Seaton Tramway

Seaton Tramway

14th March 2010.

What a wonderful day it was, and what a contrast to the November attempt. The sun shone, there was a little breeze, but not a problem if you wrapped up a bit, and most the birds came out to play. We saw or heard about 50 species between us; in my case it was hearing the little birds like finches and wrens rather than seeing them.

Firstly a little bit about what is going on there. In the last year the meadows have been flooded and there are scrapes and islands everywhere. The lakes they are trying to make it so that there are different depths, thus encouraging all ducks, including some that are not found there at the moment, especially the diving ducks like the Tufted. There were lots of Shovelers, very smart colouring with their large bills for shovelling. There were also lots of Shelducks. After the Pintail it is my favourite duck as they are colourful, and when they walk they strut with a very upright stance, and when they fly they fly with their heads slightly below the rest of their body, as it they are checking the ground for something. I find it quite comic. Some of them breed in the area now, and others come down from Scotland for the warmer weather. The nest is made mostly of down and grass, but the position is varied, can be in an old rabbit burrow, and there will be lots there, judging by the number of rabbits we saw, or under a gorse bush or even on open ground. Laying begins in May, and often two families share a nest, so there may be as many as 18 eggs in one nest. The Duck incubates them for 23-30 days. Usually the nest is near water so that they very early on go swimming. They eat marine animals like molluscs and crustacea and beetles.

There were only Mute Swans around, but last month there were Whooper, Bewick and Black as well on the meadow the other side of the Axe.

We had an excellent view of a Peregrine. At first it was seen flying over the marsh and then dived. Obviously it missed, as soon afterwards, it flew overhead and almost hovered over the tram before going on another search for its breakfast. We also had a brief view of a Sparrowhawk disappearing into some bushes, and a Kestrel hovering on the hunt, as well as a Buzzard soaring high in the sky. A lot of hungry raptors around.

Waders there were aplenty. Lots of Redshanks. They tend to be lonesome birds as they hunt for food in the mud. You rarely see more than one at a time, though the total in the area may be in double figures. There was a small flock of Black-tailed Godwits and a very few Lapwings. We had a good view of 4 Green Sandpipers. They are identifiable by their white rumps which are clearly visible as they fly away. We also saw a Common Sandpiper, near the Kingfisher perch, without a Kingfisher! It bobbed its way along the bank in typical Sandpiper way.

There were lots of Gulls, mostly Herring and Black-headed. We did make out a Common one as well as the two Black Backed, and you could see their legs for once.

A good morning's birding and our thanks go to Don Cotton for guiding us. It does help when you know where a bird might be lurking! He and the driver Barry were very good at spotting things.

Number of species seen: 51

Ann Crawford

Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order

BOU order

Mute Swan

Canada Goose

Shelduck

Wigeon

Teal

Mallard

Shoveler

Pheasant

Little Grebe

Cormorant

Little Egret

Grey Heron

Sparrowhawk

Buzzard

Kestrel

Peregrine

Water Rail

Moorhen

Oystercatcher

Lapwing

Snipe

Black-tailed Godwit

Curlew

Redshank

Green Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Black-headed Gull

Common Gull

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Wood Pigeon

Stock Dove

Meadow Pipit

Grey Wagtail

Wren

Dunnock

Robin

Blackbird

Fieldfare

Long-tailed Tit

Blue Tit

Great Tit

Magpie

Jackdaw

Rook

Carrion Crow

Starling

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Alphabetic order