Wildlife Review 2024: Birds

A total of 194 species were recorded on site this year (187 in 2023), with 39 species confirmed breeding (36 in 2023), including Tufted Duck for the first time, Sparrowhawk, five pairs of Stonechat, eight pairs of Cirl Bunting, two pairs of Little Grebe and single pairs of Bullfinch and Lesser Whitethroat, the former a welcome return after two missing years.

Tufted Duck 9th June - David Flack

Two new species for the Warren were recorded, Lesser Scaup in Feb and Ortolan Bunting in Sep, both await assessment by the relevant records committees, as do all 2024 records at the time of writing.

With six records, it was an exceptional year for North American waders; the 2nd American Golden Plover and Long-billed Dowitcher, the 3rd & 4th Semipalmated Sandpiper, the 4th White-rumped Sandpiper and the 12th Pectoral Sandpiper.

White-rumped Sandpiper 7th October - Lee Collins

Other rarities included the 2nd records of Common Redpoll, Dusky Warbler and Green-winged Teal, 6th record of Goshawk, 8-9th records of Cory's Shearwater, 14th record of Surf Scoter, 16th record of Whooper Swan and 16-18th records of Caspian Gull.

Caspian Gull 5th October - David Flack

Absentees included Coot, Goosander, Greylag Goose, Redstart and Puffin and it was the first ever year with none of the scarce grebes recorded.

No species were recorded in record numbers, although a joint record was matched with six Spoonbill in Sep. Two other southern herons, Cattle and Great White Egret continued their increase in sightings with Marsh Harrier, and less excitingly, Egyptian Goose having record years.

Conversely numbers of wintering birds in the estuary continue to decline with especially low counts in the second winter.

January

Yet another (un)seaonably warm New Year's Day, with a bright showery start becoming progressive greyer and wetter as the day went on, a total of 72 species were recorded (85 in 2023). This tally included a few lingering scarcities included Cetti's Warbler, Jack Snipe and eight Eider.

Eider 11th January - Alan Keatley

Only Purple Sandpiper of the year flew across the bay on 6th with the first Red Kite and Great White Egret of the year north on 11th followed by the first Spoonbill the next day. The latter lingered until mid Feb and was joined by a second bird on the 18th.

After a blank end to 2023 the first Goldeneye of the winter appeared on 14th with a second next day, when the wintering Dartford Warbler finally revealed itself.

Seawatching towards the end of the month saw over 2,500 auk sp south on 22nd and at least 73 Red-throated Diver SW on 28th, the site's second highest count following 76 on 2nd March 2014.

Despite some cold weather at the end of the month, counts from the estuary remained low with peaks of 1171 Oystercatcher, 166 Bar-tailed Godwit, 177 Grey Plover and 15 Red-breasted Merganser. Offshore Great-crested Grebe peaked at just 49 late month. Scarcer species included a two Avocet early month, a Lapwing on 16th, an Egyptian Goose on 22nd, Water Pipit on 26th with a single Mute Swan on 28th was the 100th species of the year.

Avocet 6th January- Dave Jewell

February

The juvenile Spoonbill remained until the 17th when it was joined by a second individual, with the pair of Goldeneye present until 19th, also lingering the Cetti’s and Dartford Warbler but both remained very elusive. 

Spring was heralded by a small arrival of Meadow Pipit and Stonechat on 4th and the first Mallard ducklings on 11th. A Treecreeper on 9th was presumably also a migrant. The first Little Gull of the year, was foraging close inshore on 10th when a huge, foraging flock of 485 Kittiwake were dispersed across horizon, the Little Gull remained in the estuary for a couple of days.

One of the year’s highlights was found on 11th when the Warren's first record of Lesser Scaup, an immature male, was picked out amongst three Greater Scaup. They were found in the estuary corner late morning, moving along Shutterton Creek on dropping tide, before heading up river just after midday.

Lesser Scaup (2nd bird) 11th February - Lee Collins

After occasional birds at the start of the year Siskin numbers increased during the month with 40 on 7th and 60 on 11th notable but an impressive 124 on 18th was the largest ever winter count at the Warren, the previous best was 100 on 6 Jan 1994.

