Exminster Marshes

Not exactly what I expected, no hides
just a few screens dotted here and there.
The Birds...well there wasn't that much
really although thinking of it I probably
should have visited in the winter time.

As I say there was very little to see apart
from the normal odd Grey Heron here and
there and a few little Egrets. Ducks were
pretty sparse too with only the normal
Mallards around.
The pathway that runs along the side of
the reserve is fairly long with only a few
screens here and there to view from.
Those of you thinking about photographic
opportunities will need a fairly big lens to
get anything like a decent shot.

All that said there are pools but you have
to contend with the masses of reeds that
fence the reserve off although I think there
maybe good opportunities here.

The pathway leads to an open field that
leads on to the estuary. It was the main
estuary that proved to the best albeit the
majority of the birds were distant.

Avocets, Redshank and Curlew could all
be seen and an unexpected Red Breasted
Merganser flew past disturbed by a speed
boat, a new tick for me.

Further along the estuary a flock of twenty
or so Dark Bellied Brent Geese were found
it was these I concentrated my efforts on
occasionally the speed boat would come
flying down the estuary, not so good for
the geese but ideal for a few flight shots.



Apart from the geese the only other bird to
mention was a Rock Pipit that seem to be
following me along the estuary path.

Down South!

Well we've been north, so why not!

Berry Head and Broadsands were the intended

venues with a possible trip to Exminster

Marshes if I had time on the way back.

My main targets were Cirl Bunting and both

Berry Head and Broadsands were their

strongholds so hopefully it wouldn't be to

hard to find them.

After a quick walk around I soon caught my first

glimpses of these beautiful little birds.

No sooner had I found the one another one appeared

then another before long I had at least seven around

me both male and female.

I spent most of the morning trying to get a few

decent shot's in the harsh light and it was pretty

tough.

After plenty of trying I decided enough was enough

and moved onto the coastal path to try my luck there

but it wasn't my day although I did get to see plenty

of birds my photography was going nowhere.

I spent ages with the Fulmars down near the cliff's

trying out my new 7D but I just couldn't get a

decent flight shot no matter how hard I tried, here's

a couple of my shot's.

With time pressing on I decided to move onto to

Exminster Marshes.

Up North!

Just a quick update from my recent
trip to Lincolnshire.

I went for the obvious... The very obliging
Short Eared Owl that I've seen so many pictures
of recently. Unfortunately for me and a few
others the main bird didn't show, probably
something to do with the very cold wind that
was sweeping across the marsh throughout
most of the day. Very little was seen in fact,
apparently someone did manage one bird early
morning flying low over the marsh but that was
it. I hung on till the end catching only glimpses
of two very distant birds.

Although I dipped on the Short Eared Owl I
did manage a shot of one of the two roosting
Long Eared Owl's over at Blacktoft Sands. A first
for me, wild one anyway. I also managed to see
the Rough Legged Buzzard that had been reported
at South Ferriby again it remained distant
throughout my stay so no photo's but again another
first for me.

Not all bad. I did manage to see everthing
maybe next time for the photo's.