Birdwatching Trip Report - 28th September 2024

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The weather gave us a beautiful morning to be out and about on the Axe Estuary, with just a gentle breeze and plenty of sunshine. A good crowd of Curlews feeding on Sheep's Marsh got us off to a fine start. On the estuary we were entertained by more waders: Oystercatchers and Redshanks, a few Black-tailed Godwits and a single Common Sandpiper.

Kingfishers are always a highlight, but today's two sightings were frustratingly brief.

The first bird we encountered - perched on railings by the Seaton Marshes hide - vanished the moment we stopped to look at it! And the second wasn't much better, just a turquoise streak flying away...and gone! We always see plenty of elegant Little Egrets from the birdwatching tram, but

Cattle Egret is much less reliable. However, we had excellent views of a Cattle Egret on this trip, and it was with cattle too!

Jay is quite an unusual bird to see from the tram, but it is the time of year when they begin to stock up their acorn larders and they are often more visible as a consequence; we were treated to at least two sightings. It is also the time of year that many of our winter visitors begin to arrive, including Wigeon and Teal, both of which are present in good numbers already.

Black Hole Marsh is still in great condition, with many Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks feeding there. Our wader list was boosted by four Ringed Plovers on the estuary, as well as two Ruff and a Greenshank on the Colyford Marsh scrape.

It was nice to see a few small birds in the tram-line bushes, including the migrant warbler species, Blackcap and Chiffchaff, though it was not easy to get good views as they flitted through the foliage.

A fly-over Great Spotted Woodpecker was an unexpected bonus bird!

We also saw at least two Foxes and two Roe Deer.

The final tally was 56 species seen and/or heard, all listed below...

Mute Swan

Common Sandpiper

Cetti's Warbler

Canada Goose

Greenshank

Blackcap

Shelduck

Redshank

Chiffchaff