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.

12.00

A female Long-Tailed Duck south of the point.  A Red-throated Diver off the point.  21 Great Northern Divers between the Lead Stone and Long Quarry Point.  At least six Great Crested Grebes between the Lead Stone and Hope Cove  Also, 2 Harbour Porpoises and 2 Grey Seals.

Later, between 16.20-17.35, the Juv Glaucous Gull in flight and sat on the sea near the Lead Stone.  

Eight Great Northern Divers off the sea front today 10.30 am .

Our flutter of garden House Sparrows enjoying the sunshine this aft after a good meal on the seed feeder.

A high soaring Peregrine over home this morning, it spent a few minutes mobbing one of a pair of soaring Buzzards. A male Sparrow hawk came in and landed on one of my feed station stands in the afternoon.

While watching 12 Green finch on the feeders another 30 plus flew in and landed in the top of a tree at the end of the garden, most I have seen here for some time.

Siskin's showing well over the last few days with two females and two males in together yesterday, with a pair seen today.

Approx 40 Redwing's around the field hedgerows.

Green Woodpecker, Song Thrush, Pied Wagtail and Starling showing well.

Peregrine mobbing a Buzzard

Female Siskin

An afternoon's walk revealed: 2 Fieldfares, Treecreeper, Green Woodpecker, Bullfinch, 2 Common Sandpipers, 13 Wigeon & a female Goosander.

Fairly distant views of the Great Northern Diver and the Long Tailed Duck off the Mountbatten ferry pontoon.  A solitary Purple Sandpiper on the rocks inside the west end of the breakwater

Long Tailed Duck

Purple Sandpiper

Another evening watch off Broadsands tonight: 49 Great Northern Divers (inc rafts of 15, 11, 7 and 5), 1 Black-throated Diver, 12 Great Crested Grebes, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 140+ Common Gulls, 17 Lesser Black-backed Gulls.

Black-throated Diver - Broadsands

As mentioned in my last post, there was a mass stranding of Starfish and Crabs off Smugglers Cove, Teignmouth, today, providing food for the gulls and Divers.

The Grey Plover, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits, c300 Dunlins, 2 Snipe, 6 Greenshanks, adult Mediterranean Gull (unringed), 16 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls (including 1 showing characteristics of intermedius) all on Blaxton Meadow at high tide. Also, around the patch, 4 Red-breasted Mergansers (3 drakes), female Goosander, 24 Mandarin Ducks (14 drakes), Green Woodpecker & 2 Stonechats.

11.45

From the clifftop section of the SWCP - Red-throated Diver, 4 Great Northern Divers, 2 Great Crested Grebes, many Cirl Buntings (several singing) and a Skylark in full song aloft.  2 species of raptor.  Harbour Porpoise.  

Cycle ride from the Rusty Anchor to Marsh Mills, I saw 46 species.

Rusty Anchor-purple sandpiper roosting on rocks between HMS York and HMS Vanguard models.

Hoe-Great Northern Diver

SW coast path-distant views of the Long-tailed duck

Laira bridge- little grebe but no BN grebe

Along the Plym Estuary- redshank, greenshank, dunlins, curlews, a pair of goosanders, a pair of red-breasted mergansers, shelducks and wigeons.

Marsh Mills-on the bridge over the river-a pair of grey wagtails, common sandpiper and a single dipper.

Wrafton Pond devoid of all the 'interesting' Ducks today - too much disturbance from nearby machinery? Scrape had Teal Wigeon Redshank Swans and unusual here: LBB Gull. In the reserve, a very vocal Green Woodpecker, GSW, about 40 Redwings, A few each of Green Gold Chaff and 1 Bullfinch. plus most of the other usual suspects. A Grey Heron in the field to the south.

North end of Braunton: 2 Dippers from the bridge over the river Caen at Caen St School.

LTD and GND off Slipways and pontoon. Iron Bridge only saw a Little Grebe.

