Well, 2024 has certainly been a strange year with health issues again dominating proceedings. Wildlife watching though has been enjoyable and eventful but the noticeable dearth of insects and especially butterflies this summer, the rapidity of Ash trees now dieing in the landscape and the continuing fall in overall bird numbers are cause for concern.
A good range of birds have been seen this year and my year total finished on 195, not too bad considering I mostly stay local these days and make far fewer trips further afield than I used to although I have had a few more foreign trips this year than normal. A Purple Heron at Exminster was the only UK lifer of the year, a bit of an anti-climax as I have seen quite a few of them on my foreign travels but a nice sighting none the less.
Other bird highlights for 2024 not mentioned in the Top Ten below included Bonaparte's Gull, Waxwing, Little Bunting, Brambling, Ring-necked Duck, Grey Phalarope, Semi-palmated Sandpiper and Long-billed Dowitcher. Beyond these headliner birds there have been far more enjoyable day to day sightings such as Tree Pipit at Saltram, Spotted Flycatchers at Wembury and Purple Sandpipers on Plymouth Hoe to name but a few and seeing the first local Swallow of the Spring always takes some beating.
So here's to 2025 being both healthier and wildlife filled with great sightings to be had, I'm already making plans for some trips, and here is my 2024 Top Ten :-
1.Wembury
I've always loved visiting Wembury and it continues to grow in my affections despite the increasing number of visitors and especially the increasing numbers of dogs causing so much disturbance to the wildlife. Catching the 6:30am or 7:00am buses helps to mitigate some of this disturbance but on a good day of weather in the summer time I'm frequently beaten to it by the dog walkers.
It's been another good year for sightings though with Pomarine Skua, Black-necked Grebe and Goosander added to my Wembury list. Other sightings of note have been Cory's, Balearic and Sooty Shearwaters, Arctic Skua, Wigeon, Brent Goose, Water Pipit, Yellow Wagtail and Teal.
Clouded Yellow, Grey Seal, Ivy Bee, Roe Deer, Harbour Porpoise, Bee Wolf, Adder and Common Dolphin have been non-avian highlights too.
Not as good a year for sightings as last year but with a final total of 108 species seen.
2.Golden Oriole
A bizarre report on the Internet of a Golden Oriole in Cornwall in January piqued my interest but when fully confirmed and with the bird sticking around it would have been rude not to go and have a look for it. And what a bird it was with some excellent views had of what is usually a secretive and fleeting species. Only my second ever sighting of one in the UK and a strange sight on a cold and claggy January day in Cornwall.
Our 4th trip to Madeira was a good one with some great wildlife sightings had despite it not being a nature holiday. A Dolphin watching boat trip out of Funchal was excellent with some great views of 2 new cetacean species for me - Rough-toothed and Atlantic Spotted Dolphins - and the ferry trip to nearby Porto Santo gave some great views of Deserta/Zino's Petrels.
4. A Ferry to Spain
We took another trip to Santander in Spain on the ferry from Plymouth, a there and back journey but one with some good sightings. There were Cory's and Great Shearwaters everywhere and while cetacean sightings were mostly brief and distant it was good to see Pilot Whale, Cuviers Beaked Whale, Fin Whale, Striped Dolphin and Common Dolphin.
I never got to The Isles of Scilly this year so missed out on seabird sightings in UK waters but there is always next year. A warmer climate and warmer seas seem to be encouraging more seabirds into UK waters in late summer and keeping them here for longer, even into November, and presumably next year will see this interesting but unsettling trend continuing.
5. Local Wildlife
Always in my Top 10 but again I'm always surprised (and delighted) by the variety of wildlife not that far from my doorstep. Wembury aside I've seen some amazing local wildlife with highlights including Yellow-browed Warbler, Goshawk, High Brown Fritillary, Snow Bunting, Common Lizard, Grass Vetchling, Red-necked Grebe, Cuckoo, White-letter Hairstreak, Bee Orchid, Velvet Scoter, Dark Green Fritillary and Common Dolphin. A flock of c.70 White Storks flying over my house was a bit of a surprise too, a migrating group from a reintroduction scheme in Sussex.
Walks along The Plym and around Saltram have been interesting and enjoyable althought I've spent more time visiting Wembury this year. A total of 106 species were seen around The Plym in 2024, 2 less than at Wembury but still pretty good with Pink-footed Goose, Dark-bellied Brent Goose, Guillemot, Wood Duck and Black Redstart all Plym firsts and Red-backed Shrike, Curlew Sandpiper, Pintail, Whinchat, Tree Pipit, Knot and Yellow Wagtail other highlights.
