Devon Bird Atlas survey

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) are producing a new UK Bird Atlas. Volunteers have surveyed 2 km squares (called Tetrads) between 2007 & 2011 to count birds & check for evidence of breeding. These are known as TTVs (Timed Tetrad Visits).

A few counties, including Devon, are continuing to collect data until 2013. For the Devon Atlas, 4 visits are required, in Jan/Feb, April/May, June/July & Nov/Dec. As some Tetrads in Devon hadn’t been allocated, I volunteered to survey 4, in an area about 6 miles North of Honiton in the Black Down Hills. I’ve never done anything like this before, so it’s new territory in more ways than one.

The instructions include:

•          Visit as many different habitats as possible within a Tetrad
•          Count species during 1 or 2 hours. If counting for 2, keep separate lists for each hour.
•          You can ‘stop the clock’ e.g. to count large flocks or check for signs of breeding.
•         If you see any species in the Tetrad outside of the hour, they can be recorded separately (to confirm their presence)

Today was due to be a bit milder than it has been, so I decided to make a start. Simon & Vera volunteered to come and assist, so we packed lunch & headed off mid morning, making our way to the first area centred on Culm Davy. There are quite a few different habitats in the Tetrad, i.e. orchard, deciduous woodland, coniferous woodland, open ground, a stream & small pond. The footpaths were limited & we didn’t want to over-walk Vera anyway, so I decided to drive between different habitats & make use of the few available footpaths, stopping the clock for the drives between sites. The instructions didn’t say we could do this, but they didn’t say we couldn’t either!

We started on a path that crossed the orchards & open fields, passing a small stream & pond.  I was pleased to see 3 really bright Yellowhammers, a new species for the Year List. Other sightings included 4 Bullfinch, 3 Buzzards, a Raven, a Jay, 4 Fieldfare & a Mistle Thrush.  There were no birds that I could see on the pond, which was mostly hidden by trees.

My 2 assistants in the field!

..and between 2 orchards (V supervising from her basket in the van!)

We then moved to coniferous woodland, which was a pain in the neck, literally. The trees were so tall that it was virtually impossible to see anything in the canopy without incurring an injury. There were lots of birds making high pitched peeps, but I’m not confident enough with sounds to identify them from that alone.

They're up there somewhere.....

On to our last stop, a footpath on the top of a ridge looking down over deciduous woodland. A large flock of birds flew into a tree & I’d just counted the 30 Redwing when Simon called Time. We’d seen 20 species in total, 18 during the hour plus Pheasant & Goldfinch during travel between sites.

A bygone era.....

Lunch break was taken at the end of a footpath in the second Tetrad, which centred on Madford. We parked next to an old lean-to beside a barn & inside was an old cart with spoked wooden wheels. Considering that we appeared to be at a dead-end in the middle of nowhere, it was pretty busy with passing traffic.







We then climbed a really steep set of steps (Vera didn’t like them much) to get to the start of the footpath, only to find that it was completely impassable with a herd of cows, electric fence & quagmire. The Vera Stair-lift (Simon) was called into action & we returned to the van & drove to another path. It was really picturesque, starting beside an old ruined abbey, but after 50 yards we were stopped by a very dog-unfriendly style which even Simon couldn't lift Vera over.

Dunkeswell Abbey

Counting from the curchyard

We watched the fields for a while from the graveyard, then moved on to watch some woods from the road before going to our final site, open fields looking down on a valley & some woods. A great view & quite a few birds, including a large mixed flock of Jackdaws (62), Rooks(28) & Crows (2). One of the Jackdaws had striking white primaries i.e. white patches on its wings. I googled it when we got home & someone had seen & photographed a similar bird in Wokingham in December 2011. I wonder if it was the same bird!

A good spot to scan the fields

In this Tetrad we saw 18 species, 16 during the hour & 2 when the clock was stopped. They included a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Ravens, 21 Fieldfare & 2 Bullfinch. As we walked back to the van Simon commented that it was odd that we hadn’t seen a Buzzard in this Tetrad. As if by magic, a Buzzard landed on the track about 25 yards ahead of us, before flying up when a car came along.

Although we’d actually only counted birds for 2 hours, it had taken so long to find footpaths we could actually park near & walk up that it was gone 3pm. We headed home for Vera’s tea. It had been a fun day exploring an area we wouldn’t have visited otherwise. Simon had aired his binoculars & even admitted to enjoying himself!

Only another 14 TTVs to go!

