DARTMOOR BIRD REPORT 2019 Peter Reay & Fiona Freshney
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Fingle Woods. Woodland owned and managed by a National Trust/Woodland Trust partnership, and the location of ongoing breeding and winter woodland bird surveys. Fiona Freshney DARTMOOR BIRD REPORT 2019 Peter Reay & Fiona Freshney [email protected] [email protected] CONTENTS INTRODUCTION p.2 NOTABLE RECORDS p.3 WEATHER p.3 REFERENCES p.4 PHOTOGRAPHS p.5 INDEX TO SPECIES ACCOUNTS p.7 SPECIES ACCOUNTS p.8 APPENDICES 1. Waterbirds p.26 2. Woodland birds survey data p.27 3. South Brent survey data p.28 4. Nest records. p.29 5. Ringing recoveries. p.30 6. Bird surveys and projects. p.30 7. List of contributors. p.33 1 INTRODUCTION This report, and those for 2015, 2017 and 2018 (Reay & Freshney 2018, 2019 and at https://www.devonbirds.org/files/birdwatching/articles/dartmoor_bird_reports), replace the Dartmoor Bird Report, published from 1996 to 2014 by the Dartmoor Study Group. They relate to the same geographical area covered both by the early reports and The Birds of Dartmoor (Smaldon 2005). This comprises the area within the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) boundary, with the addition of the china clay districts around Lee Moor, Shaugh Moor and Crownhill Down, left out of the National Park designation for political and business reasons. The bulk of the 2019 report comprises species accounts, and supporting appendices summarizing data on water birds, woodland surveys and a parish survey. It also includes an updated summary of current Dartmoor bird projects and surveys (Appendix 4), following on from the more detailed review in Freshney & Reay 2020. In this context it should be mentioned that the Dartmoor bird list has also now been updated to the end of 2019 (Reay & Smaldon 2020). The report aims to provide a summary of birds recorded on Dartmoor in 2019, mostly using records submitted to Devon Birds and assigned to the Dartmoor parent site. It is hoped that the production of the report will encourage more active submission of records and so help create a more complete picture of Dartmoor’s birds in 2020 and beyond. Ideally records should be submitted to Devon Birds (see https://www.devonbirds.org/birdwatching/recording/introduction for guidance on submitting records) but we are also happy to receive any records and information on Dartmoor birds by email, as well as suggestions on how these reports could be improved and more accurately reflect the birdlife of Dartmoor each year. Thanks are due to all those who submitted Dartmoor records to Devon Birds in 2019, and to Kevin Rylands (County Recorder) and Karen Sims (Data Manager) for extracting them for use in this report, and to Kevin for checking through the report. A list of those who submitted records, which can also be used to decipher the observer initial codes used against some records, appears in Appendix 7. We also acknowledge the contributions made by observers who submitted their records solely via BTO’s BirdTrack and those who participated in the various surveys listed in Appendix 6, which have also provided valuable additional records. All are thanked, as are the organisers of these surveys, including the BTO, for providing us with records and survey reports. Finally, we are grateful to those who have enhanced the report by commenting on earlier drafts, and by providing additional records, information, artwork and photographs. Particular use has been made of data from the following multi-species surveys: • Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). Monthly WeBS counts of waterbirds at the main reservoirs, clay pits and two private lakes, together with casual records, have been used to produce monthly maxima for these sites, usually in the form of tables in the species accounts, but see also Appendix 1. The sites comprise: Avon Dam, Burrator, Fernworthy, Hennock, Meldon and Venford reservoirs; Portworthy Mica Dam, ECC Pit Complex and Lower and Upper Shaugh Lakes (the clay pits); Horsham Pond, Manaton; and South Brent Lakes. • Dunsford Woods Breeding Bird Survey (Dunsford). Teign Valley, an important long-running survey started in 1980, and surveyed each year since then by DJP. Numbers of pairs/territories are given for 2019 in Appendix 2, with occasional comments in the species accounts on changes from previous years, as submitted to Devon Birds and included in Price (2020). • Fingle Woods Breeding Bird Survey (Fingle). Teign Valley, first surveyed in 2018 by the current surveyor, TW. The numbers of pairs/territories for 2019 are taken from Williams (2019a) and presented in Appendix 2, with occasional comments in the species accounts. • Fingle Woods Winter Bird Survey (Fingle). Teign Valley, first surveyed in the 2018/19 winter by TW. The number of records (= one or more birds seen at one place on one visit) during the four 2019/20 winter visits are taken from Williams (2020) and presented in Appendix 2, with occasional comments in the species accounts. • Ausewell Woods Breeding Bird Survey (Ausewell). Dart Valley, first surveyed in 2019 by TW. The numbers of pairs/territories for 2019 are taken from Williams (2019b) and presented in Appendix 2. 