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.