Sunday 26 August 2018

Sooty Shearwater at Berry Head

Sunday 26th August and a pelagic trip out of Brixham with my mate Mavis was cancelled due to the forecasted poor weather which was a big shame as I had really been looking forward to getting offshore again. Instead I decided to finally visit Berry Head for a sea watch, something I have been wanting to do for some time now. The weather was as forecasted when I awoke in the morning - wet and windy - and so I caught the train to Paignton via Newton Abbot and then the bus to Brixham for the walk out to Berry Head. I arrived at the quarry at the base of the cliffs below the coastguard lookout at around 11am where I joined a group of birders already gazing out to sea in the wet, windy and misty conditions.

The birders were all professional sea watchers with huge telescopes, folding chairs, huge fishing umbrellas and thermos flasks and made me feel decidedly amateurish but they were friendly, welcoming and helpful. My little telescope was of no use in the wet and misty conditions and so I didn't even get it out of my rucksack and had to rely on just my binoculars but I still managed some good views of the birds.

Gannets, kittiwakes, fulmars, herring gulls and great black backed gulls were milling around offshore in the wind and the rain and things started off well with an Arctic skua picked up close in harassing a comic tern, a dark phase adult bird showing its long central tail feather as it twisted and turned after the tern. A Manx shearwater with a Balearic shearwater were picked up soon after flying low over the waves in the misty gloom and so the sightings continued until I left at 3pm when I was soaked through but very pleased with the birds I had seen.

I never kept a proper total of the birds I saw in all the excitement and there is always the issue of birds circling around offshore but I saw 9+ Arctic skuas (dark and pale phased), 7+ great skuas, 7+ Balearic shearwaters and around 10 Manxies. Also seen were 3 whimbrel, an oystercatcher and a juvenile Mediterranean gull along with a rock pipit along the foreshore, a flyover peregrine and a flyover yellow wagtail. Harbour porpoise also gave some good views close to the headland as they surfaced to breathe and at times I could see them just below the water surface as they rode the waves.

The highlight were 2 sooty shearwaters picked up by one of the assembled birders which I could not get onto at first. They landed on the sea but I eventually managed to find them as they took to the air again, a distant and brief view as they flew off around the headland and out of sight but their long wings and all dark plumage stood out - finally my first UK sighting!

And so my first proper sea watch was a great success and I've learnt a few things for next time - firstly I need a bigger telescope (to see the birds better), waterproof shoes are essential (mine weren't) and waterproof gloves would be a good idea (my hands were cold and wrinkly by the time I headed back home).

Friday 24 August 2018

Brown Hairstreak

Plans for butterfly trips on my days off so far this month have been thwarted by the weather - after the heat and sunshine of June and July the month of August has been more typical of a British summer, being cool, wet, breezy and overcast for a lot of the time. I had hoped to finally get to Fontmell Down in Dorset to look for silver-spotted skippers and also to make a trip to Netherclay Community Woodland near Taunton in Somerset where I had recently discovered brown hairstreaks are present but the weather seemed to have other plans.

Tuesday 21st August was another overcast and dull but warm and humid and still day and I decided to head off to Taunton on the train anyway to visit Netherclay to have a look around. On the walk to Plymouth railway station to catch the train I heard and then saw at least 10 ring necked parakeets in the pine trees near the entrance including 2 blue morphs, a colour morph that is not found in the wild and therefore proving that the birds are either escapees from captivity or deliberate releases.

Blue Morph Ring-Necked Parakeet

The train journey went smoothly although it was a stinky Crosscountry train and packed as trains always are in August and after a short walk into Taunton town centre, a short bus ride to the Silk Mills Park and Ride terminal followed by another short walk to the reserve I eventually entered the woodland at around 9:30am.

The woodland is mostly newly planted with a mix of maturing trees of ash, oak and silver birch amongst others along with some mature trees and old hedgerows nestled in the middle of agricultural fields and criss-crossed by numerous paths. The Somerset Wildlife Trust website had details of the site and mentioned a mature ash tree being present along the northern hedgerow and this is where I headed first to have a look around. I easily found the tree but there was no sight of any insect activity and so I continued my wander around the wood.

Blackcap, chiffchaff, a treecreeper (my first of the year), coal-,blue-,great- and long-tailed tits, robin and blackbird were all seen with green- and great spotted woodpecker heard while swallows and house martins hawked overhead chittering away.

Eventually a few insects appeared with a green veined white, speckled wood, small white and common blue all seen with a few dragonflies buzzing along the woodland rides and various bee species enjoying the flowers of Himalayan balsam.

