The Zoologist/3rd series, vol 1 (1877)/Issue 4/Ornithological notes from Devon

by John Gatcombe

 

ORNITHOLOGICAL NOTES FROM DEVON.

By John Gatcombe.

 

In consequence of the severe and long-continued gales during the month of January, Kittiwakes became exceedingly tame and very numerous in our harbours, and I am sorry to add that hundreds were wantonly shot. Northern Divers were plentiful and almost daily brought to our birdstuffers; but it seems remarkable that among so many specimens a really adult bird was rarely found, and I have lately been much struck with the great difference which is observable in the plumage of the fully adult bird in winter and that of the young bird of the year. Although all the upper plumage of the old bird is more or less tipped and edged with gray, yet the general markings have not that wavy appearance so observable in the young, but show a great resemblance in form to the white spots and oblong square patches of the summer dress: the dark band on the neck, too, is much more conspicuous. The adult bird in winter may also be distinguished by the shape of the larger feathers of the back and scapulars, which are nearly square at the tips, instead of rounded as in immature specimens.

For some time I daily watched a large Northern Diver with my telescope, and could easily distinguish it from others, at any reasonable distance, by its plumage alone, and on visiting a birdstuffer's shop one day I at once recognised the poor bird lying dead on the table. On examination I found that, as I suspected, it was an old bird in full winter dress. The stomach contained some crabs and a few stones, but no fish-bones.

Shags were very plentiful in January, and it was astonishing to see the ease with which they dived in the midst of a tremendous surf amongst the rocks without the least injury; indeed I have sometimes seen them washed clean over the top of a rock by a large wave. Many Gannets were obtained by the fishermen off Plymouth, either with a baited hook or the old plan of a board and fish; many also were washed ashore.

On the 6th January a large Glaucous Gull was seen flying up the Hamoaze, and on the 14th of the same month I saw another: they were both in immature plumage. On the 15th there were immense flocks of Golden Plover and Lapwings on the Plymouth Racecourse, or Chelson Meadows, which are very swampy at this season of the year. The following day a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker was killed near Plymouth. Great Black-backed Gulls were very numerous in our harbours and on the coast.

On January 19th I observed two adult Swans flying up the River Tamar at a great height, and some days afterwards the following paragraph appeared in a Cornish paper:—"Two wild Swans, perfectly white, were killed at St. Endellion on Monday, the 25th." No doubt, the same birds seen by me.

The Bartailed Godwit seldom remains with us during the winter, but one was shot near Plymouth on January 28th. On the 31st I bought a very fine Rough-legged Buzzard, in the flesh, which was shot on Ditsworthy rabbit-warren, Dartmoor, by the warrener's grandson, a little boy about eight years of age, who killed a splendid old Snowy Owl at the same place in March, 1876. This buzzard was extremely fat, and its stomach contained the remains of a small rabbit; when shot it was in company with another bird of the same species. Rough-legged Buzzards, however, are rarely obtained on Dartmoor.

I saw several immature Black Redstarts during the month of January, and I am told that some Gray Phalaropes were seen swimming off the quay at Penzance on the 25th of that month.

In February many Great Northern Divers and a few Red-throated Divers were brought to our birdstuffers; indeed the former birds have been more plentiful during the present winter than I can remember for many years past. Mr. Stephen Clogg, of Looe, Cornwall, informs me that he observed two of them fishing above the bridge at that place—a circumstance which he had never previously noted during a residence of forty years. Through the kindness of the same gentleman, I was enabled to examine a beautiful variety of the Arctic Tern, which had been killed by a boy with a stone during the past autumn. It appears to be a young bird of the year, pure white, with the bill and legs red, but unfortunately the colour of the eyes was not noticed. It is now in the collection of Mr. J. Marshall, of Belmont, Taunton, who informs me that he has lately obtained a milk-white Jay (shot near York), a white Pipit, a pied Red-breasted Pipit, and a buff Red-breasted Flycatcher—the three latter procured in the neighbourhood of Constantinople.

During the early part of February Razorbills and Guillemots appeared in some numbers on our coasts, and many adult and immature Great Black-backed Gulls were shot. A Shieldrake—a species seldom obtained in this locality except during very severe weather—was killed in the neighbourhood on the 13th.

By February 16th Cormorants had well advanced towards their breeding plumage, gray feathers appearing about the head and neck, and the white patch above the thighs very conspicuous. A Great Spotted Woodpecker was brought to a Stonehouse birdstuffer on the 17th of that month, and another on the 23rd: this species is much more commonly met with near Plymouth during winter than at any other time of the year. On the 22nd I observed a Black Redstart on the coast. By that date Chaffinches were in full song, and many Black-headed Gulls had assumed the dark hood. By February 26th Guillemots had assumed the perfect breeding-plumage.