6 October — 1933: Grey Phalarope at Wembury
Western Morning News, 6 Oct 1933
A Plymouth observer reported a grey phalarope at Wembury, noting its tameness and light swimming style, “very like a small gull.” Most local records of this scarce migrant occur in autumn, when birds are blown off course from their Arctic breeding grounds (Greenland, Iceland, etc.) on their way south, sometimes as far as the Falklands and New Zealand.
This early record highlights Wembury’s position on a key migration corridor. The bay and headland funnel seabirds and waders moving along the Channel, and unusual visitors often appear after storms. The 1933 phalarope foreshadowed Wembury’s later reputation, cemented after the Marine Centre opened in 1981, as one of Devon’s most rewarding coastal birdwatching sites, with cirl buntings, whimbrel, ring ouzel, peregrine, and occasional rarities still regularly recorded.