The present East Devon branch of DBWPS was formed in 1977 and represents the County east of the River Exe. This includes the pebblebed heathland of East Devon Commons, an important and rare heathland habitat, as well as the coastland and estuaries of the Exe, Otter and Axe. The Society owns a small woodland reserve at Tawny Wood, Dalwood, access being restricted to Devon Birds members though a combination lock. DBWPS has supported the establishment of the bird hide overlooking the Otter Estuary and the new hide and viewing platform at Colyford Common Reserve on the Axe.

Michael Tyler (born 1943)

Dave Jenks, Society Archivist

Michael Tyler was born in Farnborough, Kent in 1943 and after leaving school worked in local government for thirty-four years before retiring early in 1993. He qualified as a lawyer in 1969 and held several senior positions in local authorities culminating as a chief executive. He has degrees in Government and Politics and Biology.

DBWPS actively supports and works with many other groups and organisations both within Devon and nationally. Sometimes this involvement is direct and an individual member is appointed to represent the society and speak on its behalf.

This list is in no way comprehensive and we depend on members to keep this table up to date

Council of Trustees and Working Groups

COUNCIL

Devon Bird Watching & Preservation Society, as a charity, is run by a Council of Trustees. Council meets four times a year to set all major policy and agree working budgets and oversee the conduct of working groups and the Society.

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.

Articles available

This section of devonbirds.org includes a variety of articles, on birds, personalities, and places (in Devon and elsewhere).

As with Devon Birds journal, all contributions are welcome and can be submitted via articles@devonbirds.org

• The Harrier 2008 – February
• The Harrier 2008 – April
• The Harrier 2008 – June
• The Harrier 2008 – August
• The Harrier 2008 – October
• The Harrier 2008 – December

In this section you will find all issues of The Harrier for 2009, listed below. 

• The Harrier 2009 – December - Issue 6
• The Harrier 2009 – October - Issue 5
• The Harrier 2009 – August - Issue 4
• The Harrier 2009 – June - Issue 3
• The Harrier 2009 – April - Issue 2
• The Harrier 2009 – February - Issue 1

DBWPS and its branches hold a number of meetings throughout the year. These include indoor and outdoor Society and branch events, as well as meetings and events held in association with other groups and organisations.

DBWPS has published a number of Policy Documents over the years, including a series of documents relating to the handling and treatment of information and data relating to rare breeding birds.

Whilst a number of these papers have been prepared as guidelines, others have been specifically adopted as DBWPS Policy.

DBWPS Policy on Rare Breeding Birds (March 2009) – the lastest version of the policy document (entitled The Publication, Storage and Transfer of Data Relating to Rare Breeding Birds In Devon) is published here in full in PDF format.

Dave Jenks, Society Archivist

DBWPS has now been continuously recording Devon's bird population for 80 years, and members can feel proud of the extraordinary database of Devon’s birdlife the Society has built in that time – probably unique for a county of the UK.

Meetings of the DBWPS Council are currently held at The Ley Arms, Kenn, Exeter, commencing at 7.30pm. Council members only may attend.

Council meetings in 2011 will take place on the following dates:

• Tuesday 22 March
• Tuesday 14 June
• Tuesday 6 September
• Tuesday 6 December

AGM

The 2011 AGM will take place on Saturday 21 May. This is a new schedule for the Society AGM which traditionally has been held in March.