Wood Warblers!

With 2018 being my first blank year for wood warbler since my first ever sighting of one in 1988 I really wanted to see what is one of my favourite species this year. However wood warblers are in a rapid decline here in Devon with many of the usual places I used to see them now empty (Plymbridge Woods, Grenofen Woods, Steps Bridge, etc.), and this year Yarner Woods, a bastion for wood warblers, is virtually empty too with just 1 report (on Dave's Birding Diary blogspot).

A few wood warblers have been reported on migration along the coast (eg, Axe Birding blogspot) but there have been very few reports on the internet birding sites apart from a few mentions from Dartmoor. And so despite the cool, breezy and showery conditions on May 9th we headed off up to Dartmoor for a walk to try and find some.

The car journey there was livened up by my first swift of the year flying low over the road in front of us near Yelverton along with the early purple orchids flowering in the roadside verge, and as we arrived at the car park on the Moors a cuckoo dashed across the road with a distant bird heard calling as we got out of the car.

We walked off into the woods and immediately heard redstart, pied flycatcher and tree pipit singing along with blackcap and willow warbler. Eventually I managed to find a female pied flycatcher flitting through the trees and also a singing male which showed much better, a 1st summer bird with noticeably brown toned black plumage.

Pied Flycatcher -1st Summer Male

I also eventually managed to see 2 tree pipits together bathing in a puddle on the footpath, presumably a pair and quite confiding before they both flew off.

Tree Pipit

We met just one other person on our walk, a fellow birder who was looking for wood warblers too, he had been unsuccessful which wasn't what I wanted to hear but we carried on anyway and a short time later as the skies began to clear and the sun began to shine I heard the "peu" note of a wood warbler in a large beech tree by the footpath. Eventually I managed to locate it amongst the leaves as it continued to call and give brief and quiet bursts of its trilling song and it was joined by a female bird sporting leg rings which it shivered its wings at giving its "peu" call as they moved through the branches together before being lost from sight.

Carrying on along the path and I heard another bird singing away by the path and which gave some lovely views as it trilled and "peu-ed" away , throwing its head back and shivering as it sang and fluttering amongst the branches.

 Wood Warbler

 Wood Warbler

 Wood Warbler

 Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler

It was wonderful to watch and hear but it was soon time to head back to the car and so I had to tear myself away. However on the walk back I found another male bird singing by the path, this one was also sporting leg rings but I couldn't get a proper view of the colours as it moved through the dense oak leaves. I also heard 3 other birds singing on the walk back, I'm not sure if 2 of them were different birds to the ones I had already seen but there were at least 4 males and a female present, a grand total and reminiscent of the sightings I used to regularly have before the recent crash in numbers.

Other birds of note were siskins songflighting over the trees along with a single redpoll also "cha-cha-cha-ing" overhead and a kestrel hovering over the moor with a noisey pair of stonechats seen on the gorse bushes. A holly blue was also seen around a holly tree sheltered from the wind as we left the car park for the drive to The Two Bridges Hotel where we enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea, a nice end to a very successful and enjoyable walk.