Please think very carefully before posting any information on scarce or rare breeding species both here and elsewhere online.

A list of ‘at risk’ species in the county can be found here. Many of these receive full legal protection under Schedule 1 and/or are rare in the county and may be vulnerable to persecution/disturbance. It is an offence to intentionally disturb any of the Schedule 1 species during the breeding season without a valid licence. This also applies to anyone taking photographs of these species at or near the nest or whilst feeding dependant young. 

You should also apply these principles to vulnerable species without the wider legal protection. 

Although some species may be found breeding at numerous locations, please keep information about them limited to well-known sites (e.g. Labrador Bay for Cirl Bunting and Aylesbeare Common for Dartford Warbler). Others may be found as obvious migrants and as such can also be posted eg coastal Ring Ouzel and passage waders, or raptors eg Little Ringed Plover, Red Kite or Marsh Harrier.

If you have any doubts and think there is a chance there may be breeding, either because of the habitat or behaviour of the bird(s) then do not post, but please submit your records to the County Recorder and, as appropriate, the RSPB. 

Please be aware that egg collecting and other forms of disturbance and persecution remain very real hazards for some of Devon’s birds. Unfortuately this can involve people wanting to photograph or obtain close views of the  birds, as well as eg egg collectors. 

Every year editors on this site have to remove or edit posts which breach the code outlined here. Please play your part in making this unnecessary. 

Thank you.

Please take extra care when visiting Dawlish Warren. We have been informed that due to the recent bad weather there has been significant erosion from Groyne 10 eastwards. This means that access along the site, to and from Warren Point (and the bird hide) will be via the beach only, with a risk of being cut off for a period either side of high water! Signs have been put up to alert people to the hazards, but people need to be aware that access routes that they have become used to may not be available and they need to exercise extreme caution,  with the possibility of being cut off by the tide, and people are strongly urged not to try climbing the sand cliffs. Further information is available on the Teignbridge District Council website.

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Acting on comments to Devon Birds some changes have been made to this page. To the right of this header post you'll see there are now several subjects for you to choose to read and post on. Just click your chosen subject and use as previously.

Please be careful not to post under the wrong subject. If you do, you can still easily go back to edit and change the subject yourself so it appears on the right page.

Please try and keep posts short, particularly in the Scarce / Rare Birds & Passage Counts page. Photographs are still very welcome.  

For help with ID email photos to id@devonbirds.org.

19/08/2019 - Early evening count on Horsey produced the highest number of Ringed Plover I have ever seen at this site. A spectacular 491 in a mixed flock of c800 small waders consisting of Dunlin & Ringed Plover

Visited the site again today early evening & a disappointing 20!

Went over to Saltram area this morning.

At Marsh Mills (where the Tory Brook meets the River Plym) was a Dipper (Coloured Rings: Red over Orange Right Leg ;Yellow over Grey? Left Leg).

On Blaxton Meadow 20 or so Curlew,  2 Herons. 3 Little Egrets, .a single Oystercatcher and about 80 Canada Geese.  Also a very photogenic Robin.

Other things were about 10 Painted Ladies, a Red Admiral and a Jersy Tiger

4 Common sandpiper,4 young turnstone,The Glossy Ibis perching " young Shellducks and a large flock of Goldfinches, all the rest as reported earlier.

Mediterranean Gull

Glossy Ibis

At least 3 Brown Hairstreaks at Preston Down; also 10+ Painted Ladies & a Green-veined White.

At Berry Head: 3 Clouded Yellows, 20+ Painted Ladies, Humming-bird Hawk-moth, 12+ Common Dolphins & 4 Harbour Porpoises.

Brown Hairstreak, female

Brown Hairstreak, female

2 Med Gulls and 14 Black-tailed Godwit among a roost of about 3-400 Black-headed Gulls at the Barnstaple end of the marsh. Tide 1hr in ebb.

16 Med Gulls in a smaller roost of about 40 BHGs at the Penhill Pt end of marsh.

11.30 2 Turnstone at mouth of Fremington Pill and 2 Dunlin and 27 Redshank in the Pill. Water level in the Pill still at half ebb.

Brimstone butterfly spotted in an Ottery St Mary garden.

