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.

Yarner Wood Wood Warbler

Saturday 29th April and it was off to Yarner Wood with Mavis for the Plymouth RSPB field trip on what was a mostly cloudy and breezey and cold morning. I am not a fan of bird group field trips (other than coach trips) but I wasn't going to turn down a lift to Yarner Wood and the walk and company were quite pleasent with some good bird sightings. It was also nice that some members of the group got to see some new birds too.

The car park at Yarner Wood was packed with cars but devoid of bird song in the chilly conditions although siskins feeding on the bird seed feeders in front of the hide were mobile and flighty and vocal. The water level in the pond  in front of the hide was very low but we had good views of a grey wagtail, 4 male mandarin duck and a pair of mallards while we watched coal tit, blue tit, great tit, marsh tit, chaffinch and nuthatch on the feeders along with the siskins.

Siskin

Walking up the main path from the car park and a redstart was briefly heard singing along with a pied flycatcher and a wood warbler. We couldn't find the redstart but eventually I found the pied flycatcher high in the trees before it flew off while a treecreeper provided a distraction feeding on a  nearby tree trunk. The wood warbler continued to constantly sing and eventually we managed to get some excellent views of a very confiding but mobile and unringed bird with a second bird briefly heard singing nearby.

 Wood Warbler

 Wood Warbler

 Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler

A walk up to the heath meant full exposure to the chilly wind but we managed to see 2 songflighting tree pipits, a pair of stonechat, linnets, willow warblers and swallows. A hobby high overhead was a good find but all too brief as it dashed off but later 2 birds were seen together very high overhead before they moved off out of sight.

Back in the woods and we managed to get some great views of 2 singing male redstarts along with a pair of pied flycatchers (I only managed to see the female), a male blackcap and a female great spotted woodpecker.

Redstart

Other birds seen were raven, chiffchaff, a male bullfinch, buzzards, woodpigeon, wren, robin and blackbird and at the end of the walk as we ate lunch in the car we watched a male pied flycatcher in the holly bushes right in front of us, a good end to a pleasent morning.

Heading home over Dartmoor and we had a quick stop at Challacombe Farm where a very red faced male redpoll singing and songflighting and a male redstart flitting about in the trees were the highlights with a pair of wheatear, house martins, swallows, mistle thrush, a grey wagtail and house sparrows also seen.

While waiting at Yelverton for the bus home to Plymouth I found a recently squashed oil beetle on the footpath, a sad sight, but nearby I found another unsquashed one which I photographed and moved off into the nearby vegetation out of harms way, a nice end to the day.

 Oil Beetle

Oil Beetle

A Trip to Lundy and a New Butterfly

Saturday 7th May and it was off to North Devon for the weekend for the DBWPS boat trip to Lundy. The last 2 times I have been on the trip have been disastrous with the weather being wet, windy and misty, and so I was hoping 3rd time would be the charm and it certainly was.

On the drive to Ilfracombe for an overnight stay we stopped off at Okehampton Castle, somewhere I haven't visited before. It was very interesting and very picturesque and I managed to see male orange tips and my first large white of the year.

Large White, Okehampton Castle

A pied flycatcher, a willow warbler, a grey wagtail and a chiffchaff were heard but not seen but I did see a marsh tit, a raven and a siskin, and it was nice to see the bluebells blooming in the woodlands.

 Okehampton Castle

Okehampton Castle Bluebells

Continuing north and we stopped off for a walk and a look around Meeth Quarry, a Devon Wildlife Trust reserve. I was hoping to see wood white which are found at the reserve but with no details of where they are present and with the reserve being very large I wasn't sure if I would be successful. However as we walked off into the reserve from the car park I saw some white butterflies flitting along a woodland ride and on getting near to them I was delighted to see they were indeed wood whites - mission accomplished! I managed to get some lovely views of at least 4 wood whites, a new butterfly for me - small and dainty with a weak, fluttery flight and being investigated by male orange tips, large whites and a green veined white allowing good comparisons.

 Wood White, Meeth Quarry

 Wood White

 Wood White

 Wood White

Green Veined White, Meeth Quarry

A common lizard, a peacock butterfly, 2 green tiger beetles and early purple orchids were also seen along with a male goosander, a male tufted duck, 3 little grebes and 2 coots on the flooded quarry pit. A green woodpecker continuously yaffled and a blackcap did a good impression of a garden warbler before revealing itself amongst the willows although a second bird singing nearby probably was a garden warbler but I couldn't find it in the undergrowth.

 Green Tiger Beetle, Meeth Quarry

Early Purple Orchid, Meeth Quarry

We carried on to Ilfracombe, my first visit here, and it was very nice, a typical English seaside town surrounded by dramatic cliffs. We stayed in the Ocean Backpackers hostel, I was a little unsure about it when I booked it but it was actually very nice. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for the dickheads staying there who decided to have a party at 1:30am and who were rude and abusive when I asked them to turn the music off. The music did stay off but they made loads of noise until 5am and I hardly slept a wink, and with no management onsite overnight there wasn't much I could do about it.

