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.

Just before midday - amongst all the usuals (including some smart Pintail), the drake Scaup was showing well and looking good. 

Upper Lake this morning,

4 Ring-necked Duck 3m 1f, 1m Tufted Duck, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 4 Cormorant, 1 Willow Tit, 2 Goosander 1m 1f

Lower Lake,2 Willow Tit, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Great Crested Grebe, 1f Great Spotted Woodpecker, 8 Goosander 2m 6f.

17 Snipe feeding on the flooded scrapes this morning.  Also present were c350 Black headed Gulls, 21 Brent Geese on cricket pitch, Great Black backed Gulls, Shoveler, and a Water Rail heard, with good numbers of Wigeon and Teal.  At Whitebridge a Sparrow Hawk was patrolling over the marsh and fields.  2 Reed Bunting and a Goldcrest along the path.

Ten Goosanders, 3 male/7 female, on New Park Lake, Bovey Tracey. Viewable from road.

The Sparrow of undetermined origin continues to frequent my garden feeders and that of one of my neighbours across the road on Hillside.

It has some subtle minor behavioural traits that stand out from the resident House Sparrows, it frequently is present without any other sparrows being present, although it does feed and perch in their company, it has a Dunnock like habit of scurrying through the hedge that leads to the feeders and frequently feeds late into the afternoon when all the other sparrows have left for the day, may be nothing but over the time it has been visiting these minors differences are becoming apparent.

2 drake and 1 duck Red-crested Pochard again this morning at about 10.15. Out on the scrape a few Teal survived yesterday's carnage of shooting. Also present a lot of Black-headed Gulls (one in summer plumage) and 3 Curlew. Over near Chivenor 3 Little Egrets.

In the reserve 3 Gadwall plus calling Tawny Owl and Water Rail - first I've recorded since 19th January.

Water Rail, common sandpiper, good numbers of Redshank, curlew and 4 little egrets. 3Lapwing,1 little grebe, and 1 med gull. Very grey day. 

The faulty door handle reported earlier this week has been repaired.  Access to the hide is however still flooded but can be negotiated in tall wellies.  The access will remain flooded until the outlet to the ley is cleared by the Widdicombe Estate.

Still 3 Red-crested Pochard on the pond this morning at about 09.00. 2 Gadwall also present, and another 7 in the reserve, where a Chiffchaff was also present.

As I arrived at Wrafton pond Mr Rob Jutsum was photographing three Red crested Pochards on the Barnstaple end of the pond. My efforts were taken from the wooden walkway. 

  
Two males and a female Red crested Pochard.

Male Goosander diving around the old bridge early this afternoon. 

Ring necked duck still present at 11.30. The path to the hide is flooded

2m + 1f Red crested Pochard on the pond this aft. Goldeneye still present.

3rd 2020 farmland bird count very good with c.60 Cirl Bunting, c.130 Yellowhammer & 860 Skylark. Also: Sparrowhawk, 4 Buzzards inc. one after frogs, 8 Meadow Pipit, 23 Magpie, 100 Jackdaw & c.100 Linnet.

Lovely view of the Glossy Ibis on the Pill at Fremington this afternoon, seen from the Army Camp side. Lots of Redshank and a Little Egret, some Oystercatchers and various Gulls. Bright and sunny which made everything stand out better

More juv Iceland Gulls, around the Harbour, at least 2 individuals have showed up after last night's rough weather. A few Common and Med Gulls as well. 16 GBB Gulls and we'll over 100 Fulmar sat on the Sea. 

I've noticed today that one of the Grey Seal Pups feeding around the Pier has a Red flipper tag. Proving very difficult to get a photo! 

   
Iceland Gull

Marshes becoming main High Tide Roost area

  
Black-tailed Godwit                                      Golden Plover

Visited a couple of locations at Ashclyst Forest to put out bird seed and within seconds attracted a good few species including several Marsh Tit at both locations which suggests that they are quite plentiful here. Although it is one of the largest forests in East Devon I suspect it is not visited often by many birders.

A note of warning for anyone visiting the Beesands Hide.  An East Devon member visited the hide today and became locked in due to a faulty handle on the door.  He eventually released himself but not before he had to call the Fire Services!  No laughing matter! 

