Having
spent the previous two years UK and then Devon yearlisting I had already
decided I needed to spend more time on patch in 2013. The combination of
Patchwork Challenge and a move three miles closer were additional
encouragement. A good decision as it
turned out as the Warren had a record year with 201 species recorded and I
managed to connect with 184 (+2) of these (worth 295 Patchwork points) beating
my previous best (182) set way back in 2001. Not only that I managed six patch
ticks along the way - I’ll take that return any year!
January
The year
started with a few welcome leftovers, Bearded
Tit, Black-necked Grebe and Water Pipit, but you can’t get a better
start than a patch tick on New Year’s Day (except perhaps two patch ticks…) so
finding a male Serin with Greenfinch in Dead Dolphin Wood, the
first at DW since 1991, was huge bonus. I managed 83 species on the 1st
and broke the Patchwork ton, but maybe I had peaked too early as I then went on
to miss three very good Warren birds; Yellowhammer, Goosander and Woodcock
before restoring the balance with a Long-tailed
Duck right at the end of the month. Running
total 98/121
February
A
relatively quiet month although it is always a relief to get the potentially
tricky Black-throated Diver on the
year list. Late in the month, a quick twitch for Gadwall showed how desperate I was to keep the counter ticking
over…
Running total 104/129
March
Migrants
took a long time coming and the first addition wasn’t until the 16th
when a Red-necked Grebe pitched in
offshore. The next day saw my first Wheatear and a record spring passage of Chaffinch that included a few Brambling. Another site record followed
the next week with 70+ Chiffchaff
seemingly everywhere but just single Blackcap
and Sand Martin accompanied them. I
had the last week of the month off but it was only the challenge that kept me
in the field with Merlin, Little
Gull and an early Osprey
standout birds until the equally cold, windy and unpromising morning of the 26th.
On this date the first DW Stone-curlew
since 1987 flew past me and landed on the golf course, a patch mega that
unfortunately didn’t linger and even worse was only worth a miserly TWO points
– surely that beats a Whimbrel?!!!
Running total 116/147
April
Despite
the conditions and lack of migrants April opened with a twitch – a Hoopoe on Warren Point and a tick for
most locals gripping back my 1993 bird. The month continued with most regular
migrants turning up albeit in low numbers and highlights including singing Firecrest, a Long-eared Owl one evening post-work and on the 25th only
my second ever patch Marsh Harrier
pre- work. Both would likely have been missed without the Patchwork Challenge
spurring me on. The next day saw my third patch tick of the year a Montagu’s Harrier – the 5th
record and first on site since 1979! Pleasingly all the regulars were on site
and were able to connect with this excellent patch record, a great end to the
month, roll on May…
Running total 135/178
May
The focus
switched offshore in May with terns and skuas in the offing, several cracking
spooned Pomarine Skua were noted but
the month’s highlight were a lingering group of Roseate Tern, peaking at a Devon record 20 birds. Also offshore the
year’s first national rarity, a returning Bonaparte’s
Gull roosting on the sea on several dates. Wader passage also picked up
during the month with a smart brick-red Curlew
Sandpiper, a lone Ruff (scarce
on site) and a twitch for a patch mega, Temminck’s
Stint, only the third record and first for 21 years - and so another
blocker bites the dust…the same evening saw two Turtle Dove, a species that is no longer annual on site. The month ended with another self-found bonus
with a Short-toed Lark flying along
the Dune Ridge before running around Warren Point for an hour or so, only the
fourth Warren record and first ever in spring.
Running total 150/208
June
Midsummer
and as expected a quiet month, the main target species Storm Petrel showed up mid-month otherwise Tawny Owl and an early Yellow-legged
Gull were the only additions. However wader passage did produce at least
five ‘Sanderbling’ from Greenland, Iceland and Ghana and the Slavonian Grebe was present for its
sixth summer.
