The first 'personality' to be featured in this section is Mike Langman. Mike is among the best-known of present-day Devon birdwatchers, now in his second stint as County Recorder and one of the country's outstanding bird artists. The article reproduced here, penned by Allan Tudor, appeared in the (Torbay) Herald Express on Tuesday 27 January 2009, under the very apt title 'Bringing birds to life on the page'.

MIKE LANGMAN is a freelance wildlife illustrator whose work is seen all across South Devon as well as in bird books and on the internet, writes Allan Tudor.

This section contains articles written especially for the website that focus on bird biology, identification, fieldwork and the like. 

Articles available

DBWPS has a diverse membership, many members also subscribe to other conservation or environmental organisations whilst others have very specialised interests. However, the one thing all members have in common is their love of birds and birdwatching.

This section will cover a very wide area, including which birds can be watched in Devon and where.

This area of the website is updated fairly regularly as new and revised data dictates.

The Publishing Group

DBWPS's Publishing Group is responsible for all the Society's reports, journals and web-based publications.

The group comprises the editors of the Devon Birds journal, the website editors and administrator, and Council representatives for publications and the website respectively (see under Council & Working Groups).

Current and forthcoming publications include:

What a fantastic response from Devon birders

Revised text of a John Woodland report from August 2008

The last published Atlas is 20 years old and increasingly out of date. Atlasses are one of the main tools used by conservationists to identify and underpin the actions that need to be taken to protect the natural environment. The need to update the 1988-91 Atlas is therefore paramount. Thus, in 2007, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), together with BirdWatch Ireland (BWI) and the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club (SOC) embarked upon this mammoth task, one that will take four years to complete.

Early findings

Revised text of a John Woodland report of April 2008

The submission of Atlas records on-line allows the BTO very quickly to build a picture of the distributions of birds. The orange dots on the maps below are based entirely on records submitted to the website as Roving Records and Timed Tetrad Visits and show presence in a 10-km square. However, these maps do not show the complete picture; it will take four years to do that!

Thirty one million birds counted so far.

Revised text of a John Woodland piece from 30 March 2008

November 2007 saw the start of the biggest survey ever to take place in the UK. A new “Winter” atlas and a new “Breeding” atlas will result after 4 years fieldwork during 2007-2011.

Cold weather and waterbirds

Britain is currently undergoing its most prolonged period of cold weather for over a decade. In such circumstances, it is important to be especially careful in minimising any unnecessary disturbance of wild birds, especially the wildfowl, waders and other waterbirds that visit our coastal and inland wetlands in such internationally important numbers. In frozen conditions, birds not only need to expend more energy to maintain their body temperature, but food becomes much more difficult for them to obtain. In such cases, disturbance by people only adds further to the physical stress on birds, and such additional disturbance may result in increased mortality.

The Devon List & Checklist – Introduction

Introduction

There are two lists available from this page.

List 1 – Devon List

The first list is a standard Devon List, similar to those presented in the Devon Bird Report each year. The only change from the usual DBR format is the lack of BOLD type to denote a species seen in the current year. This is fully covered by the fact that any species that does NOT have a year appended to the end of the line has been seen in the current year.

Pete Reay, 2006

To further the study of birds in the field – a DBWPS objective.

The stated objectives of the Society are ‘to further the study of birds in the field and to assist in their conservation’. Study and conservation are distinct areas of activity, but are closely linked because it is generally acknowledged that the most effective conservation is based on sound study. Nevertheless, it is perfectly acceptable to study birds purely out of interest and independent of any application in conservation; one example here might be recording the passage of seabirds from headlands.

House sparrows in Devon

Jon Avon, November 2007 

Devon’s House Sparrows continue to thrive in most places. They can be found in coastal towns, high moorland farmsteads, rural villages and city centres, yet House Sparrows are mostly overlooked and under-recorded. However, given the notable decline of their population in the UK, Devon’s House Sparrows are coming under closer scrutiny.

Pete Reay, February 2006

The National Surveys listing is being brought up to date and will be posted very soon. In the meantime this is the list as published by the Fieldwork Planning Group in 2006.  

Links: BTO & RSPB