A morning walk at Exminster Marshes

Joy, oh joy at last we can go out birding with our friends. It was wonderful to meet up with our bubble of six and chat. (Another group of six also did the walk, half an hour earlier). The sun was shining, the wind was blowing as we happily set off up the road. All the way round we were serenaded by wrens, ably assisted at times by chiffchaffs, blue tits and sedge warblers. Up the road we went and it was tricky birding, the birds were hiding and we saw them in ones mostly and the odd pair, like one long-tailed tit and a pair of chaffinches.

We got to the tow path and stopped to look at the ponds. There were several ducks, especially shelduck, one wigeon, one greylag, one teal and masses of Canada geese everywhere. Then I said “Great, a ruddy shelduck”. The response from the group was not as I expected; they just carried on looking at the other ducks. I repeated my comment. Oh I thought you were using bad words to describe the shelducks, or I thought that you were just waffling on. I wondered why you were getting so excited! Eventually we all saw it, not easy as it kept hiding in the ditch and was quite a long way off. It was my target of the day as I had been hunting for them in other places this year and failed. Then more excitement as a sedge warbler sat on the top of a bush and started to sing. Wonderful, we could watch it very clearly and the eye stripe was very prominent.

Then after that excitement we went on. A little later I saw a black bird on the top of a bush, Ah, silence, and the others looked at me, then no, and I caught Audrey’s eye, we both had the same thought, a ring ouzel, as somehow the light reflected in a way to give it the impression of having a white throat. What a let down. We could not stop at Turf as it was closed to non-eaters, but went further down the track. No kingfisher today, sadly.

Then on to the fields on the right where there were a pair of curlews and about 8 whimbrels. As many of us had not seen any this year it was a popular find. In with them was a godwit. But which one? Great discussions and Audrey would not make an identification until it flew. But it did not want to, it just ran up and down the field between the whimbrels. Eventually it did, and I was delighted she agreed it was a bar-tailed. There had been a certain amount of ragging about the rare birds we were going to see, so when a male pheasant was sighted, I said without thinking a golden pheasant, which indeed it was with the sun on it, it was like burnished gold. But it was an ordinary pheasant. For once I was not trying to pretend it was something unusual, it just shone in the light!

Then the homeward track across the fields. Not much there. Chrissy and I were lucky to see a treecreeper in the narrow lane but it was very mobile and not everyone one saw it. We heard a garden warbler in some thick brambles, but it was not going to show, though we spent a while peering into the thicket. There were a few blackcaps and not a lot else. Then Audrey spotted a hobby, then confusion and Robert did too, but directions were conflicting as we realised that there were about 4 flying around. A skylark sang overhead to join in the fun, and when we got back to the car park there was a flock of mixed swifts, martins and swallows, always a joy to watch.

We then decided to have lunch on the socially distanced stones, when Robert saw the last bird of the day, a group of house sparrows, a fitting ending to the day, to remind us it was time to go home. A wonderful day out in excellent company, to cheer us on our way, so a big thank you to Audrey, Chrissie, Yvonne, Claire and Robert, who had to put up with a gaggle of giggling girls!

Ann Crawford

60 species recorded (by the two groups combined; ‘H’ = heard only): Canada Goose; Greylag Goose; Mute Swan; Shelduck; Shoveler; Wigeon; Mallard; Teal; Pheasant; Grey Heron; Little Egret; Cormorant; Buzzard; Moorhen; Coot; Oystercatcher; Lapwing; Whimbrel; Curlew; Bar-tailed Godwit; Great Black-backed Gull; Herring Gull; Wood Pigeon; Swift; Kestrel; Hobby; Jay; Magpie; Jackdaw; Rook; Carrion Crow; Blue Tit; Great Tit; Skylark; Sand Martin; Swallow; House Martin; Cetti’s Warbler; Long-tailed Tit; Willow Warbler; Chiffchaff; Sedge Warbler; Reed Warbler; Blackcap; Garden Warbler (H); Wren; Treecreeper; Starling; Blackbird; Song Thrush; Robin; Wheatear; House Sparrow; Dunnock; Meadow Pipit; Chaffinch; Greenfinch; Linnet; Goldfinch; Reed Bunting.