Filling in the Gaps

I suspect there won't be many more Cogden walks before the year is out. This morning's short visit was a bit rubbish, with a fairly brisk SW churning up the sea and salting my specs. I found myself checking out the beach and the many weed mats bobbing around offshore more than the bushes or the sky. No Snow Buntings, Grey Phalaropes or Desert Wheatears though; rather a Red-throated Diver E, 13 Lesser Black-backed Gulls W and a single Chiff on the land.

I've been a bit slack with the blog, so this post is an attempt to fill in the many October gaps...

October 5th

9 Chiffs, 2 Firecrests, 2 Spotted Flycatchers and a Jay.

Spotted Flycatcher in a sunny, sheltered corner.

Stonechat

Random Chiffchaff shot that I like, taken late September.

October 6th

28 Chiffs, 1 Blackcap, 3 Firecrests, 2 Goldcrests.

October 7th

13 Chiffs, 1 Firecrest, 1 Jay, 1 Wheatear, 1 Painted Lady.

Fox, context shot.

Easily the biggest fish I've seen a Cogden angler catch - 7lb 14oz Bass.

Interestingly, a few days later I got chatting with another local angler in the Cogden car park, and showed him this photo. Turned out he was a Bass fanatic who has caught a number of double-figure fish. He showed me a photo of an absolutely monstrous Bass he caught at West Bay a couple of years ago. It weighed 16lb 14oz! If I was an awful lot younger I might be tempted to give it a go.

October 10th

10 Chiffs, 5 Blackcaps, an amazing 5 Firecrests, 2 Jays, 1 Coal Tit, 2 Sparrowhawks, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, 1 Redwing, 1 Garden Warbler, 4 Clouded Yellows.

Female Sparrowhawk.

Chiffchaff

Coal Tit

Blackcap

October 11th

32 Chiffs, 2 Blackcaps, 2 Coal Tits, 2 Firecrests, 4 Golden Plovers, 1 Wheatear, 1 Whinchat.

Nice to see my first Golden Plovers of the autumn moving through; a single bird almost over the beach produced a really nice recording.

The Wheatear was an odd one. It looked recently fledged, which seems highly unlikely in mid-October. It stuck around for a few days, so there will be a photo under a later date - today's weren't that great.

Anyway, here's the Golden Plover, plus a nice bit of surf-on-shingle, Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and so on...

Whinchat, with beach behind.

October 12th

Short afternoon visit: 7 Chiffs, 1 Jay, 1 Whinchat.

October 13th

4 Chiffs, 1 Wheatear (same very young-looking bird), 1 Dartford Warbler.

There is an isolated patch of gorse in the middle of a weedy field that I have always fancied for Dartford Warbler. Today I checked it out with exactly that in mind. I almost wasn't surprised when a Dartford Warbler popped up!

The weirdly young-looking Wheatear.

The only time I have seen a Wheatear locally that looked as young as this one was in July, or perhaps very early August I think.

Dartford Warbler

October 14th

An extravagant two-visit day.

Morning: 16 Chiffs, 1 Blackcap, 1 Dartford Warbler (presumably same bird; certainly same spot), 2 Firecrests, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Wheatear (same bird).

Afternoon: 2 Chiffs, 1 Coal Tit, 2 Firecrests, 1 Whinchat.

That Wheatear still...

Common migrant moth, Rush Veneer Nomophila noctuella. Though I haven't seen many this year. In 2022 there were loads in the coastal grassland.

Juvenile Whinchat. The pale blurry specks are little flies. Plenty to eat.

 

October 17th

2 Chiffs, 1 Wheatear (same bird), 1 Kingfisher.

A short morning visit, which was pretty dire really...and then a Kingfisher zipped past me, heading inland along a hedge line! And no, I have never seen a Kingfisher at Cogden before.

October 18th

2 Chiffs, 1 Firecrest.

In the absence of any other photos from this very quiet morning visit, have another Firecrest pic...

Firecrest

The October Firecrest tally is currently 19 bird-days, which is tons better than I've ever managed in a whole year I reckon.

October 20th - West Bay

A departure from the Cogden routine as storm Ashley gave us a bit of seawatching weather. We didn't get the brunt of it, and it was probably a bit too short-lived to displace birds in a big way. Still, there were a few bits to look at...

205 Gannets, 126 Med Gulls, 8 Kittiwakes, 3 Common Scoter, 1 Brent Goose, 1 Great Northern Diver, 1 Common/Arctic Tern, 1 unidentified skua.

I hope I never get bored of Med Gulls flying by. They are such a smart gull. The skua was probably a juv Arctic, but looked rather pale and slender, giving me Long-tailed vibes. But it wasn't in the slightest bit hesitant or dithery, so I was no doubt getting excited over nothing. Which actually is what you're supposed to do when seawatching.

Adult Med Gull flies past the West Bay shelter in the early-morning murk.

The River Brit overflowing into the field behind Rise Restaurant, West Bay. Several gulls dotted about, sadly nothing special.

Med Gulls and BHGs in the flooded field inland of Rise Restaurant, West Bay.

October 27th

1 Chiff, 1 Black Redstart, 3 Common Scoters, 2 Dartford Warblers, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Merlin, 1 Redwing.

A lively morning with lots happening. The 2 Dartfords were in the same gorse patch occupied by a single bird two weeks ago. Who knows whether or not they are both new birds? The Black Redstart had clearly just arrived, landing briefly on top of a hedge before heading away inland. The Merlin went straight through W. The sky was busy with Woodpigeons and Jackdaws, as well as Skylarks, Meadow Pipits, Chaffinches and so on.

Vis-mig Jackdaws. In the distance are the chalk cliffs of Beer Head, East Devon.

Another sizeable flock of Jackdaws through, with a few Woodpigeons.

Merlin

Three drake Common Scoters.

Meadow Pipit on the Dartford Warbler gorse.

One of the Dartford Warblers shows briefly in the sunshine.

Dartford Warbler. Photographically speaking, not cooperative.

So that's it. All the October gaps filled and the blog up to date. Tomorrow we have our granddaughters for the day. Cogden is out, but Seaton Wetlands is child friendly...