Wet weather and Wembury 30th March

I finished nights on Monday morning and decided to get my moth box out that night although I wasn't too hopeful of catching anything. On checking the box before going to bed at 11pm there was nothing in it and the following morning that hadn't changed! It had rained in the night so the egg boxes in the trap were a bit soggy. On putting the box away there it was - a moth! It was hiding under one of the soggy egg boxes and was a new one for me and my garden, a common quaker, looking very like a Vines rustic that I caught in the garden last summer.

Common Quaker

Tuesday was grey and misty so we headed out to Tamar View nurseries near Saltash for David to pick up seeds for the allotment but they had none that he wanted. A drive up to Kit Hill near Callington to try and see the great grey shrike reported there for the last few days was a waste of time too as the mist and drizzle obscured any view so we turned around and headed to Waitrose in Saltash to buy a few things. Luckily we had obtained our loan to shop there, a few things cost £28!! It is very nice in Waitrose, they have lovely food there but it does seem to cost a lot.

Wednesday was wet but it eventually cleared so I headed out to Wembury on the bus. The sun was shining at times but it was a little misty at Wembury and 2 adult gannets were circling over the sea close to the shore. Eventually the mist cleared but the sea was quite choppy in the stiff South Westerly breeze. Chiffchaffs were singing away along with many other resident birds including song thrushes and I thought I heard a distant green woodpecker yaffling.

The harbour porpoise corpse on the beach continues to slowly decrease in size, now looking like black jerky as it dries out in the warm sunshine. A dog being walked along the beach had a great time rolling all over it much to its owners disgust!  8 common lizards were seen basking in the sun along the wooden fences.

Common lizard

I also found 2 caterpillars that I think are ruby tiger moths.

Ruby tiger moth caterpillar?

Violets were blooming along the path on the cliffs below the old HMS Cambridge site and three cornered leeks were flowering at the bus stop.

Violet sp

Three cornered leek

The bus service to Wembury looks likely to be cut further in the near future due to Devon County Council subsidy cuts but there is a bus users group now set up in Wembury to help try and keep it going . They are asking for users of the service to complete a questionaire to try and save the service so I will have to download a copy and send it off. I would be lost without the bus service to Wembury, I would have to start driving again (!) as there would be no other way to get there other than David driving me out and it is never the same with him being there with me as he is not a big nature fan.

Coming back on the bus I noticed the cowslips are starting to flower on a grassy bank by the road near Staddiscombe, I noticed the cowslips had started to flower at Derriford roundabout too on the way home from work on Monday. Spring is definently on its way!