USA 2023 - Las Vegas Birding

Friday 7 April 2023

American Avocet - Henderson NV

When we decided on a Las Vegas stopover, I'd assumed that there would be little (or no) wildlife interest in the desert city. I was wrong. Some online research pointed me to a birding oasis in the nearby city of Henderson, less than half and hour's drive from the Strip. 

I arrived at the entrance of the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve (below) just after opening time at 7am. A few cars were parked there; the local birders had beaten me to it.

Henderson Bird View Preserve NV - entrance

Like many great birding locations, the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve occupies a complex of sewage treatment ponds. It was set up as a partnership between the city and volunteers, including the local Audubon Society. To say that the surrounding land has little wildlife value would be an overstatement; it has NO wildlife value, being a mix of sand, gravel and development projects. But all that changes when you move inside the reserve fence.  It is no exaggeration to say that there were birds all over the place: on the ponds, over the ponds, in the bushes and on feeders near the Visitor Centre. More details about the reserve, including a site map, can be found here (opens in new window).

One of the ponds at Henderson NV

Viewing screen at Henderson NV

The action started as soon as I stepped out of the visitor centre, with a bird feeder that was festooned with birds, both on the feeder itself and on the ground below.  But my eyes were first drawn to … a rabbit – a Desert Cottontail (below), which is the main cottontail species in the western USA.

Desert Cottontail - Henderson NV

The cottontail was sharing the fallen seed with Mourning Doves and female Red-winged Blackbirds (one can be seen behind the bunny). These are strikingly different to their male counterparts, which weren't around. Very strange. I was mulling this over when a large hawk materialised out of nowhere and zoomed past the feeder, scattering the blackbirds. There were two possible candidates, Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, that look very similar. From its larger size, I’m happy that this bird was a Cooper’s Hawk.

A small bird flew into a bush next to the feeder: it was a Verdin (below), one of my target species for this leg of the holiday.

Verdin - Henderson NV

This is a male Verdin: note the rufous shoulder patch (lesser coverts) as well as the yellow head. Verdins are a bit of an anomaly: they are the sole representative of the Penduline Tit family (Remizidae) in the Americas. A desert-dwelling species, their range extends from east California to west Texas, and down into Mexico. 

In a nearby bush was a Audubon’s Warbler (below). This is a first winter bird – brownish with a pale throat. Audubon's Warbler was previously a subspecies of the familiar Yellow-rumped Warbler, but it has now been elevated to the rank of full species - as has its counterpart the Myrtle Warbler. (This has given me an 'armchair tick': never the most satisfying birding experience, but nobody turns them down!). 

Audubon's Warbler (1st w) - Henderson NV

For completeness, here (below) is an Audubon's Warbler in full adult plumage, also from Henderson. There were a lot of them around. The reserve at Henderson is obviously a magnet for migrant birds.

Audubon's Warbler (adult) - Henderson NV

The visitor centre hummingbird feeders were busy. Seeing any hummingbird is a thrill for this UK-based birdwatcher. While several species are possible at Henderson, all of the ones this morning were Anna’s Hummingbirds (below), the same as we had seen on the coast. Hummingbirds can be awkward to identify - partly due to their speed of movement, but also because their iridescent plumage can show different colours with different lighting. This is shown by the two photos below, which I think are of the same bird. The red throat (gorget) and crown, coupled with the grey breast, identify it as Anna’s Hummingbird.  

Anna's Hummingbird - Henderson NV

Anna's Hummingbird - Henderson NV

Turning my attention to the water, I scanned through the scatter of ducks bobbing around on the nearest pond (pond 1). These were: Ruddy Ducks, Shovelers, Buffleheads and my first Redhead (below).

Redhead - Henderson NV

Distinguished from Canvasback by the blue (and non-tapered) bill with a black tip, Redheads look very like ‘our’ (Common) Pochard but with a brighter colour to the head and a more distinct forehead.

Comparing images of the three species, Common Pochard almost looks like an intermediate between Canvasback and Redhead. Also here was a Common Gallinule, which has been split from ‘our’ Common Moorhen, but looks very much the same. Zipping over the water were hirundines that, at first sight, looked like Sand Martins. In fact, they were Northern Rough-winged Swallows, which have a brown (not white) throat.

