Gull Rescue and Butterfly Ticks

Last year the herring gulls nesting on our chimney stack raised one fledgling which ended up falling down the chimney and ending up dead in the fire grate in the living room. This year they have again raised one fledgling which also fell down the chimney but this time we managed to rescue it out of the living room grate and have placed it on the flat roof next door but things aren't going particularly well.

We first heard it in the chimney flue last Thursday but it didn't arrive in the living room grate until Monday. It was quite feisty though and put up a bit of a fight but it was soon waddling around on the roof looking a bit befuddled. An adult herring gull soon arrived to investigate but quickly attacked the young bird before flying off. The adult soon returned and started calling before attacking the young bird again and then flying off.

Our adopted Herring Gull, Birdy

I had some tinned pilchards in tomato sauce in the cupboard which I put out on the roof for the fledgling which it soon ate and it made use of the bowl of water also placed on the roof before settling down for the night.

The next morning I watched an adult bird arrive and regurgitate some food while the fledgling called constantly but the adult then reswallowed the food despite the young birds attentions. It regurgitated the food a few more times before reswallowing it again and then flew off.

The adult birds have returned a few times but haven't attacked the youngster nor brought food for it and when we have been out on the roof feeding the young bird tinned sardines they fly in calling but don't fully mob us (but this evening, July 6th, one arrived and snaffled all the sardines we had put out before the chick could get to them but later returned and regurgitated the food which the chick then ate so fingers crossed).

 Birdy with Mum/Dad

Birdy being fed

Tuesday 4th July and we headed up to Dartmoor for a walk on a cloudy but warm and humid day. The sun shone for brief periods and when it did it was very hot and sticky. Meadow browns and ringlets were very noticeable on the walk and 2 silver washed fritillaries feeding on bramble flowers were nice to see, looking large and very orange despite being a little way away. Even better was a heath fritillary, looking dark and tiny when compared with the silver washed - I wasn't expecting to see one due to the late date and the mostly cloudy weather but it was a nice surprise.

Silver Washed Fritillary

Silver Washed Fritillary

Silver Washed Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

Also seen were a golden ringed dragonfly, keeled skimmers, beautiful demoiselles and a beautiful snout, a new moth for me. Not so nice were the numerous gnat bites and tiny ticks I picked up on my legs which I have been able to remove fairly easily but interestingly David didn't get any!

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

Keeled Skimmer

Keeled Skimmer

Beautiful Snout

Tick removed from my leg!

On the way home we stopped off at the allotment to pick some lettuce for tea and there were quite a few cinnabar moths flitting about.

Cinnabar Moth

Cinnabar Moth

Thursday 6th and with the sun shining we had a quick walk at Wembury before sitting on the beach for a while watching the world go by and eating pasties. Not much again on the bird front but a green woodpecker calling was my first at Wembury for a while and I had some nice views of a singing male cirl bunting with a second bird heard singing nearby. Chiffchaff and blackcap were also heard and whitethroats and stonechats were seen.

Butterflies were much more noticeable with a comma, a peacock, a small white, large whites, red admirals, 3 marbled whites, meadow browns, ringlets, gatekeepers, a speckled wood and small skippers all seen.  An engrailed (?) and a dwarf cream wave were found in the toilet block and silver y and six spot burnet were seen along the coast path.

 Small White

 Small Skipper

Small Skipper

 Gatekeeper

 Gatekeeper

Engrailed?