Large Skipper at Wembury

A quick walk along the coast path at Wembury on Thursday 31st May was warm and humid but not too busy despite it being half term holiday hell. The sun shone at times but a bank of sea fog kept rolling in and out offshore making it a bit hazy.

As expected it was very quiet bird wise with a singing chiffchaff, songflighting whitethroats, 2 swallows chittering around the horse stables (at last), 7 Canada geese feeding in the wheatfield, a male stonechat catching insects from the hawthorn bushes by the footpath and 6 oystercatchers feeding on the rocky foreshore being the highlights.

The toilet block held 2 moths - a white ermine and a common swift - and along the walk I saw a speckled yellow and Depressia daucella caterpillars on the hemlock water dropwort flower heads.

 White Ermine

Common Swift

A few butterflies were seen - large white, green veined white, a wall (first sighting at Wembury since 2016), a male orange tip, a male common blue, speckled wood and my first large skipper of the year looking very smart, presumably just recently emerged.

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

Heading home and I had a quick look around Blagdons Meadow by the River Plym where local birder Pete Aley pointed out a late whimbrel feeding out on the mudflats. 2 swallows were flying around the increasingly decrepit Ocean Maid boat wreck, a whitethroat and a blackcap were heard singing and house martins flew overhead.

The meadow was very dry but southern marsh orchids were flowering well and common blue, burnet companion and silver y were flitting about in the grass. A dragonfly buzzing around tested my ID skills, at first I thought it was a keeled skimmer but I re-ID'd it on checking my guide book back at home as an immature male common darter.

 Burnet Companion

Southern Marsh Orchid

Common Darter - Immature Male

A pleasent morning out and about but the summer doldrums are here after a rather unusual spring.