Goodrington Sands and Clennon Valley

ClennonValley and Goodrington Sands

28^th January 2008

After a poor weather forecast at least it was dry and 15 group members managed to find their way to the meeting place (free parking compared with the leisure centre over the way!).

After the stormy weather we had had the sea was flat, good for seeing things but most of the divers and grebes had obviously decided to take advantage of the conditions and head out to sea. After much debate it was decided that the grebe in the far distance was a Black-necked Grebe and a mixed flock of Common and Velvet Scoter were seen, again a long way out. Then a Peregrine was spotted on the edge of the cliffs towards Torquay.

A detour via the nearby lakes revealed various ducks before we crossed the road to Clennon Valley. Immediately in the trees we saw a small party of beautiful Siskins but finches generally seemed pretty scarce. The ponds contained Mallard, Pochard and Tufted Duck and a diligent search produced Snipe in the usual place but not showing as well as usual (may be because of the high water levels).

Whilst the numbers of species were reasonable we had had to work hard to get them and there had been few finches and no warblers until we were nearly back at the cars when a pair of Blackcaps gave good views above our head. A great way to finish an enjoyable walk.

Number of species seen: 37

John Allan

Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order

BOU order

Mute Swan

Mallard

Shoveler

Pochard

Tufted Duck

Common Scoter

Velvet Scoter

Black-Necked Grebe

Cormorant

Shag

Little Egret

Grey Heron

Peregrine

Moorhen

Coot

Snipe

Black-headed Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-Backed Gull

Wood Pigeon

Meadow Pipit

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Dunnock

Robin

Blackbird

Blackcap

Long-tailed Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Magpie

Rook

Carrion Crow

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Siskin

Alphabetic order