Redstart and House Martin

Monday 23rd April and a day of jobs and chores was broken up by a walk to nearby Mount Gould Hospital to look for (and dip) a yellow browed warbler being seen there in the hospital grounds but a flyover swallow, a green veined white flitting about and the stunning views of the River Plym and Dartmoor were some consolation. I should have gone to Millbrook in Cornwall instead where a male garganey was reported the previous day, I had expected it to have moved on by the Monday but it was still present and showing well - hey ho.

Thursday 26th April and I had to attend Basic Life Support training at Derriford Hospital despite it being my day off work but I was finished by 10:15 and so headed off to Grenofen Woods for a walk on a mostly sunny but cool and breezey and showery morning. The woods were quiet but the highlights were 2 house martins briefly hawking over the trees and a pair of redstarts briefly feeding together in the trees before disappearing from sight.

Male Redstart

Other birds of note were a raven tumbling and cronking overhead, a female sparrowhawk hunting amongst the tree tops, a pair of mistle thrush mobbing a magpie, songflighting siskins, a chiffchaff and 2 blackcaps heard singing, a pair of stonechats and a pair of linnets on the heathland, willow warblers seen and heard, a female great spotted woodpecker feeding in the tree tops and a displaying stock dove flying around over the trees. It was interesting to see 10 buzzards soaring high overhead together heading east, presumably migrating birds moving through, and just 1 butterfly was seen, a speckled wood feeding on blossom.

Speckled Wood

Monday 30th April and we had a quick walk along the coast path at Wembury on a sunny but rather chilly morning. A male muslin moth in the toilet block was a nice surprise and single peacock and speckled wood were seen along the path with quite a few bloody nosed beetles, 2 common lizard and a slow worm. Chiffchaff, blackcap and whitethroat were singing away along with a single cirl bunting and 14 whimbrel were feeding in the wheatfield despite it being a very low low tide. 2 shelduck and 7 male and a female mallard were feeding along the beach with a lone oystercatcher and a male stonechat showed very well by the path at The Point, possibly due to having a nest nearby to where we were stood. Despite the cool temperature it felt quite spring like, the most spring like it has felt so far this year, and with red rumped swallow and black winged stilt being found in Devon today maybe things are finally picking up.

 Muslin Moth

 Drinker Moth Larva

Whimbrel

Wembury Whitethroats and Whimbrels

Saturday 21st April and it was still warm and sunny as I headed off on the bus for a walk at Wembury and on the journey I saw my first ring necked parakeet of the year flying over the road near The Broadway at Plymstock.

By the time I arrived at Wembury it had clouded over but it soon cleared up again and became another very hot day with the beach crowded by the time I left to catch the bus home. Plenty of bloody nose beetles were seen along the footpath and St.Marks flies were buzzing around but surprisingly no moths were found in the toilet block despite the hot weather and warm nights and the only butterflies seen were a couple of brief flyby whites (probably green veined) and my first 2 speckled woods of the year.

 Speckled Wood

Speckled Wood

There was a lot of seaweed washed up on the beach around the sewage pipe but despite searching there was no sign of the wintering water pipit which has presumably now moved on. I did however find 2 rock pipits and a male pied wagtail along with 6 male and a female mallard, 2 Canada geese and 8 whimbrel feeding on the rotting mass, the whimbrel giving some nice views despite being mobile and flighty and delightfully vocal.

Whimbrel

It was very nice to see and hear whitethroats back on territory and also heard were a willow warbler quietly singing from cover at The Point, chiffchaffs and blackcaps. A pair of cirl buntings were feeding unobtrusively on the ground at The Point, a raven was mobbed by 2 carrion crows as it flew out to The Mewstone, 22 oystercatcher were roosting on the rocks at The Point on the high tide, a song thrush was singing in the valley to the beach and 2 pairs of stonechats were feeding from the pathside bushes.

 Cirl Bunting

 Sloe Blossom

Sloe Blossom

It was too hot for a pasty for lunch from the cafe and so I headed home on the bus to cool down and prepare for a dreaded night shift but it had been another enjoyable if hot wildlife walk.

Marsh Tit - At Last!