A pair of Gadwall were present on 15-16th with five Tufted Duck offshore on the latter date. Up to nine Eider remained offshore with a peak of 48 Red-throated Diver on 25th. Elsewhere Firecrest and Water Pipit making occasional appearances.

March

The month began with one of the year’s most exceptional records, a Storm Petrel close in offshore heading SW early morning on the 1st. This was the first Warren record for the period between 11 Jan and 30 Apr. It is also the first March record for Devon.

The first Wheatear made landfall on 10th with spring vis mig the next day including the largest spring passage count of 360 Woodpigeon NNE, also passing 48 Jackdaw, 40 Siskin, 14 Carrion Crow, 12 Rook and a single Chaffinch, Stock Dove and Red Kite.

A second pulse of migration on 16th when the first three Sandwich Tern and another Red Kite appeared with nine Wheatear, the first three Sand Martin of the year, a White Wagtail and a Firecrest the next day.

Wheatear 19th March - Dean Hall

The fourth site record of a White-tailed Eagle from the IoW reintroduction, a 4CY flew NNW on 17th, the previous all between 21st-27th March. No doubt also released, a Red-legged Partridge was seen on 22nd and 31st, right in the 'migration' period for this species on site. A Cetti's Warbler on 23rd was presumably the same elusive bird last recorded on 1st February.

Offshore an immature Black-throated Diver on 25th was the first confirmed record since Oct 2018, with 23 Red-throated Diver, 468 Kittiwake, 378 Gannet and the first 12 Manx Shearwater of the year also heading SW.

The month ended with as usual the first Willow Warbler, two days earlier this year on 26th, less expected was a Semipalmated Sandpiper briefly on the dropping tide the next morning. The third record for the Warren, and although unseasonal the 2009 Western Sandpiper arrived on 8th April.

Semipalmated Sandpiper 26th March - Lee Collins

April

New migrants arrived through the month with first dates including Swallow on 1st, Whimbrel on 2nd, Osprey on 4th, House Martin on 5th, the earliest ever Grasshopper Warbler on 6th, one of three during the month, Whitethroat on 15th, Reed Warbler on 20th, Lesser Whitethroat on 21st, Yellow Wagtail on 25th, Garden Warbler and Swift on 27th and Hobby on 28th.

Whitethroat 16th April - Alan Keatley

Offshore two more unseasonal Storm Petrel on 4th & 9th, with the first Common Tern on 3rd, Arctic Skua on 6th, Little Tern on 7th and Arctic Tern next day. Sandwich Tern passage peaked at 124 on 5th, with a later peak of 62 on 26th, Little Tern was the next most frequent tern. A Black-throated Diver was offshore on 9th, later moving to the estuary and spending several weeks at Topsham.

In the estuary a good movement of 139 Pale-bellied Brent Geese on 12th, with the first notable wader movement of spring on 19th with 54 Ringed Plover, 50 Whimbrel and 47 summer plumaged Dunlin in The Bight, with peaks of 80 Whimbrel on 27th and 56 Bar-tailed Godwit on 22nd.

Scarcities included the only Velvet Scoter of the year and five Scaup offshore on 6th, Little Gull on 8th, the fifth ever spring record of Ring Ouzel, a male on Warren Point on 12th, a female Garganey offshore and a Ruff in the high tide wader roost on 14th, a pair of Tufted Duck on Main Pond on 18th, with seven offshore on 27th, an adult Spoonbill on 20th and three Red Kite on 21st.

Ring Ouzel 12th April - Lee Collins

May

Another quiet May for migrants with the first of three Spotted Flycatcher on 3rd and the spring’s only Sedge Warbler the next day. The first Cuckoo was not until 28th, either a late arrival or more likely, an early autumn migrant. Swallow passage peaked at just 30 on 18th, and only one double figure count of House Martin. Also overhead five Red Kite on 11th were bookended by singles on 7th, 9th & 20th.

