Yarner Wood & Dartmoor

I have had a busy couple of weeks and have had little chance to get out and do some birding. As it was a great weather forecast for today, I dropped Siân at work and headed to Yarner Woods, arriving just after 8 am. There was nobody else parked in the car park, so I had the place to myself for at least an hour.

As soon as I opened the car door, I heard a Pied Flycatcher singing. During the course of my 3-hour visit, I must have counted 16+, mostly in pairs. A selection of images are below.

It was so quiet in the woods that this Roe Deer almost bumped into me!

There were two Redstart singing in the woods at a viewable level and a number of others singing higher up in the canopy.

At one point, a male Pied Flycatcher landed on a branch a few feet lower than a singing Redstart. The Redstart flew down, and a brief, though spectacular, fight ensued. The Pied Flycatcher was chased off.

I saw two Spotted Flycatcher that were chasing each other around just after I had spoken to another birder (Mark Bailey) who was looking for some. I hope he found them on his way back! Record shot here:

Other species of note recorded at Yarner were 2 Garden Warbler, 5+ Blackcap, Marsh Tit, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, Siskin and Nuthatch. Below is a Nuthatch just about to enter a nest hole.

After Yarner, I headed over to Emsworth Mire on Dartmoor.

As I descended into the valley from the car park by Saddle Tor I could hear Cuckoo calling. There were at least 3 Cuckoo in the area. At one point, one of the Cuckoos landed very close to where I was walking.

As I was watching the Cuckoo, a Grasshopper Warbler began reeling close to me.

Also, at Emsworthy Mire, I recorded 6+ Redstart and 4 Willow Warbler.

At one point, I lay down and closed my eyes in the warm sunshine. I could hear Cuckoo, Willow Warbler, Skylark, Meadow Pipit and Redstart all singing. Bliss.