12:45 – 14:00: The Point, Teignmouth, Devon (50.540799, -3.499607)
On arrival at the Teignmouth sea-front, enormous breakers were crashing right against the shore-line, drenching passers-by. It was hard to even hold the binoculars steady and the winds were icy. A ghostly 2nd winter Iceland Gull was soon swept by on the wind. In the shelter of the bay at the point itself, around 30 black-headed gulls were battling the wind like storm-petrels. From 13:50-13:55, the adult winter Bonaparte’s Gull showed extremely well, with its pale plumage, black trailing wing edge, dark fine bill and strikingly pale-pink legs, my second seen in the UK.
15:00-15:10: Cadbury Gardens, East Budleigh, Devon (50.655356, -3.321499)
In Corsica, in 2006, I spent quite a lot of time observing Italian Sparrows around the island’s villages and towns. The location of a male in Devon, and its ID, are still under discussion, but at 15:05 the Italian Sparrow arrived on its feeder in East Budleigh and looked, to me, exactly like a pure male of the species, so it remains to be seen what the authorities decide. It was particularly nice to find the whole village of East Budleigh alive with nest-prospecting sparrows, starlings and sympathetic gardens.
On arrival at the Teignmouth sea-front, enormous breakers were crashing right against the shore-line, drenching passers-by. It was hard to even hold the binoculars steady and the winds were icy. A ghostly 2nd winter Iceland Gull was soon swept by on the wind. In the shelter of the bay at the point itself, around 30 black-headed gulls were battling the wind like storm-petrels. From 13:50-13:55, the adult winter Bonaparte’s Gull showed extremely well, with its pale plumage, black trailing wing edge, dark fine bill and strikingly pale-pink legs, my second seen in the UK.
15:00-15:10: Cadbury Gardens, East Budleigh, Devon (50.655356, -3.321499)
In Corsica, in 2006, I spent quite a lot of time observing Italian Sparrows around the island’s villages and towns. The location of a male in Devon, and its ID, are still under discussion, but at 15:05 the Italian Sparrow arrived on its feeder in East Budleigh and looked, to me, exactly like a pure male of the species, so it remains to be seen what the authorities decide. It was particularly nice to find the whole village of East Budleigh alive with nest-prospecting sparrows, starlings and sympathetic gardens.
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