The MS Oldenberg left Ilfracombe at 8am the next morning and it was cool and breezey with occasional sunny spells. I felt rough from a lack of sleep and being wound up by the whole overnight situation but I carried on and had a really good day. We met my mate Mavis on the boat and tucked in to bacon sandwiches as we sailed off to Lundy. From the boat we saw gannets, fulmars, guillemots, razorbills, kittiwakes and Manx shearwaters along with herring, lesser black backed and greater black backed gulls and swallows. The Manx shearwaters were mostly distant and took a bit of searching for but we did get a few nice views and they were a new bird for Mavis.

Arriving at Lundy and we took a cruise around the island which I had never done before and we managed to get some good views of puffins on the sea and on the cliffs although again they were a little distant but another new bird for Mavis.

Distant Puffins with Guillemots, Lundy

After a rough landing at the quay in the increasing wind and swell and a spotted flycatcher, blackcaps and chiffchaffs were seen on the walk up Millcombe Valley. We did find some Lundy cabbage, an endemic plant to the island, but its flowers were yet to open. After a pasty and a pint in the Marisco Inn it was off to bird and explore, starting with a return to Millcombe Valley to look for a reported turtle dove. No luck with the dove but we did find more spotted flycatchers, mobile and flighty but with 3 seen together at one point.

 Spotted Flycatcher, Lundy

Spotted Flycatcher, Lundy

A walk along the clifftop along the east of the island was abandoned due to the blown out conditions from the strong south easterly breeze and so we headed off to Jennys Cove on the west side of the island to look for puffins, seeing a male stonechat, meadow pipits, skylarks and wheatears on the way. I actually managed to see the large pool of Pondsbury where 2 male mallard and assorted gulls were bathing - my previous visits had been so misty I hadn't even seen it as I walked by. We also had some nice views of 6 sika deer feeding out in the open amongst the sheep but they were very nervy and eventually ran off to cover.

Sika Deer, Lundy

Sika Deer with Sheep, Lundy

Jennys Cove was packed with birders watching the puffins, the birds were resting on the cliffs and disappearing in and out of their burrows but most were flying around and resting on the sea - there were many more present than on my last 2 visits, no doubt increasing due to the rat eradication programme over the past few years.

Distant Puffins at Jennys Cove

Also seen were kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills and shags and it was good to hear the kittiwakes kittiwaking and the auks grunting and growling on the cliffs. A small and dark male peregrine soared around the cliffs spooking all the puffins away to sea and as I could see David in the distance heading towards the lighthouse I left Mavis to enjoy the birds and joined him, seeing more wheatears along the way along with starlings, house sparrows and a male pied wagtail.

Male Wheatear with coloured leg rings

After a quick cup of tea in the Inn it was time to head back down to the quay for the trip home. I kept an eye open for the turtle dove but again with no luck but I did see a very smart wood warbler. It was found by a group of birders but was elusive and tricky to pin down as it moved through the leaves and branches of the trees, not helped by the constant flitting about of blackcaps and spotted flycatchers in the trees as well. Eventually it showed very well in the lower bare branches of a tree, lovely views and good to see after dipping at Yarner Wood recently. A redpoll was heard cha-cha-cha-ing as it flew over but I didn't see it.

Wood Warbler, Lundy (Photo courtesy of DBWPS Website)

From the Quay as we boarded the boat 2 Sandwich terns were fishing offshore and a gannet passed by and on the trip back to Ilfracombe we saw the usual birds - a few gannets, fulmars, kittiwakes, guillemots, razorbills and Manx shearwaters, along with a large grey seal but unfortunately no dolphins or porpoises. The Manxies were again quite unobtrusive and distant which was a shame.

And so it had been a tiring but very enjoyable experience, the weather was much better than my previous visits but the wind did hamper the birding with the conditions being quite blown out. And with grasshopper warbler, garden warbler, cuckoo, marsh harrier, whinchat, whimbrel and storm petrel also reported on the day I guess I will just have to go on the trip again.

More Wood Warblers at Yarner Wood

The original plan had been to head down to The Lizard in Cornwall with Mavis and Mike on June 1st to look for choughs but with some nasty weather forecast to arrive at lunchtime we switched plans and headed East for a morning walk at Yarner Wood.

It was grey and cloudy and breezey and cool but at least it was dry. The birding was heavy going in the poor weather and poor light conditions but we did eventually see all our target birds except for spotted flycatcher.

We heard a few quiet and brief trills of wood warblers before one bird sang strongly for a short time but we couldn't find it in the tree foliage. A second bird also sang strongly for a brief time elsewhere in the wood and we managed a brief view as it flew acroos the footpath. It had leg rings, different to those on the birds I saw in May - silver and orange on the left leg, green over yellow on right leg. I hadn't expected to see any wood warblers so I was quite pleased with our brief views.