Running total 153/213
July
Even
worse than June because as the autumn passage started expectations were raised
only to be continually dashed in the field. Common
Sandpiper was the only new addition until a Balearic Shearwater on the last day of the month. Ringing
recoveries did however reveal some interesting facts about the passage terns on
site. I managed to miss what turned out
to be the only Long-tailed Skua of the year and started my autumn long quest to
dip every Coal Tit found on site…
Running total 155/216
August
A mixed
start to the month, connecting with Little
Ringed Plover, but same day missing the only Crossbill of the year. Things
remained slow (Zebra Finch dip aside) but midmonth the first Garden Warbler of the year finally
showed up and I dipped another Goosander and three different Green Sandpiper
(less than annual). Things started to look up again following a thunderstorm on
the 25th which produced a Black
Tern, two Wood Sandpiper and
three Little Stint in a crazy ten
minute period. The east coast fall just about filtered through the next day
with a Pied Flycatcher on Warren
Point and over the next two days a Whinchat
and my only Tree Pipit of the year. These
were eclipsed however by another quality find at the end of the month - my
second ever patch Pectoral Sandpiper.
Running total 165/235
September
A quiet
start to the month was broken by an early morning phone call on the 8th
‘Get up, Get up, Red-backed Shrike
by the Main Pond now’. I somehow managed
to get out of bed and on to the bird before others actually on site when it was
found! The first at the Warren since 1998 and a welcome grip back for me for a
change J. The
bird, an immature, remained for several days but was actually the start of a
bad run as next day the site rangers suppressed a Lesser Yellowlegs (2nd
record) and a group twitching the shrike had a flyover White Stork (3rd
record). Normal service was resumed the next weekend though with a Buff-breasted Sandpiper and the first Golden Plover of the year, I came back
to twitch the latter! Another twitch was required soon after with the sixth Rose-coloured Starling for DW present
around the car park where a site record 154 House Sparrow were also counted. The month ended for me with an Eider close in offshore - a rare bird
this year. The Warren wasn’t however done, whilst I was on Scilly for a week I
missed Wryneck, Black Guillemot, Garganey, a Black Brant and some more Coal
Tit.
Running total 170/250
October
October
couldn’t quite keep up the hectic pace but the Black Brant did make a welcome reappearance and the national influx
yielded at least three Yellow-browed
Warbler on site. A brief run mid-month did see Cirl Bunting, Lapland
Bunting, three Whooper Swan and Yellowhammer added on consecutive days
but then October fizzled out and I had to scrape the barrel to get another year
tick before the month’s close – Red-legged
Partridge.
Running total 177/267
November
November
lived up to its billing as one of the best birding months on the Warren, indeed
I had my second most valuable day of the year, points-wise, early in the month. For the most part autumn seawatching had been
very disappointing but that was to change. On the 2nd, whilst hoping
for a Leach’s Petrel, I had the (mis)fortune to find the site’s second ever
November record of Storm Petrel. I
compounded this mistake by dipping a real Leach’s Petrel (and the years only
Snow Bunting) the next day. So with another front sweeping across the Atlantic
I took the 5th off and waited… there were no more petrels but the
site’s third White-rumped Sandpiper
(first since 1998 and another patch tick) and fourth Great White Egret (first since 2002) did fly past over the course
of the morning, and whilst this was going on two Black Redstart hopping around on the seawall were an overdue
addition to my year list. Three species and 14 more points just like that. A
week later, from the same spot, seawatching produced another unexpected patch
tick when the first Warren Red-crested Pochard
since 1999 flew south. Other highlights in November included a couple of Siberian Chiffchaff, a twitch for a
drake Scaup that eventually drifted
into the recording area, a couple of Velvet
Scoter and an obliging White-fronted
Goose whilst the Bonaparte’s Gull
reappeared and another Lapland Bunting
flew over.
Running total 186/295
Running total 186/295
December
As it
often does in any year list December drew a blank, despite there being plenty
of possible new ticks none were forthcoming. My biggest omission was Coal Tit (could
record them daily if I counted beyond the boundary) but I dipped another 16
species whilst some (half)expected species such as Sooty Shearwater, Spoonbill,
Pochard, Kentish Plover, Grey Phalarope, Nuthatch, Treecreeper and even
Grasshopper Warbler simply failed to show. With some more effort, decent
seawatching weather and any sort of autumn vismig who knows what score could
have been reached…
Final total 186/295
Final total 186/295
2014
Many of
December’s rarities remained into 2014 with Bonaparte’s Gull, Siberian
Chiffchaff, Velvet Scoter, Black Brant and Long-tailed Duck all still present
(though I have yet to catch up with the latter two) however I don’t expect to
hit the patch as hard this year so expect a 2014 score closer to previous
averages of 170/240.
Thanks to
all the regulars on site (one of whom actually beat my score) for sharing and
finding many of these birds through the year and of course to the Patchwork
Challenge team for all their work and for organising my year in the first
place.
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