The Year List race

At the end of last year I decided to start a 2012 UK Year List. I’ve never Year Listed before & thought it may give me an incentive to get out & about more. I mentioned it in passing to Paul, a friend who I’ve been on lots of birding trips with. He said he would keep a list too & suggested that we could use Google Docs to keep both lists & see who could amass the biggest haul. Mary our other birding friend was added to the list & Paul then asked if a few of his buddies could join in. As far as I was concerned, the more the merrier! Dom joined in straight away & Steve has just joined in.

This is a race of skill & experience (Paul, Dom & Steve have been birding forever) versus time (I’m retired so can spend longer in the field). Mary is doubly disadvantaged having started birding just before me about 11 years ago & living in Switzerland! We are fairly widely distributed around the UK, which will undoubtedly affect our lists; Paul lives in Glasgow, Dom in Staines & Steve near Woking.

Up until Dom & Steve’s visit to Hampshire & Sussex last weekend, I had a reasonable lead. Now it’s neck & neck, or rather beak & beak.  Mary hasn’t been over yet this year, but we have a 10 day trip planned from 29^th March, where we’ll wing it & just go where the birds are. We’re also planning another trip for May, so she should manage a decent list. In the meantime, she's the referee.

It’s very early days as yet, so I’m just enjoying my lead whilst it lasts. I have a feeling it won’t be for long!

The current standings are as follows:

Me: 121

Favourites: 2 UK Life ticks Red-throated Diver & Spotted Sandpiper; Black-throated Diver, Red-breasted Goose, Ring-necked Duck, Water Rail, Med Gull, Long-eared Owl, Yellow-browed Warbler, Snow Bunting, Great Grey Shrike.

Dom: 118

Birds that make me jealous: Black-necked Grebe, Cattle Egret, Tundra Bean Goose, Mandarin Duck, Scaup, Temminck’s Stint, Ring-billed, Iceland & Glaucous Gulls; Shore Lark, Spanish Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco

Paul: 97 + 2 Sub species

Birds I wish I had: Whooper  & Bewick’s Swans; Pink-footed, White-fronted & Barnacle Geese; Spoonbill; Great White Egret, Wood Duck, Pectoral Sandpiper, Iceland Gull, Black Guillemot, Twite

Steve: 94

Birds I’m coveting: Cattle Egret, Tundra Bean Goose, Shore Lark, Spanish Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco

Mary: a duck! (but not for long!)

Pipits

For the majority of my birding life, the appearance of a pipit has resulted in an expletive & one of several responses:

1. Pretend I haven't seen it

2. Give it a cursory glance, call it a 'pipity thing' and then ignore it

3. Make a vague attempt to identify it before being distracted by something more interesting (easily done)

4. Grab the Collins, make a determined effort to identify it & offer thanks when it flies off giving me an excuse for not actually figuring out what it is

5. Identify it

Options 1 to 4 are definitely the most common. However, during longer birding trips I normally manage to at least get to grips with Meadow & Rock Pipit, only to find that I’m back to square one when I haven’t been out for a while.

Then we moved to Exmouth & I started making frequent visits to the Otter at Budleigh where it’s wall to wall pipits. It’s impossible to walk along the footpath at the base of the pebble bank without practically standing on a Rock Pipit or 2, with a few Meadow Pipits showing up to demonstrate the differences. At last, I have them sussed! That just leaves the rest of the pipits!

That brings me to yesterday’s trip to Bowling Green Marsh. Although for once I’d actually got my timing right for the tide (I went about 40 mins after high tide & it was a particularly high tide at 4.3m) I hadn’t factored in the sun. It was very bright & low across the main marsh making it difficult to see anything. I had a brief look using the scope, there were hundreds of Wigeon, Black-tailed Godwit & Avocet, large numbers of Teal & Curlew, with a few Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank, Lapwing, Tufted Duck & one sleeping Pintail. Most of the ponds were frozen, so the birds were concentrated in quite a small area of water & on the grass. I decided to give the hide a miss (probably the first time ever!) & carry on round to the Goatwalk where the light may be better. It was, at least looking upstream, but unfortunately there were no birds.

River Exe from the Goatwalk

Back to the viewpoint where there were just a few Black-headed Gulls. I then checked Birdguides to see if there was anything about & discovered that a Water Pipit had been seen from the hide at about the time I was walking straight past it! Fiddlesticks (or words to that effect). The two chaps that had just arrived at the viewpoint hadn’t seen it as it had flown off before they arrived. I decided it was worth a try so headed straight to the hide.