On the Heath two tree pipits and a whitethroat were songflighting, a yellowhammer was briefly singing and a male stonechat was feeding a fledgling. A willow warbler gave some lovely views feeding in the birch trees.

Around the pond 3 male and a female Mandarin duck were seen - 1 male was moulting in to eclipse plumage and the female was with just one duckling. A pair of grey wagtails were with two fledglings and a pair of bullfinch came down for a drink. A female great spotted woodpecker and a marsh tit were attempting to pick out the last nuts and seeds in the empty feeders in front of the hide.

Male Mandarin Duck

Male Mandarin Duck in eclipse

Grey Squirrel

Pied flycatchers were seen and heard throughout the Wood including a pair feeding young in a nest box by the car park. Another pair elsewhere in the Wood were feeding young in a nest box too but these young must have been older as they were very noisey as we walked by. A male redstart was seen with a beakful of food and at least 6 song thrush were heard singing with 1 seen. A fledgling blackcap and some fledgling coal tits being fed by their parents were also found in the undergrowth.

Male Pied Flycatcher

Female Pied Flycatcher

The rain duly arrived at 2pm and so we headed off home, having had an enjoyable walk although it was unusually cold for the time of year and I hadn't seen one butterfly or moth.

Colour Ringed Wood Warblers at Yarner Woods - 2015

May 9th and a day of sunny spells with a strong breeze and the bribe of cake at Bovey Tracey had David driving me out to Yarner Wood for a couple of hours while he shopped for garden stuff at Mole Valley and Trago Mills.

I heard a pied flycatcher singing as soon as I got out of the car but I couldn't find it in the trees and so I headed off up the footpath towards the bridge. Almost immediately a wood warbler was heard singing in the young birch trees on the right of the path and I managed a few distant views as it constantly moved around the branches - it had an orange ring on its left leg and 2 on its right leg, a yellow ring and a dark blue or black ring. By the bridge a second bird was singing and I had much better views - this bird had an orange ring on its left leg and an orange ring and a red ring on its right leg. It sang constantly as it moved through the canopy but I had some lovely views of what is one of my favourite birds - I always worry that it will be the last time I see one as their numbers are plummeting here in the UK. Another bird was heard briefly singing nearby and later I had views of an unringed bird feeding high up in the canopy in the same area.

 Wood Warbler

 

 Wood Warbler singing away

 

Wood Warbler - close up of leg rings

 



Pied flycatchers were busily singing away throughout the woods and I had some good views of male birds flitting about the trees.

Pied Flycatcher

  



Also seen were a pair of bullfinch, a pair of siskin with the male looking quite stunning as it fed on the woodland floor, 2 treecreepers, a female great spotted woodpecker, marsh tits and nuthatches. A green woodpecker and a redstart were heard only and a raven croaked noisely as it flew over the trees. 6 male mandarin and a pair of mallards were around the pond while a grey wagtail was heard calling nearby.

Nuthatch
 

Mandarin Duck - 3 of the 6 males around the pond
 



On the heath a male yellowhammer was half heartedly singing while a male whitethroat was much more energetic. A redpoll flew over in display flight, cha-cha-cha-ing away, and swallows and house martins passed overhead.

A holly blue, male and female brimstones and a longhorn moth, Nematopogon swammerdamella, were also seen in the woods and common milkwort was in flower on the heath.

 Longhorn Moth - Nematopogon swammerdamella

 

Common Milkwort

 



May 10th and it was grey and overcast but at least the breeze had dropped. I headed off to Wembury for a walk and despite being a Sunday it was relatively people free. Along the beach at high tide were 5 whimbrel and a little egret roosting with 42 oystercatcher, a shelduck and a pair of mallard. 9 Canada geese were resting in the wheatfield and another 2 birds were out on The Mewstone.

 Whimbrel

 

Whimbrel

 



After a bit of searching I eventually found a female Dartford Warbler at Wembury Point - as usual it was constantly on the move and this time I avoided the urge to try and take some more distant and blurry shots of it. It was nice to see the female again but there was no sign of the male (or males).

Whitethroats, chiffchaffs and blackcaps were as vocal as usual and swallows were noticeable flitting around overhead. 2 cirl buntings were briefly heard singing and a male kestrel hovered over the fields above the horse stables.

Strangest sight was a female type red breasted merganser close to shore at Wembury Point, it was busily snorkelling and occasionally diving as it drifted off  towards the main beach and is my second ever sighting at Wembury.

Red Breasted Merganser

 



Also seen were 3 common lizards, bloody nosed beetle larva, a bedraggled looking water carpet moth in the toilet block, a lackey moth larva nest and 2 common carpet but no butterflies were on the wing. Ragged Robin and yellow flag iris were flowering in the valley to the beach and a pasty for lunch from the café rounded off a pleasant mornings walk.

 Lackey Moth Larva

 

Bee Sp.