It's August again already, a month that can throw up some good birding and especially so on The Plym and at Wembury, here's hoping this year is no exception.
I headed out to Wembury on Friday 1st August to kick the month off, I had thought about catching the 6:35am bus but with high tide due around 11ish I stayed in bed and caught the 9:05am bus instead. It was an overcast and noticeably cooler morning although when the sun did occassionally appear from behind the clouds the humidity increased and the temperature rose.
A juvenile Yellow-legged Gull had been reported along the beach at Wembury the day before but I failed to find it. I also bumped into Jenny who had seen an adult bird that morning but again I drew a blank although it's good to know that they are around after seeing none here last year.
Along the beach the late summer build up of Mediterranean Gulls amongst the usual Herring Gulls and Black-headed Gulls continues and I did spot a ringed adult bird amongst them but when I got closer to get a better view it had flown off.
The usual Oystercatchers were present too and with them were 2 Curlew, 2 summer plumaged Turnstone, a Redshank, a Whimbrel, 2+Common Sandpiper, 4 Little Egret and 4 Mallard (3 males).
Otherwise the usual wildlife was seen and included another very yellow looking juvenile Willow Warbler flitting about at The Point, a Cetti's Warbler calling in the valley to the beach and Gannets moving west offshore. A Grey Seal was seen poking its head out of the water, 2 Common Lizards were basking in the brief sunny spells and 10 Beautiful Demoiselles (8 males) were seen at the bridge and included a mating pair.
After all the P600 fishing boat debacle back in April and the subsequent appearance in the bay of a Fisheries Patrol Boat from the Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority I noticed that the copious number of Crab and Lobster pot buoys that had been present offshore had all but disappeared. However on recent visits I have noticed that the buoys were beginning to reappear and slowly increase in numbers again and so I was pleased to see the Fisheries Patrol Boat out in the Bay on this visit and intercepting a boat pulling in pots within the Marine Conservation Zone. Obviously it's an issue that is going to need regular and continuing monitoring here by Authority.
I caught the bus home and on arriving back into Plymouth things took a dark turn. As I crossed over the road to my house I was stopped dead in my tracks by the sight of a juvenile Herring Gull squashed on the tarmac. I rushed into the house to check out the roof next door and hoped against hope that it wasn't Birdy that I had just seen but there was no sign of her and only The Squatter was present. Sadly David later confirmed that it was indeed Birdy in the road as he had seen her being hit and killed by a passing car and our mood was rather subdued that evening as we were both rather upset by it all.
It seems such a waste of life and so unfair but as my Dad always said when I was growing up, " Life's unfair, get used to it". To lose both chicks in road accidents this year is just awful, it's never happened before, and the only comfort is that hopefully Birdys parents will now officially adopt The Squatter and help him on his way into adulthood.
Anyway, I headed out to The Plym for a walk the next day (Saturday August 2nd), it was warm and humid despite the mostly cloudy skies and I started off at Laira Bridge and walked upriver to Marsh Mills. It was almost high tide when I arrived at around 11:45am, a little later than I had planned, and there was no mud (or birds) on show along the estuary but as I walked along The Ride a noisy juvenile Peregrine gave its position away high overhead in the company of an adult bird. I guess they are from nearby Plymbridge Woods but I didn't think they had bred successfully there this year.
I checked out Chelson Meadow while keeping my eyes open for any security patrols, I didn't find any but I was very pleased to come across at least 2 very yellow looking juvenile Willow Warblers flitting about in the hedgerow, I'm having a good autumn with them this year. Even better was a mating pair of Dingy Skippers but even better still were 2 Clouded Yellows, my first of the year, with 1 of them appearing to be egg-laying. It seems to have been a slow year in the UK for Clouded Yellows despite the good weather we've had and I've been patiently looking for them on my walks so I was very pleased with today's sightings.
The female Red-crested Pochard was still present around the duck pond with the usual Mallard, Moorhen and Mandarins and a few Swallows were seen flitting about overhead while a Nuthatch was heard calling in the nearby trees.
Despite the high tide there was very little water on Blaxton Meadow and out on the mud were 24 Curlew, Redshanks, 2 juvenile Shelducks, single adult Lesser and Great Black-backed Gulls with the Herring and Black-headed Gulls, Canada Geese, Grey Herons and Little Egrets. Surprisingly there were no Greenshank or Oystercatcher present and I couldn't see any roosting along The Embankment either.