6. Suffolk
A stay in Suffolk to look after my Mum after her operation was longer than expected but it did mean I got to spend more time with family and friends that I don't see very often. I also got to do some birding at my old teenage haunts and had an opportunity to see some species that are not that common down here in Devon, namely Nightingale, Red-legged Partridge, Lesser Whitethroat, Red Kite and Little Ringed Plover. I also got to see Chinese Water Deer, Brown Hare and Grass Snake too.
The "feel" of Suffolk is very different to Devon, being drier, warmer and lacking a strong marine influence, and the landscape and wildlife are subtly different too, certainly insects were much more prevalent during the 4 weeks I was there over April and May but maybe that was just this year's experience.
One thing I did decide while staying in Suffolk was that I would not be renewing my nursing registration later in the year, that ship has now well and truly sailed out of my life. If nothing else it saves me £120 a year and it feels even more like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
7. Greece
My trip to Greece very nearly didn't happen due to health issues but I eventually got to go and I had an enjoyable time despite not feeling that great and worrying about things. I wasn't expecting much wildlife but was pleasantly surprised with Scopoli's Shearwaters, Blue Rock Thrush, Sardinian Warblers and Crested Larks the avian highlights and a Scarce Swallowtail a surprise find on the butterfly front.
The highlight though was a Monk Seal, I saw it at distance poking its head out of the water while watching some Bottle Nose Dolphins nearby, I see Seals doing this back in Devon all the time and didn't think anything of it but later when checking out the ID I realised what it was. A shame it wasn't closer and didn't spend longer at the surface and I never saw it again despite looking the next day but a very nice find indeed.
8.Dartmoor
I managed to get up onto Dartmoor a few times this year and had some great visits there.
A highlight was a trip to Emsworthy Mire courtesy of Mavis and Kaye, a place I've never visited before, and where we had some amazing views of Cuckoos and Redstarts. We also ended up attracting a veritable swarm of male Emperor Moths to my pheromone lure which was "interesting"!
Roborough Down, Shipley Bridge, Grenofen, Plymbridge, Warren House, Postbridge and Shaugh Prior were also enjoyable visits and a quick stop at Challacombe Farm on the way home from Emsworthy Mire gave me my only sighting of a Pied Flycatcher for the year.
9.Butterflies and Moths
It was not a good year for butterflies, probably a combination of a cool and wet spring and a cool summer or indicative of a wider problem in the countryside although I did manage to see 34 species for the year. I've had to work hard for these butterfly sightings though including for some of the more common species like Holly Blue and Clouded Yellow and my first visit to Chudleigh Knighton Heath to look for Brown Hairstreak did draw a blank.
Despite this I did find my first Silver-washed Fritillary at Saltram this year and also a small colony of White-letter Hairstreak there too. I also saw my first Devon Dingy Skippers close to home and the Green Hairstreaks at Wembury were their usual beautiful joy. Here's hoping 2025 will be a better year for butterflies.
I also didn't have the moth box out in the back yard very often this year, cool and wet nights on top of a lack of motivation meant it stayed inside. However when I did put it out I did get some nice moths although Large Ranunculus failed to make an appearance yet again this year. I also saw a few moths when out and about including Hummingbird Hawkmoth, Thrift Clearwing and Least Black Arches. Again, here's hoping that next year will be a better year.
10. Azorean Gull
An Azorean Gull was found in Newlyn Harbour at the end of the year and with my love/hate relationship with Gulls my interest was piqued. It seemed to be sticking around and was showing well as unusual Gulls often do in Newlyn Harbour and so I went to have a look.
I easily found it preening and roosting on the fish quay roof amongst all the other Gulls present and I enjoyed some good views of it despite the very grey and claggy light. A UK first for me although at present only considered a race of Yellow-legged Gull (Larus michahellis atlantis) but a joy to see none the less and maybe it will become a full species in the future.
I may have seen them in Madeira earlier in the year or on my previous visits, there were always Yellow-legged Gulls present around Funchal Harbour, but with Azorean Gull apparently only breeding in The Azores the birds I saw were more likely Yellow-legged Gulls (Larus michahellis) or possibly hybrids. Gull taxonomy and the evolution of species in Macronesia absolutely fascinates me!
Aside from the Azorean Gull my day out was a good one with additional sightings of a Snow Bunting at Long Rock near Penzance and Kingfisher, Avocet, Pink-footed Goose, Spoonbill and Slavonian Grebe at Hayle making for a very enjoyable trip, I do love this area of Cornwall for birding.
And so that was 2024, not a bad wildlife year at all. Health issues have had an impact at times but hopefully next year will see an improvement in things and there will be some more interesting wildlife sightings to be had.
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