Chiffchaffs were singing away and amongst the numerous peacock butterflys flitting about I also saw a small tortoiseshell and my first speckled wood of the year. There was no sign of any Dartford warblers on the recently swaled cliffsides but plenty of stonechats and a pair of cirl buntings were seen along with flyover raven, kestrel, buzzard and peregrine. Best birds though were 2 marsh tit seen in the woodlands near Noss Mayo as we walked into the village for lunch at The Ship Inn.
Small Tortoiseshell, Stoke Point
Friday 29th March and I caught the bus out to Wembury for a walk on another sunny but cooler day. No moths were found in the toilet block but I did find a light brown apple moth in the bushes by the bus stop and I managed to see 4 speckled wood, 9 peacock, a small tortoiseshell and a male orange tip flitting about.
Speckled Wood, Wembury
Peacock, Wembury
Light Brown Apple Moth, Wembury
The usual birds were seen and heard - chiffchaffs, blackcaps, stonechats, cirl buntings, pheasents, rock pipits, mallards, little egrets, oystercatchers, etc, - but the best bird was a male wheatear at The Point looking very smart in the sunshine.
Wheatear, Wembury
Cirl Bunting, Wembury
Sloe Blossom, Wembury
While at work on Saturday 6th April I received a text from local birder Russ regarding a ring ousel having been found by the River Plym that afternoon and so the next morning I headed out for a look but without too much hope. As expected there was no sign of it but it was a pleasant walk all the same.
I caught the bus to Marsh Mills and walked through Saltram Park to Chelson Meadow before returning to Marsh Mills to catch the bus home. The tide was high when I arrived at Blaxton Meadow and a dunlin was roosting with the redshanks and 6 little egrets while along the river I found a common sandpiper and 3 greenhanks.
It was good to see the new viewing area overlooking the river near the meadow giving better views of the estuary but not so good to see a dog charging across the meadow on the high tide disturbing the birds.
Viewing Platform, Blaxton Meadow
In Saltram Park a single stock dove was seen along with a pair of ring-necked parakeets checking out nesting holes in the trees, hopefully there won't be too much competition between the 2 species. Nuthatches were vocal and showy in the trees and 2 house martins flew over heading north. Chiffchaffs, blackcaps and skylarks were seen and heard along with an unseen yaffling green woodpecker and 7 roe deer were feeding out in the open on Chelson Meadow. It was also good to see my first willow warbler of the year busily feeding away in the trees as it gave quiet snatches of song.
Roe Deer, Chelson Meadow
Primroses, Saltram
The tide had dropped on my return walk and out on the estuary I found a 1st summer common gull amongst the gulls, a single greenshank and bizarrely a pair of stock doves feeding out on the mud along with a sleeping pair of mandarin ducks by the stream near the Plympton road bridge.
Greenshank, River Plym
Mandarin Ducks, River Plym
Little Egret, River Plym
Little Egret, River Plym
A very restorative walk despite the Sunday crowds and with some great wildlife sightings right on my doorstep,
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