Devon Birds would like to thank the many members and other birdwatchers who complied with the restrictions during the recent Lockdown and stayed in their local area (village, town or part of city) to birdwatch while exercising (and later) taking recreation. We hope that, despite the obvious frustrations, you found some respite in watching wildlife in your local area and perhaps discovered some birds close to home, that you might otherwise not have seen! As always, please submit sightings to the County recorder and / or BirdTrack. 

 

Please continue to follow the Covid related requirements (currently "rule of six outside, social distancing etc) while enjoying the new freedoms to extend your birdwatching. Some hides will remain closed for the time being and where you find one open, please follow Government guidelines on keeping yourself & others safe: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/social-distancing/what-you-need-to-do/

 

Thank you from

Devon Birds News site editors & members of the Records Committee

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. Please note that Wood Warbler should now also be treated as on the list. All species included need to be protected - many 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.

Some species may be found breeding at numerous locations however please keep information on these species limited to well-known sites (e.g. Labrador Bay for Cirl Bunting, 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 the RSPB.

Please be aware that egg collecting and other forms of persecution remain very real hazards for some of Devon’s birds.

Posts which breach these guidelines are likely to be not admitted / removed althogether, rather than edited.  

As noted in the minutes of the Oct 2020 DBRC meeting, Tim Jones is standing down after serving as a member of the Committee for an extended sixth year. Tim has been an active member of the Committee, and his consistently pragmatic approach to assessing records has proved invaluable. The Society would like to thank him for his contribution over the past six years and wish him well in the future.

In the hope of maintaining a geographic spread across the Committee, DBRC approached Dean Jones to fill the vacancy. Dean grew up birding and ringing in Antrim and Lothian, before a tour of various European islands, including Lundy where he has been the Warden now for the past four years.

His experience and knowledge from ringing and birdwatching around Europe will be especially useful to Devon Birds and the Records Committee.

Unless the County Recorder receives any other applications before 15th April 2021, Dean will be formally elected to fill the vacancy for a five year period.

For more information and/or an application form please contact:

Kevin Rylands, County Recorder.   Email: recorder@devonbirds.org 

If you follow our Blog but are not currently a member of Devon Birds please consider joining Devon Birds to help with the upkeep of running the website and this service as well as our valuable conservation work.

Young Hobby enjoying dragonflies over Exminster Marshes this morning. Settled a few times on the Pylon West of Station Road - over the freshly mowed Skylark fields (yes sadly they are being mowed in mid June) just outside of the reserve. 

Hobby

At Trendelebeare, a  minimum of 6 Nightjars last night inc.3 churring males with superb close-up views. Also singing Lesser Redpoll and 2 Glowworms.

Earlier at Soar, first Silver-studded Blues, Marbled Whites & Meadow Browns plus 50+ Dark Green Fritillaries.  Birdwise 20+ large Shag young on the Mew Stone and nearby a pair of Great Black-backed Gulls with 2 chicks.

Willow warblers,black caps,goldcrest,siskin,kingfisher,chiffchaff,greenfinch and on the pond Broad bodied chasers,gold banded dragonfly

kayak trip to Eddystone from Plymouth sound

2 storm petrels

1 puffin

c400 Manx shearwater inc resting group of 100 and flying group of 250

  
Manx Shearwaters

Single parakeet identified in Budleigh Salterton. Unmistakable call, so familiar in parks in London and along Thames in Berkshire followed by clear view of it flying away from top of large eucalyptus tree.

Can anyone ID these please.  Is it a red mark or a tear?  Perhaps Silver Y

Eds: very worn looking Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Nice morning walk along the River  Plym. Kingfishers, Dippers, Cormorant, Grey Wagtails, female Mandarin duck with 2 ducklings.

Kingfisher

Good numbers of redstarts,whinchats,pied flycatchers,blackcaps,willow warblers,chiffchaffs,3 woodwarblers(good for this little area)woodlands now getting very dense and it was a bit dark but we enjoyed watching large amounts of fledglings.

11th June. A nice walk at Smallridge on Dartmoor produced a Lesser Redpoll and a female Cuckoo.

10 mins in a windy garden, I found this little bird having a bath in an upturned dustbin lid. House Sparrows busy in nest boxes a wood pigeon sat on her nest Robins,dunnock and blackbirds busy in their work.

Eds - its a juv Chiffchaff.

I was woken at 0430 by the call of bee-eaters outside the bedroom window.. By the time I had fully come to my senses the sound had receded into the distance, so I didn't see them (or even get out of bed)

A pair of Shelducks with (only) 2 small ducklings, 2 un-seasonal Great Crested Grebes, 4 Great Spotted Woodpeckers, 8 Little Egrets and a Stock Dove. Also my first Meadow Browns of the year.

Galmpton Bee-eater photo

First returning med gulls in the form of 2 scy birds at 08:30.

