Spotted Flycatcher, Saltram Park

Friday 24th May and we had a quick walk at Rame Head with Mother-in-law on a grey and cool morning. It was breezy but we sat on some benches in a sheltered spot and admired the view.

A few gannets were seen offshore and whitethroats and a yellowhammer were heard on the cliff slopes. Despite the weather a speckled yellow was flitting over the vegetation along with a common carpet and we also found a very small cricket nymph.

Common Carpet

Cricket Nymph

With Spring 2019 almost at an end and the only usual summer migrant I have yet to see being spotted flycatcher I headed off to Saltram Park in Plymouth for a look around following reports of birds being seen there. I have never seen one in the Plymouth area before other than 1 at Plymbridge Woods many years ago but which was almost at Bickleigh so not technically Plymouth, but SaltramPark is a big place with lots of trees and so I asked local birder Pete for some advice as to where to look.

I caught the bus to Marsh Mills and walked along the River Plym to Saltram Park, seeing an out of place collared dove out on the mudflats along the way. More usual bird sightings on the estuary were an oystercatcher managing to find lots of worms out of the mud, 2 shelduck, an adult lesser black-backed gull and 2 great black-backed gulls amongst the herring gulls, a pair of Canada geese with 5 fluffy goslings and 3 male and a female mallard flying over, while on Blaxton Meadow 9 shelduck and 2 little egret were seen.

Canada Geese with Goslings

I wandered around the Park checking out all the areas advised to me and eventually after watching blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, a jay, a buzzard, blackcaps, robins, wrens, 2 swallows, 2 ring-necked parakeets and a singing male chaffinch I finally found a spotted flycatcher sat unobtrusively in a tree and occassionally dashing out to catch passing flies before it flew off out of sight. The views were a bit distant and I later refound it or a different bird in a nearby area before it disappeared from sight again but I was very pleased to see one.

Blackbird

Ring-necked Parakeet

Heading back to Marsh Mills and I picked up a red kite drifting north high overhead and being mobbed by a carrion crow, a first for Plymouth for me too.

I stopped off at Blagdons Meadow on the journey home, the site is extremely dry from the lack of any recent rain, but I did find southern marsh orchids coming into flower and early purple orchids going over including a white form, and common blues and burnet companions were flitting about in the grass with a female sparrowhawk soaring overhead the only bird of note.

 Common Blue

 Common Blue

 Common Blue 

 Burnet Companion

Southern Marsh Orchid

Green Hairstreaks at Wembury

Tuesday 21st May and a hot and sunny morning saw me heading off to Wembury for a walk before yet another looming night shift. I left home later than planned, catching the 10:05 bus, and only stayed at Wembury for 2 hours before returning home, but it was a very enjoyable visit.

I didn't even get my binoculars out of my rucksack but managed nice views of songflighting whitethroats, a female cirl bunting in a hedgerow near The Point and a soaring buzzard overhead along with 2 shelduck, 3 male mallard and oystercatchers along the beach. Chiffchaff and blackcap were heard but I didn't see any swallows along my walk.

No moths were found in the toilet block but I did see a speckled yellow flitting past and Depressia daucella caterpillars were found on the hemlock water drop wort flowerheads.

The highlight of the walk though were 3 green hairstreaks by the path at The Point, a solitary male and 2 males close together that regularly sparred with each other and all giving excellent views and looking fabulous in the bright sunshine.

 Green Hairstreak

 Green Hairstreak 

 Green Hairstreak 

 Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak 

 Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak 

Also seen were common blues, holly blues, speckled woods, orange tips, green-veined whites and my first large skipper of the year.

 Large Skipper

 Large Skipper

Holly Blue

A very enjoyable walk, and I wished I had worn my shorts and sandals for the first time this year as it was so warm - summer is almost here at last.

Exminster Marsh Revisited

I decided to visit Exminster Marshes again on Saturday 18th May to see if I could get any better views of sedge warblers than I had managed on my last visit 3 weeks ago. It was a grey and cool morning as I stepped off the bus at around 9:30am, having had a hassle free train journey to Starcross with distant views of Herbert the Slavonian grebe off Cockwood as we travelled along the River Exe being the highlight, but it did warm up later with occasional spells of sunshine too.

Swifts and house martins and a few swallows were buzzing over the marsh as I arrived at the car park and I could hear reed warblers, sedge warblers, chiffchaff, blackcap and a whitethroat.