Wednesday 18th April was sunny and warm but breezey as we drove to Cockwood by the River Exe for lunch with mother-in-law at The Anchor Inn, seeing a swallow along the way near Powderham. Lunch was delicious and afterwards we headed off to go shopping at Trago Mills near Newton Abbot but fortunately I was let out of the car along the way for a wander around Stover Park.

A male blackcap was seen feeding in a tree on ivy berries by the car park as I alighted from the car and nuthatches were heard calling nearby. The lake was quiet with just a cormorant, a great crested grebe, a mute swan, a pair of tufted duck, coot, moorhen and mallard seen but there were no hirundines noted. A muscovy duck was perched in a tree overhanging a side channel while a mallard x muscovy duck type kept very close tabs on a female mallard, regularly chasing off nearby male mallards much to the females delight.

Mallard x Muscovy Duck?

M x M Duck with female Mallard

M x M Duck with Mallard

M x M Duck with Mallard

From the tree platform I watched the birds feeding on the seed dispensers - blue, great and coal tits with nuthatch, chaffinch, 2 male and a female bullfinch and a single marsh tit, my first of the year after regularly dipping over the winter at my usual sites (including Stover).

Bullfinch, Stover

Bullfinch

Under the feeders around 10 grey squirrels were scrabbling around for dropped seed with a large brown rat and 2 smaller youngsters until a buzzard swooped into the nearby trees and scattered all the squirrels and rats into cover but the small birds continued to feed on the seed dispenser although they were much more skittish and wary. The buzzard kept a close eye on the ground and allowed some nice close views and was still patiently watching when I left around 30 minutes later despite the rats and squirrels keeping out of sight.

Brown Rat

Buzzard

Buzzard

Buzzard

Also seen around the lake and in the woods were a singing chiffchaff and a singing willow warbler which was dipping its tail chiffchaff-like as it fed in the sallows. Another blackcap was heard singing, peacock butterflies dashed around in the warm sunshine, siskins were heard flying over and a great spotted woodpecker was seen feeding in the tree tops before it was time to head back to the car park to be picked up for the drive back to Plymouth.

Great Spotted Woodpecker, Stover

Thursday 19th April was still sunny and even warmer and by the time I arrived at Yarner Wood on Dartmoor at 12:30 it was very warm indeed. The main car park is still closed due to the ongoing maintenance work on the pond so after being dropped off at the car park at Trendlebeare Down I walked across the very muddy footpath to the woods while David went off for a look around nearby Bovey Tracey. On the heath willow warblers were singing away with 2 buzzards soaring overhead and a pair of stonechat feeding from the gorse tops and I had a brief flight view of a tree pipit while a siskin flew over songflighting.

Into the woods and I heard the drumming of a woodpecker but couldn't see it amongst the trees and it soon stopped in the building heat and later I saw a female great spotted woodpecker and heard a green woodpecker yaffling. Chiffchaff, blackcap, nuthatch, coal tit, blue tit, great tit and blackbird were seen and heard but the highlight were 3 male pied flycatchers singing away and giving good views including a male right by the footpath sporting a silver leg ring.

 Pied Flycatcher, Yarner Wood

Pied Flycatcher

The hot weather meant wood ants were scuttling around everywhere with a few brimstone and peacock flying around too but never settling and I found a moth resting  on a tree trunk which I think is an engrailed.

 Engrailed

Engrailed

David arrived to collect me at 14:30 and the temperature on the car dashboard was reading a scorching 24.5c as we drove back to Bovey Tracey for some lunch. I was very glad to get out of the heat and enjoyed a cup of tea and a sandwich at the Brookside cafe in Bovey Tracey before we drove back home having had a very enjoyable but hot day out.

River Plym and Rame Head

Thursday 12th April and while working a long day I received a text from local birder Russ that a ring ouzel was showing well near the River Plym - but unfortunately there was nothing I could do about it! The next day I headed out on a cool and gloomy morning for a look around and there was no sign of the ring ouzel as I expected but I had an enjoyable walk anyway.

I caught the bus to Marsh Mills and walked down river through Saltram Park to Laira Bridge from where I caught the bus back home and the highlight was my first swallow of the year which flew over a few times chittering away before flying off out of sight. Runner up highlight was the still present red necked grebe fishing mid channel off the Chelson Meadow Recycling Centre on the incoming tide, more distant views than on previous visits but good to see.

