Penduline Tit at Darts Farm, Topsham

A bad chest infection almost cancelled my Easter trip to Devon however dosed up with antibiotics we headed down the M5 hoping the Penduline Tits were still near Topsham.

Reports had been really mixed of their appearances so I was delighted that as soon as I reached the reed bed both birds showed very well. With only one photographer watching the bird I had a good 30-40 minutes watching the birds at very close quarters.

The Penduline Tits are actually from central Asia and are famed for their elaborate hanging nests. The birds have created a real stir locally and have brought many visitors to the fantastic Darts Farm. A superb bird friendly place selling local produce as well as great coffee and cake. 

All the the above images were digiscoped.

Ross's Gull is star attraction at Topsham

 Black Tailed Godwits

 Greenshanks

 Little Egret

 Estuary

 RSPB Bowling Green viewpoint

Ross's Gull

Ten days off work allowed me to grab a bit of birding time ahead of the youngest lads festival of cricket at Kings College, Taunton. I'd booked a pelagic sea cruise on the Sunday so I broke up the journey with a Devon stay over. This gave me chance to visit the excellent RSPB Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham.

I arrived a couple hours after high tide due to some serious M5 traffic but there were still large numbers of Black-Tailed Godwits and an endless number of Little Egrets. The reserves marsh was currently being replaced so viewing was limited so I headed down to the viewing platform that looked over the River Clyst. The estuary held good numbers of Greenshank, Whimbrel and Curlews.

I then headed round the strangely named "Goats path" to the mouth of the River Axe before scanning for the reported Ross's Gull. Without any luck I continued to work up river until I located the bird sat under the M5 bridge, a good 40 minute walk. This little gem was very similar to a Little Gull in size and was certainly well off course considering it should be in north America or the arctic. A lifer for me and a great start to the weekend.