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.

Tuesday 12th June DWT Heathfield Reserve four Nightjar heard churring/calling and seen in flight.

Wednesday 13th June Stover Country Park, three birds heard calling and views of two in flight.

Just for your info: Bill Coulson's photo of a probable SPBF is a defininately a SPBF, even without a view of the underwings. Looking at the outside edge of the forewings you can see all the orange spots fully enclosed in a black rough circle. Had this been a Pearl-bordered Fritillary the orange spots would have been "open," the inner black borders only appearing as black spots. 

Devon Birds/RSPB/BTO Spotted flycatcher tracking project

We need your help in locating spotted flycatcher nests in Devon to contribute to our ongoing project that you can read about in the current issue of Devon Birds.

Spotted flycatchers have seen declines of 83% since the 1960s. Reasons for this decline may include factors operating within UK breeding grounds, such as reduced availability of invertebrates, but the species may also be declining due to problems along their migratory journey to Africa and back. But we know little about their wintering grounds. We need this information to understand what part of the annual cycle causes problems for spotted flycatchers, and where we might need to focus future work to reverse declines. To do this we are continuing the work we started in 2016, tracking migrations and determine wintering areas using tiny tracking devises. These geolocators weigh only 0.36g - incredible!

But to be able to do this we need to catch and tag spotted flycatchers in places where they return each year, as we need to recapture tagged birds the year after to retrieve the tag and its data. The best places to do this are peoples gardens. Do you have Spotted flycatchers nesting at the moment in your garden or farm? And have you had them nesting the past few years? If you are happy to have your spotted flycatchers captured and tagged for this project, please could you email james.kennerley@rspb.org.uk or malcolm.burgess@rspb.org.uk.

Thanks, James & Malcolm

Seawatching 0545-0815hrs: 1 Storm Petrel, 14 Puffin, 210 Guillemot, 27 Razorbills, 208 Manx Shearwater, 4 Sandwich Tern, 7 'Comic' Terns, 2 (1st S) Mediterranean Gulls, 24 Kittiwake, 38 Gannet, 12 Fulmar & 3 Harbour Porpoise.   

Unseen warbler recorded singing this lunchtime turned out to be a Lesser Whitethroat.

Also thought it unusual to see a lone Whimbrel on Isley Marsh on evening of 12th June. Late north, early south or non breeding?

Not much but a cheeky little Rock Pipit and Fulmar

 
Rock Pipit                       Fulmar

Lots of the usual birds showing well this morning at East Soar this morning plus this beautiful Pearl - bordered Fritillary. This may be a Small P-b Fritillary as these seem to be most often seen at East Soar but I couldn't get a look at the underwings.

Probable Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

1Red Kite drifting East at 2pm

45 Common Scoter in flock off Berry Head

1 imm Mediterranean Gull

3 Sandwich terns

1 adult Med Gull (or that's what it looked like: black hood and bright red beak), but with black tipped wings more like a Common Gull (Eds that'll be a 2nd summer Med Gull, highly variable wing tip pattern ) in mid Torbay. Flypast, good view but fleeting.

plus 6-7 Harbour Porpoise

    
Common Scoter                           Med Gull                                  Sandwich Tern

Hazy sun after early mist.

2 Garden Warblers singing, 1 Chiffchaff, 1 Raven over plus other corvids, 1 Buzzard, 2 Meadow Pipits at the Upper Lake, 7+ Mallard, 4 Great Crested Grebes, several Wood Pigeons, Blue and Great Tits.

Harvey Kendall.

Spotted one Egyptian Goose, quite close to my yacht up the bag at Salcombe, it was making quite a noise,it liked to be on either a floating pontoon,or sitting on a nearby dinghy.

Great Crested Grebe on nest in Exeter (I last saw it May 15th when there was a Male and chicks) no sign of male or chicks today but female actively nest building. Also a smart Lesser Black -backed Gull nearby.

 
Great Crested Grebe                               Lesser Black-backed Gull

Pair of spotted flycatchers,male and female Redstarts feeding at least 3 fledglings' families of goldfinch, nuthatch gs woodpecker and chaffinches.Beautiful day.

Cycled from Plymouth to Yelverton & back. At Weighbridge Cottage, 3 female Mandarin Ducks with 4, 5 & 7 ducklings respectively and also an eclipse drake there. In Plymbridge Woods, 4 Marsh Tits, a pair of Grey Wagtails with 5 juvs and another with 1 juv, plus the 4 juv Peregrines at the nest (1 occupying a ledge just below the nest after falling out several weeks ago). Clearbrook produced Lesser Redpoll and Tree Pipit, and in Cann Woods, a singing Garden Warbler.

