My Birdwatcher's Guide: A Week in Sunny Devon . . . Bird Watching & Golf

Tuesday 7th August - Morning 8.45am

I set off from Houghton Regis to Dawlish, the road was clogged up between the new Junction and Junction 10 and then all of a sudden it just cleared. The rest of the journey was fairly good. I did get held up near Honiton by 2 enormous Combine Harvester/Tractor type vehicles but I arrived at the Lady Mile Holiday Park at about 12.20pm and was welcomed by a little lady with a big smile on her face, Harlyn and then I heard a familiar voice "Mark" from her brother Geoffrey, who also had a big smile on his face. My cousin Louise came out of the Caravan and gave me a welcoming hug and smile. You always get a nice welcome from her and her family.

The rest of the day I chilled out, unpacked and bought a Whole Chicken from a local Sainsbury's store and a few other supplies.

Wednesday 8th August BOWLING GREEN LANE

It is a nice journey from Dawlish to Topsham and only takes about half an hour. I parked at the Darts Farm Shop/RSPB Shop and had a pleasant walk via a small country path to the Bridge across the river, I saw various birds by the riverbank including a small group of Redshanks by the waterside.

When I arrived at the Bowling Green Marsh RSPB Bird Hide which only had a few people in it, everyone was pointing out the amount of waders, Herons and Egrets that were about. A couple of old men started talking about a Mediterranean Gull which was among the Black Headed Gulls, the large number of Black Tailed Godwits and the numerous Canada Geese patrolling the area. The two old men left and wished me well and said "I hope you have a good day".

A few minutes after they had gone I saw a white bird in the middle of the channel in front of me, swooping its head from side to side, I thought initially that it was a Egret, but I thought that was unusual behaviour for one. Then all of a sudden, up rose a majestic Orange Spoonlike Bill, "Blimey, it is a Spoonbill". It stayed in that area for a little while and I got some great pictures of it, it spent most of its time preening itself but did do a little big more fishing. Apparently, what Egrets and Spoonbills do, is wiggle their feet in the mud to spook fish and then the barbles of the Spoonbill grabs any fish that become available. The Spoonbill seemed to enjoy the company of Canada Geese and continued to walk around showing off his wonderful Bill.

All of a sudden a couple of Herons appeared and some Little Egrets seemed to get the same idea and flew in to find some food for themselves. Among the large number of Black Tailed Godwits was a number of different waders like Knot, Ruff, Redshanks and even Greenshanks.

Thursday 9th August ZOO

I haven't been to Paignton Zoo for years, went there when we stayed at Pontins in Brixham for the day but that was when I was about eight years old. I went to my Cousin's house and we drove to Paignton Zoo, it took about half an hour. Louise, my cousin had made some sandwiches but she left them by side of the car. Her other half sent a picture of the so called food as we got into the Car Park. We parked and paid our entrance fee and then started walking around. The first part was a number of Little Egrets and a Sacred Ibis, which Geoffrey found interesting and wanted to take a picture with my camera. I told him "Not now, later on". We then proceeded to see a lot of Wild Cats, a group of Lions, 3 female Lionesses on the roof of a wooden hut and a male sleeping to the side. So, I thought I would let Geoffrey take a picture of the females, which he did. I held the camera in position and he pushed the shutter, it is a nice picture.

We then walked around the Zoo and saw various animals and birds, Bongo (a deer like animal), Gorillas, Orangutan and then we found ourselves in the Lemur Enclosure, they had a bridge like the one from Indiana Jones, a swing bridge called "THE WOBBILY BRIDGE" going across about 30 feet and about 10 feet up in the air. Louise and Harlyn went across and then came back and then me and Geoffrey did the same. When you see a boy of 4 years old who is not scared crossing you think, I can't let people see I am scared so I went across aswell. I did what they tell you to do, keep your eyes on the Horizon and was proud of myself for actually doing it. Shortly afterwards the Lemurs came down and walked along the side of the Bridge, which looked really cool.

Paignton is a nice day out and I would recommend it to anyone. They have so many different animals for children to see which can educate them about Conservation and Wildlife.

Friday 10th August GOLF

I went to my Cousins and then we set off to the Golf Course at about 2.30pm. We had a Tee-Off slot of 3.20 and I was thoroughly looking forward to it. I haven't played golf for 3 and a half years which was at Letchworth Golf Club. Me and Roald met up with his friend Scott and set off for the first tee.

I am not sure about anything else but I always seem nervous at the first tee, so I kept my head down and hit a fairly straight 3 Wood, the other two hit the fairway. I then proceeded to hit a couple of poor and shots and ended up in the green side bunker. I opened up my sand wedge's clubface and hit the ball over the edge of the bunker face onto the green and watched it roll up to the hole and in. I understand that this is called a "GOLDEN FERRET", you learn something everyday.

