Guided Bird Watching Cruise – 7th November 2026

The first cruise of the winter got off to a rather misty, no, let me amend that to a foggy start. The poor visibility was not conducive to birdwatching and we were all forced to peer through the mist in search of indistinct bird shapes. Oystercatchers, Herring Gulls, Great Black Back Gulls and a handful of Brent Geese emerged briefly from the gloom on Pole Sands. A cautious cruise through the moorings produced a few Shags and Cormorants and then we steered as close as possible to Dawlish Warren where a few Curlew and Shelduck were spotted. We continued to hug the shoreline getting a fleeting glimpse of a sanderling darting out of the mist and the ghostly outline of a Greenshank (rather ironic as the second part of its scientific name ‘nebularia’ means mist!). South Cockle Sands occasionally appeared and good
numbers of Dark Bellied Brent Geese were in evidence. As we reached Starcross a brief window opened in the fog to reveal three grey seals slumbering on a pontoon, a Great Crested Grebe fishing in open water and a few Little Egrets stalking the waters edge. But visibility soon deteriorated and briefly we were forced to navigate by radar.

Above Lympstone the fog slowly thinned and birds could be seen feeding on the mud. Six Spoonbills were glimpsed flying at distance before settling behind a bank of mist. Then our first avocets appeared, ethereal at first but as the mist lifted and the sun appeared they appeared in all their glory. Yes, the sun eventually shone and the approach to Topsham was glorious, offering fine views of Lapwings, Black-tailed Godwits, Dunlin, Golden Plover (in two large roosting flocks), more Avocet, a few Redshank, one Grey Plover, Curlew, Turnstone, one Black Swan, Mute Swans, Teal and Mallard.

But the best was saved for the return journey. Sunshine meant we had fine views of Brent Geese, and amongst the adults were at least six juvenile birds which is an encouraging sign. A large flock of Pintail were spotted plus Wigeon, a few Bar-tailed Godwits, and a Greenshank gleaming in the sunshine. But some distance astern of the boat a juvenile common scoter was spotted (thanks Derek for the photo), which had to be our bird of the trip. Finally, as we neared Bull Hill, three Red Breasted Mergansers were seen and a Great Northern Diver bobbed up beside the boat. Our final bird of the cruise was a Kestrel perched on a post on Dawlish Warren.

Thankfully what began as a dreary, foggy cruise ended in glorious sunshine with a total of thirty-five species recorded.

Big thanks to Will for expertly navigating us through the fog banks. There were times when I honestly had no idea where we were!

NB. Derek and I spotted an unusual gull on Bull Hill Bank. Closer analysis of Derek’s photograph by a gull expert revealed it to be nothing more than a Herring Gull with a heavily soiled head and nape. Goodness knows what it had been scavenging.

Steve Manning