16^th November. A good day was forecast today, that was if the fog didn’t materialise and as such I booked a day off work and headed down the M5 for a shot at another American vagrant. I arrived at the RSPB car park for Exminster Marshes just before 7. It was misty, icy and still but an orange glow was beginning to materialise in the sky promising a good day ahead. Gathering my gear and setting off on the walk toward the Turf Hotel. As I approached the far car park I glimpsed to my left and briefly saw a Short-Eared Owl quartering the fields before it headed into a small coppice. It was very atmospheric with the sounds of Teal, Wigeon, Curlew and Geese calling and then seen silhouetted into the brightening misty orange sky. Several Cetti’s Warblers were singing and I glimpsed two briefly as they dived further into cover. I reached the area where the American Robin had most regularly been reported and noted the abundance of berried trees, two by the canal in particular were inundated and appeared almost entirely red. Quite a feat for me with my colour blindness! I scanned every thrush I could see, which were predominantly Blackbirds, although there were numerous Redwing and a few Song Thrushes amongst them. Fieldfares were also present but only seen along the far hedgerow. As time passed, additional birders arrived and being the first one on site I relayed the news of “no news” to the new arrivals. In fact the only species to work the shutter was our very own Robin, several of which were boldly feeding on the towpath close to the nearby birders. I wandered down to the Turf Hotel a few times hoping to see something out of the ordinary on the bushes down there but with only similar results. Redshank, Greenshank & Black-Tailed Godwit fed on the shore but too distant and into the rising sun for photographs. A Kingfisher whizzed past several times and a few Reed Buntings, Linnets, Chaffinch, Bullfinch & Goldfinch maintained the small passerine interest. On my third walk back from the pub, I noticed the group of birders all looking in the same direction – needless to say I lengthened my stride and after noting a thrush fly with a noticeable white patch under the tail, I was soon looking at the American Robin! It was perched atop one of the berry laden trees, quickly wolfing down berries. The red flanks were striking and it was a wonderfully colourful bird to watch. It was obviously related to our Thrushes by its behaviour and demeanour but all the time I watched it, it kept itself to itself. I managed to get the camera on it and took a few shots before moving to a slightly better vantage point and getting a few more. All the birders watching were impeccably behaved, standing on the towpath and allowing the bird to feed. After two minutes the bird was flushed by a Redwing and flew away across the fields to the far hedge. I continued to hope it would make a further appearance but after almost two hours of waiting for it to appear there was no sign and thrush sightings had dropped to virtually nil. Only a distant fox rousing itself from its slumbers got the crowd excited. I left just before 12 and later learned that the American Robin was only sighted again at 1:30 so I guess I made a decent decision. I’d provisionally planned on heading to an unreliable spot for a Long-Billed Dowitcher on a flooded field in Axmouth but as time had marched on I decided to head back up the M5 and call in at Greylake to see if I could photograph my bogey raptor as a Merlin had been seen there the previous day. I set up at the hide (one of the best quality hides I’ve had the pleasure of sitting in!) and was greeted by great light and a carpet of birds. The scope views of Snipe, Teal and Wigeon were stunning and I’ve rarely seen such good numbers of the former. As always Snipe can be difficult to photograph and I got a few semi-reasonable efforts although not coming remotely close the pictures I obtained in Norfolk. Better subjects were the Teal of which several were assembled in the “right place” lightwise. A few stunningly coloured drakes and a couple of beautifully patterned ducks dabbled for a good while allowing me to get some nice shots of one of my favourite duck species. The Wigeon kept a bit distant but the constant call is always a privilege to hear. Plenty of Lapwing were dotted around and a few of them seemed to make it their purpose to chase of any Snipe nearby. A few Shoveler and a calling Water Rail made up the suppoting cast whilst raptorwise it was quiet with only one Buzzard being seen and not even a sniff of a small falcon. A few Pied Wagtails and a single Grey Wagtail were the only passerines of note with feeding Starlings mixing with the ducks and waders. Soon enough it was 3pm and time to head back. A successful day even if I didn’t manage to see the main star of the day for very long, and I’m creeping up to 270 species on the website!