There were quite a few birders with some good optics, so I was quite happy that if it was there someone would spot it. Although I’ve done my homework on Water Pipit, I wasn’t sure if I’d recognise one as they are very similar to Rock Pipit. Someone spotted a couple of Meadow Pipits in the channel to the left of the hide, and then a third Pipit appeared. I got it in the scope & it definitely wasn’t a Meadow Pipit, and it looked much paler than a Rock Pipit, with a nice white breast & ‘clean’ streaks rather than the smudgy ones of a Rock Pipit & it had a rather nice white eye-stripe. Amazingly enough I was happy that it was the Water Pipit & the other birders were all in agreement.  That’s 3 Pipits on the list!

It came as close as the point just above the hedge

I still had an hour before I was due home so I nipped up for a quick look at Matford Marsh. I counted at least 33 snipe gleaming in the sunshine, including several doing impersonations of Torvill & Dean on the ice. I gave them 10/10 for entertainment value. It was only the second time I’ve visited the site & this time I discovered that the path goes to another pond & viewing area which is a bit less noisy (further from the main road) but quieter (less birds). I was surprised to find a mallard asleep in a tree.

Matford Marsh from the roundabout

The other part of the marsh

I'd spent the morning out playing with my new toy whilst Simon was home keeping Vera company. In the afternoon it was his turn to play with his new toy.......

Simon insisted I include his bike in the blog. "Bikes and birds have always gone together", he says.

Year List on 121

Goosanders at dusk

I'd heard that a couple of Goosanders have been coming in to the Otter Estuary at about 4:45pm, staying for about 20 mins, then leaving again. Yesterday I'd been doing jobs about the house all day, so by 4:30 I was ready for some fresh air, exercise & with  a bit of luck, a Goosander or 2.

I dashed over to the White Bridge & headed downstream. I wasn't sure where they usually hang out, so just checked all the way down, unfortunately without success. I decided to have a quick look to see if there was anything out to sea, so dashed up to the front before it got too dark. There was a Great Crested Grebe right ahead of me, then I checked towards the estuary mouth & I was very pleasantly surprised to see a lovely male Goosander. It was so close to the beach that it was soon hidden by the pebbles. It's not easy to walk quietly on a pebble beach, so despite my best efforts it flew before I could get it back in the scope, along with another male & 3 females that had been hidden from view. They flew over the beach & landed further up the estuary.

The beach at the Otter Estuary mouth taken with my phone (I forgot the camera)

I walked back towards the bridge in the twilight, just able to see 2 amazingly bright Mute Swans gliding up the estuary & listening to some eerie noises from the marsh.

Year List now at 120.

Ffffrozen in Budleigh

Yesterday (Wednesday) I went to my second Devon Bird Watching & Preservation Society meeting. This time we met at the White Bridge on the River Otter just North of Budleigh Salterton. I'd looked at the weather forecast & put on my thermals in anticipation of a cold morning. The forecast didn't lie, it was freezing & it wasn't long before I couldn't feel my hands & feet. At least it wasn't raining, or snowing.

On the White Bridge...no sign of the resident Water rail today

We walked South along the estuary, stopping frequently to scan the estuary & the marshy fields the other side. No one was holding out much hope of seeing the Caspian Gull that's been seen there, which was a shame as I was hoping that one of the expert birders in the group would find it & give it to me on a plate (so to speak). We did find a nice Med Gull which is the first I've seen on the Otter.

Down to the front for a quick look out to sea, but the cutting wind chased us off pretty quickly having seen only a shag & a possible Razorbill. Then down to the  path at the bottom of the shingle bank to look for the Snow Bunting that has just returned, having disappeared for a week or so. It was a little more sheltered from the wind than on the top of the bank, but not a lot. There was a false alarm when someone spotted a Reed Bunting, but shortly after it was located feeding on some seeds in a small patch of grass on the bank. At last! I saw one in November, but failed to find it during 3 or 4 attempts this year. It was very obliging , staying put for us all to have a good look. I hadn't realised how big they are until a couple of Reed Buntings joined it for a feed giving us a nice comparison. It was still there when we had to leave to get some feeling back in our extremities.

Admiring the Snow Bunting........

.........ignoring the gulls

We walked back along the footpath that runs along the West side of the reserve. There was quite a lot of activity in the bushes, but I didn't get anything new for my Year List. It was nice to get a much better look at a Chiff Chaff which I'd briefly glimpsed a few weeks ago. In fact there are at least 3 of them overwintering in the hedge next to the road that leads to the White Bridge.

