Venford

Yesterday I had a very enjoyable day out on Dartmoor with the East Devon Birds group. The weather may not have been as good as on the trip to Belstone last week, but the birds were just as good.

Seven of us met up at the car park at Venford Reservoir. When I arrived the list was already growing... unfortunately I'd missed the Crossbills in the trees beside the car park which had been seen by a couple of the early arrivers,  but I did see a Cuckoo & Tree Pipit. We set off to walk across the dam, and spent ages watching the House Martins flying below us, along with my first Spotted Flycatcher of the year.

Watching a Cuckoo from the car park....we could have stayed there all day!

The dam bridge isn't designed for the shorter birdwatcher

The reservoir was devoid of birds apart from a Great Crested Grebe

We walked around the back of the water works buildings and into the valley, picking up a male Yellowhammer, Skylark, Meadow Pipit, Blackcap, Siskin & Goldcrest en route. It was a lovely walk down the valley, and not long before we saw a beautiful male Redstart & started hearing Wood Warblers. There were quite a few, but although we could hear them it took quite a while before we managed to see one.

A lovely walk even without the birds

Playing the Wood Warbler challenge! Fay was on top form, definitely top spotter for the day!

Everything was carpeted in moss

A miniature forest

Whilst watching for the Wood Warblers we found a nice hole in the trunk of a tree. We were wondering who may live there when a Pied Flycatcher appeared on the scene and disappeared inside with a beak full!

Just managed to catch her....

We continued down the valley before climbing up onto the edge of the moor, and heading back to the car park for a very late lunch.

We had to negotiate an obstacle course....Ian took the hard way!

Looking back along the valley...unfortunately no Dippers on the river!

I was hoping to see the Crossbills over lunch....I thought I heard them but didn't see them & I wasn't 100% sure. After lunch, myself Ian & Bob went for a short wander whilst Fay & her Mum had a cuppa in the car park. We hadn't found anything new when Fay kindly came & found us to let us know the Crossbills had returned the the car park. We hurried back....I dashed fastest & managed to see a male Crossbill, pointed out by Fay's Mum who'd been keeping watch. Unfortunately before Bob & Ian arrived it vanished. We stayed for a while, but there was no sign. I was the last to leave as I needed to use the facilities before heading home. Murphy's Law....as I returned to the van, there was a commotion in the trees & 5 or 6 Crossbills appeared & gave me a good view before flying off across the road. A nice male came back to the car park for a while, but then again crossed the road & sat in a dead tree. The minute I decided to try for a photo it flew off.

It had been an excellent day. Despite the awful weather forecast, we only got showered on a couple of times & I added 8 new birds to my Year List.

Belstone

On Saturday I had a great day out with the Mid Devon Birds group, exploring the area around Belstone on the Northern edge of Dartmoor. We had glorious sunshine & fantastic scenery all day, and the birds were pretty good too.

We started off by walking down into the lovely wooded River Taw valley. There were quite a few Swallows & House Martins collecting mud from the edges of a puddle as we entered the valley & we could hear Blackcaps, Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers & Cuckoos. A different song caught our attention as we descended towards the river, which we soon discovered belonged to an obliging Garden Warbler.

It was quite a steep climb down

The Garden Warbler gave us great views, I managed this shot with my 'point & shoot' Lumix.

Unfortunately no Dipper. Chris, the walk leader, says he very rarely sees them here

Diversification....John gave us a geocashing lesson

Stopping to admire the view we saw 2 cuckoos & heard a 3rd, and saw 4 Ravens

Looking back towards the village...

...and out to the North over the fields of bluebells 

We descended back into the valley, passing a singing Redstart on the way, and walked back to the car park in Belstone for lunch. Then we headed out through the village onto the moor towards Belstone Tor.

Communications centre...the old Telegraph Office

On the moor...we soon saw Meadow Pipits & Skylarks

I really should have put the tripod legs up!

This is what we were looking at. I really must practise digiscoping.

