Stoke Point and Wembury Walks

We headed off to Stoke Point on Thursday 24th August for a walk along the coast path and it was warm and humid but breezy and mostly overcast. Quiet on the bird front as expected but 3 juvenile wheatears and a male cirl bunting seen along the walk were nice finds. No Dartford warblers again but plenty of stonechats and linnets and offshore a few gannets were flying past. With lots of yellow wagtails being seen along the Devon coast in recent days I kept an ear and eye out for them but was out of luck - I thought I briefly heard one flying over but couldn't be sure.

A few butterflies were on the wing, mostly meadow browns and red admirals but a small copper, small white, gatekeeper, speckled wood, a small tortoiseshell and common blues were also seen. A nice surprise was my first hummingbird hawkmoth of the year feeding on buddleia flowers, a long overdue sighting. It was also good to see autumn squill in flower in the usual place despite the late date.

Meadow Brown

Friday 25th August and I caught the bus to Wembury for a walk on a sunny day. Again no sight or sound of yellow wagtail and a look for Dartford warblers also drew a blank.

Another hummingbird hawkmoth was a nice find as it buzzed over a stoney patch of soil on the cliffside and a Pyrausta despicata was a new moth for me as it flitted about in the grass  on the cliffs at Wembury Point. The toilet block also came up trumps with a mullein wave, a common wainscot, a sharp angled peacock, a rusty dot pearl and 2 flounced rustic.

 Pyrausta despicata

 Mullein Wave

 Sharp Angled Peacock

Flounced Rustic

Waders were again roosting on the rocks at high tide - 45 oystercatcher, 7 curlew and a whimbrel with 10 little egret - and  on the seaweed mass by the sewage pipe were 2 more whimbrel and a common sandpiper.

Whitethroat, chiffchaff (including a bird singing), blackcap, swallow, a willow warbler, a sparrowhawk, stonechats, a buzzard and 2 kestrels were also seen along with my first short winged conehead of the year before I met David for a pasty and coffee on the main beach where we enjoyed the sunshine and view.