The Backward Birder

😇

::Whispers:: Lammergeier.....
😏

Greenland-type Wheatear, South Side of Hope's Nose. One of two seen with @shiphaybirder

Best Firecrest photo I got....

Yep, just another case of gratuitous Violets.

Photo'ing migrant warblers in the evening shade is not easy.

Circumstances led to a weekend patrolling the Patch. Migrants passing despite frisky weather included Mipits, Skylarks + a lone House Martin on Sat. 2 Wheatear @ the Nose, 4+ Com Dolphin N of it.
Today & looking more inland a scattering of Chiffs + a Grey Wagtail near Meadfoot.
Firecrests all over!🦉

Isbis flies over Pec Sand!

Pec Sand or Giraffe?!?!

A couple more pics, because they amused me;
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Pectoral Sandpiper, appearing from behind a juvie Shelduck.

Juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, amongst Wigeon.

"No, no, I'm a Sharpie, honest!"

Pectoral Sandpiper, with Glossy Ibis being a total attention hog...

Bowling Green post-high tide yesterday was suddenly much livelier as a Pectoral Sandpiper appeared amongst the moulting waterbirds.!!
😃
Fortunately, despite being a bit flighty, it not only posed for pics, but stayed visible for a goodly twitch.
Result! 😁
Bonus - if brief - Glossy Ibis, too 🦉

female type Common Scoter, Exe estuary.

High-flying Curlew!

Yesterday morning I spent about 2.5 hours at Cockwood Crossing, not seeing any sign of the previous day's Slavonian Grebe.
Bugger.
There was a nice Common Scoter to look at and the expected waterfowl and waders knocking about. Slightly vexed, I decided to go and sulk at Bowling Green for a bit...
🦉

Fly Agaric, fully-developed. I love the bright yellow fringe to the cap.

Fly Agaric, young one. Note the missing 'spot', showing they are not volval remnants, as in other Amanitas.

Group of Fly Agarics, showing variation.

Even more Fly Agarics. Just because.

And for colour; a few Fly Agaric, as everybody likes looking at them 😁
🍄🍄
{See? Even the emoji is one!}

Velvet Shank. Not really velvetty, I've always thought...

Charcoal Burner. Multi-coloured Russula, peeking cautiously through the fallen leaves.

Cep, the most famously edible of the Boletes. These two are sensibly hiding under Brambles!

Brown Rollrim. To quote the great Sir Pterry, "All mushrooms are edible, but some mushrooms are only edible once..." This is one of those. They look a lot like the 'Giant Oyster Mushrooms' you find in some shops, and are a great advert for not going foraging unless you're VERY sure about what you're picking.

A post about fungi gets Likes?!?
😲
::Faints::

So maybe possibly you might like some more?
🥺
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Amethyst Deceivers, slightly munched upon, wooded fringe of Dartmoor.

Found while looking for fungi last weekend.
The scaly purple caps had me thinking of Violet Webcap {a rarity}, but on closer inspection it is - as always - a deceiver!
Amethyst Deceiver in this case.

Gorgeous things, despite being a little munched, and on my hoped-for list in their own right.
😁
🍄

Female Crossbill, lookout for a group of at least 12 who were less easy to get on record...

Yellow Stagshorn, glowing in the post-rain sunshine!

Ochre Brittlegill, slightly munched. One of two examples of the one species found, despite much searching..

Wandering about Fernworthy the other day, I found fungi a bit thin on the ground {ho ho} and while birds were more evident - or at least noisier.! - they were also feeling more elusive.
Observe;
🍄🦉

Itsa Whinchat! On a wire fence.

Whinchat on a Gorse bush. Was posing very nicely in profile. Until the camera came out...

Whinchat on a post, subbing for Wheatear.

Whinchat on {barbed} wire! Very close to the previous bird {though just far enough apart to not get them both clear in one shot, of course...}

While hunting for standing stones* on Dartmoor, I encountered the odd Whinchat... or four!
😍🦉

{*Trickier than it seems, especially when the vegetation is taller than the stones.! 🙄}

Leaning stone in the Assycombe Row, showing what looks like one to several cupmarks, only slightly lichen-obscured. I'm not an archaeologist, but I do know something about rocks, and granite doesn't do that naturally.

