Guided Bird Watching Cruise – 31st January 2026

Today’s cruise was an absolute joy because it barely rained! We experienced one brief shower on the return trip but otherwise it was a bright, sunny day beneath a sky of billowing clouds.

The Exe was swollen with recent flood water which reduced the area of exposed mud. This in turn meant the absence of some regular birds and reduced numbers of others. There was certainly no absence of gulls in the estuary with mixed groups of Black-headed, Herring, Common and Great Black-backed occupying every exposed surface.

Along the shoreline between Dawlish Warren and Starcross were Oystercatchers, Avocets, a scattering of Dark-bellied Brent Geese, Little Egrets, Redshanks, Bar-tailed Godwits, hundreds of Dunlin, Greenshanks and Grey Plovers. Overall, there were good numbers of Grey Plovers offering close-up views. A small gang of Red-breasted Mergansers were offshore at Starcross together with one Great Crested Grebe and a group of Shags elegantly formation fishing. One Grey Seal was spotted lounging on a pontoon and a second popped up to give us a cursory glance.

Duck species were in short supply today with a solitary Mallard, a small flock of Teal above Turf Locks and a few Shelduck. The Avocets looked resplendent in the winter sun and their numbers increased as we passed Turf Locks, where there was also a thinly dispersed flock of Golden Plover. On our approach to the Clyst and Topsham, two Common Seals were hauled up on the mud and in mid-stream a tree, tangled in navigation markers, was expertly navigated around by Will, our skipper.

On the approach to Topsham there were several groups of Bar-tailed Godwits interspersed with a few Black-tailed Godwits. Unusually, Bar-tails far outnumbered Black-tailed Godwits today. I can only assume the latter were feeding in the water-logged fields flanking the estuary. Below Topsham Quay two treats awaited us. First, a Mediterranean Gull amongst the Black-headed Gulls and second, a Kingfisher perched on a ladder, oblivious to the people milling around on the quayside above.

But the treats weren’t over. As Will turned us around to head downstream, a large mixed flock of Golden Plover and Lapwing rose above Exminster Marshes and to the stern a male Goldeneye was spotted, at some distance, feeding around the mooring buoys.

Finally, as we neared Exmouth, small groups of Sanderling were seen feeding busily on the strand line of Great Bull Hill and a lone Turnstone took flight from Dawlish Warren beach.

Yet again it was a pleasure to be out on the estuary beneath spectacular skies and surrounded by our wonderful wintering birds.

Steve Manning