After days of twitching {nervous}, I got to twitch {chase bird} the Lesser Crested Tern on the Exe. 🦉 After a frigid hour & change at Cockwood Crossing, the bird terned up with a Sandeel {looked like} & proceeded to show far & near to my joy & that of my co-watchers ✅😍😁 Observe;

It's Tomb Tuesday,🗿 so here is a cisted cairn circle from Bellever on Sunday. This lesser-visited one is still hidden amongst the trees of the plantation, which while restricting the views, does make for a more intimate atmosphere.

For Standing Stone Sunday {just}, here's the Laughing Man from earlier today. 🗿 Also a rainbow, a Robin, and a Roe Deer! 🌈🦉🦌 I had a fun day on t'Moor. 😄

A call from @shiphaybirder.bsky.social had me heading to Thatcher Point, where these blobs - which are actually a female type Velvet Scoter & 36 {also f-type} Common Scoter - were showing far better than the below imply. 🤦 Honest. 🦉

A surprise was waiting for me when I got in from work this afternoon; a Feathered Thorn! {Every day is Moth Day 😄} 🦋

A day's birding Down South - from Slapton to Beesands to Hallsands - in four photos. I had fun. 😁 🦉

It's Waxcap Wednesday & the Nose at the weekend again provided some lovelies for you to admire. {He says, in hope if not expectation...} 1/ 🍄

Hope's Nose early this am saw a massive {for the site} passage of Woodpigeon, with ~56,000 in 1hr! Flocks were coming up the peninsula, grouping into multi-k mega-flocks, then heading out SE. I'd heard so much about this, but never seen them in real numbers here. Brisk NE wind did the business! 🤩 🦉

Hen Harrier Susie, whose chicks were stamped to death on a Yorkshire Dales grouse moor in 2022, has been found dead on a N Pennines grouse moor with gunshot injuries. 18+ months of silence about this crime from the police & Natural England. #RaptorResearch raptorpersecutionuk.org/2025/11/14/h...

Saturday was a day of two halves. After a morning of sunshine and Dartford Warblers, this double delight over Holne Lee was the herald of that which was to come. 🌈🌧️ Still, it looked pretty 🙃

After finding not much at the Nose 1st thing, I tried for Slav{s} from Cockwood Crossing. The 🌧️ kindly waited until after the 11th hour, the grebes were less helpful 😔 More helpful was the @warrenbirding.bsky.social Garganey, who flew through my field of view while I was scanning the duck masses! 😄🦉

Text from @shiphaybirder.bsky.social {🎩} had me pulling a 180° from a trip to t'Moor for a full-fat genuine Patch Tick at the Nose today... Dartford Warbler!! 🤩 ✔️🦉 After showing well but just too quick for a photo on arrival, the influence of the Dread Artefact later gave me these;

11 Redwing flew NE over work this lunchtime. These are my first Redwing of the Autumn... What?!? 😲😵🤯 🦉

Waxcap Wednesday! Nose waxcaps are showing up, so I am putting them up. 😁🍄 1/ Blackening and the white ones, Snowy and Cedarwood. I am a big Blackening fan, second only to Parrot in my book, so they get double-picced.

Sunday Continues. Having to be in town, I naturally had a look at Haldon Pier, where despite the high tide, there were no Purple Sands roosting, though there were 2 busily foraging amongst the boulders 😃 Later, there were at least 3 more on East Shag {the coolly-stratified rock off Meadfoot Beach} 🦉

Sunday about the Patch & having failed to find BlackRed at the Nose {passing @shiphaybirder.bsky.social on my way out, who of course did..🙄}, I gave the coastal cover a going-over for warblers of a hopefully stripey nature. What did I find? Well, have a look for yourselves; 🦉

Friday's photos. {You may wish to approach with caution, the following thread contains seawatching photos by me.. 😱🤢} 🌊🔭 1/ Some pretty scenery. The changing weather from Glonk Corner;