The 2nd hole was a reasonably short Par 3, I hit the ball into the trees on the left and then had about 100 yards to the green, my next shot went past the first tree, hit the second and went behind me, so I had a third short of 125 yards lol. It was a nice golf course and some of the holes were very interesting. I hit other trees, lost a ball in one of the Lakes but I did enjoy it. Scott hit a bridge and a tree and lost a couple of balls into a Lake but we all enjoyed it. Well done Roald, you played well.

Saturday 11th August BOWLING GREEN MARSH & OTTERTON MILL

The Sun was shining so I decided not to park at Darts Farm like I did the day before and park in the Lane nearer the Bowling Green Marsh Hide. I walked along the road to the Hide and a young Robin appeared in front of me and then flew up into the bushes. When I arrived at the Hide it was really busy, lots of people, mainly old men with cameras and binoculars looking out upon the Islands and water in front of them. I heard various comments from some of them. "Look a Med Gull". "Come on Mr Spoonbill stop sleeping and lets see you". There was some good banter going on too. Then something caught my eye, I thought that is not a Black Tailed Godwit, it is a Curlew and I took a great picture of it, they have nice colouring and a very long beak which they use to pick up crabs and shrimps under the mud in front of them.

Sunday 12th August POWDERHAM CASTLE

I had been past the Castle entrance many times and I wondered what it would be like inside, so it being a slightly colder day I went along to see. It is a nice view as you go in and the staff were warm and friendly. I walked up to the Castle across a Bridge and then round the side to rear gardens, you have a lovely view across an open area with loads of Fallow Deer on the edge of it, I did notice that they had a lot of young ones and it made me think of Bambi. They started running around, jumping in the air and it made me laugh. I then walked around the gardens which had a lovely view of the river, I could see a Heron in the distance and so I decided to walk down to the river to see what other wildlife was about. I saw a couple of Adult Swans with 4 Cygnets, a group of young Moorhens and then the most beautiful dragonfly, it was orange and I did manage to get a picture of it. I then went and sat in the Cafe and had a nice Tuna Mayo Baguette and a delicious Cappucino and sat looking at the pictures that I had taken. They could really make more of the grounds by introducing Nature Walks, which I am sure Kids and Adults would enjoy under a controlled environment making sure that they stayed well away from the Herd of Fallow Deer.

Monday 13th August BOWLING GREEN LANE

I drove to Topsham and parked in my usual spot, the Hide was full up when I arrived and there were a lot of different birds about. Two Herons, the Spoonbill was sitting on the Island sleeping with his head tucked into his chest. There were loads of Black Tailed Godwits and Canada Geese making an awful noise as the Cows approached them and scared them off. Apparently if I had been 10 minutes earlier I would have seen an Osprey fly towards to the Sea and also an Ibis being chased away by a Marsh Harrier but sadly I missed all of that. As it was so busy I decided to walk up the platform further up towards the sea in hope that the Opsrey might still be about. When I arrived two men were looking at a big Black Backed Gull sitting on a rock in the middle of the estuary. I watched the tide slowly go out. You could just see a small bank of mud on the far side of the bay but within 15 minutes it had spread to most of the mud flats in front of me, which brought in loads of different waders including a large group of Redshanks and Black Tailed Godwits. I stayed there till almost 2pm hoping Mr Osprey would return but alas it never. So, I set off back to the Hide and sat for an hour watching various birds including a Heron fishing. I had a long chat with a local man about other places I could go to see different birds and he recommended Labrador Bay for Cirl Buntings.

Tuesday 14th August LABRADOR BAY /BOWLING GREEN LANE & EXMOUTH

I set off through Dawlish and past Teignmouth and then turned right across the main bridge and through some long winding roads until I arrived at the Labrador Bay Car Park which was almost empty. It was a delightful view across the Bay. I could see Torquay off to my left and Teignmouth harbour off to my left, it really was quite stunning. I set off for a walk on the look out for Cirl Buntings and a Peregrine flying overhead but after 45 minutes all I saw was a herd of Cows.

So, I decided to head back to Topsham where I would definitely see some birds. When I arrived at the Hide it was very quiet, my new best mate the Spoonbill was standing on the island preening himself and a Grey Heron was stalking around the edge of the water looking for a fish to eat. I stayed at the Hide for about an hour and then had a walk up to the platform to see if the Opsrey was about. The only thing I did see was a pair of Black Swans fly past, I thought they were Osprey's at first because they were really big birds and similar colouring to an Opsrey. There were also two Black Backed Gulls swooping around the Bay. I never realised how much bigger they are than an ordinary gull.

Wednesday 15th August DAWLISH & HAIR CUT

Had a visit this morning from my cousin Louise and her little Tribe of children. Ethan, Eli, Rosie, Toby, Geoffrey, Harlyn and her two dogs, Brian (The Big Friendly Rottweiller) and Florence (The English Bull Terrier). They really are lovely dogs, Brian is like a big cuddily Brown Bear and Florence has a short memory because, she knows you but still barks at you when she first meets you.

I had a lovely time in Devon and saw so many wonderful birds and it was really relaxing too.

Thursday 16th August WENT HOME