On this morning's high tide: 265 Dunlins, 95 Redshanks, 54 Curlews, 11 Oystercatchers, Common Sandpiper, 4 Snipe, 4 Red-breasted Mergansers (2 pairs), 6 Goosanders (2 drakes + 4 redheads), 12 Wigeon (7 drakes), 20 Mandarin Ducks (13 drakes), 6 Little Grebes, Great Northern Diver & 2 Grey Wagtails.

A Red-necked Grebe off Shelly Beach this afternoon (1555 - 1700 at least). My first in Exmouth since Jan 2014. Also 25+ Cattle Egret on mud-spit north of Starcross and the Slavonian Grebe off Cockwood. Yesterday 32 Cattle Egret in the same spot. This is a favoured pre-roost gathering spot at the moment, while tides are low. Photos of RNG on blog.

In vicarage Lane, a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.An unusual sighting of this elusive species, although I did see another very close to this site several years ago.

Today 6 greenfinch were feeding on cotoneaster berries for 10 mins or more. Not seen this before, (I did check for waxwings).

First visit for a few days, which were spent in Spain. Highlight was seeing about 500 Cranes and 2 Black-shouldered Kites at La Janda.. It didn't just rain though - it bucketed down!

Back at the reserve this morning 4 Gadwall, a calling Tawny Owl and 2 Chiffchaffs.

Birding this morning morning at Broadsands produced:

1 Brambling, 1 Tawny Owl (roosting), 2 Siberian Chiffchaffs, 4 'collybita' Chiffchaffs, 2 Firecrest & 2 Great Northern Divers.

4 Goosanders (1 drake) and 3 Bullfinches (1 × F) on the Otter between OSM & Fluxton this afternoon

3 cattle egret, 52 little egret, in large field beside Culm between Willand and Bradfield corner, 3.50pm.

Aft : Cycled along the Toll Road to Horsey & from behind the wall digiscoped (from several hundred metres away without disturbing them) the 2 Spoonbill & 2 Ruff foraging in the patchy drizzle.

Somebody walking the dog along the footpath between the White House & the Fishermens huts disturbed both the Spoonbills & the Ruff.

A pair of red polls on our Niger feeder today in Teign Valley. First time sighting in our garden in 23 years.  Takes our total species count to 53.

A relatively early,  for us :) , visit to Fremington Quay this morning at 08:40  revealed a lone Grey Plover a single Bar Tailed Godwit about a dozen Dunlin and a brief glimpse of the Kingfisher. Images are distant & cropped record shots.

Bar tailed Godwit at Fremington Pill mouth

Grey Plover at Fremington Pill mouth

70 ringneck parakeet

Had a wander around the South Hams today, 10 Goosanders at Gara Bridge on the Avon and the Ring-necked duck at Beesands 

Treecreeper again, 4 Goosanders (1 drake), Red-crested Pochard (female) & 15 Mandarin Ducks (8 drakes).

Black-necked Grebe still at Torcross. Fem / imm Marsh Harrier in Stokeley Bay this morning and Ireland Bay in the afternoon. Elsewhere 13 Gadwalls, 8 Wigeons, 7 Pochards and 6 Goldeneyes.

The reed bed marsh behind the main beach (not the car park marsh) contained: 2 Siberian Chiffchaffs , 4 collybita Chiffchaffs, 2 Firecrest, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Snipe.

                                                                       Siberian (tristis) Chiffchaff

1 Green Sandpiper, 1 Grey Wagtail, 1 Pied Wagtail.

After an absence of three days the "Italian" type Sparrow sp has spent most of the day in and out of the garden feeding on fats balls at my feed station.

Also around the garden today nice to have a Song Thrush in and my first Treecreeper of the year.