It was a 50 species walk for me, with the Snow Bunting bringing my Year List to 119.

It took the rest of the day to defrost.

Batman & Robin

I dropped Simon off at his weekly art class & then paid a flying visit to Otter estuary with the vague hope of finding the Caspian Gull that had been reported earlier. I'd studied them in the Collins & on my Birdguides App, but I probably still wouldn't recognise one if it landed on me. Then this robin almost did......land on me that is!

"Can I have a look?"

A new spin on Birdwatching.....

Not surprisingly, even with his help, I didn't find the gull.

Meanwhile back at Simon's art class, they had fished a bat out of the sink!

Ducks, a shrike & an anti-aircraft gun!

I set off with the intention of looking for the Ring-necked Ducks at Chard Junction & the Great Grey Shrike in Smeatharpe, but as I had to go almost past Aylesbeare Common, it seemed rude not to stop off there first.

I was last at Aylesbeare Common on 28/12/2001 & I know that as I saw my first Dartford Warbler so it’s marked in my Collins guide. I was hoping to get one today so spent lots of time checking the tops of gorse bushes. I didn’t find one, but I did find at least 70 Fieldfare, 1 Redwing & a Mistle Thrush. I needed the Mistle Thrush for my Year List, so that was the first ‘tick’ with my nice new scope!

1st tick with the new scope on Aylesbeare Common

Then off to Chard Junction in Dorset.  I’d checked the maps of the area & the Birdguides info, so had a fair idea where I needed to be. I found the entrance to the track which is marked as a footpath on the map & parked up. It didn’t seem very promising as I walked past all of the quarry warning notices, I couldn’t even see any water. Then I walked up a small bank through a few newly planted trees & there it was, a body of water which I think was more of a pond than a lake. Straight away I spotted a lovely drake Ring-necked Duck, didn’t even need the scope, although it was a fantastic view with it. The second one then appeared as well.  Superb!!

Track up to East Lake

East Lake for a quick 'tick'

Then across to Upottery Airfield near Smeatharpe, back in Devon. It wasn't far, but it was a bit of a convoluted route & I could have done with a navigator. As I didn’t have one, I had to stop several times to figure out where I was.  It was at this airfield that Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, US 101st Airborne Division boarded Douglas C-47 transport planes to make their first combat jump into Normandy on 6th June 1944 as part of the D-Day invasion. Easy Company was the subject of the Band of Brothers mini-series & Upottery Airfield was used in the filming of the series in 2001. Now all that remains are the runways, a few dilapidated buildings & an anti-aircraft gun!

40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun

One of the Birdguides reports showed a grid reference, so I headed to the ‘road’ that runs along the Western edge of the airfield, which is actually a concrete surfaced track with intermittent vegetation! I parked up for a quick lunch whilst watching the surrounding bushes, then went to speak to a chap that was wandering around with a scope. He said he’d been looking for 2 hrs & was giving up to go home. I decided on a brew before starting on a search, planning to give it about 2 hrs. Considering that most of the country is under snow, it was actually quite mild, but I thought 2 hrs would probably be enough. I sat in the van with my tea & immediately heard a shout.....the chap had just found the shrike! I left my tea & legged it up the track to get a distant but good view.  Great!

Shrike bushes in the mid distance

I drank my tepid tea then set off across the field towards the old airfield buildings as the chap had said that a Little Owl sometimes perches there. Unfortunately there weren’t any owls, but I did find 2 Stock Dove which I needed for the list. A 4 Year-tick day! That puts me on 118.

Old airfield buildings & runway, but no Little Owl

It was still only about 2.45pm, so as there was still some light left I decided to have another go at Aylesbeare Common on my way home.  I had a long walk around the reserve, found quite a lot of birds including a Treecreeper & Goldcrest, but nothing new for the list. A bloke driving through the reserve said that there is only one pair of Dartford Warblers left on the reserve, the rest having been killed off by the harsh winter last year. Not surprising that I didn’t find one then.

As I waited to cross the road back to the van, a large vehicle with flashing amber lights was coming towards me. For some reason I assumed it was a Heavy Recovery vehicle. It was only when it nearly reached me that I realised it was a gritter spreading salt. There was nowhere to go, so I covered my bins & reversed up to the hedge hoping that my new scope would survive. The nice gritter driver must have spotted me cowering in the gloom & kindly stopped spreading until he had passed me. Phew!

I may not have found a Dartford Warbler but I’d had a pleasant walk & worked up a good appetite for the roast dinner that was underway when I got home. Perfect!