I had an early start today, not for birding or photography but for a trip to hospital for surgery to remove my Gall Bladder which has been troubling me for years. It's going to be good to get rid of it. As I sit waiting for my turn, feeling like the eponymous "Dead Man Walking", I am looking out of the first floor ward window here in The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, a friendly, busy and seemingly very efficient institution. From the window it is more than interesting to count the bird species. It's surprising to be able to birdwatch in a place such as this. There are all the usuals, but in far greater numbers than my own garden which is a surprise. Just casually glancing through the window now, I can see a small flock of Goldfinch feeding on seeding heads in the garden borders. There are Herring Gulls (no surprise there then), Jackdaws, Blue Tits, Blackbirds, Crows and Magpies. What is good though are the surprisingly close views. There are tree tops at eye level and the Goldfinches are just a few feet from me, it would be a great photo opportunity. Interestingly, there are no House Sparrows to be seen, they really are quite scarce now compared to a few years ago.
Yesterday I went back to Venford Reservoir to try and photograph the Goosanders and Little Grebe. I had good views of the "Dabchick". These are a smashing little species of Grebe, quite small, the size of a Pied Billed Grebe for comparison if you are reading this in the USA and you are familiar with that species. They have a good way of avoiding "trouble". As soon as they are aware of you the observer, they avoid the perceived danger by diving and then swimming away strongly underwater, emerging somewhere yards and yards away and then diving immediately again. In this way they are quickly lost to view. This was pretty much what happened yesterday, when I first arrived I was pleased to catch sight of the individual seen on my previous visit. It was quite close to me and getting nearer as it fished, I had seen it doing that the day before when it was doing quite well with a high success rate, surfacing with small Brown Trout at least four times while I watched. This time though, it caught sight of me, even though I was camouflaged and it dived noisily and that was the last I saw of it. That was a bit of a disappointment as I hoped for some good photographs, especiallly with a beak full of wild Brown Trout!
On my previous Venford Reservoir visit, the day before, there had been 7 Goosanders including 2 drakes. I have Blogged about these male Goosanders before but it's worth repeating. The entire Western European breeding population of male Goosander depart their breeding grounds en-masse in June. They arrive in their thousands from all parts of Europe at a small Norwegian Fjiord where they remain , in a massive flock of adult males…… the entire European population, for close on 4 months. They completely moult their flight feathers before returning back in Novemebr to join up again with their females, and progeny, at their breeding grounds. Whether they are faithful to their original mate is unknown to me, that would make the story even more remarkable. I watched just one drake at first, but as the afternoon went on, suddenly I noticed two. I would like to think that this second bird had just arrived back in Devon, but of course I have no way of knowing this even if it were true. What I do know though, is that theses two spanking males were extremely attractive with a bold very dark green head and a creamy white body. I am pretty sure that I will be able to get a nice close up photograph eventually, but it's going to be a waiting game and patience is required! Yesterday surprisingly, their were no ducks on the reservoir whatsoever, where could they be? After an hour or so, a female "splashed" in and I was expecting her to be joined by others, and hopefully a drake, but that didn't happen. That was quite a surprise, the way birds behave is a mystery quite often and what makes it more interesting for me.
There has recently been a few interesting rarities around locally. Snow Buntings at Budleigh Salterton and yesterday a Desert Wheatear in South Devon. Hopefully, if my operation goes well, I will be up and about and be able to try for some photos of this really nice bird, and obviously, rare (for Devon and the UK).
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