River Plym wander and a new moth - 4th January 2012

I had a few hours free in the morning so I had a wander along the River Plym between Marsh Mills and Blaxton Meadow.

The spotted sandpiper showed really well near the railway bridge, busily feeding along the waters edge in the company of a grey wagtail. On the walk back it showed even better in the same area, eventually flying up to the road bridge at Marsh Mills. Its legs were still a pale yellow colour but were not as bright as they were back in September, maybe due to the dull light. I managed to get a few poor photos of it as it rested along the waters edge.

Spotted Sandpiper

Also seen were a common sandpiper, 4 greenshanks, some very mobile little grebes with 4 being seen together and with probably another 3 individuals, a small flock of around 20 linnets feeding amongst the weeds on Blaxton Meadow and a pair of adult great black backed gulls feeding on a large dead fish on the mudflats.

A sign of Spring were some flowering snowdrops underneath the trees.



Snowdrop

Walking back to the bus stop I half heartedly checked out the lights in the underpass at Marsh Mills and found 2 male Winter moths, a new moth species for me and my first moths of the year.



Male Winter Moth

Male Winter Moth



 So not a bad couple of hours nature watching and a nice start to the New Year.