Brimstone butterfly

Migrants beginning to trickle through with Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher, 19 Whitethroat, 7 Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler & Green Woodpecker (only 2nd record this year). Also Sparrowhawk, 50 Swallow, 40 House Sparrow.

Non-avian: 33 Painted Lady, 49 Small Copper, 2 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

Flora: 178 Autumn Lady's Tresses flower spikes - a sensational count and thanks to National Trust for not grazing this area.

Ottery St Mary-Brimstone butterfly.

Hi, message for Chris Marcol RE his photos of a Bar-Headed type goose from Bowling Green Marsh on the 14th of his month - sorry to post on here but not sure how else to contact contributors - I believe your bird is in fact the Canada x Bar-head hybrid that was hatched here at Shobrooke Park last summer by our now semi-resident Bar-Headed Goose (first arrived here in mid 2014) and one of the many summering Canada Geese. The bird is identical in plumage and I have observed more unusual birds (plumage-wise/based on ring data) to frequently travel quite far from the park only to return again in the next few days, if not sooner, and sure enough, this hybrid bird was present again yesterday evening in our main pre-roost flock of Canadas (see my post from yesterday). So yes, the bird is indeed a Canada x Bar-head hybrid as you correctly thought that it may be, and I do indeed think it is highly likely to be the same individual, as I haven’t seen another goose of this hybrid type at all recently anywhere else in the Devon area. Hope this is of some help. If you’d like any more info about the bird’s history etc feel free to email me on londonbirder@gmail.com. Thank you! 

Osprey perched in Lincombe Woods this morning. Turnstone and Common Sandpiper in Charleton Bay, Kingfisher in Charleton Marsh.

Another good day's work on patch produced a few decent finds: the first 2 Cormorant of the summer/autumn dropped in towards the beginning of the evening, the Bar-headed X Canada Goose hybrid showed well in the Canada Goose flock (126 birds strong today) alongside its Bar-head parent, and a patch first of 2 Great Black-backed Gull arrived for a brief swim on the main lake.

Presumed migrant whinchat below Avon Dam yesterday, and one on Brent Hill today, where also three wheatears and hobby..

Osprey on the Taw Estuary this pm. Feeding on its catch then going back for another fish. Looked like this bird was in no rush to move on. Photos were at some distance but hope someone can make out if its an adult or Juvenile from the photos.

Osprey feeding on its catch at Horsey Island North Devon

Osprey heading over the Taw for seconds!

Osprey banking around gaining height

Highlights from my WeBS count sector along Chivenor foreshore and Sherpa Marsh, included 49 Knot, a few Greenshank and Whimbrel, 34 Mediterranean Gulls, 8 Swifts and two Little Terns in flight close to the opposite shore - two of four birds seen by Tim Davis from his WeBS sector (Instow to Isley) at Yelland.

Single ringed plover sighted at 18.30 

The Glossy Ibis is still at Fremington Pill today. Great light this am for the bird to show off its true colours. 25+ Med Gulls at Fremington Quay on the Taw Estuary at low water. 20+ Whimbrel roosting at RSPB Isley Marsh this pm.   

Glossy Ibis

Mediterranean Gulls near Fremington Quay

Mediterranean Gull

Glossy ibis near the egret roost.

On the rock beyond Instow cricket ground were - 8 ringed plover,  2 Turnstones and a great many Oyster catchers.

Distant shot of one ringed plover

Single wheatear foraging on the cliff along the the sea wall.

My first for this site.

Deer photographed late evening in a field near Pennymoor.

Deer

Kestrel, Wheatear and a number of Med. gulls at the Saunton end of Croyde beach.

Kestrel

Wheatear

Of all places, In my garden today feeding under Dad's apple trees. Alas no leg rings to tell if it's a passing Lundy bird. 

A brief look offshore, 15 Gannets were being mythered by a Great Skua. 

Wheatear

While doing one of my regular wader counts on Saunton Sands this morning good to see a single Wheatear on passage. Not unusual at this site at this time of year.

A Dipper was down at Longbridge, Plympton, this morning no doubt driven downstream by the raised river level caused by the recent heavy rains. 

