Dawlish Warren

Dawlish Warren

Saturday 27^th November

Gosh – was it cold when I got out of the car! Nothing daunted, a group of 14 set off towards the hide, deciding to go straight there to get the benefit of the high tide. A few tits and finches were noticed as we made our way past the area of scrub and we also had a quick look out to sea from the top of the dunes. The sea was a bit choppy, but we could identify a group of Eider ducks.

From the dunes we could also see the bay by the hide, where there were many Brent Geese and Shelduck also a very smart Pintail drake, easily identifiable by his jaunty tail and white markings on the neck and head. These birds were remarkably tolerant of our presence as we walked along the beach to the hide. It was good to get into the hide and get some shelter, though, with the wind being from the north east, it was blowing in a bit!

Very close in front of the hide several Skylark and Linnet were feeding amongst the sand and debris on the beach. A Snipe was spotted amongst the reeds and we had excellent views as it moved around a bit, always quite close to us.

On the opposite side of the bay, there were big numbers of waders, mainly Godwit and Dunlin. Many of the Dunlin took to the wing and wheeled around over the water in front of the hide, showing as white and then brown as they turned in unison. What appeared to be a black area amongst the dunes was actually a flock of Oystercatchers, standing shoulder to shoulder. I wonder if this is for safety, or were they trying to get some shelter from the biting wind? As the tide ebbed, they left their roost and came closer to us, joining the ever increasing number of assorted waders feeding on the mud. On the water, there was a group of Wigeon, also three Red-breasted Mergansers.

Making our way back, we spent a little time looking out to sea and Richard identified a Red-throated Diver. The Common Scoter and Slavonian Grebe seen by some escaped my notice!

The group was becoming smaller as the cold took its toll, and we made our way back through the scrubby area. A Kestrel was spotted in a tree, and it then flew down onto the ground and we had excellent views as it appeared to be feeding on an earthworm or similar. There were few small birds to be seen.

I think that the best bit of the morning for me was the impressive number of waders to be seen from the hide at high water. The total number of species seen by the group was 43. Thanks to Richard Swinbank for leading the walk and helping with identification.

Number of species seen: 43

Pat Thomson

Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order

BOU order

Mute Swan

Canada Goose

Brent Goose

Shelduck

Wigeon

Pintail

Eider

Common Scoter

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-throated Diver

Cormorant

Little Egret

Slavonian Grebe

Kestrel

Oystercatcher

Grey Plover

Knot

Sanderling

Dunlin

Snipe

Bar-tailed Godwit

Curlew

Turnstone

Black-headed Gull

Common Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Wood Pigeon

Carrion Crow

Blue Tit

Sky Lark

Long-tailed Tit

Starling

Blackbird

Mistle Thrush

Robin

Stonechat

Dunnock

Pied Wagtail

Rock Pipit

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Linnet

Alphabetic order