After numerous murky windy days over the Christmas period, I decided to make the most of New Years Eve’s sunny calm weather to go bird watching at Berry Head and Brixham Harbour.

First stop was for sunrise at Slapton Sands. Since it was freezing, I enjoyed watching from the car as the sun crept up between a large bank of clouds that had decided to frequent the horizon at that moment.

Moving on, I made my way to Dartmouth’s Lower ferry, where the crossing affords great views of the town, the river and many moored vessels; among them I spotted the Brixham Trawler “Pilgrim”, on which I once sailed, and a posh looking super yacht, which I definitely have not! Looking down river, the castle was beautifully silhouetted against the dawn.

Being positioned on top of a headland Berry Head National Nature reserve was bathed in sunshine when I arrived, with the early birds flitting amongst the bushes. I spotted a good number of robins and blackbirds, the latter feasting on the ivy berries.

I left them to their breakfast and made my way to the bird hide near the Guardhouse Café. I was here to see the guillemot colony on the cliffs and was rewarded with hundreds of birds lining nooks and crannies on the cliffs opposite the hide. I spotted a few sitting on the water below the cliffs and could only assume from this distance that they were all guillemots as they were too far away to see if there were any razorbill amongst them.

I sauntered to the end of the headland and sat down to gaze out to sea. There were no dolphins or porpoises to be seen today; and although this is a great place to lookout for them I would advise visiting in warmer weather if wishing to linger. I watched as an array of gulls floated past and eagerly observed as a great northern diver emerged from the depths.

Wandering back via the café to pick up a tasty treat, I detoured to the south of the headland and settled down above the guillemots; Although from here I couldn’t see the colony on the cliffs, I had a much clearer view of the ones settled on the surface of the water, which as I suspected were all guillemots.

Also swooping close were a number of fulmar, with their rapid wing beat and smooth glide they were lunging up towards the cliffs as if coming in to land only to drop away again. Nearby some rock doves/ feral pigeons sat on small protruding ledges of rock occasionally fluttering about.

I left Berry Head and made my way to Brixham Harbour where the water was serenely calm, reflecting the boats on the mirror like surface. I set out down the breakwater alongside many others enjoying the warmth of the winter sun. Our attention was quickly caught by the

sound of splashing in the water close to the rocks and the culprits were soon identified. A number of pairs of seals (as the kids were describing) were “playing” up close to the sea wall. I saw at least 10 seals in total although some were just cruising about, instead of mating like the others.

In the outer harbour dozens of cormorants and shags were fishing. With the sun behind them were silhouetted showing clearly the differences between the two birds, with the shags also clearly displaying their crests. Closer to me a couple of rock pipits bobbed between the rocks, and a turn stone came into land. I watched for a moment as it rooted in amongst the weed for tasty snacks.

I walked for a bit on the higher part of the sea wall and looked out to sea, which was a lot calmer than it would have been a few days before when the raging easterly winds would have whipped it up. Walking to the end, I rounded the lighthouse and returned to the lower walkway settling on the inside of the wall, looking over the outer harbour. I watched the birds on the water and the cormorants and shags were joined by numerous great northern divers all enjoying feeding in the calm waters of the harbour. I then had the pleasure of the company of a razorbill which seemed to appear out of nowhere right in front of me.

With the days still short, it was time to head homeward.

I couldn’t resist breaking my journey at Slapton bridge on the way. Although I thought I would be a bit late in the day for starlings, there were a few stragglers coming in and heading down to Strete Gate where they have spent most the season hanging out.

I stood with a large family group at the bridge and waited patiently to see if any other wildlife appeared. I was able to alert the family to an incoming kingfisher as it zoomed down the channel and under the bridge. They were delighted, with it being a first time sighting for many of them. If that wasn’t enough the kingfisher circled back round, joined by another one and a few minutes later zoomed back towards us at the bridge, this time choosing to fly over the bridge with one of them clearing my head by only a few inches.

Moments later the most tremendous noise alerted us to a low flypast by hundreds of starlings whooshing over the bridge and down towards Strete Gate.