Seawatch from 7am till 5pm in strong force 5 ,going 7 at times, SSW winds with occasional mist and later heavy rain.

Highlight was a pale-phased juvenile Long-Tailed Skua seen at 11.55 struggling to tack into the wind going west. Also 1 Sooty Shearwater (at 1.30pm) , I Bonxie, 18 Balearic Sheawaters amongst a constant stream of at least 4301 Manx Shearwaters (nodded off a couple of times so totals would have been greater as the passage never let up). Alas no other large shearwaters!

Also 7 Commic Terns, 87 Kittiwakes, 25 Fulmars and 744 Gannets.

Seawatch from 7am till 5pm in strong force 5 ,going 7 at times, SSW winds with occasional mist and later heavy rain.

Highlight was a pale-phased juvenile Long-Tailed Skua seen at 11.55 struggling to tack into the wind going west. Also 1 Sooty Shearwater (at 1.30pm) , I Bonxie, 18 Balearic Sheawaters amongst a constant stream of at least 4301 Manx Shearwaters (nodded off a couple of times so totals would have been greater as the passage never let up). Alas no other large shearwaters!

Also 7 Commic Terns, 87 Kittiwakes, 25 Fulmars and 744 Gannets.

A productive walk around the Marsh this evening: one juv Pied Wagtail, several Sand Martins and a few House Martins, 6/7 Swifts, 25 Swans - only 3 cygnets, 1 Lapwing, 1 Little Egret, best was (at last!) a juvenile Yellow Wagtail.

Plenty of birds along the Saunton Sands shoreline late afternoon with 50+ Knot 200+ Sanderling, 200+ Oystercatcher the most ive seen here, 30+ Ringed Plover 30+ Dunlin. My first Yellow Wagtail of the early Autumn with 2 around the cattle on Braunton Marsh and two Osprey on the Taw Estuary a very pleasant walk.

Sanderling at Saunton Sands

Knot on Saunton Sands

2 Yellow Wagtail on Braunton Marsh

A walk along the road to Fremington Quay logged 70+ Redshank this afternoon in the Pill including good numbers of Juvs.  On the return back around 2:30 a single Glossy Ibis along with 2 Common Sandpiper were in the pool by the sluice.

Adult Osprey on the Erme water meadow this afternoon, sitting in dead tree with fish.

Adult Osprey on the Erme water meadow this afternoon, sitting in dead tree with fish.

Still quiet, just 4 Swift, 10 Whitethroat & 300 Linnet.

1 Dipper on Teign just upriver of Teigngrace

Yesterday and again today this juvenile Bar-headed Goose turned up with the Canada flock. It has the yellowy bill & legs as expected, and no head cross bars of an adult. bar-headed.  It however appears as big as the Canadas and overall brown/grey rather than ash grey, could it be a xCanada hybrid?

Bar-headed Goose juv

Bar-headed Goose juv

Bar-headed Goose juv

Seawatching from 0600-0830hrs: 1260 Manx, 14 Balearic Shearwaters, 1 Bonxie, 4 Common Scoter, 1 Teal, 11 Mediterranean Gulls, 16 Fulmar 1 Arctic Tern, 3 'comic' Terns.

Late Post -13/08/2019.  Small flock of 41 Knot on passage having just arrived back from the high arctic enjoying a rest, wash & preen after foraging along the shoreline.

In the reserve late this evening tape-luring Swallows. Monday night  - 1, Tuesday night - 85, Tonight 35. Year total now over 400. Also ringed Kingfisher no 12, another juvenile. Flying over were at least 12 Swifts.

By the bridge to the reserve one, occasionally 2 Dipper these last few days.

No migrants - best were 22 Med Gulls in Starehole Bay and 400 Linnet.

Encounter with a juvenile cuckoo near Laughter Tor on Dartmoor yesterday. Landed in a rowan sapling right in front of me; not very concerned about my presence. If only I had a half decent camera. 

Three brown-head goosanders roosting this morning. Had gone by 0630. Checked weekly, and these were first since 22 Jun. Would be interested to hear of any other goosanders in Devon over the next month or so at preay6960@gmail.com.

Spotted Flycatchers at Avon Mill Garden Centre yesterday, In the Trees by the river, catching flies, for a youngster.