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Two spoonbills, one cormorant (record shots)

Two spoonbills, one cormorant (record shots)

Two spoonbills which have been staying for most if not all of the winter on the RSPB Bowling Green Marsh Reserve at Topsham. Not only were they standing so far from the hide that they’re tiny in the shots on my camera, which had only limited telephoto range. One of the pair was placed as if deliberately hiding behind the nearby cormorant.

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Waders wading, Goat Walk

Waders wading

Our visit to the Exe estuary this year was timed so that I was seeing the river when the tide was low, so most of the waders were feeding way too far away for me to get any clear pictures of them feeding – apart from this smallish group which came closer to the Goat Walk at Topsham one morning.

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Turnstones turning

Turnstones turning

The Exe estuary at low tide has huge expanses of exposed soft mud, pullulating with invertebrates. That, together with its temperate climate, make it an important site for large flocks of overwintering birds: geese, ducks, waders and more.

When the water’s out, there’s usually a handful of turnstones close to the Goat Walk at Topsham. They wander, more or less as a group, from one clump of seaweed to another, probing the ground searching for things to eat.

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Gaudy sunset, Exe estuary

Gaudy sunset, Exe estuary

A gaudy sunset, probably the most vivid one I’ve ever seen, looking over the Exe estuary at Topsham. Pictures taken with a mobile phone camera, so the white balance varies from shot to shot. In my memory, the light was even redder than it appears in any of the pictures in the sequence.

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Elf cup time

Elf cup time

Scarlet elf cups are fungi which produce their brightly coloured fruiting bodies just about this time of year. I’ve not managed to get out to look for them at any of their usual spots this year for various reasons. So here’s some pictures I took a few years ago.

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Shovellers, resting

Shovellers, resting

A couple of the shovellers which overwinter on the lake at West Park. For once they weren’t busily swimming in tight circles, hoovering the surface of the water for food. They were about as near as they ever come to the shore, resting. The female actually asleep.