Wader passage was more pronounced with peak counts of 202 Dunlin on 24th and 147 Sanderling on 19th with scarcities including the first spring Curlew Sandpiper since 2017 on 6th, a Ruff on 11th, the Warren’s second American Golden Plover, a first-summer, on 14th and a Little Stint on 24th, the only spring record.

American Golden Plover 14th May - Lee Collins

Wildfowl included a lingering Tufted Duck on the Main Pond, a drake Garganey in the estuary on 7th and a female Surf Scoter offshore on 9th, the 14th site record but the first since Nov 2014.

Garganey 7th May - Lee Collins

Also offshore the first Pomarine Skua S on 13th followed by five the next day, with four Arctic and three Great Skua during the month. Tern numbers were low continuing recent poor springs, with only one Common Tern and a peak of just nine Sandwich Tern.

June

Little Grebe, Mallard and Moorhen all fledged young from the Main Pond but no cygnets hatched this year. The continuing presence of a drake Tufted Duck hinted at a breeding attempt, and this was confirmed when the female appeared with two young on 9th, sadly not seen thereafter. A pair of Teal were also recorded on several dates through the month.

Moorhen 16th June - Martin Overy

At least eight male Cirl Bunting were holding territory, with five pairs of Stonechat, Reed Warbler holding territory at the Main and Golf Course ponds and a pair of Sparrowhawk again bred. Bullfinch and Lesser Whitethroat returned to breed, the latter again only noticed once feeding young. Postbreeding flocks of Starling indicated a very good breeding season, with a peak of 211 on 17th.

Spring migration continued with the year’s max of 145 Swift on 1st, with Red Kite on 3rd and Yellow Wagtail on 8th, also overhead.  An unseasonal Osprey on 9 Jun, was the seventh June record since the first in 2002, but the first for four years.

Still heading north, 162 Sanderling were on the beach on 2nd with single Redshank on 3rd and Greenshank on 7th presumed to be going the other way. Other waders started returning mid-month, with 67 Curlew on 19th the first sign of return passage, rapidly climbing to 217 by 28th, when 12 Black-tailed Godwit dropped in.

After an almost complete absence in May, four Common Tern were offshore on 1st, with a late Little Tern on 3rd. Just four Arctic Skua reflected a quiet month although peaks 33 Sandwich and eight Common Tern built up towards the end. Up to eight Great Northern Diver were present throughout, heavy wing moult rendering them flightless for a while.

Post-breeding/autumn migration was also picked up in terrestrial habitat, the first Coal Tit of the year was a dispersing juvenile on 12th with the first juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker appearing on 18th and an early Kingfisher at the Main Pond on 21st. Presumably from further afield, four records of Cuckoo during the month was a good recent return and the first returning Willow Warbler on 26th.

Cuckoo 9th June - David Flack

July

The first day of the month saw further waders on their way south with a Common Sandpiper a scarce visitor to the Main Pond although more unusually a Snipe circled low over Greenland Lake, the earliest ever autumn record, after one on 6 July 2001. Other notable waders included a Little Ringed Plover over on 7th, the first of the year and one of four in the month. The first red Knot arrived over high tide on 19th and a good count of 14 Common Sandpiper on 24th.

The first juveniles included Oystercatcher on 3rd, the Ringed Plover on 6th and Dunlin on 26th.

The first three juvenile Sandwich Tern arrived on the 3rd; with a peak of 176 on 13th. A Little Tern on 7th-9th was the first July record since 2012, with two others during the month along with two Arctic Tern on 9th. After a blank spring, the fourth in six years, three different Roseate Tern appeared on 17th, 18th & 20-22nd.

Roseate Term 18th July - Lee Collins

Amongst the gulls the peak count of 46 Mediterranean Gull on 9th, the day after the first juvenile arrived, was well down (cf. 169 in July 23), the first juvenile Yellow-legged Gull on 12th was one of at least four individuals recorded and the first returning Common Gull appeared on 29th.