The Risso's Dolphin showed well from the Torpoint ferry quay from 14.20 to 14.50 but generally distantly. Initially it was around the boats at entrance to St Johns Lake before it moved upstream passing just a few meters in front of the Torpoint slipway. I eventually lost it north of the barges, well north of the dockyard. It doesn't seem to be a fan of boats that are moving and becomes elusive when a boat passes.

Took this photo from a distance yesterday on northern side of the Point and thought I'd enlarge it to see what it might be before wiping it. Could it be a Basking Shark?

9 Swift in group, 10 House martin , 3 Swallow.

A Red Kite flying over Peter Tavy at 11am this morning, headed off East before I could grab a shot. 

A pair of barnacle geese circling and then alighting on a football pitch at the football club.

Little in the way of Waders on the marsh yesterday although there were lots of juvenile birds actively being fed by parents. One sight which caught my eye was the left wing of the Spoonbill present although distant from view. I am uncertain but it could possibly be a firearms injury? The bird was active and still flying several short hops unencumbered by the wound. Hopefully it will make a good recovery. If it has been shot then this is a real shame that someone has chosen to do so to such a beautiful creature.

Spoonbill

Red Kite being mobbed by Carrion Crows halfway to the dam

A Risso’s Dolphin beside Devonport Dockyard today, intially showing very well at close range from the Torpoint Ferry. Still around this evening but much more distant having moved further up river from the ferry (still beside the Dockyard).

Few birds but 11 Swifts over Bolt Head ( in or out?) and 80 Linnet on oilseed rape.

16 species of butterflies inc.first Gatekeeper, Grayling & Silver-studded Blue. Also 63 Dark Green Fritillary. New moth for me : Chimney Sweeper. 

Mammals: Brown Hare

four swifts flying and screaming around the roof tops of exmouth library.

Late this morning 3 Swifts overhead. This evening good numbers of House Martins over Preston seafront. Back home about a dozen angry Herring Gulls mobbing a Buzzard as it was flying towards Hollicombe woods.

Continuing with my last posting, again plenty of Wren activity with at least 13 recorded this morning. Again good numbers of Blackbirds, 5 Blackcaps (inc a female), 4 Robins (inc 2 fledglings and all 4 seen separately), 4 Goldfinch, Pied Wagtail, at least 2 Long-tailed Tits, 3 Pheasant (1 female who I'm sure was protecting a nest), 3 male Mallards, Nuthatch, Greenfinch, 3 Chiffchaff, Swallow, Song Thrush, 3 House Martins, House Sparrow, Kestrel and a Buzzard. When I visited midweek in the late afternoon I heard the call of a Buzzard chick but not today. Interestingly, today was the 1st time since Father's Day 5 years ago that I've seen Skylark at Occombe.

I recently put up 2 swift boxes on our house.I only had a youtube clip to play and only at weekends which didnt really get much response.so i purchased an mp3 download from swift conservation group fo £2 and this did the trick.Yesterday and today i played it through my bluetooth seaker and they came down immediately investigating the calls.Although the didnt enter the boxes the fact that they responded was encouraging as was the individual checking out the gables for the first time in 50 yearswhich proves the need to play recordings.Also yesterday a large moth came into the garden and damnit didnt have my bins.In profile in flight it was holding its wings verticallywhich were about 3 inches long.Appeared brown in colour,any one have an idea.

Busy pair of Redstart in the gardens immediately around the house. Aim for the lovely old (dead oak) that’s head together with cables and brackets.

Good numbers of Whitethroat showing with two pairs feeding fledged but dependant young and two others pairs gathering food and flying into thick cover, plenty of Linnets, Dunnock, Skylark and Goldfinch.

Small waders included Sanderling, Dunlin, Turnstone and Ringed Plover.

At 10:30am one Red Kite 

painted lady b/fly in my garden y/day.

70 ringneck parakeet central park

A foggy walk this morning, there were 30+ linnets,  plenty of meadow pipits and skylarks,  I heard a  cuckoo several times on my circuit but presumably it was the same one. Not as many small butterfly or moth as the other day but most birds were feeding on insects of one sort or the other. 

Meadow Pipit

2 Black tailed Godwits present am.

2 Kites thermalling low over Mary Tavy today. Glided off NE to the moor. 

Walked around during low tide & saw the following. Mandarin Duck 6m 2f 1f with 4 juveniles, Common Sandpiper 1, Oystercatcher 1, Curlew 3, Stock Dove 10 & a Spotted Flycatcher. Not much on the estuary as there were a number of bait diggers on the mud.

Following on from Jon's and Tom's postings, "our" Swifts (in east Braunton) were back over the house on 10th May, seen almost daily since then, max of 12 screaming over house. Red Kite over house wk. comm. 6 May. Juv. Robin in kitchen this morning...!