I walked on to pond 8, which was where most of the waders (shorebirds) were hanging out. 

Black-necked (Black-winged) Stilt - Henderson NV

The morning light wasn't ideal for photography, but I had a go - see the American Avocet at the start of this post and the Black-necked Stilt (above). In assembling my world bird list I use the HBW/Birdlife International Checklist, which does me no favours with the stilts: Black-necked (Americas) and White-headed (Australia) are both lumped with Black-winged Stilt, even though they can be easily separated visually. All of them share the over-long reddish legs and dagger-like bill, though.

Lesser Yellowlegs - Henderson NV

A single Lesser Yellowlegs (above) - note the smaller size and mainly unbarred belly - was stalking around the avocets and stilts on pond 8, while on pond 4 next door, these Long-billed Dowitchers (below) were busily feeding; Henderson sits on the edge of their breeding and wintering areas, so these guys were probably on passage north.

Long-billed Dowitchers - Henderson NV

The waders were all well and good, but what I really wanted to see were some desert specialists, and the gravel path between ponds 4 and 8 obliged with a pair of Gambel’s Quails. The first pair that I came across were quite mobile, legging it quickly away from me (and who can blame them?). Not a great photo, as a result.

A pair of Gambel's Quails - Henderson.

But at the eastern corner of pond 8, a male gave me a closer view (below).

Gambel's Quail (male) - Henderson NV

While Gambel’s Quails look very much like their Californian Quail cousins, the ranges of the two species hardly overlap, so confusion is unlikely. Gambel’s Quail is a common desert resident with limited distribution in the south-western states and part of northern Mexico. Las Vegas is right on the edge of the species’ range. So, a good bird to see – neat, and almost comical with its drooping head plume. I was very pleased. Like many quails and partridges, Gambel’s Quails are often found in groups (coveys): apparently, these can contain up to 16 birds, although the ones at Henderson were mainly in pairs. The breeding season was upon us.

A series of exotic sounding whistles were coming from a patch of reeds at the corner of pond 8. The source was this displaying Great-tailed Grackle (below). He had an audience of at least two admiring (possibly) females, who are just about visible down in the reeds on the right.

Great-tailed Grackles - male (displaying) and female (bottom right) - Henderson NV

Within the USA, Great-tailed Grackles have shown a wide and speedy range expansion across the central and south-western states since the late 1800s, starting from southern Texas and following the development of urban areas. There were a couple on the roof of our Las Vegas hotel next morning.

Looking west towards central Las Vegas from Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve NV

The panorama above, looking over pond 8, shows the tower blocks of the Strip with the mountains behind, admittedly foreshortened by the 400 lens. Just to the right of the hotels you can just make out a range of low brick-red hills. This is Red Rock Canyon, which will be the subject of my next blog post.

Pond 9 contained a good range of waterfowl, including these Ring-necked Ducks (below).  

Ring-necked Ducks - Henderson NV

I’ve seen some vagrant Ring-necked Ducks in the UK (for example at RSPB Radipole Lake in Dorset), but these were my first in their native range. And very smart they are too.  The species is strictly North American, and Henderson is well out of the usual breeding area, so these birds were either wintering here or on passage. Also on the pond were a pair of Cinnamon Teals and plenty of Shovelers. It was odd to see such a mix of familiar and (to me) exotic species on the same pond.

Ruddy Duck (male) - Henderson NV

Back on pond 1 a Ruddy Duck drake (above) had drifted into view – much closer than the ones at Moss Landing.  Also North American, this species ranges down as far as northern Nicaragua and the big Caribbean islands (its scientific species name is jamaicanesis). Once a familiar sight on UK wetlands, it has now been (almost) completely eradicated from our side of the Atlantic. But that's a separate story.

It was time to return to the family, who had enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at our hotel on the Strip. But we were soon on the road again, heading for Red Rock Canyon.

To be continued ...  

USA 2023 - Elephant Seals (and more) at Aňo Nuevo CA

Monday 3 April 2023

Chilled out Elephant Seal - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

North of Santa Cruz, the Pacific coast becomes surprisingly wild and undeveloped, - unexpected, given how close you are to San Francisco and the cities of the Bay area. Inland, the hills were blanketed by the remains of Redwood forests that had been hit by massive fires the previous year. Luckily, the coastal heathlands had been largely spared, but the charred skeletons of trees on the nearby hills (below), were a sobering reminder of the effects of climate change on these fragile habitats. Most of the state park lies inland from the coast road, but our interest lay in its coastal section – and, especially, the Elephant Seals. I'll get to them shortly.  