A Stonechat with limited orange on the breast & large white collar....a bit like a Siberian

As we started heading back towards the village, a female Wheatear gave us some nice views and a couple of Stock Doves flew over, putting the day list on 40, although I think we did add a couple more after that. The day finished in style....Chris's wife is still waiting for the lease to get sorted out on a tea shop in the village, so she catered for us at their house instead!

An afternoon cream tea on the lawn, how civilised!

A day on Dartmoor

Yesterday, Simon picked up the newest addition to his motorcycle collection from Okehampton, and while he drove the bike straight home, I went wandering on Dartmoor. It definitely was a wander, as I only managed 5 miles in 5 hours! I parked up at Meldon Reservoir car park & crossed the dam into a little bird hotspot with 2 Grey Wagtails, Pied Wagtail, Mistle Thrush, Green Woodpecker, Raven, Crow, Robin, Chaffinch, 2 Marsh Tits and a male Goosander on the reservoir. I climbed up Langstone Hill towards Black Tor to the sound of singing Skylarks and, unfortunately, the hunt which was across the valley on the lower slopes of Yes Tor. We converged at Black Tor, but luckily they left it before I arrived.

Meldon Reservoir

Beautiful views & blue skies (some of the time!)

The weather was mainly lovely, with the occasional light shower. As I approached Black Tor the sky darkened & assuming it would be another short shower I stupidly didn't bother with my waterproof trousers. Consequently by the time I arrived at the Tor for lunch my trousers were soaked.

Approaching Black Tor

Whilst lunching, a fox ran passed the Tor in front of me, right across the route taken by the hunt about half an hour earlier. I'm sure I saw it making a rude gesture in their general direction....

Lunch spot, sheltering from the wind behind the Tor

The West Okement River flows through a deep valley west of the Tor down to the reservoir. There's no path down to it from the Tor, although a track follows the river a bit further down the valley. I'd seen a couple of walkers heading that way as I arrived, so rather than retracing my route I decided to yomp down to the track. Half way down I really regretted my decision when I had a moment of panic whilst standing on a rock surrounded by bog. It was the sound of running water underneath the vegetation & the occasional gaping hole in amongst the tussocks that worried me. I even moved my phone & camera into a higher pocket....just in case!

Bog ahead...

Bog behind....looking back up to Black Tor

I eventually managed to bog-hop to the track & it was well worth the effort. Not a bird in sight, but the valley was gorgeous.

West Okement River

Ancient trees line the valley

An impressive ecosystem on a tree

West Okement River

Back to Meldon Reservoir & a closer view of the male Goosander.

Far end of the reservoir, current home to 14 noisy Canada Geese

It had been a lovely walk & by the time I got back to the car park I'd seen 22 species.

(Marsh Tit, Chaffinch, Green Woodpecker, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Crow, Blackbird, Robin, Jackdaw, Mistle Thrush, Goosander, Canada Goose, Raven, Magpie, Skylark, Dunnock, Pheasant, Wren, Buzzard, Blue Tit, Goldcrest, Starling)

And a BMW R1150RT (Ed)

Friends

I haven't done much birding recently as we were enjoying a long weekend with friends Elizabeth & Alistair. We had a lovely 8 mile walk on Dartmoor on Monday, starting at Bennett's Cross. I took the bins (of course) but the best I found were a couple of Tree Pipits & a Redpoll. I also found a damselfly which I think is a female Beautiful Demoiselle - a new one for me.

Fantastic views looking North across the moor

Beautiful Damselfly (I think!)

Elizabeth & Alistair headed back to Northants yesterday, so I went to explore the RSPB & Devon Wildlife Trust reserves at Venn Ottery. I've never been before & was impressed by the views walking into the RSPB reserve (photo at the top of the post). As I walked down the hill I had nice views of Tree Pipits & could hear plenty of Willow Warblers, Chiffchaffs & Yellowhammers. I could also hear singing which I didn't recognise, but as I couldn't find the source I have no idea what it was. Oh for an expert!