At Assycombe, the Sun came out and illuminated one of the stones from an interesting angle.
Is it just me, or are those cupmarks?
🤔
🗿⛏️

Hound Tor. Three sides of the cist and about half the main cairn circle stones, plus odd outer stone remain. Access Level: easy.

Assycombe Circle and Row. Much of the circle remains under much of the cairn. Largely intact double row also present! View is down length of the row. Access level; bit of a walk up a hill, but right by FC track.

Stannon Hill circle. Main inner circle stones to top left, middle ring stone on right, outer ring in foreground; largely robbed. Some of cairn survives on uphill side, cist is believed to survive minus the lid, but now buried under Gorse... Access level; Good luck. Frisky walk across open Moor, over stile, then find it buried in the Gorse. Sense of victory in finding it outweighs all woes, however. Using technological aids is definitely cheating, btw.!

For Tomb Tuesday, I have not one, not two, but three 😮 cairn circles with cists, in varying degrees of survival.
All from Dartmoor, of course. 😄
⛏️🗿

"Well, I don't!"

Ok, I admit it.
😔
I told a wee fib for effect. I did in fact get another good bird on camera.

Wheatear!!!
🦉

Forgive me? 🥺

"Hoo-ray and up she rises!" 'Pelican of London', a mainmast barquentine {Proper barquentines have the foremast square-rigged, barques have fore- and main- square-rigged. Now you know}, converted from a former Arctic trawler and now a sail training vessel, her interesting arrangement allows her better into the wind performance. I believe she's still in Plymouth at the mo'.

See? Big swell. Still a bit disappointed they weren't sailing, though...

Seawatching at Prawle on Friday and the only good bird I could get on pixels was a Pelican!
😇
Well... Sort of a pelican.

'The Pelican of London', in fact. 😆
⛵🚢
Having lots of fun in the impressive {though vexing for tracking birds} swell, too;

Wait... you're not a Purple Sandpiper. Or a Turnstone. I've seen Ringos on the rocks of the Nose, and at Broadsands, but this is Haldon Pier!

So I was prowling my Patch the next day, and as I got to the Harbour I thought to my self "It's too early for Sandpipers Purple", then I thought "Ah what else are you going to do?", so I looked, and I saw;
🦉

Male Gadwall, moulting out of eclipse plumage, Clennon Lakes. Gadwall are under-rated ducks, with the drake being the very definition of subtle beauty.

"Hey, we breed ferally, you know. That means we count. And do you see a plastic ring on my leg? No? Then I count!" Muscovy Ducks may be an, er, acquired taste, but if you count Canada Goose, Mandarin, Pheasant, Little Owl and so on, then you have to count them, too....

2/ Inland, Clennon Lakes and Young's Park had a few interesting ducks...
😇
{With apologies to @clennonvalley.bsky.social }

Is that an actual paddle steamer? It is!

'Waverley' of Glasgow. Just look at her....

Spent the day in Paignton at the start of the month. Three hours of seawatching {What? I'm still me 🙃} gave few birds {shock} with a couple of Med Gulls the best sighting, but this beauty made up for it.
Behold the glory of the paddle steamer 'Waverley'!
🤩
🚢

Female Black Darter, Dartmoor.

A male Keeled Skimmer, male and female Common Hawker, and at least 8 Black Darters were trying to stay in the Sun and out of the wind.
🐉🦟
Only one was feeling like being photo'd though;

Juvenile Whinchat, "This is my good side, so get on with it!"

As I've said before, Wheatears will come very close if you sit quietly!

And they're born poseurs...

Ok, some aren't that posey.

Went up to Fur Tor on Friday and practically had the Moor to myself 😄
{Dunno why, it only rained on me once.! 🙃}

Lots of Meadow Pipits, a few Skylarks, but you'll be interested in the juv Whinchat and 3+ Wheatears; I know I was! 😍
🦉

Another awful digiscope shot, this time it's a Yellow-legged Gull on the Lead Stone {plus snoozing Herring, of course}

Even further away, adult and juvenile Mediterranean Gulls {no, really, they are!}

From the same day {it was a bit variable}, a typical view of 5 Common Scoter {actually, they were very close for the Nose; usually they're 1km out...}

From the first day, as you deserve something in focus and properly identifiable, here's a lovely Wall.

Just to let you know I'm still here 😇 some more old pictures what I'd forgotten to put up {start running}, from the Three Days' Seawatching;

🦉🦋

Small Copper on Water Mint.

