Fritillary Frustration at Dartmeet

A cloudy and breezy but warm and humid day on Monday 26th June saw us heading off to Badgers Holt at Dartmeet on Dartmoor for a cream tea and a walk. The forecast for the afternoon was for breaks in the clouds to appear and indeed the cloud did break up a little but it was for brief spells only.

Badgers Holt has been taken over by new owners and the cream tea was as good as ever - the scone cakes were much improved since our last visit but the Langage Farm clotted cream was a little past its best. As we left though the Langage Farm delivery truck arrived bringing fresh supplies of clotted cream but never mind.

We headed off down the River Dart and as we walked along the riverside there were grey wagtails feeding amongst the boulders in the river and beautiful demoiselles flitting around in the waterside vegetation.

 Male Beautiful Demoiselle

 Male Beautiful Demoiselle

 Male Beautiful Demoiselle

Female Beautiful Demoiselle

Singing chiffchaff, blackcap, willow warbler and yellowhammer were heard and 2 male yellowhammers were also seen., 2 juvenile dippers flew downriver and out of sight and I had a brief view of 2 goosanders flying upriver, glimpsed briefly between the trees.

I disturbed a butterfly from the vegetation by the path which dashed off and out of sight, a dark green or high brown fritillary, and 2 faded fritillaries flew past in a brief sunny spell, either pearl bordered or small pearl bordered fritillaries. A silver washed fritillary also flew past at break neck speed but at least I was able to confirm ID despite the brief view.

The only other butterflies seen were 2 meadow brown, one with a damaged left wing but still able to fly, and I found an oil beetle looking a little worse for wear and a nice longhorn beetle which I think is a Strangalia maculate.

 Meadow Brown

 Oil Beetle 

Strangalia maculate

Strangalia maculate

Brown silver-line were flitting about amongst the bracken and I had a brief view of a chimney sweeper before it flew off. Bilberries by the path side were very tasty although very tongue and finger staining and a few moths were disturbed from the leaves, I managed to get  record shot of one as it landed on a mossy covered rock before flying off again, not sure what it is but maybe a July highflyer.

 Brown Silver-Line

Brown Silver-Line

July Highflyer

An enjoyable walk but with mostly frustrating views of the wildlife and I also managed to pick up 2 ticks, my first of the year, but that is Dartmoor in June for you.

Backyard Moths and Cemetery Butterflies

The recent hot and sunny weather has meant some very sticky days at work and also some very sticky sleepless nights but by the time I was able to get the moth box out in the back yard for the first time this year on the night of June 21st the weather had turned with an  overnight temperature of 15c and not the 23c experienced the previous night. I was still expecting a decent haul of moths in the trap on the morning of June 22nd but was a little disappointed with the highlights being a dark arches, a grey arches, a large yellow underwing, a bee moth, a heart and dart, a riband wave( form aversata), a Pseudargyrotoza conwagana, an uncertain and a worn dot moth.

 Dark Arches

 Grey Arches

 Bee Moth

Herring Gull with 1 Chick on my Chimney Stack

It was overcast and breezey but still warm and humid and after pottering around the house doing chores I had a walk over to Ford Park Cemetery for a look around. As I was walking up the road to the cemetery entrance a marbled white was flitting around in a garden and on entering the cemetery gates more marbled whites were seen along with ringlets, a single red admiral, a few large skippers and a few meadow browns.

 Marbled White

 Marbled White

 Marbled White

 Marbled White - recently emerged

 Meadow Brown

 Ringlet

 Ringlet

Large Skipper

A cinnabar moth was on the wing with some small caterpillars seen feeding on ragwort and there were a few 6 spot burnet on the wing along with burnet companion moths.

 Cinnabar Moth Caterpillars

Bee Sp.

A buzzard flew over being mobbed by herring gulls, a ring necked parakeet was heard screeching, 3 noisy raven fledglings were flying around amongst the head stones and a chiffchaff and blackcap were heard singing.

I had a quick look around the elm trees in nearby Central Park in the area where white letter hairstreaks were seen last year but with no luck before heading home to carry on with the chores and just missing seeing the new Great Western Railway train leave Plymouth railway station - not a bad way though to spend a couple of hours out of the house.

