Trip reports

VISIT TO BOWLING GREEN - March 2008

Saturday, 29 March 2008

10 members met at Topsham with a bad weather forecast reducing the attendance and as we walked to Bowling Green via the Goat Walk with high tide on the river Exe the rain arrived which meant that we cut out a visit to the viewing platform looking over the river Clyst and made a speedy trip to the hide for shelter.
On arrival we found only one bird watcher there(a member of Exeter Local Group) who briefed us on the birds about.
The pools were full of water and the waders were in groups standing mainly in the water due to a lack of mud.
We were able to record redshank,dunlin,curlew,black tail godwit and greenshank but no sign of the long billed dowitcher and among the ducks were wigeon,pintail,teal,gadwall and shelduck.
Over the water were many sand martins wheeling about and also a single swallow the first for the year for many of us then a treat as a little ringed plover appeared on the bank.
Later we had a discussion about a meadow pipit which displayed some minor features of water pipit but then the leader found a pipit on the far bank with all the features of water pipit namely strong white supercilium and a whitish buff chest.
Then to add to our list a green sandpiper arrived in a local pool and even better Kate found the dowitcher among a group of redshanks all huddled together a lifer for Stan with also the water pipit on his list.
The rain showed no signs of easing so after a 2 hour session we hurried back to the car park to finish for the day with all of us recording over 40 species in our lists.