Last year's fire damage on the hills behind Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

We checked in at the visitor centre, housed within old barns dating from the area’s use as a dairy farm up until the Second World War, before heading off on the trail to the headland. The northerly wind was  strong and cold. Most birds were keeping their heads down. An Anna’s Hummingbird balanced precariously on a bush and about 20 Surf Scoters bobbed around offshore. The small pond produced Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck, Eared Grebe and Mallard, with a few Tree Swallows zooming and diving over the water and a Northern Harrier flying by. My first Calfornia Thrasher, a brown bird with a downcurved bill, perched on a bush before diving into a sea of scrub with a flash of rufous underwings. Too fast for a photo.

Coast at Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Views opened up towards the sea. A few Brown Pelicans were perched on a rock, with a Western Gull, and a lone Pigeon Guillemot sat on the water. On the Pacific coast, this marks the northern end of the year-round range of Brown Pelicans, although they travel further north in the breeding season. As if to pre-empt the day’s main mammal event, there was a single Sea Otter floating in the bay doing very little, in true Sea Otter fashion. (See my previous blog post here about California Sea Otters).

A few Mule Deer, called Black-tailed Deer here (a race of Mule Deer found in California's Coastal Ranges), had found a sunny and sheltered spot near the trail. 

Mule (Black-tailed) Deer - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

At this point on the trail, there is a small ranger post with a volunteer warden (or docent - not a word that I'd heard before). We offered to show our permits (obtained from the visitor centre) but he waved us aside saying "If you've made it this far, that's good enough for me". We had a quick look at his impressive collection of seal skulls: fully grown Elephant Seals are massive.

We were now approaching the Elephant Seal beaches ...

Elephant Seal signage at Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

This sign looks suitably dramatic, but we knew that we wouldn’t be seeing any of the big male Elephant Seals here; they arrive on the beaches in December and are usually gone by mid-March at the end of the breeding season. The good news is that there are other Elephant Seals at Aňo Nuevo all year round, so our visit wouldn’t be wasted. Near to South Point the trail climbed a big sand dune; we took a branch off to the left, which ended by a beach that was littered with around 100 recumbent cylinders of blubber - some of which are shown below. 

First sight of the Elephant Seals at Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Strictly, these are Northern Elephant Seals Mirounga angustirostris, one of the 'true seals'. (There is a short discussion about true seals and eared seals/sea lions in my previous post about California Sea Lions here - opens in new window.) At their largest, the males can reach 5 metres in length, which is big enough but shorter than the other Mirounga species, the Southern Elephant Seal. In conservation terms, Northern Elephant Seals are doing well. Numbers are increasing; from as low as 100 individuals in the 1890s the latest IUCN population estimate is now around 110,000.

Juvenile Elephant Seal - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Most of the Elephant Seals on this beach were juveniles, or ‘weaners’, as the warden called them. Females give birth in early December; this part of the park is closed for a fortnight then. The pups grow rapidly from their mothers’ milk (one pup per female); weaning starts brutally in February when the females leave the beaches in search of food for themselves (the males have already gone). The pups then learn to swim and feed from the beaches when the adults have departed.  

Elephant Seal coming into the beach - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Elephant Seal in search of a place to snooze - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

But there were a few older seals on the beaches as well. Jumping slightly ahead, when we got round to Bight Beach, a larger subadult seal swam close in. Signs of moulting fur were clearly visible on its head (below).

Elephant Seal in moult - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Even better, from Bight Beach we got a distant view of two young males squaring up to each other at North Point (below), practicing for future adult conflicts.

Elephant Seal (practice?) aggression -  Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Marvellous encounters, despite the absence of the big adult males. And it’s good to know that these seals are still protected (by state law and the Marine Mammal Protection Act 1972), and obviously valued by wardens and visitors alike. 