4/ I also tried once again to see the/a Glossy Isbis... and once again I failed 😔
I present one thing I was able to photograph;
🦋

That dorsal stripe.

Wryneck decides to walk out of the lovely shot you've just set up..

Wryneck inna tree!

Approaching ground predator sees.. A snake!!

3/ More views of the remarkable Wryneck of Turf!
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Spot the Wryneck!

Wryneck showing off how the bird just breaks its outline with a twist of the body; you have a dead leaf, strand sof grass, shadows.. not a bird.

Wryneck gaping; it was a toasty little spot, there.

2/ Wryneck in more usual conditions, employing its wonderfully cryptical plumage!
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Wryneck! In the open!! ::faints::

Where two sheets of concrete meet, there be ants!

Ah, the subtle beauty of the Wryneck. Albeit a slightly muddy-billed one.

The Turf lock Wryneck very considerately stayed for a third day, letting me have a go at seeing it.
Less considerate was the weather, which was a bit 🌧️ - not good for ant-eating birds to be visible - so waiting birders had to resort to ☕&🍰 {tragedy, how did we cope?} until the Sun came out and...
🦉

Awful digiscope photo. Juvenile Herring Gull in front [nice tertial notching} and, oh, what's that behind it with the thumbnails?? ::Whistles innocently::

Arty photo of a Kestrel hovering, with Berry Head in the background.

It's been far too long since I put an awful pic of a nasty gull or two up on here, so behold; two of this year's young, sat on the Lead Stone, Monday week.
{Yup, super-prompt posting! 🙄}
Also some eye healing in the form of a nice 'Kestrel with scenery' shot from the same day.
🦉

Juvenile Greenfinch, one of five very vocal youngsters in to my feeders with their parents this morning, between showers.

Portland Ribbon Wave. This year, the late-starting PRWs have been closer to Small Dusty Wave size than the previous Riband Wave sized individuals. I assume the dry summer may have something to do with this.?

One of FIVE noisy juvenile Greenfinch 😍, with parents to my feeders this morning {'scuse poor shot, but peeking through curtains to avoid disturbance}.
Under more cover, one of the teeny Portland Ribbon Waves that have been coming to light this month.
🦉🦋

Wasp Spider with lunch, Black Hole Marsh, Seaton. Note the zig-zag stabilimentum, a web feature used by several species of debatable and possibly varied function. I suspect that in the case of Wasp Spiders, it has multiple functions; making the web more visible to large mammals blundering through the long grass the spiders live in, and so less likely to destroy it, while also helping to break up the outline of the spider itself to hide from passing birds.

Another shot of the same Wasp Spider, note what appears to be the remains of a small spider top left.... An unfortunate male, perhaps?

Speaking of hanging out, I almost forgot this lovely Wasp Spider! 😍 One of two right beside the main track at the Black Hole.
Isn't she beautiful?
🕷️

Spotted Redshank, being helpful. Also beautiful. I like Spotshanks.

Wood Sandpiper. Actually really really close, but the Sun was directly behind it.... The scope views were wonderful, but cameras aren't eyes, alas.

A mix of small and smallish waders. Redshank arse-on {le gasp, un word de naughty.!}, Ringed Plover looking bored, two unhelpful Dunlin, and one helpful Dunlin posing next to target bird, a Little Stint. Observe how the stint is smaller and brighter and differently shaped and posed to the Dunlin {which as default small wader is what you compare all else to}

Greenshank, doing what I wish the Marsh Sand would have done..

2/ The supporting cast was pretty good {2 Little Stint, Wood Sand, Ruff, Spotshank}.
Here are some of them, in varying degrees of helpfulness of bird and awfulness of visibility....
😔🤷
🦉

Marsh Sandpiper, Black Hole Marsh, Seaton

Digiscoped...

Next to a nice Greenshank, showing a few of the differences between the two. Starting with Greenshanks being twice the size.!

Here the Marsh Sand is much closer-to, but in even worse light...

Slightly late, the reason I went over to The Black Hole;
waders!
Most especially, the gorgeous Marsh Sandpiper 😍 {my second ever, previously seen 17 years ago, which is the last time one was in Devon...!!}
Said Sand was gorgeous, despite what my heat-haze affected photography may show.. 🙄
🦉