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