spring has really arrived.
Number of species seen: 35
Richard Swinbank
Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order
BOU order Fulmar