Nightjars at Stover

Saturday 17th June and with a day to myself and hot and sunny weather forecast I decided to have a walk at Wembury, somewhere I have neglected somewhat this year. It was indeed hot and sunny, so much so that I caught an earlier bus than planned back to Plymouth in order to escape the heat.

Bird wise it was quiet with the usual June at Wembury birds seen - 28 oystercatchers and a male mallard on the rocks at high tide, fulmars around The Mewstone, stonechats, linnets, robins, pied wagtails, a flyover peregrine, a flyover male sparrowhawk being mobbed by swallows, etc. Blackcaps, whitethroats and chiffchaffs were still in song and there were quite a few fledglings of all three species seen especially chiffchaffs which seem to have had a very good breeding season this year.

A few moths were around too -  a dead buff ermine in the toilet block, a rush veneer and 2 unidentified micro moths.

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Butterflies were on the wing too with a ringlet and at least 4 large skippers being firsts for the year along with a faded painted lady, a small tortoiseshell, a male common blue, meadow browns and an egg laying red admiral.

 Ringlet

 Painted Lady

 Large Skipper

 Large Skipper

Red Admiral Egg

 Vipers Bugloss

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On the way home I stopped off at Blagdons Meadow for a quick look around despite the heat. There were no small heaths again but I did see common blues, meadow browns, burnet companions and my first 6 spot burnets of the year.

 6 Spot Burnet, Blagdons Meadow

 Swallows, River Plym

Swallow

Southern marsh orchids were still in flower but were looking very faded and worn, no bee orchids but I did find 3 pyramidal orchids, my first for the site.

 Pyramidal Orchid

Pyramidal Orchid

That evening I decided to head off to Stover on the relatively recent regular new coach service between Plymouth and Bristol that stops off at Drumbridges roundabout near the country park. I arrived off the coach at 19:15hrs and it was hot and sunny and still. I checked out the verges of the A38 first as I had noticed orchids flowering by the road side on our drive back from Suffolk earlier in the week and was pleased to find a good display of common spotted orchids (there were also lots of them in flower in the country park too).

 Common Spotted Orchid, A38

 Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

It was cooler walking through the woodland of the park but hot and humid in the sunshine on the walk around the lake where sand martins were flitting about over the water, a great crested grebe was sitting on its nest with a second bird feeding nearby and a male mandarin duck was feeding on seed on the footpath looking a little worse for wear as it begins its plumage moult.

Great Crested Grebe on nest, Stover Lake

A pair of mute swans were swimming around with 2 cygnets with the male being very aggressive to a white female mallard with 3 ducklings, chasing them off into the side canal.

 Mallard with Ducklings

Male Mallards in Eclipse Plumage

Dragonflies were buzzing over the water too but too distant and active to get a good look at except for a male keeled skimmer that buzzed close to the shore. Blue tailed damselflies were much more cooperative with good numbers roosting in the reeds by the waters edge and I managed to find a single azure damselfly sunning itself on a branch.

Blue Tailed Damselfly

A wood mouse was feeding on seed on the footpath, initially it ran off into the undergrowth before returning and giving some very close views.

 Wood Mouse

 Wood Mouse

Wood Mouse

There were quite a few white looking moths flitting about in the grass close to the waters edge and when one landed on the vegetation I managed to ID it as a brown China mark, a very attractively marked brown and white moth.

 Brown China Mark

 Brown China Mark

Brown China Mark

Chiffchaff, willow warbler and blackcap were all heard singing along with calling great spotted woodpecker and green woodpecker and at 21:50hrs I heard my first nightjar churring on the heathland between the A38 and the pylons. A second bird then began to churr in trees by the footpath on the lake side of the pylons and I managed a brief flight view as it took off from a pine tree and chased a second bird with much wing clapping and "guicking" before falling silent. The first bird continued to churr but after 20 minutes of listening and waiting to see if I could get a view of it I had to leave to walk back to the bus stop to catch the coach home to Plymouth. The coach was due at 22:25hrs but was 20 minutes late, a little disconcerting standing in the dark at a roundabout off the A38 in the middle of nowhere and miles away from Plymouth but I eventually arrived home having had a very good day out on what has been a very birdy and wildlifey week.

Nightjar - from the Stover Park information board