My Birdwatcher's Guide: Fun in the Sun at Dawlish Warren

DAWLISH WARREN NATURE RESERVE

One of my favourite holiday destinations is Devon, I love the rolling hills and the beautiful Green countryside, it is like going back in history to a place where everyone is so relaxed and doesn't seem to have a care in the world. My cousin has a Caravan on a Holiday site at Dawlish Warren, it is a great site which has everything you need for a Holiday Break.

After travelling down to Devon via the M25, M23 and a long journey along the A303 past Stonehenge we finally arrived at Dawlish Warren, it has built up alot since I went there in 2008 with my ex-wife and son, Oliver. On that holiday we rented out a cottage in the middle of Dawlish and walked through the park every day to the beach, where me and my son, Oliver, went looking through the rock pools for crabs and small fish. We had a great time together.

The following morning I decided to take a walk to the local nature reserve at Dawlish Warren, I parked my car and set off across the sand dunes alongside the local golf course, not really knowing what to expect. The reserve had a big Visitor Centre but it was closed.

The dune area had lots of gorse and high bushes but out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a wonderful Stonechat in the sunshine (above), its partner was close by but it didn't have the black head or the orange colouring on its breast as prominent as the male. Flitting around behind it was another bird I haven't seen for a little while, a Linnet. They have a red head and a pinky red belly.

It is a nice little reserve but if they created a Viewing Hide on the small lake it might make it a more interesting place to visit for people and you might see more birds like a Kingfisher or even a Heron.

DAWLISH AND THE BLACK SWANS

Dawlish is one of my favourite little towns in Devon, you may have seen the railway line on the news last year, it is very close to the sea and part of the railway line collapsed into it. It took a few months to repair but is now back to normal. If you travel from the Railway back into the town, they have a park which goes along about half a mile, it has a river on the left side as you travel away the sea, in that river is something really unusual, Black Swans, it is one of only two places in the UK where these wonderful birds can be seen, they have been resident since the early 1900s.

This year they laid 6 eggs but due to an unfortunate incident with a loose dog, one of the females was killed and only 4 of the chicks survived the incident. The police are going to prosecute the dog owners and will hopefully make an example of them so that this sort of thing doesn't happen again.

As well as the Black Swans they also have a couple of Mandarin Ducks, they are really cool, especially the male ducks who are very colourful (see picture below).

Dawlish has some lovely benches where you can sit and chill out in the sunshine and also a lot of Cafe's and restaurants where you can get local food like Pasties and even a lovely Cream Tea.

TOPSHAM AND BOWLING GREEN MARSH

Topsham is on the other side of the River Ex on the far side of Exeter to where we were staying at Dawlish Warren. I thought it was going to be hard to find but the RSPB have a Shop and Information Centre within the Darts Farm Nature Reserve Shopping Complex.

I stopped off in the shop for some advice and to get a map so I knew how to get to the Bowling Green Marsh hide which I knew was somewhere in that vicinity. The young man in the RSPB shop was extremely helpful and provided me with a map and details on how to get to the Hide.

So I set off along a lovely wooded pathway alongside the river and kept my eye open for any bird or wildlife. On the far bank I could see a Shielduck with its 2 fluffy black and white chicks. They were cute little things but kept hiding in the reeds so I couldn't get a photograph of them.

You then cross the river along a wooded bridge which has viewing points along it but every time I stopped nothing much was about. About a mile along I came across a solid Hide with a huge sign saying RSPB Bowling Green Marsh. So I entered the hide, it was really clever the way it was organised. To the right hand side of the hide, it was as normal with a good viewing point across the area but to the left side was a small visitor centre with a volunteer, with a great viewing point for small children and also binoculars and seating for their parents. With drinks and refreshments available to make it more comfortable for all of them.

So I sat down and watched more Shielduck resting on an island to the right of the hide and then saw a Grey Heron fly in, have a walk around, look for some lunch and then fly off because it couldn't find anything suitable to eat. A pair of Cormorants then appeared and one sat on top of a wooden pole and opened its wings up to sunbathe or to dry them out from a fishing adventure.

Among the birds on the islands I could clearly see a large number of Black Tailed Godwits, about 50 of them then flew up in the air together and landed on a distant island. The small islands in between seemed to have a lot of Ducks nesting on them. A Widgeon and Teal were on the island closest to me. They both have brown heads, the Widgeon has a yellow strip down its forehead and the male Teal has a green patch around its eye and is extremely colourful.

The Summer months are not a great time to visit Topsham, as far more waders and ducks seem to prominent in the Winter months according to a lady I spoke to, so I will be back then.

Photography & Written by Mark Hogan