www.devonbirds.org The Devon Birds newsletter October 2015 Keep an eye out for Yellow-browed Warblers (Photo: Alan Doidge. Drawing: Mike Langman) Welcome George Harris, Chairman September ended with a very pleasant long run of dry sunny weather which helped very late broods of House Martins to feed up their young with some reported still in the nest at the end of the month. It is a really exciting time though; there has been some spectacular visible migration in late September and early October with many reports of large numbers of Swallows and House Martins on the move. In recent weeks there has been an irruption of Siskin and more recently we’ve heard that large numbers of Coal Tits are also on the move. We understand from the BTO that this autumn has seen the largest arrival of Yellow- browed Warblers for many years so it is well worth keeping a look out for this small warbler. 4 October hailed the arrival of the first Black Redstart on Lundy, so the weeks ahead certainly look promising. Now is also a good time to look and listen for the first winter thrushes. We have already had a report of a Redwing feeding on rowan berries in a member’s garden on 5 October. It won’t be too long before the first Bramblings of the season begin to appear. I would also like to remind members about our joint major conference on Friday 6 November with well-known speakers giving us their thoughts and ideas on “A Better Future for Devon’s Birds”. Tickets have sold extremely fast but there are still some seats available so don’t delay, book now through the website or follow instructions later in this Harrier. All the speakers have access to the seven years of data being used to create the new Devon Birds’ Atlas and they will be focussing attention on what we can do about those in serious decline in Devon as well as applauding some newcomers since the Sitters Breeding Atlas in 1988. news Devon Bird Atlas – progress report It is an almost universal rule that books take longer to complete than predicted. The Atlas is no exception. We, the Editors, want to be sure that all is as good and correct as we can possibly make it. As I write, all the species accounts are complete and typeset, and the introductory chapters are receiving their final edit before typesetting. The book should be ready to go to the printers before the end of October for delivery by the end of January and hopefully earlier. It will be well worth the wait! Stella Beavan and Mike Lock Left: A species account page from the new Devon Bird Atlas. This is without doubt the most important contribution to our understanding of the distribution and abundance of birds in the county for three decades. More on Willow Tits later in The Harrier. Devon Bird Atlas – facts and stats • Breeding and wintering birds • Covers the period from winter 2007 to summer 2013 • 500pp approx • Covers 480 species and subspecies • Full colour maps and photos • Foreword by HRH Prince Charles • Introduction by Humphrey Sitters • Cover artwork by Mike Langman Initial offer price £36.99 or £30 if collected at a Devon Birds event Available from www.devonbirds.org - go to Shop. news A Better Future for Devon’s Birds ONE-DAY CONFERENCE • 6 NOVEMBER 2015 • EXETER RACECOURSE LAST CHANCE TO BOOK ONLY A FEW TICKETS LEFT Stephen Moss (l), well-known naturalist, author and broadcaster will give the keynote speech at the conference. He will be joined in the morning session by Martin Harper (r), RSPB’s Conservation Director, who will talk about the challenges of species conservation. Last minute preparations are being made for the Conference on 6 November titled, A Better Future for Devon’s Birds. It is co-hosted by Devon Birds and the Dartmoor Preservation Association. The Conference aims to make an important contribution to the conservation of birds in the county. It is the first time that Devon Birds has organised such a prestigious event that has attracted speakers from national and local conservation organisations. And for everyone who contributed towards the new Devon Bird Atlas, it will be the first opportunity to hear about the current status of many of the most important bird species in the county. It probably won’t come as a surprise that there’s more bad news than good. Nightingales lost; Golden Plover, lost as a breeding bird; Curlews down; Lapwing down; Cuckoo down; Skylark down; Yellowhammer down. Little Egret and Goosander up. The question is, what are we going to do about it? Answers will come, we hope, from Stephen Moss, the well-know naturalist and broadcaster, who will give the keynote speech. Martin Harper, the RSPB’s Conservation Director, will talk about species-level conservation. Harry Barton of Devon Wildlife Trust will tell us about the landscape-scale work that DWT is doing. John Varley from Clinton Devon Estates will talk about the balance between conservation and commercial management of large areas in the county. He is joined by fellow Natural England board member, Simon Lyster. Plus, Kevin Bishop from Dartmoor National Park; Professor Charles Tyler, John Walters and Malcolm Burgess. There will be plenty of opportunities for delegates to ask questions and hold to account those on the panel who are tasked with the responsibility for looking after bird conservation in the county and beyond. If you’ve left it to the last minute to buy a ticket, there are just a few left that we have reserved for Devon Birds’ members. But be quick, the Conference is very nearly sold out and we cannot exceed the capacity of the venue. To find out if tickets are available, visit the Devon Birds’ website: www.devonbirds.org or call Fiona Senior at Dartmoor Preservation Association on 01822 890646. 3 news Devon Willow Tit Project Volunteers wanted to help locate our Willow Tits Can you help find our Willow Tits? Numbers have plummeted and the birds aren’t easy to identify. Just the sort of challenge that Devon Birds’ members love. (Photo: Ashley Banwell) Willow Tit is one of our most charismatic and elusive species. It’s not confined to wet woodland but, in Devon at least, that’s its most usual habitat. It is also habitat that has historically disappeared from across the country as it’s been drained and cleared for agriculture. Not suprisingly, the Willow Tit is one of the UK’s fastest-declining species. It has disappeared from many counties and it’s barely holding on in many others. Data that will be published in the new Devon Bird Atlas suggest that the species has suffered much the same fate in our county, showing a precipitous decline in distribution of over 70 per cent in 30 years. It’s just possible that it’s a bird that’s under-recorded. Its habitat is often rather inaccessible; it’s elusive even in areas where it’s known to occur; and, to add to the difficulties, it’s almost impossible to tell apart from Marsh Tit except when it calls. The good news is that we know there are still birds in Devon and that plenty of its preferred habitat still exists. Now Devon Birds has teamed up with Devon Wildlife Trust and the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre (DBRC) to look for the birds. We are currently planning a two-year Willow Tit Project, starting with field work in February and March 2016. Malcolm Burgess is currently finalising the methodology and Fiona Freshney of DBRC will be co-ordinating the work, 4 news liaising with landowners and working with volunteers. The project’s ultimate goal will be to inform and target future conservation and land management advice that will offer long-term protection for this important species. In the first instance, the plan is to visit all the sites in which Willow Tits have been found both in the new Devon Bird Atlas and the former Sitters’ Atlas. There are 190 tetrads in which the birds are now shown to be absent but we want to check if any birds remain. The areas of greatest concentration are the Culm Measures, the county’s Willow Tit hotspot, Dartmoor, where a number of sites have been recently identified, North Devon, where numbers have thinned out markedly and East Devon, where the birds seem to have disappeared. Can you help? We are looking for 50 volunteers who are willing to visit a number of sites over the late winter period. The plan is to identify the birds by using call; fortunately, Willow Tits are very responsive to playback, especially at this time of year. No experience is necessary as training will be given at a number of events we’re planning to hold across the county. All you will need is transport, an mp3 player (or phone that plays calls) and a small speaker (we will recommend an inexpensive one). It helps, of course, if you can identify Willow Tit and Marsh Tit by call but, as they are quite different, that shouldn’t be a problem. At this stage, we are not looking for a firm commitment, just expressions of interest. If you would like to help with this important survey, please send an email to Julia Harris at [email protected] or call Julia on 01822 853785. Willow Tit at its nest, in this case in a larch tree showing that the birds can also be found in young conifer plantations as well as the more usual wet woodland.