Avocets and a godwit are reflected in the mud as they feed on the invertebrates they find in the mud of the Exe estuary.
Exe 11: weather vane
This weather vane right by the Exe at Topsham portrays an avocet.
Exe 10: ice crystals
These ice crystals had formed at the high tide mark on the estuary of the river Exe during the recent cold spell.
Exe 9: magpies
A pair of magpies run across the sandy ground by the entrance to Dawlish Warren railway station.
Exe 8: stuck in the mud
The slowly-decaying remains of two former boats on the mud of the Exe estuary at low tide. These wrecks are at the end of the Turf’s beer garden.
Exe 7: plane seeds
Dangling seed-heads on a riverside plane tree. This year’s leaf buds and the lichen encrustation on the branches can also be seen.
Exe 6: hungry swan
This swan was on the Exeter canal, not far from its seaward end at the Turf public house.
I was as hungry as the swan. The Turf is a welcoming pub when it is open. Sadly, it stays closed early in the year until the school half term.
Exe 5: two members of the heron family
A little egret feeding in the river Clyst just before it joins the Exe at Topsham, and the brief snatch of video I got of a grey heron on yacht moorings right near the centre of the village before it was disturbed and flew off.
Exe 4: early violets
Violets flowering early in February in the (normally) gentle climate of south Devon. In fact, this picture was taken in a brief thaw, only a few hours after the one in the previous post.
Exe 3: frosted seaweed
As each tide receded, it left behind ice on the mud and elsewhere, as on this seaweed.
Exe 2: green plover feeding
This green plover was prospecting the ground not far from the hide on the RSPB reserve at Bowling Green marsh, Topsham.
Exe 1: avocets feeding
Because of the cold weather, I haven’t been getting out for recent pictures of Wolverhampton wildlife.
To carry on the daily posts, the next few days will have photos and videos I took on a long weekend by the Exe estuary in south Devon earlier this month.
Today’s video features the bird whose name has been borrowed by the marketing department of the rail line to the east of the Exe between Exeter and Exmouth – the avocet.
Avocets are wading birds. Here they are seen feeding by searching muddy water and soft mud with their delicate-looking upcurving beaks. The last bird might be finding its prey by sight in the clearer water of a tributary of the Exe.
The Exe estuary is the winter home to thousands of avocets.