The month’s seabird highlight was in the estuary, a 3cy+ Long-tailed Skua on 8th, only the fourth July record for the Warren and the first site record since a similarly aged bird on 4 July 2020. 

Offshore the first four Balearic Shearwater of the year flew SW on 4th with four immature Pomarine Skua on 8th, a peak of five Arctic Skua on 20th, another Pomarine Skua on 22nd and four more Balearic Shearwater on 26th. Summering divers remained a feature with up to seven Great Northern, a Red-throated and, eventually confirmed on 28th, a Black-throated Diver.

An early Osprey was overhead on 7th, with Marsh Harrier on 18th, a peak of 158 Swift on 20th and the first Siskin and Meadow Pipit of autumn on 21st and 22nd respectively. On site the last Cuckoo of the year was on 16th with the first Garden Warbler of autumn on 17th, an early Wheatear on 18-20th, a notable fall on 26th included the year’s peak count of 21 Willow Warbler, and two further Garden Warbler with the first Sedge Warbler on 29th.

Willow Warbler 25th July - Dean Hall

August

The autumn’s early migration continued with Treecreeper, Lesser Whitethroat and Garden Warbler the pick of another small fall on 3rd, the first Yellow Wagtail of the autumn overhead the next day and two more Lesser Whitethroat on 10th.

A moulting adult Curlew Sandpiper on 3rd was the start of a good wader passage, a long-staying Little Stint on 8th and the year’s first Green Sandpiper on 11th. A juvenile Spotted Redshank on 16th was also new for the year, with the first juvenile Knot, a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper and a Little Ringed Plover appearing on the same high tide.

Little Stint 10th August - Lee Collins

Interest offshore was increased mid month after a sewage pipe burst off Exmouth with large numbers of gulls attracted to feed including at least nine different Yellow-legged Gull. The 18th saw six Pomarine and two Great Skua hassling the feeding flocks with 139 Common and two Arctic Tern leaving their estuary roost the following morning.

Seawatching peaked later in the month with a peak of 124 Balearic Shearwater on 19th, Cory’s and first four Sooty Shearwater and Black Tern of the year on 22nd, three further Sooty Shearwater, five Little Tern and 32 Storm Petrel the next day, the highest petrel count since Aug 2017. 

Back in the estuary, waders included the first juvenile Sanderling arrived on 17th with a Golden Plover on 18th, a second Green Sandpiper on 20th, three juvenile Curlew Sandpiper from 27th and a juvenile Little Stint and an adult Curlew Sandpiper on 30th.

Little Stint 30th August - Lee Collins

Wildfowl arrivals included seven Pale-bellied Brent Geese on 23rd, the earliest ever autumn record with only two other August records, seven on 30/08/2008 and 28 on 30/08/2012, and the first nine Wigeon of the autumn on 31st.

Late month passerine migration again picked up with the first Grey Wagtail of the autumn and a Lesser Whitethroat on 26th followed by a Wryneck and a Pied Flycatcher on 28th, the latter the rarer on site, and the year’s first Whinchat on 30th.

Wryneck 29th August - Lee Collins

September

The month began with a flock of 14 Curlew Sandpiper and the third Green Sandpiper of the autumn, with the five Avocet offshore the next day the first returning birds. An adult Spoonbill on the 3rd was the first of a good series of records, peaking at six on 18th, the first returning Cattle Egret the same day. These peaked at 15 on 26th, with a Great White Egret on 4th completing the southern feel.

Cattle Egret 18th September - Lee Collins

First returns included Shoveler on 2nd, Pintail on 8th, three Dark-bellied Brent Geese on 9th, Lapwing on 10th, just the third record of the year, and the earliest arrival since 2019.

Other records from the estuary included at least three Osprey during the month, single Ruff on 5th, 8th & 21st, a juvenile Caspian Gull on 7th, only the second September record, two more Green Sandpiper on 8th & 25th, the latter a long stayer, all of 20 minutes, a second Spotted Redshank on 13th, the year’s only Wood Sandpiper on 22nd, a juvenile Little Stint on 23rd and a Garganey on 25th.