Hope's Nose 0750-1405. Less rain, lots of birds! Timed counts as Gannets, Kittis, & auks passing in big numbers at all ranges; 1341 in 1st 10mins 😵 3 Sooty, 1 Balearic, 2 Manx, 1 Stormy, 1 Little Gull, 2 Pom, 10 Arctic Skua, 1 GND {landed S of Ore St.}, 5 C Scoter, 8 Med Gull, breaching ABF Tuna! 🦉🐟

With a mix of inspiration & determination, I went up on t'Moor in search of more Ouzels. I found lots of sideways drizzle... Lunch in the lee of a nice wall was enlivened by a visitor, however. After 📷 was taken, this 1w Sparrowhawk came zooming towards me & zipped over the wall just to my left 😲😍 🦉

Nose 1st thing Sunday; some vismig, most notably a {non-landing} Brambling, though not the numbers elsewhere, as per. Bluefin Tuna were evident well out in what turned into a very spread feeding event, with 2 Arctic Skuas attracted to the 00's of Kittiwakes & Gannets. This chap posed nicely! 🦉

Patch today with again nothing astounding to report - though sunshine & strong wind is not exactly helpful weather.! - now that Firecrests are routine {still going 😲 at that}. Technical issues are sort-of sorted, so here is something new to show; Lilac Fibrecap! 🍄 {What?!? Fungi are funky. 🙃}

Patch Patrol this morning & with overnight clear skies there was little moving; handful of standard passerines, best a Stock Dove. H Nose with @shiphaybirder.bsky.social & most notable 10+ C Scoter near the Oysterbeds. Bishop's Walk had Tit & 'crest bands. Still no Divers on or over the sea... 😕 🦉

Hope's Nose today was dizzlier than forecast and I unexpectedly ran out of time before the good weather ended, though most passage was early on. That said, holding on for 'just five more minutes' paid off with a Bonxie! 🦉 1/

Emsworthy yesterday morning was busy with birders.. and thrushes! 😄 First up, we have some scenery, and an actual shot of an actual Ring Ouzel!! 🦉

Also while out berry-scouting, I found my first waxcaps of the year! 😁 At one of the Bronze Age pounds up the Avon valley; typical well rained but also drained site. 🍄

Ok, here's a Challenge for you! 🤔 Bird exiting at speed from the valley below Avon Dam yesterday. There are GoldStars and Kudos on offer for anyone who gets it right {there are degrees of right, btw} {Oh, and @shiphaybirder.bsky.social is disqualified as he already knows! 😛}

You deserve some content {that isn't gulls or fungi 🙄}, so here are three days' worth of up-far-too-early-in-the-mornings; 🙃

::Whispers:: Lammergeier..... 😏

Circumstances led to a weekend patrolling the Patch. Migrants passing despite frisky weather included Mipits, Skylarks + a lone House Martin on Sat. 2 Wheatear @ the Nose, 4+ Com Dolphin N of it. Today & looking more inland a scattering of Chiffs + a Grey Wagtail near Meadfoot. Firecrests all over!🦉

Bowling Green post-high tide yesterday was suddenly much livelier as a Pectoral Sandpiper appeared amongst the moulting waterbirds.!! 😃 Fortunately, despite being a bit flighty, it not only posed for pics, but stayed visible for a goodly twitch. Result! 😁 Bonus - if brief - Glossy Ibis, too 🦉

Yesterday morning I spent about 2.5 hours at Cockwood Crossing, not seeing any sign of the previous day's Slavonian Grebe. Bugger. There was a nice Common Scoter to look at and the expected waterfowl and waders knocking about. Slightly vexed, I decided to go and sulk at Bowling Green for a bit... 🦉

A post about fungi gets Likes?!? 😲 ::Faints:: So maybe possibly you might like some more? 🥺 🍄

Found while looking for fungi last weekend. The scaly purple caps had me thinking of Violet Webcap {a rarity}, but on closer inspection it is - as always - a deceiver! Amethyst Deceiver in this case. Gorgeous things, despite being a little munched, and on my hoped-for list in their own right. 😁 🍄