 Speckled Wood

 Hops

Flowering Willow

I eventually found a mature ash tree on the western edge of the woodland and while scanning the tree top a small butterfly dashed past over the brambles looking very orange with a bit of brown - a brown hairstreak, not the view I wanted but a result none the less. Another brief sighting was had of one flitting about in the tree top followed by another brief flypast view over the brambles and then finally a female flew down from the ash tree to the top of a small tree by the path where I finally managed some good binocular views and a few record shots.

 Brown Hairstreak

 Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

It stayed there for around 20 minutes but with the clouds beginning to break up and the sun beginning to appear for brief periods the butterfly decided to fly back up the top of the ash tree where I lost sight of it. I scanned around the tree for a while and did eventually manage to see 2 brown hairstreaks flitting about together before they too disappeared from view and with the sunshine becoming stronger I decided to head back to the ash tree on the northern edge for another look.

As I walked along the footpaths to the ash tree I noted more speckled woods and small whites along with a few meadow browns and then a striking butterfly sunning itself on a sloe bush right by the footpath caught my eye - a female brown hairstreak. It allowed very close views as it sunned itself and investigated the sloe bushes with its abdomen looking for sites to lay eggs but it was restless and fidgety and I fluffed a lot of my photos although I managed a few decent ones.

 Brown Hairstreak

 Brown Hairstreak

 Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

 Brown Hairstreak

 Brown Hairstreak

I watched it for around 10 minutes before it got involved in a tussle with a passing speckled wood and flew off over to the other side of the hedge never to return and despite wandering around the hedgerows for a while longer before beginning the journey back to Plymouth I never saw any more. I was however very pleased to have had such good views of a new butterfly for me and one I wasn't really expecting to see considering the less than ideal weather.

Friday 24th August and another cool and overcast day meant a trip to Fontmell Down was shelved yet again and instead we drove out to Bolberry Down for a walk to South Huish Marsh and back. It was quite breezy again as we walked over Bolberry Down but a few butterflies were seen - a small copper, a red admiral, small white, speckled wood and meadow brown - along with 2 kestrels and a skylark. South Huish Marsh was quiet too with a black headed gull, a grey heron, a little egret, pied wagtails with 1 white wagtail, a sand martin, swallows, a house martin and 4 ringed plover being seen. The highlight though were 2 yellow wagtails feeding in amongst some sheep in a field by the marsh, distant views and difficult to observe at times in the long grass but good to see.

Friday 17 August 2018

Yellow Legged Gull at Wembury

Tuesday 14th August and I overslept, something I rarely do, and I didn't wake up until 9:45, so plans for a bus trip to Wembury went out of the window - it was also a good job I hadn't put the moth box out the night before as I had originally intended!

I decided instead to have a quick look at the high tide roost at Blaxton Meadow on the River Plym, seeing a noisy juvenile peregrine flying over the house with an adult as I left, but by the time I arrived at the viewing platform I was too late and the only birds seen were a curlew, Canada geese and 2 grey herons. It was however good to see that the National Trust are finally blocking access around the Meadow to decrease disturbance but it does mean that viewing the estuary is now more difficult especially with the trees in leaf.

Grey Mullet spawning at Marsh Mills, River Plym

Out on the estuary I managed to find a greenshank and a common sandpiper along with curlew, redshank, oystercatcher, little egret, mallard, great black backed gull, herring gull, black headed gull and an adult lesser black backed gull while in Saltram Park swallows were skimming low over the grass amongst the cattle, house martins were flitting over the tree tops and a kestrel was hovering over Chelson Meadow.

Wednesday 15th August and I headed off to Bowling Green Marsh at Topsham on the train and with high tide being around 10:30ish I caught the first train after 9am in order to save some money, spending £10.70 for a return instead of £20.80. I arrived at the hide at around 11:15 and was met with the grand sight of a large roost of birds - curlews, black tailed godwits and redshanks along with a single bar-tailed godwit, a few whimbrel, lapwings, around 20 greenshanks, a winter plumaged spotted redshank, a green sandpiper, a common sandpiper and dunlins. Also seen were a 1st winter and adult winter Mediterranean gull, a strange looking leucistic gull which has been ranging around the Exe and nearby Torbay and may be a black headed gull/Mediterranean gull hybrid, the psycho adult lesser black backed gull chasing after dunlins, the 4 young tufted ducks and a shoveler with the teal and mallard.

Bowling Green Marsh

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Common Sandpiper

Spotted Redshank

Green Sandpiper

Stock doves and a raven were seen flying overhead with a marsh harrier quartering over the reeds and a sleeping spoonbill amongst the roosting little egrets and grey herons adding to a very enjoyable birding time.

