Report 093 - November 21st 2018
The morning of the 21st November was perfect for bird watching; ideal for visiting Devon Wildlife’s South Efford Marsh Reserve at Aveton Gifford, alongside the Avon estuary. There was no wind , the air was pleasantly cool and the sun was shining. We were only six strong, so after meeting up in the main car park we moved to the lane leading to the reserve, using just two cars. It was a pleasant walk round the edge of the reserve with a thin screen of willows one side of the path which leads to a bird hide, and the other side a bank with the estuary on the other side. In many places along this bank there were gorse bushes in flower. A couple of times we climbed the bank, scanning the mud. We were rewarded by a good view of a black-tailed godwit. A sedge warbler and a couple of blue tits were seen.
South Efford Marsh is a patchwork of salt marsh and grazing fields which lay next to the beautiful winding course of the River Avon. Life at the reserve is governed by a tidal gate which allows sea water to flow in at high tide. The gate was installed by the Environment Agency in 2011.One night in 1943 a German bomber dropped its bombs on the estuary hitting the sea wall that still stands today around the reserve. This allowed sea water to flood in. This breach remained for the next decade and local people can still remember swimming in the bomb crater. The reserve is now home to some rare salt-loving plants such as sea purslane, glasswort and sea spurry. It's also an important feeding place for lots of birds and the home of otters.
We stopped a number of times looking over the marsh with binoculars and a bird scope. We spent some time in the comfort of the hide with windows overlooking the estuary on one side and the salt marsh the other. The sightings included greenshank, redshank, mallard, teal, widgeon, Canada geese and egret, but the highlight has to be a kingfisher. It was first spotted on the estuary by its iridescent blue as it flew to a perch on the front of a moored yacht. From there it made numerous sorties of a few metres diving into the brackish water and back to its perch with its catch. Every time when perching it was facing us, with its rufous red breast dominating its appearance, almost glowing in the sun light. I stayed around fishing for 5-10 minutes allowing all of us to have superb views through a bird scope. Eventually we had to make our way back to our cars. Just at that point it began to rain, but it didn’t matter, we had seen some good birds and a fantastic session with a kingfisher. Five of us gathered at the nearby Fishermans rest, to having hot drinks, three tasty hot meals.