8 Bee-eaters in Galmpton Village this morning, found by good friend of ours, He watched them from 6.30. Called us at 7.30, saw them flying around in fields opposite shop, managed to take a few flying pictures, as they flew of towards ring road at 7.50. Will send photos.

Seawatch 0710 to 1110: 1 Balearic Shearwater, c100 Common Scoter (flocks of 30, 20 and 50), 1 Great Skua,  1 Arctic Skua (dark adult; chased a Kittiwake then had a splash about on the sea), 5 Puffins (2 sat for agood while on the sea just off the Head), steady passage of Manx Shearwaters and Gannets etc.

Seawatch 1300-1630hrs: 1 Storm Petrel, 6 Puffin, 276 Manx Shearwaters, 1 Common Scoter. 1 Grey Seal, 2 Harbour Porpoise & a Small Blue Butterfly at the seawatch point - well away from the normal areas.

Pleasant stroll around the wood & adjacent heath. A variety of Tits, Siskins & a couple of Great Spotted Woodpeckers on the feeders around the hides. Several pairs of Pied Flycatchers in the wood with singing Chiffchaffs & Willow Warblers. A pair of Redstarts spotted feeding several young on the path infront of me. At leat 3 singing Yellowhammers together with Stonechats, Linnets & a solitary singing Garden Warbler on the heath.

  
Singing Garden Warbler                      Male Pied Flycatcher                                           Singing Yellowhammer

Hobby over farm mid-morning. Looks like a record breeding year for Yellowhammer between Bolt Head & Bolt Tail. Also Buzzard carrying snake into nest on rocky outcrop!!

Last evening thirteen members of the Plymouth Group took a gamble with the weather to meet at Cann Woods for our annual Nightjar Walk. Fortunately the threatened rain held off and we were not disappointed with good views of two churring males in good light followed later with the sights and sounds of probably five other birds.  As dusk approaches sightings of other birds were rare but Great Spotted Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Swallow and Robin all seen.  Blackcap & Chiffchaff and, best of all, begging baby Tawny Owls were heard.  A single Fallow doe, a few Pipistrelles, and a glow worm.........oh, yes and a fly past from the International Space Station.

9 members of DB attended the fieldtrip (East Devon Branch) this morning.  Cuckoo and Redstart were seen from the car park and a Spotted Flycatcher along the fringe of trees above the water works.  32 species counted in total with Tree Pipit (2) displaying and Pied Flycatchers occupying at least 3 territories (one male seen carrying food).  A Wood Warbler was heard at a distance at the start of Holne Woods with a family group of Stonechat on the open moor. Bullfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Willow Warbler and Siskin also present.  As usual the Water Works area was the most productive of the areas visited where the majority of species were seen. The meeting broke up after lunch.

Mass stranding of Moon Jellyfish this morning (thousands) + a few Barrel Jellyfish - see photos

In addition to Tom & Matt's posts below, a seawatch from the raised beach huts near the new lifeboat station produced another Balearic Shearwater at 2050 hrs plus 3 more Storm Petrels, another Arctic Skua and about 60 Manx Shearwaters all SW between 1955 & 2100 hrs.

Two late afternoon watches from Orcombe Point produced up to 19 Storm Petrel, 1 Arctic Skua, 1 probable Pomarine Skua, 127+ Manx Shearwater, 1 Balearic Shearwater, 2 Guillemot, 30+ Sandwich Tern, 1 Little Tern and a 2s Mediterranean Gull. See gobirdingexmouth.blogspot.co.uk.

Bee-eater ,spotted @ Mansands 0645  6/6/17

Seawatch with Ian P from 7.00 - 10.15 a.m. Visibility very poor at times.  Whilst not of the same quantity as Berry Head, highlights were; 8 Storm Petrels, 1 Arctic Skua, 1 Pomarine Skua, 1 adult Med Gull, Whimbrel, 12 Sandwich tern, 100+ Manx Shearwaters, 24 Kittiwakes, 38 Common Scoter. Plenty of guillemots west.

30+manx shearwaters 2 storm petrels 1razorbill 1 sandwich tern and 2 gannets passed between 11-00 and 12-00

Seawatch, in addition to Mike Langman’s total, I stayed till 11.30am, another 587 Manx Shearwaters, 27 Storm Petrels, 8 Puffins, 2 Sandwich Terns, 6 Kittiwakes (1 juv), 12 Gannets (2 juvs) and 5 Swifts.

Seawatch 0530-0830hrs: 2 Sooty Shearwaters, 1793 Manx Shearwaters, 42 Storm Petrels, 34 Puffin, 160 Auks (almost entirely Guillemots), 1 Great Skua,  16 Common Scoter, 15 Sandwich Tern, 35 Kittiwake, 31 Gannet 1 Grey Seal and 1 Sunfish.