Seaton Tramway 5th November

Seaton Tramway 5th November

Saturday morning had been frosty, so we had been anticipating a freezing Sunday morning’s ride on the tramway. Although the sky was clear on Sunday, it wasn’t quite so cold, and it was really good weather for our trip. Don Cotton (one of the regular birdwatching guides on the tramway) led our group. After a short introduction, we set off, stopping whenever there was something interesting to see.

After reaching the river, the tram travels upriver along an embankment. On one side, there were plenty of Lapwings and Redshanks on the mud, and on the other side Herring Gulls and Crows on the fields. And often Stonechats on fence posts and on the brambles. As we travelled up towards Colyford, we had good views of Reed Buntings in the top of a bush - did the Sparrowhawk take one of them as it zipped past?

Half way, we stopped to have a hot drink from our flasks, look for the Little Grebes and scan through the flock of gulls (no Lesser Black-backed this time). Then on to Colyford Common, where Don told us about the new hide and viewing platform. Near the scrape there was quite a large flock of Wigeon, and by the riverbank three Egyptian Geese had joined the Mute Swans. We tried to follow Meadow Pipits as they clambered in amongst the tussocks, and also had fleeting views of a couple of flying Snipe.

When we reached Colyford (Goldcrest and some House Sparrows), we turned back. We had a couple of brief stops for Common Sandpiper at Colyford Common and Black-tailed Godwits. When we did a final count, we had seen 46 species as a group. Don and Barry, the tram driver, had also seen a Kingfisher, but none of us did. Still, it was a successful tram trip, thanks to Don’s expertise. And I had the compensation of seeing a Kingfisher on the River Otter that afternoon.

The weather was much less kind to the group members who went on the tram with Don and John Allan the following day. Through the fog, they just about managed to see 39 species - three of which (Linnet, Goldfinch and the elusive Kingfisher) had not been seen by us.

No. species: 46 seen

Richard Swinbank

Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order

BOU order

Mute Swan

Shelduck

Wigeon

Teal

Mallard

Shoveler

Pheasant

Little Grebe

Cormorant

Little Egret

Grey Heron

Sparrowhawk

Moorhen

Oystercatcher

Lapwing

Snipe

Curlew

Black-tailed Godwit

Redshank

Common Sandpiper

Black-headed Gull

Common Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Wood Pigeon

Great Spotted Woodpecker

Sky Lark

Meadow Pipit

Pied Wagtail

Wren

Dunnock

Robin

Stonechat

Blackbird

Cetti’s Warbler

Goldcrest

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Magpie

Rook

Carrion Crow

Starling

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Reed Bunting

Alphabetic order