Beavers, Birds and Butterflies in Devon

With the relaxation of lockdown allowing holidays, we took the opportunity to spend a week in our holiday home in East Devon. We are very lucky to be close to both the East Devon Commons and the River Otter.

On one night, we went for a walk along the river in the hope of finding one of the Beavers which live there. Introduced in 2015, these were the first Beavers to live in the wild in the UK in 400 years, and they have thrived ever since. Seeing them isn't easy however, due to their nocturnal habits. On this occasion though we struck gold, and this beaver swam right alongside us just a few metres away. It was so close that this video was taken on my iPhone camera. 

As Devon Wildlife Trust suggests, we have found the stretch of river near to the village of Otterton to be the most productive, and a visit about an hour before sunset (or later). However, they are known to range from Honiton all the way to Budleigh Salterton on the coast.

The River Otter is great during the day too, and on my walk between Newton Poppleford to Tipton St. John I found Little Egret, Grey Wagtail and Kingfisher. There was no sign of Dipper though, making this one of the first times I've missed them here. Best of all was a Grass Snake, that I watched swimming (unsuccessfully) upriver towards Tipton. I've never seen a snake doing this before. It was incredible to watch at close range, before it was swept a bit further downstream.

I've spent much of the last week walking on Aylesbeare Common. One of my favourite places. Although most sites undergo a bit of a lull in July, this is when Aylesbeare seems to come alive. Huge numbers of birds, butterflies and dragonflies were out in the sunny weather. 

My butterfly identification isn't anything to shout about, but I did find what I think were Silver-washed Fritillary and Dingy Skipper among more common species, along with many Blue, Copper and Skipper species which went unidentified.

This Silver-Washed Fritillary had a severely damaged wing but seemed to be flying well

Stonechats covered the heath, with more juvenile birds than I've ever seen here. At least 5 birds were on view all the time - great to see they've had such a good breeding season. As, it seems, have Dartford Warblers, which I saw on every trip up to the common this week.

 

Note for anyone visiting Aylesbeare looking for Dartfords: the key is for there to be NO WIND. Conviently, I have found the entrance to the reserve, just over the cattle grid, to be the most productive area for them. 

I have also seen them at most points further along the main tarmacked track which crosses the common, but almost always if I see them elsewhere then I've had some evidence of them from the start as well. They really are so sensitive to the wind that I have stood 100m past the cattle grid in what feels like a birdless landscape, only for the wind to drop temporarily and Dartfords to suddenly start showing themselves all around me!

Elsewhere on Aylesbeare this week, I had large numbers of Siskin, a Redpoll, Yellowhammers, my first juvenile Willow Warbler of the autumn and a huge tit flock in the trees around the farm, which although it didn't contain anything hugely rare did bring back memories of tanagers flocks in Costa Rica - in both size and sound!

A late night trip last weekend turned up the hoped-for Nightjars! They first began churring at around 21:30 and continued until after we left. We got great views both in flight and on the deck, with at least 7 birds there and probably many more. Standing on a dark heath with the sound of Nightjars around you is such a great wild experience.

We returned at 22:45 last night to look for the NEOWISE Comet, and they again churred the whole time but it was too dark to see them. We saw the comet well through binoculars and also the telescope, through which we could see Saturn's rings and Jupiter's stripes! 

Such a great experience - the views of the stars and Milky Way from here rivalled those I got in Iceland 3 years ago. I also saw my first ever Glow-worm!

While paddle boarding in Budleigh Salterton, I was really excited to spot 2 Arctic Skuas flying to the west of the town and was able to paddle closer for better views! Now that is definitely my type of sea watching...