Please note with regret that the East Bank Hide above the Otter Estuary is now closed for safety reasons. The hide has been vandalised on a number of occasions and is regarded as no longer fit for purpose. It is planned to remove the hide and to return the site to its natural state.  

Working in Newton Abbot and Ashburton today so had an opportunity to pop in to Stover.  While walking around the lake I spotted five female Goosander, ten or twelve Tufted duck and a Water rail.

Water Rail

Water Rail

A Great Northern Diver 20m off the Wet Wok around 3pm. Meadow Pipit, Oystercatcher and a Peregrine flyby. Distant views of the LT Duck and another GND near Mountbatten.

At 5:20pm today I had a brief sighting of a barn owl gliding across fields between Totnes and Dartington. 

Singing Skylark this afternoon, field between Fluxton nr Ottery and West Hill. First of the year.

Birds busy feeding on 20 acres of various crops.....fodder radish a late winter favourite.Supplementary feeding has also attracted 120 stock doves,250 linnets 300 chaffinches including European species and another mixed flock of 300 comprising chaffinch goldfinch bullfinch and greenfinch.Also seen treecreeper,Marsh tit and 5 buzzards.Meadow pipits and starling feeding amongst the kale.

The Lower Lake this morning,

21 Goosander, 1m Tufted Duck, 4 Willow Tit, 6 Coal Tit, 9 Blue Tit. 10 Mallard, 5 Robin, 4 Great Tit, 2 Chaffinch, 4 Redwing, 1 Grey Heron, 2 Long-tailed Tit.

As mentioned in my last post, there was a mass stranding of Starfish and Crabs off Smugglers Cove, Teignmouth, today, providing food for the gulls and Divers.

Juvenile Whooper swan this evening feeding with a dozen or so Mute Swans.

Juvenile Whooper Swan. (I think)

Not often that you see so many Divers off Teignmouth seafront, but there were 7 Great Northern Divers this afternoon, including a flock of 4 feeding together. The mass stranding of starfish and crabs could have something to do with it. The Black-Headed Gulls were certainly enjoying the feast!

Flock of 4 Great Northern Divers

Black-headed Gull with probable starfish leg

Broadsands this evening: 35 Great Northern Divers (inc a raft of 19), 1 Black-throated Diver, 11 Great Crested Grebes, 3 Common Scoter, 1 adw Mediterranean Gull, 22 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (inc 3 intermedius types in flock)

Yet another shot of the lovely female L.T. Duck and a Great Northern Diver off Mount Batten this afternoon. Also a flypast of a R.B. Merganser, Cormorants, Shags and Oystercatchers

Long Tailed Duck

Great Northern Diver

Seen fishing close to the Iron Bridge

Black-necked Grebe

Black-necked Grebe with fish

Love is in the Garden Pond again after a week of bitterly cold weather.

The frogs are smiling again & these comical little characters make everyone smile too!

4 Glossy Ibis flew over the Pill at 16.00 this afternoon & set down in the fields opposite the pill road. 

Up to 11.45

Juv Glaucous Gull in flight around and sat on the Lead Stone.  28 Great Northern Divers between Thatcher Rock and Hope Cove.  6 Purple Sandpipers on low rocks close to the point.  5 Great Crested Grebes.

Female Black Redstart around the boulders on the small beach and cliff faces on the south side. 

Later, a Great Northern Diver in the outer part of Torquay Harbour.  2 Great Crested Grebes off Torre Abbey Sands.  A Lesser Black-backed Gull, Little Egret and Grey Heron at Corbyn's Head.     

The Female long-tailed Duck still showing very well at Mountbatten

Long-tailed Duck still present this morning, also Adult Yellow-legged Gull. Lesser Black-backed Gulls returning with 4 Adults present

At Isley this morning ; 3 Spoonbills & 2 Great crested grebes.

At Mount Batten bay L.T Duck  still present ,also 1G N Diver.

While cycling into South Brent yesterday chance sighting of a high flying Woodcock passing over the A38 near the Carew slip road.

Around home this morning Heron, Nuthatch, two male Siskin and a very vocal Firecrest in the garden.