From South Point to Bight Beach we were walking straight into the biting wind. A Northern Harrier drifted over the dunes (below). I’ve come across a few of these in the USA, and they are certainly a lot more common than Hen Harriers are back in the UK. The two species were only split relatively recently. This image shows the distinctive white rump, as well as the famous V-shaped wing profile, although harriers can display a range of shapes in different types of flight.

Northern Harrier - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Bight Bay was as memorable for its reptiles as its seals. With hindsight, this was an ideal day to see them, as they were seeking out suitable basking spots to combat the chilly wind. Two enthusiastic wardens (docents) showed us a beautifully marked snake lying next to the boardwalk in the cover of a bush - a Western Terrestrial Garter Snake Thamnopis elegans (below), specifically the Coast Garter Snake T.e.terrestris subspecies.  

Western Terrestrial Garter Snake Thamnopis elegans - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

At the time, the docents said that it was a San Francisco Garter Snake Thamnopis sirtalis tetrataenia, one of 12 identified subspecies of the Common Garter Snake, and I duly noted it down as such. But checking my field guide later on, and looking at the excellent California Herps website (link here - opens in new window) it is clear that this couldn't be the case. San Francisco Garter Snakes have red, not green, heads. The moral of the tale: don't believe everything you're told. But, in fairness, Garter Snakes are very variable.

Thankfully, there was no doubt about the next reptile - a Western Fence Lizard Sceloporus occidentalis (below) sitting on the side of the boardwalk.

Western Fence Lizard Sceloporus occidentalis - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

The lizard was the second of the morning - one had scuttled off the boardwalk as we approached Bight Beach and I had been frustrated not to get a good view. This one was more obliging, although I later found that all of my images were out of focus - poor! The Western Fence Lizard is California's most common lizard; the California Herps website says: "Chances are good if you see a small lizard sitting on a rock or fence or other object and you are anywhere in California (except the very high mountains or in the deserts) this is the lizard you are looking at." I guess that the clue's in the name! Like the garter snakes, Western Fence Lizards have been subdivided into a number of subspecies; there are useful range maps on the California Herps website. This one was a Coast Range Fence Lizard S.o.bocourtii, which is a Californian endemic.  

With that, we retraced our route to the visitor centre. Two Whimbrels (below) had landed on a beach just south of the pond.

Whimbrels (record photo) - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

A bit of botanising revealed this lovely Blue-eyed Grass Sisyrincium bellum in flower (below), one of a number of Sisyrinciums found in California. A member of the Iris family, it is mainly found along the coast, but also in some upland locations. Beautiful.

Blue-eyed Grass Sisyrincium bellum - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Back at the car park, a Western Scrub-Jay had appeared on a picnic table, a sign that it was getting near to lunch time.

Western Scrub-Jay - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

And a close Turkey Vulture fly-by was the final bird encounter of our visit to Aňo Nuevo. You don't get birds like this at picnic areas in the UK.

Turkey Vulture - Aňo Nuevo State Park CA

Reference

Behler, J.L. and King, F.W. (1979) National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Reptiles and Amphibians. New York: Alfred A Knopf.

  

USA 2023 - Monterey Bay Birding (part 3) - Elkhorn Slough

 Sunday 2 April 2023 (cont'd)

Acorn Woodpecker - Elkhorn Slough CA

This is the fifth, and final, post from a memorably fulfilling day of watching birds and marine mammals on California's Monterey Bay. It is the third about birds - the first two are here and here.

Just up the river from the fishing (and whale-watching) port of Moss Landing is Elkhorn Slough. The reserve's full title is a bit of a mouthful - the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. The Elkhorn Slough Foundation's website provides much more information about the site - the link is here (opens in a separate window). The protected area at Elkhorn Slough includes a salt marsh, the estuary, grassland and oak woodland, so there's a good range of habitats to explore along a network of trails. 

It was now mid-afternoon. We parked at the visitor centre and, after a quick chat with a ranger, decided that there was enough time to walk the two mile South Marsh Loop. A Northern Harrier floated over as we followed the trail down the hill and headed for the mudflats.

Willet - Elkhorn Slough CA

This Willet (above) was foraging near to the trail, a common wader (shorebird) of the Americas. In the western USA it mainly winters on the coast and breeds inland. My only previous encounter with the species was on Trinidad in the Caribbean, where a lone bird was over-wintering in Trindad's Caroni Swamp. (I have to admit that, at the time, I was more excited by the spectacular Scarlet Ibis roost.)

