The Bowling Green Nature Reserve, Topsham

Robin Rowland August 30, 2022August 28, 2024

Bowling Green Marsh Nature Reserve, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

During my trip to Topsham, Devon, I visited the Bowling Green Marsh Nature Reserve.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Bowling Green Nature Reserve is on the junction of the River Exe and the River Clyst, close Topsham. The Lookout Hide viewing platform is described as “an ideal spot to watch birds up close, including spring and autumn migrating birds, and winter flocks of waders, ducks and geese feeding and resting.
I spent two hours on a sunny afternon at the Lookout Hide. I travel light internationally and with a bad back, I brought only one camera, a relatively light Sony RX10iii (aksa RX10M3)
The camera can reach 600mm, but the resolution is often not as good as a dedicated zoom or prime lens.

Grey heron and ducks at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

The closet bird to the platform was a Black tailed godwit *(limosa limosa)* at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

Another view of the Black tailed godwit *(limosa limosa)* at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

Another pair of godwits further away at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

A later shot of the Black tailed godwit *(limosa limosa)* as the sun began to set. August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

A familiar bird, a Canada Goose beside a Grey heron and ducks at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

Canada geese stick their heads up at at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

Canada geese circle around Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

Grey heron flies over Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

A wider view of the Grey heron flying over ducks at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

Grey heron and ducks at in the marsh. August 30,2022 (Robin Rowland)

A closer shot of the grey heron and ducks at Bowling Green Marsh, Topsham, Devon, August 30,2022. (Robin Rowland)

After we’d been at the nature reserve, a shorebird flew in, bringing excitement from the other birders in the Lookout hide, a green sandpiper (tringa ochropus) which they said was rare in the Topsham area. (Note: while the four birders at the site more familiar with British birds than I am all identified it as a a green sandpiper, experts from Ebird identified it as a common sandpiper (actitis hypoleucos). I have changed the caption to read simply sandpiper. August 28. 2024)