The highlight was the Warren’s second Long-billed Dowitcher, after one on 10 Oct 2009, a moulting adult on 13th, that eventually flew off high south at high tide. It returned on 16th staying until the month’s end.

Long-billed Dowitcher 13th September - Lee Collins

Summer departures included Garden Warbler and Spotted Flycatcher on 1st, four Whinchat, last on 20th, Sedge Warbler on 9th & 16th, the year’s peak of 90 Swallow on 9th, a Grasshopper Warbler on 11th, the first Tree Pipit of the year on 16th with another on 20th, two Hobby on 17th-18th & 20th and peaks of just 10 Wheatear on 25th and 95 House Martin on 30th.

Arrivals included the first Nuthatch of the year on 6th, with it or another on 14th, first returning Water Rail on 7th, Goldcrest and Siskin on 21st and Firecrest on 27th. Overhead Marsh Harrier on 5th & 11th, at least 48 Grey Wagtail during the month and an early movement of 22 Skylark on 28th.

Scarcities included the Warren’s first Ortolan Bunting over on 25th and a Yellow-browed Warbler on 30th, the first September record for the Warren, the earliest previous record was on 3rd October 1988. 

Up to three Little Tern were present early month, with a late adult Roseate Tern accompanying a juvenile offshore on 6th. There were two peaks of Common Tern passage with 60 on 9th and 50 on 29th, when Sandwich Tern also peaked at 50. The 29th also saw up to seven Arctic and a Black Tern.

Black Tern 29th September - Lee Collins

Seawatching also produced single Little Gull on 2nd, 18th & 29th, a Sooty Shearwater on 18th, a peak of 155 Balearic Shearwater on 23rd, two Pomarine Skua also on 23rd, with another on 30th and the first returning Red-throated Diver on 25th.

October

An immature Pied Flycatcher in the Entrance Bushes on 1st was a good start to the month, the second of the year, and mirrored one on the same date last year. There have only been two other October records, both on the 3rd in 1974 & 1980. Other late summer migrants were scarce after the early autumn with last dates for House Martin on 4th, Willow Warbler on 11th, Wheatear on 12th and Yellow Wagtail on 15th.

Other migrants included Merlin on 4th & 15-17th, a Cetti's Warbler from 7th, occurring for the eighth successive autumn, three Firecrest, at least two Yellow-browed Warbler on 11th -15th, 18th & 23rd -25th, a Dartford Warbler on 22nd and a small influx of Jay, with 12 between 10th-27th.

Yellow-browed Warbler 11th October - Kim Summers

The Long-billed Dowitcher remained until the 14th, when it relocated to the north end of the estuary, but during its stay was incredibly joined by three other North American waders, the Warren's fourth Semipalmated Sandpiper on 2-3rd, fourth White-rumped Sandpiper on 7th and twelfth Pectoral Sandpiper on 14th.

Semipalmated Sandpiper 3rd October - Mark Bailey

Also in the estuary a peak of four Spoonbill on 4th, two different Caspian Gull on 5th & 15th, a pair of Gadwall with the year’s peak count of 1,584 Wigeon on 19th and six Avocet on 20th. Cattle Egret were an occasional feature with a peak of 38 on 16th, a Great White Egret flew over on 14-15th, 18th & 27th and two Whooper Swan N over Warren Point and heading upriver on 29th were the 16th Warren record.

Offshore a Cory’s Shearwater, the ninth record flew S on 5th, with Balearic Shearwater on just three dates, two Pomarine Skua and the last Common Tern was on 7th, with two Arctic Tern and a late Storm Petrel on 20th, another Pomarine Skua on 24th and the last Arctic Skua on 25th.

Woodpigeon passage started early with 3570 W on 11th and 1400 the next day, when the first of just five Redpoll flew over. Over 95,000 Woodpigeon were counted on six further dates, max 41,230 on 26th, with them at least 260 Stock Dove with c135 on the latter date.