Willets are large and distinctive waders with somewhat anti-social tendencies - you often only see one by itself. There isn't really an Old World equivalent, which is not something that you can say about the next wader that we came across.

Long-billed Curlew - Elkhorn Slough CA

My first Long-billed Curlew (above) was also probing the mud next to the boardwalk. Like most curlews, Long-billeds are declining in numbers, although the species is still classed ‘least concern’ by the IUCN. The bill of this individual is disproportionately long, but not quite as dramatic as the illustration in Sibley, which led me to wonder at first whether this might be a Whimbrel. It’s clearly not, of course: the bill of the Whimbrel is markedly more stubby, and Whimbrels also have a light stripe through their dark crown. This does not. Also note the buff tinge on the belly.

I like curlews, particularly ‘our’ (Eurasian) species, the cry of which transports me to the rocky coasts and open moorlands of Scotland and the north of England. It is tragic that so many curlew species are endangered – or, indeed, extinct. Worldwide, eight species of curlew are identified in the HBW/Birdlife International Checklist. In terms of the IUCN Red List, only three are considered to be at the lowest conservation threat level - 'least concern’ - (Whimbrel, Long-billed and Little), while two (Eurasian and Bristle-thighed) are ‘near threatened’ and one is ‘endangered’ (Far Eastern). Even worse, Slender-billed Curlew is ‘critically endangered’ and Eskimo Curlew is ‘critical, probably extinct’. Bearing in mind that the last confirmed sighting of an Eskimo Curlew was in 1963, even that assessment looks unduly optimistic. But I suppose that you never know.

Together with the godwits, curlews seem to be particularly prone to problems, perhaps more so than any other group of waders. I'm not entirely sure why. An impressive analysis of the threats facing the group (Pearce-Higgins et al. 2017) doesn't provide a definitive answer to that question, but it does point the finger at some possible factors. First, some curlew species have (or had) fairly restricted breeding ranges. Second, they have relatively large body sizes and low breeding rates, and are therefore reliant on high annual survival rates. As a result, they are especially vulnerable to land use changes that have reduced the availability of suitable habitat. This has been a particular problem along some migration routes, notably the East Asian - Australian flyway. Graeme Appleton has written a good blog on this in his Wader Tales series (link here - opens in new window).

Although Long-billed Curlews are migratory, they don't travel as far as some of their more endangered cousins. As well as west coast USA, they also overwinter in Mexico; breeding takes place inland in western North America. 

According to the IUCN Red List website (link here - opens in new window) the main threat facing the Long-billed Curlew is the conversion of grassland into agriculture, with sea level rise being a longer-term concern due to loss of coastal wintering habitat. Protecting sites like Elkhorn Slough is therefore a real priority.

California Poppy - Elkhorn Slough CA

A grassy slope above the mudflats was dotted with California Poppies Eschscholzia californica (above). It’s the state flower of California, but is not endemic to the state; its range extends from Washington (state) down to Baja California, as well as the south-western states of Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. California Poppies can flower in large numbers. A few days later (near Mojave CA) we were to see hills tinted orange with their blooms.

Crossing a footbridge over a side creek, we followed the trail towards the woodlands. Our route passed between two ponds. On the first, a pair of Cinnamon Teal (below) looked marvellous, the male shining in the afternoon sunshine like a well varnished garden fence. These ducks are found from western Canada right down to Patagonia, although they seem to avoid Brazil for some reason. 

Cinnamon Teal pair - Elkhorn Slough CA

This was a new species for me, as was a Canvasback on the other pond, which was accompanied by several Buffleheads and a Lesser Scaup. Canvasback is one of two orange-headed American ducks that at first sight look similar to the Common Pochard of Eurasia, the other being the Redhead - which I was to encounter a few days later in Nevada. Of the two, Canvasbacks are bigger, and have black (not blue-grey) bills with a ‘sweeping’ bill profile that continues its sloping forehead. My record photo is too poor to share here! 

I was so excited about the ducks that, at first, I failed to spot what turned out to be my favourite bird of the holiday - an Acorn Woodpecker (below - and photo at the head of this blog post), another first for me.