Wandering about Fernworthy the other day, I found fungi a bit thin on the ground {ho ho} and while birds were more evident - or at least noisier.! - they were also feeling more elusive. Observe; 🍄🦉

While hunting for standing stones* on Dartmoor, I encountered the odd Whinchat... or four! 😍🦉 {*Trickier than it seems, especially when the vegetation is taller than the stones.! 🙄}

For Tomb Tuesday, I have not one, not two, but three 😮 cairn circles with cists, in varying degrees of survival. All from Dartmoor, of course. 😄 ⛏️🗿

Seawatching at Prawle on Friday and the only good bird I could get on pixels was a Pelican! 😇 Well... Sort of a pelican. 'The Pelican of London', in fact. 😆 ⛵🚢 Having lots of fun in the impressive {though vexing for tracking birds} swell, too;

So I was prowling my Patch the next day, and as I got to the Harbour I thought to my self "It's too early for Sandpipers Purple", then I thought "Ah what else are you going to do?", so I looked, and I saw; 🦉

Spent the day in Paignton at the start of the month. Three hours of seawatching {What? I'm still me 🙃} gave few birds {shock} with a couple of Med Gulls the best sighting, but this beauty made up for it. Behold the glory of the paddle steamer 'Waverley'! 🤩 🚢

Went up to Fur Tor on Friday and practically had the Moor to myself 😄 {Dunno why, it only rained on me once.! 🙃} Lots of Meadow Pipits, a few Skylarks, but you'll be interested in the juv Whinchat and 3+ Wheatears; I know I was! 😍 🦉

The Turf lock Wryneck very considerately stayed for a third day, letting me have a go at seeing it. Less considerate was the weather, which was a bit 🌧️ - not good for ant-eating birds to be visible - so waiting birders had to resort to ☕&🍰 {tragedy, how did we cope?} until the Sun came out and... 🦉

It's been far too long since I put an awful pic of a nasty gull or two up on here, so behold; two of this year's young, sat on the Lead Stone, Monday week. {Yup, super-prompt posting! 🙄} Also some eye healing in the form of a nice 'Kestrel with scenery' shot from the same day. 🦉

One of FIVE noisy juvenile Greenfinch 😍, with parents to my feeders this morning {'scuse poor shot, but peeking through curtains to avoid disturbance}. Under more cover, one of the teeny Portland Ribbon Waves that have been coming to light this month. 🦉🦋

Slightly late, the reason I went over to The Black Hole; waders! Most especially, the gorgeous Marsh Sandpiper 😍 {my second ever, previously seen 17 years ago, which is the last time one was in Devon...!!} Said Sand was gorgeous, despite what my heat-haze affected photography may show.. 🙄 🦉

Yes! Somebody did do better.! 😁😌

The female Brown Hairstreak at the Black Hole yesterday was just unutterably wonderful... 😄🦋 Being able to watch her patrolling the underside of Blackthorn stems to find the right egg-laying spots was even better than getting the posing shots, I think 😍 @bcdevon.bsky.social

Ok, I couldn't resist. 🙃 However, I shall restrict myself to just the one photo from the Black Hole's wonders today. I think it would be fair to say that the Brown Hairstreak showed... well. 😍😁 🦋

I haven't forgotten about all the seawatching, and I will get to it. Look, pics! Yes, I've spent today cooing over fancy birds {and butterfly and spider!} at The Back Hole {cheers to @seatonbirder.bsky.social & @shiphaybirder.bsky.social } and have EVEN MORE pics to sort out, but I will get there.

The Devonport Leat at Burrator was lined with Beautiful Demoiselles - reliably showy - and Common Blues, but star invert was this lovely teeny jumping spider, which thought my Mum's hand was a good place to hunt! 🕷️🐉🦟🦋

The next day, with the Folks at Burrator, there were lots of birds about, though it was when we moved out to more open Moorland that I actually got the odd photo 🤔 Inverts were much better, but I know what gets Likes, so we open with the tweety types 🙄 😇 🦉