17th August 2026 – Seaton Wetlands, East Devon

We had another very enjoyable trip to this lovely reserve which features marshland and reedbeds alongside the River Axe just outside Colyford between Seaton and Colyton in the beautiful East Devon countryside. There are five bird hides and nearly 4km of level trails and boardwalks suitable for wheelchair, bike and pushchairs. Just right for us!

We were blessed with some dismal weather for which we were most grateful after the series of heatwaves we have been enduring. At one point it started to drizzle and we nearly set back as we had left our waterproofs in the car, but we held our nerve and took the tram at the Seaton Wetlands Halt and explored Colyton.

You could tell we were in the English countryside by the presence of this pheasant even though the grass was an unfamiliar colour.

A real surprise – drizzle

Oystercatcher

Common kingfisher

Common kingfisher

Common kingfisher

Common greenshank

Common redshank

Sand martins – the smallest of the European hirundines

Peekaboo!

Emperor dragonfly competing with the sand martins

A pair of reed warblers

Meadow brown butterfly

One of the 14 trams on the Seaton Tramway. The trams are narrow gauge (2’9″), purpose built by the company with designs based on some of the heritage trams that served the UK’s towns and cities in the first half of the last century.

I was looking forward to a trip on the tramway. I didn’t realise I was going to have to drive it (only joking)

This driver certainly knew what he was doing

Our tram

At Colyton we visited the church of St Andrew
The font in St Andrew’s church

… and we had a spot of lunch – appropriately at the Kingfisher Inn

Little egret on the Axe estuary

Comments

4 responses to “17th August 2026 – Seaton Wetlands, East Devon”

  1. robbiesinspiration Avatar

    A lovely outing, Martin. The kingfisher is beautiful and the tram ride looks like fun.

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    1. martintayler Avatar

      Thank you, Robbie. Yes, a grand day out indeed.

      Martin Tayler

      Martin’s bird & nature blog: http://martinsbirdblog.com ________________________________

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  2. Sue and Fred Forse Avatar
    Sue and Fred Forse

    Thankyou for these lovely photos Martin, plus the written commentary. It’s looks as though you had a super day out.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. martintayler Avatar

      Thank you very much

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