Acorn Woodpecker - Elkhorn Slough CA

In all, we saw four Acorn Woodpeckers, climbing on and flying around some dead trees where the tidal water lapped up to the woodland edge. With their striking head pattern – you can't avoid saying ‘clown-like’ – Acorn Woodpeckers have a real ‘wow’ factor. This is a male, with an all-red crown. They occur in oakwoods in the western USA and Mexico, as well as parts of Central America down to Colombia. As we saw at Elkhorn Slough, Acorn Woodpeckers store many (many!) acorns by jamming them into holes in tree trunks. They are territorial, defending these stores (‘granaries’) against squirrels and jays – as well as other Acorn Woodpeckers. 

Acorn Woodpecker 'granary' - Elkhorn Slough CA

We walked into the wood. The dominant species here was Coast Live Oak Quercus agrifolia (below).  

Coast Live Oak Quercus agrifolia - Elkhorn Slough CA

Why it’s called “Live Oak” beats me, but the “Coast” bit distinguishes it from Interior Live Oak Q. wislizeni which, as is so often the case in natural history, is confusingly similar. Our location at Elkhorn Slough clearly indicated the coastal species, but the ID can be reinforced by two characteristics.  First, these trees had no acorns.  Interior Live Oak acorns take two years to mature, so brown acorns will usually be present behind the new foliage. Second, the leaves of Interior Live Oaks usually have five or more veins, more closely spaced than those of the coastal species, which have five or fewer.  Zooming in on this photo, I’m not seeing more than five veins on any leaf.

Red-tailed Hawk - Elkhorn Slough CA

Soaring over the woodland was a Red-tailed Hawk (above). You can just make out the dark head and the dark marks on the leading edge of its wings, useful ID features in flight.

Coming round a corner, we were surprised to see a Great White Egret (below) standing on the trail. It looked startled as well, flying off with a few massive wingbeats. Down by the side of the water, a Spotted Sandpiper was foraging on the mud, its tail bobbing up and down, while an Orange-crowned Warbler flicked around in the nearby bushes.  

Great White Egret - Elkhorn Slough CA

Walking back up to the visitor centre, which was already closing up for the afternoon, a ghost-like White-tailed Kite (below) treated us to a close fly-by, signing off a farewell to this diverse reserve.

White-tailed Kite - Elkhorn Slough CA

References

Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Brown, D.J., Douglas, D.J., Alves, J.A., Bellio, M., Bocher, P., Buchanan, G.M., Clay, R.P., Conklin, J., Crockford, N. and Dann, P. (2017). 'A global threats overview for Numeniini populations: synthesising expert knowledge for a group of declining migratory birds.' Bird Conservation International, 27(1), pp.6-34. (link to pdf here - opens in new window)

Sibley, D. (2003) Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America. London: Christopher Helm.

 

Dartmoor Birding - Pied Flycatchers and more

Saturday 20 April 2024

Pied Flycatcher (male) - Yarner Wood

This morning saw my annual pilgrimage to sample the birdwatching delights of Dartmoor. First stop was the East Dartmoor National Nature Reserve (NNR) (you can download the reserve leaflet is here), which includes two habitats for the price of one. Yarner Wood is an ancient oak woodland, hosting a good range of bird species including a few species that are difficult to track down in Dorset - as breeding birds, at least. (While it's good to see birds passing through on migration, it's even better to see them in their proper breeding habitat.) Outside the wood lies Trendlebere Down, an area of heathland rising towards Hay Tor which is dotted with birch trees and the odd pine. 

I am very aware of the potential for disturbance to nesting birds. As it happens, none of those described in this blog are currently subject to specific protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (link here - opens in new window), but that doesn't mean that one shouldn't be careful when observing them in the vicinity of their nest. This morning, most birdwatchers kept a reasonable distance (having decent optics obviously helps), but a few people did get too close, and some heated words were exchanged (not by me, I hasten to say).

So, my first highlight was watching a pair of Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers that had excavated a couple of nest holes in a dead tree near to the woodland edge. Typically, the birds were being elusive. However, some characteristic drumming announced the arrival of the male - this is a much quieter sound than the drumming of a Great Spotted Woodpecker, but the bursts of noise last a bit longer. It took me a while to get a decent view; both male and female were present, but they tended to stay high in the trees. On two occasions the male and female converged on the same branch; it looked as if they were mating. If so, the pair was probably not at the egg incubation stage. However, the male did fly down to a lower tree (briefly) and I was able to snatch a couple of record photos - at a distance, so poor quality I'm afraid. The red cap of the male is just about visible, as is the barred back. 

