Spectacular osprey is just one autumn estuary visitor
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| • WHISTLING widgeon: They bring the estuary alive
in winter. |
By James Chubb
East Devon Education Ranger
Exmouth is in the grip of invasion. I'm glad to be the bearer of
this news however, as the town's shores are about to be inundated
with exotic visitors, from far off lands. The Exe estuary is the
reason for their visit and, for some of the 25,000 birds that spend
the winter here, the journey has been a long and arduous one.
Ducks and geese, collectively known as wildfowl, and wading birds
are beginning to appear on the marshes and mudflats of the Exe,
but where have they come from and why are they here?
Now, the only slight downside to this news, is that it spells the
real end of summer. When wigeon start whistling on the river, it's
time to put away the beach towel and break out the woolly jumper.
Some of the birds that appear at the beginning of the autumn migration
are on their way to their winter homes further south. These birds
are known as passage migrants, as they are seen on their way through
an area, rather than this being their final destination.
Green sandpipers are tiny little birds, bareley larger than a starling.
They are typical passage birds, seen sporadically through the summer
as failed breeders give up early and get a head start on the rest
of the flock. The main movement of green sandpipers comes in the
autumn when they migrate from the far north of Siberia, through
northern and Western Europe to their winter roost sites in Southern
Europe and Africa. A journey of many thousands of miles, made by
an animal that weighs a little less than my clumpy old Nokia mobile
phone!
Look out for green sand’s on the marshes of the Exe over the
next few weeks, the easiest to visit being the RSPB's Bowling Green
Marsh reserve in Topsham.
They tend to feed around the edges of the water on muddy margins,
and have a compulsive bob in their tail. It's almost as if they
are hydraulically powered and have to pump themselves along!
Of course there are passage migrants that are beginning to buck
the trend. Greenshank are a beautifully elegant wading bird. They
have extremely long greenish legs, a thin pale grey body and long
slightly up-turned beak. For the last five months they have been
breeding in the far north of Scandinavia, on areas of coastal marsh
and bog that swarm with midges and gnats. Not a very enticing place
for us to visit, but a perfect habitat in which to raise wader chicks.
Historically these are birds that would have wintered in the same
places as the green sandpipers, but they are beginning to be seen
throughout the winter on the Exe estuary. Last year there were two
or three that could be seen in the mornings feeding on the little
rivulet running from the Imperial Slipway. They have long thin beaks
for probing deep into the mud, but they also skim the water catching
fry and small shrimps.
Finally, there is one passage bird frequently seen in the area that
might surprise you. Osprey are one of the most cosmopolitan birds
of the world. They occur on every continent apart from Antarctica,
and have massively different lifestyles depending upon where they
live.
European ospreys are some of the most long travelled. Their migration
from nest site to winter grounds may be 6 or 7 thousand miles, with
vast distances of this travelled over the open sea. But at this
time of year, this huge raptor can be seen on the estuary. With
a wingspan in a big female only bettered by golden eagles and sea
eagles in the UK, this is a truly incredible sight to see. So why
does such a big animal go unnoticed by so many people?
At the time of writing this article there has been at least one
osprey seen in Topsham for the last three weeks! You need to keep
a look out for masses of gulls. When a bird of prey of this size
moves about it creates quite a stir amongst the local gull population
and they explode into a riot of white wings and noise. Look closely
at every cloud of angry gulls over the next few weeks and see if
there is a beautiful osprey at the heart of this commotion.
Osprey are on their way to sub-Saharan Africa, much like the green
sandpipers, but there are plenty of birds starting to appear that
will stay throughout the winter period.
If you went for a walk along the eastern side of the estuary last
week, as recommended in this article, you will have seen the green
mass of eelgrass growing on the mud. The days of this site are numbered
as thousands of insatiable beaks are on their way from northern
Scotland and Scandinavia to feast upon this rare treat. Wigeon are
one of the most eye catching birds we host in the winter. They are
charmingly dumpy, and the males have a beautiful milk chocolate
coloured head with a pale cream stripe down the front.
These are the birds that really bring the winter estuary alive for
me. Their whistling calls fill the winter air, as life-long partner
birds keep in constant communication while feverishly stuffing themselves
with the nutritious eelgrass.
Finally, another favourite of mine to look out for is the brent
goose. This little black goose gets its name from the Norse word
for burnt as its flesh is said to taste burnt when eaten, although
I have my suspicions that it really comes from the fact that they
look as though they've flown too close to a barbecue!
We get the dark-bellied subspecies of brent goose on the Exe, which
has bred in Siberia and Northern Russia. What's more we get three
per cent of the entire global population of this rare bird spending
the winter here. Perhaps that doesn't sound very impressive, but
try imagining three per cent of the human population getting together
in one place.
The brent geese are also here for the eelgrass and, up till about
Christmas, along with the wigeon they will eat their fill of this
sea flower. By about January there will be no more eelgrass available
and they will have to eat their second choice of grass in the fields
surrounding the estuary.
I hope that you have enjoyed this summer series of articles in the
Exmouth Journal. We are fortunate to live surrounded by such important,
exciting and beautiful wildlife and countryside. I hope something
in one of the articles has encouraged you to get out and explore
our local patch for yourself.
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Previous Articles by James Chubb
Have fun for free!
East Devon Education Ranger James
Chubb describes how young naturalists can monitor moths
at home and describes some of the beautiful species in our
local area.>>
East Devon Education
Ranger James Chubb
gives us a tour of pebblebed heaths: a collection of heathland
commons stretching from East Budleigh north towards Woodbury
and Aylesbeare>>
East Devon Education
Ranger James Chubb
explores rockpools and looks at some of the living natural
history that can be found along the Jurassic Coast,
>>
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