A dull, but at least clear, Stuart Lines cruise this afternoon. Pride of place has to go to the Long-billed Dowitcher feeding with Black-tailed Godwits at Topsham and 30 Cattle Egrets (counts varied from 28 to 32, but I reckoned 30!) on a sandbank just north of Starcross at about 2.30pm. There were at least 22 Great Crested Grebes, plus the usual Slavonian at Cockwood and a Little Grebe and 2 Black Swans at Topsham. 3 Pintail were on Pole Sands (off the tip of Dawlish Warren) plus c130 of Lympstone Marines camp, where there were 12 Greylag Geese on the mud (distant, but I think that's what they were!); 50 Teal at Topsham and c30 Mergansers. A Peregrine was on Exmouth church tower. Waders were well scattered, especially between Turf and Lympstone, with 300+ Avocets (30+ at Powderham), several hundred Golden Plover, c100 Bar-tailed and several large flocks of Black-tailed Godwits (must have been well over 1000). 4 Greenshank scattered between DW and Powderham. A Grey Seal was hauled out onto a buoy at DW and another seal was seen briefly between Turf and Topsham.

There has been a decent sized starling murmuration over the playing fields in Ludwell Valley Park, Exeter recently - I am pretty bad at counting but I reckon it's of the order about 1000 birds and they have been performing really well this week, so worth going out at dusk to see if you're in the area :)

This morning on the marsh, one each of Marsh Harrier, Peregrine, Kestrel and Buzzard were spooking the Lapwings and ducks, and a Spotted Redshank was on the new scrape. In the estuary, the Golden Plover flock seemed to be bigger than ever (1000 plus?) and continued its mournful calling.

At Matford, a Sparrowhawk made it a five-raptor day, and my first local Gadwall of the Winter were on the main pond.

Along the canal, lots of singing Song Thrushes (plus the first Primrose).

Finally, in the crematorium grounds, Dipper and Treecreeper took the year list to 118.

The reed bed marsh behind the main beach (not the car park marsh) contained:

2 Siberian Chiffchaffs (one calling- not sure which as they were together )  they regularly dropped into the grassy stubble field, 6 collybita Chiffchaffs, 2 Firecrest, 1 Goldcrest, 4 Snipe.

On the feeding station in the 2nd car park: 17 Cirl Buntings, 4 Yellowhammers, 1 Reedbunting, 18 House Sparrows, 13 chaffinch, 4 Goldfinch and 4 Greenfinch.

Firecrest in the garden this morning. Moving along Darwin Crescent.

One of three kingfishers busy on the canal last weekend.

What a difference a day makes! With challenging conditions at the start once in the Estuary the visibility improved and the visitors started to see plenty of birds on show. Curlews were in good numbers across the Estuary and the distinctive evocative calls were drifting around the estuary on a light breeze. Several Turnstones were seen on the mussel vessel off Dawlish Warren and on the shoreline at Starcross. The Slavonian Grebe was spotted with a Little Grebe in the normal place off Cockwood. Dark Bellied Brent Geese were in good numbers in this area with several flying near the boat. Cormorants and Shags were plentiful along this stretch with comparisons between the two easy to see. Greenshank were seen towards the River Kenn confluence with Common Gull, Black Headed Gull, and Herring Gull bathing in fresh water. First of the 300+ Avocets were seen at this lower location and good numbers were seen close to the boat all the way to Topsham. A few Bar Tailed Godwit and plenty of Dunlin were off Lympstone and were numerous across the mudflats all the way to Topsham.Grey Plover were seen at a distance along with Pintail close to Exton 300+ Black Tailed Godwits were showing well along the waters edge for visitors to see along with Redshank and two small groups of Golden Plover either side of the main channel near Turf Lock. A raft of 20+ Great Crested Grebe were viewed near the River Clyst confluence this sighting was the most seen all together this winter and a real treat for the visitors. Red Breasted Mergansers stole the show today with at least 20+ on show close to the boat. On our return back to Exmouth 200+ Lapwing and 100+ Black Tailed Godwit took to the air from Powderham Marsh and showed well from the boat. As we steamed past Dawlish Warren there were very close encounters of 8+ Sanderling feeding along the waters edge which was a real bonus this finished off a very productive cruise.

Red Breasted Merganser                         Avocets                                         Sanderling

At least 12 Crossbills,200+ chaffinches,3 brambling,ad male 2female,12:00-13:00

Pink-footed Goose and Barnacle Goose this morning from the viaduct among c400 Canada Geese. Also 3 Goldeneye.