The Grey Plover, but only 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, 6 Greenshanks and 5 Teal on the flooded meadow this morning.  An adult Mediterranean Gull, with a nearly full black hood brings to three seen here in recent days.

Two song thrush chasing, quivering, displaying

Long-tailed Duck still off the slipway this morning 

Long-tailed Duck

Long-tailed Duck

Highlight of mid-day visit to Cattedown was the Long-tailed Duck off the Mountbatten watersports centre, a now rare visitor to Plymouth.  In Saltram Park at dusk was a Water Rail.

While working in Cullompton, I have watched a pair of Ravens carrying sticks and building a nest in a large conifer near the centre of town. The tree is a large conifer in a private garden adjacent to Station road and just down the hill from the Police station.

As the afternoon drew to a close many gulls came in to assemble before heading out to sea presumably to roost on the water. Herring Gulls, Common Gulls and over six hundred Black-headed Gulls. In amongst them all were three adult Mediterranean Gulls and a white necked Ruff who looked, and appeared to feel, ever so slightly out of place. A nice bird to see though.

A pair of snow buntings showing well on Northam Burrows this morning

A Peregrine on a kill on a farm field just off Plymbridge Lane. 2 Canada Geese with 2 female Goosanders on larger pool and for the first time I saw a pair of Goosander on the smaller circular pool at Boringdon G. C .who looked like they were building up to a mating session. A Buzzard, Crows, Magpies ans several Skylarks over the course.

Peregrine

Goosanders

Took a walk from home today which took us to Sandy Lane Car Park and along the SW Coast Path towards Saunton Golf club. The first birds if interest were a flock of 18 Magpies keeping the cattle company. A cock Pheasant ran ahead of us before hiding in deep cover then a distant blob in some trees turned out to be a Great Spotted Woodpecker.  A couple of Redwing were seen flying and Songthrush was seen but not heard. On the return leg we spotted a small flock of about 6 Longtailed tits 3 Bluetits 2 2 Great tits and a stunning male Bullfinch. The highlight of the walk though was undoubtedly our first singing Skylarks of the year! At least five heard and seen. Uplifting  :)

Great Spotted Woodpecker at distance.

On Blaxton Meadow at high tide first thing - Grey Plover, 3 Bar-tailed Godwits, 62 Curlews, 7 Greenshanks, 4 Teal, the female Red-crested Pochard, 21 Wigeon & 1st-w Mediterranean Gull. Also today, adult Great Northern Diver, 2 Common Sandpipers, 2 Stock Doves, 4 Goosanders (2 drakes) & 5 Red-breasted Mergansers (3 drakes).

Around the Cattewater, adult Mediterranean Gull (Polish-ringed PHAU), sinensis Cormorant (adult), 2 Grey Wagtails & a Common Sandpiper. 

Up to 12.30

The Juv Glaucous Gull showed well on low rocks towards the point and also in flight to and from the Lead Stone.  16 Great Northern Divers and 11 Great Crested Grebes between Thatcher Rock and Hope Cove.  2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the Lead Stone.

Two Meadow Pipits on the main slope and a male Blackcap in the higher scrub, towards the gate.

A female Black Redstart around the boulders near the small beach on the south side.  

13/2/21 1500 On a garage roof in Ivybridge picking at the moss. Hooded Crow. Other Rooks around and at first sight (very close about 3m) thought it was some sort of albino, but after some research am convinced that it must be Hooded Crow possibly blown down by the NE high winds recently.

Broadsands : 1 Siberian Chiffchaff in the marsh behind the beach again today.

Around the bay: 1 Long-tailed Duck (Paignton) 7 Common Scoter, 11 Great Northern Divers (mostly Broadsands), 3 Red-throated Divers, 21 Great Crested Grebes.

In Clovelly bay off mount batten 1 L T Duck. found by Russ Enon this am.

Showed well on the river all yesterday between the weir and the bottom of Weirfield Road. Flew down river 5:30 pm, has returned above the weir again this morning.