As far as other wildlife goes, I only saw a Red Admiral & a White of some sort which I didn't manage to get close enough to ID.

Red Admiral

I walked down to the DWT reserve which can only be accessed from the RSPB one. There was no map & no obvious path. I didn't get far as there was a boggy section blocking any route across. It was an interesting habitat, although there wasn't very much in the way of wildlife.

Venn Ottery DWT Reserve

Heath Spotted Orchid

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary....my first

I also saw a very washed out Peacock butterfly, a few Speckled Woods, and a small blue damselfly that I can't identify from a bad photo. I saw plenty of Yellowhammers, Willow Warblers & Chiffchaffs and  realised at one stage that I was being watched through the vegetation.....

Having a sneaky peak

A very pleasant afternoon in the sun!

Challacombe Down

Yesterday's Devon Birdwatching & Preservation Society meeting was at Challacombe Down, which is just North of Widecombe in the Moor, Dartmoor. The grid reference shown as the starting point was in the middle of nowhere, so I was quite pleased when I got near to find Ian, the day's leader, confirming that I was in the right place and that everyone was just up the road parked behind the bushes! Sounded very suspicious!

There were 11 of us, including several people I hadn't seen before joining us from other DBWPS branches. It was an amazing morning. We took nearly 3 hours to walk less than a mile! We walked along a footpath in front of Challacombe Cottages & back along the road & saw 34 species. The first bird of the day was a Hobby that flew slowly over the car park as we were getting ready. A Redpoll made a very brief appearance & was followed swiftly by a beautiful male Redstart. We then had a pair of Garden Warblers, one carrying nesting material. They provided lots of excellent views, circling around us through the bushes & trees. We even had a brief wing-quivering display.

Watching Garden Warblers

A couple of Reed Buntings were using the pond

I then missed a pair of Spotted Flycatchers that were seen coming out of a hole in a wall, and another that had been seen on a fence, I was a bit miffed as it was a bird I haven't yet seen this year. I needn't have worried though as the place turned out to be alive with them. I have no idea how many there were, but there were lots! One pair were paying considerable interest to the spare tyre on the side of an abandoned horse box, maybe they were eyeing it up as a nest site. There were also several Pied Flycatchers, including a pair using a nest box.

We went back to the cars for lunch & whilst we were eating a Cuckoo flew by! Very nice! We then headed  onto Challacombe Down, some of us taking the high route whilst some took the low (there could be a song in there somewhere!).

Lovely views...and the weather wasn't bad either

On the top route we saw a few Wheatears & someone saw a Whinchat, although I missed it. We also saw a Tree Pipit parachute onto the top of a small tree. That was the first one I've ever seen, or should I say the first that I know I've seen. A Meadow Pipit also appeared which was handy for comparing the two. There isn't a lot of difference, although having them both there it was quite obvious which was which.

The splinter groups converge

We had fantastic views of a Cuckoo perching on the tops of small trees & a fence. Someone said that there's always a Tree Pipit in a particular dead tree, well nearly always....... I asked to be shown the tree anyway so I'd know where to look in the future, & blow me down if one didn't parachute down and land in it whilst we were all looking at it. It then gave us a great display, repeatedly climbing & parachuting down again onto various trees.

The Tree Pipit tree is just visible in the centre on the skyline

Some of the group headed back to the cars, and some of us carried on for a walk through the Soussons Down woods. We found several Siskins, heard & very briefly saw a Blackcap & Whitethroat, and saw another gorgeous male Redstart, but there wasn't much activity.

Heading back having added 11 species....

We were nearly back to the cars, walking parallel to a small stream that was largely hidden by bushes, when David mentioned that you'd have to be really lucky to spot a Dipper. About 10 seconds later a Dipper flew past! What's more, it then flew back the other way! A very nice bird to finish on. That made it 46 for the day, with 2 added to my Year List, making it 188 + 2