Category: Society News

Talk by the renowned Naturalist John Walter on House Martins.

Friday March 24th at 19:30

The Valley of The Rocks Hotel – Lynton

 

Notice is hereby given that the 2023 Devon Birds Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 18^th April 2023 at the Exeter Court Hotel, Kennford, Exeter EX6 7UX.

An Agenda for the meeting will be published nearer the time.

There are currently vacancies on Devon Birds Council for 2 Ordinary Members, also the following positions will retire by rotation as required by the Constitution. Chairman (1 nomination received), Vice Chairman, Treasurer (available for re-election), Recorder (available for re-election), Communications Officer (available for re-election), Publications Officer (available for re-election).  Nominations for any of these positions, Trustee Members or Branch Representatives of the Council may be made by the Council or by any three members by notice in writing to the Secretary at least 6 weeks before the Annual General Meeting in order that members can be advised within the required timescales.

Volunteers to assist the Society at the Reserves, at the Branches or in other areas are also very welcome. A volunteer to assist with administration of the new Website would also be welcome.

A vacancy also currently exists on the Devon Birds Records Committee.

More information is available by contacting the Secretary, Mike Daniels (secretary@devonbirds.org) and by referring to the Devon Birds CIO Constitution, Sections 12 (Charity Trustees) and 13 (Appointment of Charity Trustees) on the Website (www.devonbirds.org).

The meeting will be followed by a talk by John Walters, wildlife artist and author, ecologist and speaker, titled ’30 years Wildlife Watching in Devon’.

The South Devon Branch has an opportunity for a volunteer with interest in handling accounts/finances, as Treasurer of this successful Branch of the Society. Support will be freely given if interested.

The role of Treasurer includes the following key aspects;

• Having an outgoing and friendly personality to engage with members of the public at indoor meetings
• Collecting entry fees at indoor meetings
• Paying invoices for hire of the Courtenay Centre
• Recording all transactions
• Paying in funds to the Post Office/Lloyd’s Bank
• Submitting a summary of accounts to Devon Birds Council for annual audit

Ideally, you will be available to attend all/most meetings which take place on the third Monday each month at the Courtenay Centre, Newton Abbot TQ12 2QT at 7.30pm. We meet in the months of January, February, March, April, September, October and November.

If interested, please contact the Secretary Jeff Hacon, jeff.hacon@devonbirds.org

 

Jackie Harris has worked at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust for 7 years and has taken a passionate interest in the Trusts’ work to save both wetland species and the habitats that they depend on for their survival. She now volunteers to give talks about the Trust’s work – including on Bewick’s swans, Madagascar Pochard, Spoon-billed Sandpiper and Curlew. These very varied species give an insight into the Trusts’ work at home and around the world.

Members £3 Non-Members £4 Entry fee includes refreshments

WWT Poster for February Talk

The next meeting of the South Devon Branch, is on 16th January at the Courteney Centre, Newton Abbot and will include an interesting talk about this magnificent Bird and its return to Southern England

Avian Flu is Affecting Birds in Devon

Do not touch or pick up any dead or visibly sick birds that you find.

Call the DEFRA helpline on 03459 335577 if you find:

• one or more dead bird of prey or owl
• 3 or more dead gulls or wild waterfowl (swans, geese and ducks)
• 5 or more dead birds of any species

1st Prize – £200         J Churchley

2nd Prize – £75          I Taylor

3rd Prize – 2 Tickets to Lundy (any time)       S Edwards

4th Prize – 2 Tickets for Devon Birds Trip to Lundy 2020    M Phillips

5th Prize – Framed photo of a Great Skua     J Bosley

6th Prize – Framed photo of a Desert Wheatear     A Doulton

7th Prize – Framed photo of a Dunnock     N Rendle

The following people won prizes in the 2018 Annual Draw

1st Prize £200 – Mrs C Reevell

2nd Prize £75 – Ms S Smith

3rd Prize 2 tickets to Lundy – Mr & Mrs Rhodes

4th Prize 2 tickets for the Devon Birds trip to Lundy – Mr & Mrs Lockyear

5th Prize £50 – Mr M Steer

The WeBS (Wetland Birds Survey) counts are done every month and take between one and two hours. We normally meet at 8.30am on a Sunday (occasionally on other weekdays) at the main dam car park and decide who is counting which section of the reservoir. At the end of the count we all meet up in the Devon Birds hide at the top (north) end of the reservoir to total up the count and enter it in the book, and have a coffee! Obviously, for one reason or another, people are not able to count every month, which is why we have a team of counters.

These counts have been carried out nationally since 1947 and are coordinated through the BTO, WWT and RSPB. All our data is entered online to the WeBS database, and it is all used for conservation and research purposes.

For various reasons we need a counter fairly soon if possible, since it takes a few visits for someone to become familiar with the different sections of the reservoir. If anyone is interested, I would stress that we do help people who may not be familiar with all of the wildfowl we may get here. It does help to bring a telescope as well as binoculars, but this is not essential to start with. We also don’t expect volunteers to turn up every month!

After a number of days of showers and rain the day was mostly cloudy with a gentle breeze. There were 12 members at the field meeting, which started with a slow walk on the private road past the bushes and heath before turning right onto the blue route. There were distance views of Yellowhammers and brief views of Dartford Warblers during the initial section of the meeting. The heath appeared at its best for the heather was in full bloom and this may have enabled us to enjoy 14 species of butterfly around the common. In the muddy area near the stream there was a profusion of Sundew plants. Unfortunately some of the group left and just before the car park a Dartford Warbler sat up and sang on a gorse bush giving us excellent views.                                                                          

John O’Connell-Davidson

Buzzard

Herring Gull

Wood Pigeon

Swift

Green Woodpecker

Carrion crow

Goldcrest

Long tailed tit

Blue tit

Great tit

Coal tit

Swallow

Willow warbler

Chiffchaff

Dartford warbler

Nuthatch

Treecreeper

Wren

Blackbird

Robin

Stonechat

Tree pipit

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Siskin

Linnet

Yellowhammer

Bullfinch

28 Species

Silver-washed Fritillary

Butterflies

Grayling

Small Copper

Small Heath

Large White

Large Skipper

Red Admiral

Gatekeeper

Peacock

Green-veined White

Speckled Wood

Meadow Brown

Small Tortoiseshell

Brimstone  

14 Species

               

Other noticeable observations

Rabbit                                      Emperor Dragonfly & Gold-ringed Dragonfly

Slowworm                               Sundews                    

Mining bees

Species list compiled by Douglas Herdson