2 • South Brent Bird Surveys. South Brent parish area, mixed habitats, first surveyed in 2014. The number of monads (1-km) squares in which the main species were recorded during the Jan and/or May surveys of the South Brent Parish Bird Survey are given in Appendix 3. A Garden Bird Survey was also carried out in both 2018/19 and 2019/20 winters and the results from the most recent winter presented in Appendix 3. Results from all surveys can be viewed at and downloaded as Reports from https://brentbirders.wixsite.com/brent-bird-survey and the final article on the survey provides additional information (Brent Birders 2020). • Nest Record Scheme. The main observers submitting nest record data for a range of species were RJH and SMT. Data came from 12 Dartmoor sites, particularly Clearbrook, Goodameavy and Shaugh Prior, and covered 26 species. These are summarized in Appendix 4. • Ringing Scheme. Some ringing recoveries involving Dartmoor sites are given In Appendix 5. NOTABLE RECORDS • Iberian Chiffchaff – second record for Dartmoor • Common Rosefinch – third record for Dartmoor • Species not recorded in 2018: Cirl Bunting, Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Sedge Warbler, Snow Bunting, Whimbrel and Wood Sandpiper • Species recorded in 2018, but not 2019: Goldeneye, Hawfinch, Lesser Whitethroat, Little Owl, Pochard and Water Rail • Record high numbers of Pied Flycatchers and record low numbers of Wood Warbler • Record high numbers of breeding Blackbird and Blackcap, and the first absence of Wood Warblers in 40 years of the Dunsford Wood breeding bird survey • Red-backed Shrike records from three sites, but no indication of breeding • Confirmed breeding records for Dunlin obtained for the first time from trail camera images • Ten-year low in the peak synchronized count of roosting Goosanders • Conclusion of the breeding Snipe survey shows a Dartmoor population that has been relatively stable over the last decade and remains the largest in south-west England, and by far the most abundant of the five species of wader currently breeding on Dartmoor WEATHER The following summary of weather in Devon in 2019 is based on the Devon Bird Report Review of the Year by Mike Lock and Kevin Rylands, mainly derived from www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/summaries. Additional reference has been made to the made to the Met Office overview for 2019 and, to provide Dartmoor context, to the Dartmoor Magazine online review and to Mike Sampson’s weather observations in his report on breeding dunlin (Sampson 2019). The Met Office overview states that 2019 was a year of extremes, with record-breaking heat and rain and notable spells of cold and windy weather. The year began cold and frosty, changing to mild and drizzly before heavy rain and strong winds moved in towards the end of January with a gust of 82 mph recorded at Berry Head. Cold weather returned on 30 January with widespread snow causing disruption. Although still cold at the start of February, with large cold-weather movements of birds, particularly thrushes, the snow melted quickly and what followed was the warmest February since records began. According to the Dartmoor Magazine, it was ‘T- shirt weather’ on Dartmoor. In March, Storms Freya and Gareth brought strong winds and rain but, towards the end of the month, an anticyclone brought more dry, warm settled weather. Although in the south-west the temperatures and rainfall were close to normal, the Met Office Review states that across the UK “it was notably warm for the time of year and over the Easter weekend many weather stations across the UK broke their local April temperature records”. However, trail-cam footage of the blanket bog on Dartmoor shows snow lying on 4 April (MHLS). According to Mike Sampson the breeding season in 2019 was very different from the very dry conditions in 2018, but with much variation over time. From April into May the moor started to dry out but the blanket bog was still wetter than in 2018. June was very wet with so much rain and such depth of water in the bog pools that 3 Dunlin stopped using some of the deep ones after 8 June. Water levels gradually subsided in late June/early July accompanied by a significant increase in temperature and strong winds which began to desiccate the moorland habitats and many bog pools dried-up, before 50 mm of rain on 20 July filled them up again! Rainfall recorded in dip-wells at Cut Hill was 95 mm in April, 58 mm in May, 186 mm in June and 116 mm in July. Although wet, temperatures were close to normal in June, but higher in July, with the Met Office review stating that “July… remembered for the hottest day on record….