Lesser Spotted Woodpecker (male) (record photo) - East Dartmoor

While I have come across Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers on the continent (notably in France), I am embarrassed to say that this is my first home grown UK encounter. Better late than never, I suppose. But this was a bonus - my main aim of the morning was to watch Pied Flycatchers. Visiting Yarner Wood, you would never know that this is a rare, restricted and declining UK species. They were all over the place, thanks to the provision of many nest boxes. Pied Flycatchers will readily use these, in fact they seem to prefer them to natural tree cavities. The males were particularly showy - see the photos at the top of this post and below.

Pied Flycatcher (male) - Yarner Wood

There were good views of several females as well.

Pied Flycatcher (female) - Yarner Wood

Pied Flycatcher (female) - Yarner Wood

I was lucky to bump into Malcolm Burgess (RSPB/University of Exeter), who was carrying out a survey of Pied Flycatchers in the wood. He has co-authored a number of papers on the species, seeking to examine the reasons for its declining numbers. Not that declining numbers were apparent here; he told me that there are around 60 pairs in Yarner Wood alone. A key finding of a recent study (see reference below) is that the most important factors affecting Pied Flycatcher populations occur away from the breeding areas - which means either in wintering locations or during migration. There does not seem to be a mismatch between the timing of Pied Flycatchers arriving in the UK and the availability of food resources that has been found in some other species.

On that subject, the East Dartmoor NNR leaflet says that Yarner Wood is "famous for its Pied Flycatchers, Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and Wood Warblers". Well, I haven't seen or heard Wood Warblers here for several years, and the sad fact is that they seem to have deserted the wood completely. The leaflet needs to be updated. There is no general consensus about why this is the case, and apparently this is something that Malcolm is studying at the moment. But food availability may well be  a factor. The decline in Wood Warblers applies right across southern Britain. 

Other birds seen in Yarner Wood included Chiffchaff, Bullfinch, Song Thrush (below), Mistle Thrush and Goldcrest, as well as the more common usual suspects. Unusually, I couldn't track down any (Common) Redstarts. However, after a useful chat with a local birdwatcher, I hatched a back-up plan - see below.

Song Thrush - Yarner Wood

But before leaving Yarner Wood, I explored an adjacent area of heathland and quickly came across a Tree Pipit singing in a pine. Although the song is distinctive, I find Tree Pipits tricky to visually distinguish from Meadow Pipits, which are also present on the East Dartmoor heathlands. The fine flank streaks and white belly are a useful features, however.

Tree Pipit - Yarner Wood

Also here were a couple of Willow Warblers, a Stonechat and a nicely perched Linnet.

Linnet - Yarner Wood

My back-up plan to locate Redstarts involved a short drive up past Hay Tor - busy on this fine Saturday morning - to Devon Wildlife Trust reserve at Emsworthy Mire. (The DWT reserve information is here - opens in new window). As I parked, I could hear a Cuckoo calling.  A quick look over the moor suggested where it might be ...

As it happens, none of these people were close to the Cuckoo, which was well away on the other side of the wall. I settled for a poor record photo at distance (below). What was bothering the Cuckoo however were a number of Meadow Pipits that, with good reason, had taken exception to its presence on the moor.

Cuckoo (record photo) - Emsworthy Mire

I walked down into the reserve, where the highlights were a single Wheatear and no fewer than three Common Redstarts - all males and all very active, perching on trees and the low stone walls. They are simply sensational birds, especially when their colours are highlighted by the spring sunshine. 

Common Redstart - Emsworthy Mire

Common Redstart - Emsworthy Mire

Back up by the road, I ended the day with a close view of a male Stonechat, a typical resident of the Dartmoor heathlands.

 

Stonechat - Emsworthy Mire

 

Reference

Nater, C.R., Burgess, M.D., Coffey, P., Harris, B., Lander, F., Price, D., Reed, M. and Robinson, R.A. (2023). 'Spatial consistency in drivers of population dynamics of a declining migratory bird.' Journal of Animal Ecology, 92(1), pp.97-111.