Powderham, 28th December 2005 by Julian Manning
The yearly Christmas visit to Powderham attracted the usual good turnout including a visitor from Canada, namely my father. He writes “Visiting Devon from Newfoundland Canada, I had expected the weather to have been considerably milder than where I had come from. I was wrong! We in Newfoundland were having an unusually mild winter and on that particular day Powderham seemed to be suffering from a foretaste of the dire predictions of the climate change expected for the British Isles. Nevertheless it was a most enjoyable morning.
I have not been in the U.K. at this time of year for over 40 years and while I’m not even an expert on birds seen in Newfoundland I was delighted to see a lot of forgotten old friends at Powderham! The setting of the mud flats of the Exe estuary was in sharp contrast to our rocky coastline and the number and variety of wading birds was inspiring. It is good to see such a healthy bird population in England; I was however surprised to hear that the common Starlings are now so scarce. We have a huge population of them!
Thank you for the opportunity to join with you that morning. I will long treasure the memory.”
Of the 48 species seen, Avocets, of course stand out, but they were some way off on the mudflats near Turf Locks. For the lucky few a pair of Kingfishers was spotted near the lock. As the tide was turning a Red-breasted Merganser swam close to the shoreline. On the way back, there were very good sightings of bullfinches in the hedges; more than I can remember.
The morning was enjoyed by all on a clear, crisp day and 47 species were seen. Thanks to Richard Swinbank for leading it.
Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order
BOU order
Brent Goose
Shelduck
Wigeon
Teal
Mallard
Red-breasted Merganser
Pheasant Cormorant Little Egret Grey Heron Buzzard Kestrel Oystercatcher Avocet Golden PLover Grey Plover Lapwing Dunlin Black-tailed Godwit Curlew Redshank Black-headed gull Common Gull Great Black-backed Gull Wood Pigeon Kingfisher Rock Pipit Pied Wagtail Wren Robin Stonechat Blackbird Song Thrush Redwing Mistle Thrush Blue Tit Great Tit Nuthatch Treecreeper Magpie Jackdaw Rook Carrion Crow Starling Chaffinch Greenfinch Reed BuntingAlphabetic order Avocet Blackbird Black-headed gull Black-tailed Godwit Blue Tit
Brent Goose
Buzzard Carrion Crow Chaffinch Common Gull Cormorant Curlew Dunlin Golden PLover Great Black-backed Gull Great Tit Greenfinch Grey Heron Grey Plover Jackdaw Kestrel Kingfisher Lapwing Little Egret MagpieMallard
Mistle Thrush Nuthatch Oystercatcher Pheasant Pied WagtailRed-breasted Merganser
Redshank Redwing Reed Bunting Robin Rock Pipit RookShelduck
Song Thrush Starling StonechatTeal
TreecreeperWigeon
Wood Pigeon Wren