Wolves Wild

Shells at Exmouth, half-hidden in the grass on the stabilised sand dunes, on the landward side of the promenade road. The shells were too far from the sea to have been brought in by the tide. Dropped by the gulls which had eaten the mollusc insice.

We quite often visit the Exe estuary at the tail end of winter, and it seems that every time we do so, there dominant wader species is different.

This year, it was godwits which always seemed to be gathering on the exposed mud. Probably all black-tailed godwits, but we rarely got a good enough view for certainty.

Reeds, with last year’s seeds, in reed beds by the Estuary of the River Exe and its tributary, the River Clyst.

The out of focus building in one of the pictures is the former lock-keeper’s cottage on the Exeter Canal at Topsham.

A lone starling looks out from the vantage of a chimney pot, while another small group prefer a lookout over water as well as land. Topsham, south Devon.

Alder catkins (reddish) and in one picture hazel (greenish) alongside the cones on alders from last year’s fertilised female flowers.

The Exe estuary in south Devon is an important wintering area for many migratory birds which summer nearer the Arctic, including places as far away as Siberia. Bewteen Exeter and the river’s mouth there are a string of RSPB reserves , with thousands of geese, ducks and waders.

When the tide is low, many head out on the mud to feed. This lone teal drake was busy sifting the mud for things to eat, directly under the Quay at Topsham.