An afternoon at Middlebere

Our Saturday walk was in the sun at Middlebere and due to the tide times we decided to go to the Avocet hide first.  Our walk down the track to the hide produced a few migrants, there were lots of Chiffchaff flitting around the hedgerows hunting for insects. We had a single Whitethroat which was accompanying the Chiffs but a little further on Jess picked up movement in the hedge at the other-side of the field. Scoping the hedge we found at least three Blackcaps feeding around an elder and blackberry bushes.  Joe picked up a Mistle Thrush sat at the top of a pine, later we saw a flock of ten fly in to the same trees.  Looking over the paddock near the barn where often we may pickup the odd Yellow Wagtail with the cows drew a blank with the wagtails, but we had no less than 11 Stonechat accompanied by a single Whinchat along the fence line and we had a single Kestrel fly over.

Distant Whinchat having a wing stretch © Nick  Hull

When we were nearing the hide a Sparrowhawk was seen briefly over the reed bed. At the hide, we could see that the tide had dropped a little further than was ideal, but there were good numbers of Teal and a Redshank or two, Little Egret a handful of Black-headed Gull and six Spoonbill though they soon disappeared into the deep channel out of sight.  A distant Jay and three Dunlin along with a handful of Shelduck to be seen.  So not wasting too much time here we headed off towards the Harrier hide, en-route Pauline called harrier and after a short wait a female type Marsh Harrier reappeared quartering the reed bed and gave some pretty good scope views. 

Two of the Spoonbill at the edge of the channel © Nick Hulll

We had a couple of high Buzzards which got some peoples hopes up that one might have been an Osprey but unfortunately it was just a pale Buzzard.  All to be added from the Harrier hide was a couple of distant Avocet, Teal and in the wood Goldcrest and Coal Tit.  The heath produced Meadow Pipits, Stonechat and Dartford Warbler and as we approached the cars a pair of Sparrowhawk crossed the road heading towards Hartland Moor.  All the time we were on our walk we had a constant passage of Swallow and the odd House Martin mixed in passing overhead. We ended with a Peregrine passing over heading towards the harbour which rounded the afternoon off very nicely.