Wembury

Wembury

Saturday 21st March 2009

A good crowd of us met at Wembury beach car park. We were greeted by full sun and a cold westerly breeze that remained throughout the day. We followed the coastal path west to Wembury Point where HMS Cambridge once was, but mostly the land has been turned over to the National Trust. The high ground, covered in blackthorn and low scrub, slopes down to arable fields and finally to an elevated rocky shoreline. The Great Mew Stone stands out to sea about one kilometre off shore.

Raptors showed well above the path; a Peregrine for starters, a Kestrel in the trees on the slopes, a Buzzard above and further along a Sparrowhawk brushed against my trousers about a foot above the ground along a narrow path amongst the scrub. That was a shock! Lots of Dunnock everywhere, a few Long-tailed Tits but no sight of any migrants. An oil beetle was showed itself well on the path. This creature has a black shell with an iridescent blue covering.

At sea a Great Northern Diver showed well for all, and further out Shags, gulls and Cormorants were feeding on the water around the Mew Stone. Further along I caught up with the tail end of our party looking eagerly down at a small cove. To my great surprise a Black Redstart was flitting from rock to rock feeding on insects. A black bird with a red tail and a rare visitor to our shores, this was a lovely bonus and a first for me. The return over the top of Wembury Point revealed coltsfoot in flower and a few stinking iris plants.

Lunch at the car park was followed by a trip eastwards along the coast to the Old Coastguard where we witnessed a Raven doing acrobatics in the sky whilst being chased by a mob of Jackdaws. Two peregrines sat quietly on the rocks below us. The views from here a truly quite beautiful.

A short haul up the hill to Wembury House showed a few woodland birds, in particular a Great Tit examining a hole in a large tree. Further along on the edge of Wembury by a nearby farm revealed the final surprise of the day. Some 20 or so Yellowhammers were feeding on spilt corn. Among them there were 2 Cirl Buntings. A really good finish to the day!

Number of species seen: 40

Lyndon Savage

Birds seen, in BOU order or alphabetic order

BOU order

Shelduck

Mallard

Pheasant

Great Northern Diver

Fulmar

Cormorant

Shag

Little Egret

Sparrowhawk

Buzzard

Kestrel

Peregrine

Oystercatcher

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Wood Pigeon

Collared Dove

Rock Pipit

Grey Wagtail

Pied Wagtail

Wren

Dunnock

Robin

Black Redstart

Stonechat

Blackbird

Song Thrush (heard only)

Chiffchaff

Long-tailed Tit

Great Tit

Jackdaw

Carrion Crow

Raven

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Linnet

Yellowhammer

Cirl Bunting

Alphabetic order