Merlin 15th October - Jim Summers

Jackdaw were also moving with over 3,000 between 18th-31st, with 1026 on 27th. Siskin were also in low numbers with just 49 recorded with a peak of 10 on 17th. The first Redwing arrived on 20th with 88 overhead, with autumn peaks of 170 Goldfinch on 22nd, 40 Skylark and 17 Rook on 26th, 77 Chaffinch on 27th and 35 Meadow Pipit on 31st.

The 27th in particular saw a wide variety of birds on the move including the fourth record of Red Kite for October, a female Marsh Harrier, five Buzzard, four Egyptian Geese, 225 Starling and 101 Lesser Black-backed Gull.

November

For the first time the Recording Area had to wait until November for Red-breasted Merganser to return for the winter, with a lone bird in the estuary on 1st, with five immature Eider the next day, the first since the final disappearance of the six summering birds on 17th Oct. 

Eider 14th November - Dean Hall

Other records from the estuary included several sightings of Spotted Redshank, 47 Cattle and two Great White Egret on 4th, three Avocet on 5th-6th, two Pochard on 6th, the first since 30 Oct 2019, a Whimbrel until 12th, a Spoonbill on 25th and the first Jack Snipe on 30th. A good series of Golden Plover records peaked at nine on 16th with others overhead on several dates.

Two Firecrest on 1st started a good month for grounded migrants with birds on nine other dates, followed by the years only Short-eared Owl on 4th, a fourth Yellow-browed Warbler on 6th, a smart male Black Redstart on 11th, a Dartford Warbler on 13-20th and two late Swallow on 16th.

Black Redstart 11th November - Alan Keatley

There was a further pulse of visible migration midmonth with a peak of just 49 Chaffinch on 9th, 24 Fieldfare, the first of the year, seven Lapwing and one of the month’s five Jay on 10th, 1,240 Woodpigeon on 11th and another 8,890, with 30 Stock Dove, on 12th. 

There were just two Brambling, on 6th & 11th but an improvement on last year’s blank. Also moving Marsh Harrier on 3rd & 11th, a Snow Bunting on 12th, Jackdaw, max 19 on 10th, Redwing, max 12 on 10th, seven Mistle Thrush and four more Fieldfare.

December

A Siberian Chiffchaff on 1-2nd was an entrée to the month’s highlight, the Warren’s second Dusky Warbler on 3rd. Found almost exactly 30 years after the only previous record on 21-27th Nov 1994, it could be very elusive but remained around the area near the railway footbridge until the 8th.

Dusky Warbler 5th December - Dean Hall

Other late migrants included a Black Redstart on 6th, two Firecrest from 24th and another Siberian Chiffchaff on 26th. The first Water Pipit of the winter was in the saltmarsh on 13-14th, with the only Tawny Owl of the year arriving on 15th. Another second for the Warren was recorded on 21st when a Common (Mealy) Redpoll was feeding alongside one of the three Lesser Redpoll present through the month. A male Goshawk, just the sixth record was over site on 22nd & 30th.

In the estuary, the second Green-winged Teal for the Warren was present on 10-13th, presumably a returning bird from Oct 2023, with the Spotted Redshank until the 8th and single Avocet, Jack Snipe, Lapwing and Golden Plover. Many wintering species were however present in low number in the mild weather with peaks of 1,860 Dunlin, 119 Grey Plover, 112 Bar-tailed Godwit and nine Red-breasted Merganser, again no Goldeneye.

Offshore maxima of 15 Great Northern and Red-throated Diver with a Sandwich Tern on 13th and the first Long-tailed Duck since April 2022 flew into the estuary on 27th.

Happy New Year to all. Many thanks to those who share their sightings with Recording Group. Good birding for 2025 and hope to see you on the Warren soon.

 

The hide unfortunately remains closed and due to continuing erosion there remains no public access to the surrounding viewing areas. The Recording Group would like to thank the Warren Golf Club and Devon Wildlife Trust for enabling long-standing monitoring efforts to continue, as well as providing access to enable visitors to enjoy a couple of long-staying rarities, with donations to the Wildlife Trust.