Marsh Harrier

Spoonbill

Spoonbill

Spoonbill

Onwards to the River Clyst Viewing Platform and on the ebbing tide the waders began to fly over to the mudflats from the Marsh and I added oystercatcher to the days wader species. Also seen were 2 black swans, a juvenile and 2 1st winter Mediterranean gulls, a harbour seal hauled out on the mudflats, a flyover peregrine and a distant osprey circling over the river before heading down to Mudbank off Exmouth where it made a few unsuccessful dives before eventually catching a fish and flying off high towards Haldon and out of sight.

Friday 17th August and I finally made it to Wembury on the bus, finding a twenty plume mouth and a bloodvein in the toilet block on arrival along with an oak bush cricket tangled up in a spiders web, all of which I caught and released outside.

Bloodvein

Oak Bush Cricket

The tide was high and along the beach a mass of gulls were feeding in the surf line, mostly black headed gulls including a good number of juveniles along with herring gulls, a few great black backed gulls and at least 10 Mediterranean gulls - 2 adult winter, 2 2nd summer and 6 juvenile/1st winters in varying degrees of intermediate plumage, it was difficult to count exact numbers as they were very mobile along the beach and not helped by regular disturbance from walkers.

Gull Melee

Juv/1st Winter Mediterranean Gull


Adult Winter Mediterranean Gull

Amongst the gulls were 2 common sandpipers, 3 dunlin, a turnstone and a sanderling feeding on the seaweed mass but the best bird was a juvenile yellow legged gull, quite a subtle looking individual not helped by looking into the sunlight but first noted as it flew along the beach showing a very white rump with a neat black tail band. I watched it for a while and it was very variable looking depending on the angle and light but it eventually flew away when disturbed by yet more walkers.

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Juvenile Yellow Legged Gull

Cirl buntings, swallows, a willow warbler, chiffchaffs, whitethroats, stonechats and linnets were noted along the path and at Wembury Point 2 whimbrel were roosting with 6 curlew, 4 little egrets and 47+ oystercatchers. Gannets were diving for fish offshore and 3 raven flew over to The Mewstone while common blue, small white, meadow brown, a holly blue, speckled wood and gatekeeper were flitting about along with a common carpet. Just 1 common lizard was seen basking on the fence and a few bloody nose beetles were noted including a mating pair.

Common Carpet

Holly Blue

Bloody-Nosed Beetle

A great few days birding and wildlife watching now that autumn is finally underway.


Saturday 11 August 2018

Wood Sandpiper at Bude

A quick walk along the coast path at Wembury on Wednesday 1st August in the continuing hot weather and there were more signs of autumn in the air with 7 curlew, 3 whimbrel, 53+ oystercatchers and 5 little egrets roosting at Wembury Point on the high tide. An adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gull was picked up offshore flying east and along the path there were the usual stonechats and whitethroats, 4+ skittish and skulky cirl buntings in the sewage farm hedge, 3 fledgling carrion crows with an adult hunting for scraps of food left by holiday makers on the main beach and a flyover sparrowhawk.

Butterflies were flitting about as usual with a painted lady, a red admiral and a speckled wood seen along with large white, common blue, wall, meadow brown, gatekeeper and small white. The toilet block held a magpie moth, a dark bush cricket and 2 oak bush crickets and along the footpath I found a carnation tortrix, a new moth for me and ID'd with help from @MothIDUK on Twitter.

 Painted Lady

 Red Admiral

 Wall

 Wall

Carnation Tortrix

 Dark Bush Cricket

Oak Bush Cricket

With Mum and nephew Jack visiting for a few days we took a drive up to Bude for the day on Wednesday 8th August but the hot weather had broken and on arrival it was raining. It did clear up eventually and I did manage a quick look at Maer Lake where 2 dunlin, a curlew, 3 lapwing, 14 black tailed godwits and a wood sandpiper were seen in the drizzly gloom - the wood sandpiper was unfortunately a little distant (as the birds always are at Maer Lake) and the poor light and drizzle didn't help viewing but it was a delight to watch as always.

 Wood Sandpiper - Honest!

Wood Sandpiper (with Mallard and 2 Dunlin)

A brief trip to Wembury on Thursday 9th August before Mum and Jack headed back home and in the rock pools we found shanny and cushion starfish and in the toilet block another magpie moth and a garden pebble.

 Cushion Starfish

Garden Pebble

Pebble Prominent - found by David at work on a night shift at Derriford, Plymouth