Red Necked Grebe

Other sightings included 1 greenshank, 1 curlew, 32 turnstone and 2 redshank along the river with 32 redshank on Blaxton Meadow, 11 common gulls (5 adults) on the mudflats amongst the herring, black headed and great black backed gulls, 7 stock doves feeding together and 2 roe deer resting on a grassy slope. Chiffchaffs, a green woodpecker and a great spotted woodpecker were heard with blackcaps seen and heard.

 Turnstones

 Roe Deer in the Gloom

Catkins

Monday 16th April and I headed off to Rame Head on the bus on a mostly sunny but suprisingly cool and breezey morning. The views of Whitsand Bay were stunning as I stepped off the bus and a quick scan around offshore revealed a gannet sat on the sea with a diving red throated diver in winter plumage and a guillemot nearby and a grey seal poking its head out of the water close to shore.

The walk to Rame Head along the coast path was accompanied by singing chiffchaffs and a swallow flew around overhead before heading off inland. Bloody nosed beetles were trundling along the path and a small pond by the path held a few small tadpoles. From the chapel at the headland a raven flew over carrying what looked like a golf ball while offshore a few gannets were flying past and a bit of scanning around revealed a guillemot flying east and 9 Manx shearwaters (2 together, 3 together and then 4 singles) heading west.

Heading inland towards Rame Church and 6 fallow deer does showed briefly on the cliffs before disappearing into the scrub while along the lane I found a skittish flock of buntings with at least 2 male and a female yellowhammer and 3 male and a female cirl bunting being noted as they flew around and skulked in bushes. A buzzard, a brief view of a butterfly species dashing past (small tortoiseshell?) and another (or the same?) swallow flying around overhead were also noted before I caught the bus back to Plymouth after an enjoyable mornings walk.

 Yellowhammer

Cirl Bunting

Finally - A Spring Day at Wembury

Wednesday 11th April and a cool but sunny morning saw me heading off on the bus for a walk along the coast path at Wembury. As the morning progressed it became quite warm and also quite busy with Easter holiday crowds but I ended up staying longer than planned, catching the 3pm bus back to Plymouth instead of the more usual 1.30pm bus. The footpath was still a mud fest but better than on my visit on 31st March (although bizarrely I ended up getting more mud covered on this visit) and despite the mud and crowds I had a great walk.

Things started off well as I walked down the road towards the beach where I found my first moths of the year - 2 early grey moths resting on the wall of the electricity sub-station, remarkably well camoflagued and a place I have found early grey before.

 Early Grey

 Early Grey

Early Grey

Onwards to the toilet block and more moths were found - a skittish pug species which disappeared behind a cistern, 2 shoulder stripe and a water carpet.

 Shoulderstripe

 Shoulderstripe

Water Carpet

The warm weather brought out other insect life - bees, flies, bloody nosed beetles, etc - and included a comma, a red admiral and a female brimstone which wizzed by without settling and 3 peacock which were much more accomodating.

 Peacock

 Peacock

Peacock

My first common lizards of the year were out sunning themselves too with 5 along the coast path and 1 by the bus stop.

Common Lizard

A male wheatear at Wembury Point with another (or the same?) later on the rocks below the horse field, 2 Sandwich terns patrolling offshore and singing chiffchaffs and blackcaps were all signs of spring migration along with 4+ white wagtails along the beach with pied wagtails and rock pipits. The highlight was the overwintering water pipit still along the beach near the sewage pipe, now in its fourth month and looking a little less scruffy as it continues its moult into summer plumage - more mobile and wary than before but not surprising with the constant flow of people walking along the beach.

 White Wagtail

 White Wagtail

 Wheatear

 Water Pipit

 Water Pipit

 Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Other birds noted were 8 male and a female mallard, 3 little egrets, a lone winter plumaged black headed gull and oystercatchers on the rocks, gannets and fulmars offshore, a raven flying out to The Mewstone with a beakful of food, 2 buzzards soaring overhead in the thermals with a sparrowhawk, 3 male and a female pheasent on the hillside above the wheatfield, a singing male cirl bunting with 2 more birds heard, stonechats, linnets and goldfinches.

 Mallard

Wren

A great day out with a coffee and a Chunk pasty from the cafe on the beach for lunch topping off a very enjoyable walk.