The final full day of our trip to south Devon and we decide not to concentrate wholly on wildlife watching today and instead took the Steam Train from Paignton to Kingswear and then a boat trip on the River Dart. Feeling the effect of storm Doris, albeit we were on the southern edge of the storm, there were still strong winds and this no doubt affected the quantity of wildlife seen. Highlights were a Gannet fishing in the river mouth, a Redshank feeding on the mudflats and a Grey Heron flying with a branch nearly as big as itself as it made its way back to the nearby heronry.
Greater Black-backed Gull
On our return to Brixham, we walked out to the end of the breakwater to look for Purple Sandpiper which roosts on a deserted jetty near the end of the breakwater. The wind got stronger as we made our way to the end and it seemed as though the birds, if present, would be hiding inside the jetty. However, we were lucky as we managed to see 5 birds roosting on a joist. A single Common Guillemot was seen on the sea and we made a rapid retreat back to the town to escape the wind. On our way back an obliging Rock Pipit perched for us on the harbour wall.
European Shag
Purple Sandpiper
Rock Pipit
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)
European Shag [sp] (Phalacrocorax aristotelis)
Great Cormorant [sp] (Phalacrocorax carbo)
Eurasian Oystercatcher [sp] (Haematopus ostralegus)
Common Redshank [sp] (Tringa totanus)
Purple Sandpiper [sp] (Calidris maritima)
Black-headed Gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus)
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)
European Herring Gull [sp] (Larus argentatus)
Common Guillemot [sp] (Uria aalge)
Common Pigeon [sp] (Columba livia)
Common Wood Pigeon [sp] (Columba palumbus)
Eurasian Jay [sp] (Garrulus glandarius)
Western Jackdaw [sp] (Coloeus monedula)
Carrion Crow [sp] (Corvus corone)
Great Tit [sp] (Parus major)
Common Blackbird [sp] (Turdus merula)
House Sparrow [sp] (Passer domesticus)
Dunnock [sp] (Prunella modularis)
Pied Wagtail [sp] (Motacilla alba)
Eurasian Rock Pipit [sp] (Anthus petrosus)