I started off along the back path, keeping an ear and eye out for a lesser whitethroat but without any success. I did hear a Cettis warbler though and saw a male reed bunting in the reeds while out on the marsh lapwings, grey herons, shelducks, mallards, coots, moorhens and mute swans were seen. A cattle egret was seen distantly flying off towards Topsham and a few little egret were also seen.

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

Reed warblers were heard and were surprisingly very showy, giving some good views, and sedge warblers were also heard but were surprisingly unshowy, proving difficult to see in the vegetation. Eventually I found a song flighting male and later another very showy and confiding male which both gave some lovely views.

Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler

Sedge warbler

Sedge Warbler 

Sedge Warbler 

I had planned to walk around to the Powderham Marsh viewing platform but decided to stay on Exminster Marsh and view Powderham Marsh looking over the railway line while sat on some railings and I was surprised to find a female pochard out on the water. Even more surprising was a Brent goose feeding amongst Canada geese along with a snow goose and 3 barnacle geese.

Pochard

Brent Goose

Brent Goose with Canada Geese

Barnacle Goose

A lapwing making a bit of a noise over Exminster Marsh caught my attention and I managed a good view of a hobby flying low over the marsh before gaining height and drifting off towards Topsham. A second bird was also seen soaring high overhead before drifting off north and out of sight.

A few insects were also seen including a beautiful demoiselle, azure damselflys, speckled wood, green-veined white and 3 glow worm larva.

Beautiful Demoiselle

Azure Damselfly

Glow worm Larva

Glow worm Larva

Exminster Marsh Cow

I caught the bus and train back to Dawlish Warren for a quick look around but it was very busy with people and there was nothing to see on a flat calm sea so I had a portion of chips for lunch which I had to guard from assorted maurading herring gulls and great black-backed gulls before I caught the train back to Plymouth - a very successful day out.

Great Black-backed Gull

Herring Gull

Herring Gull

Herring Gull

Herring Gull

Blue-headed Wagtail, South Huish Marsh

Friday 17th May and after a particularly shitty long day at work the day before an offer from David for a walk along the coast path from Hope Cove to Thurlestone and back was grabbed with both hands.

On arriving at Hope Cove it was cool and grey but the sea was flat calm and house martins were flitting about around the buildings, calling and swooping up to investigate the eaves. As we walked up to the cliff top path to Thurlestone a few swallows and swifts were also seen flying overhead and along the path a few whitethroats were singing.

Arriving at South Huish Marsh swifts, swallows, house martins and a single sand martin were hawking over the water with a pair of shoveler, adult lesser black-backed gulls amongst the assorted herring gulls and great black-backed gulls, a grey heron, a shelduck and mallards also seen. A female yellow wagtail had been reported on the marsh the previous day and a blue-headed wagtail had been reported on May 10th and I thought I could hear the call of a yellow wagtail somewhere but couldn't be sure and I couldn't locate it despite scanning around and so we carried on towards Thurlestone.

From the bridge over South Milton Ley two reed warblers were singing with 1 seen but there were sadly no moths in the toilet block by the golf course and little else was noted except for a very tame song thrush on the roadside verge.

We had lunch in the Thurlestone Arms before beginning our walk back to Hope Cove but the skies were ominously dark looking and a heavy mizzle drizzle duly arrived. We stopped off at South Huish Marsh again and while David sheltered from the wet weather I scanned around, finding a male reed bunting and a reed warbler in the reeds close to the car park fence along with a nervous pair of stonechats carrying food in their bills, presumably with a nest nearby, and so I moved further along the fence line and out of their way.

Stonechat

I heard a sedge warbler singing and a first summer black-headed gull had joined the assorted gulls and there were still plenty of swallows, swifts and house martins hawking insects over the water. The mizzle continued and I was beginning to get quite soaked but on a quick scan around the feet of some cattle out on the marsh I had a distant and brief view of a yellow wagtail before it disappeared in the vegetation. It eventually reappeared, looking a bit bedraggled in the rain and regularly shaking itself dry, but it appeared to have a blue-toned head. I hoped it would move nearer as the cattle munched their way across the grass but it stayed distant although a few crappy photos I managed to grab in the low light and mizzle clearly show a blue head, my first blue-headed wagtail in Devon and presumably the same bird seen on May 10th. (A better photo is on the www.thurlestonebaybirds.co.uk website).

 Blue-headed Wagtail

  Blue-headed Wagtail

Blue-headed Wagtail 

It was soon time to leave and carry on the walk back to the car as the mizzle continued but by the time we arrived back at Hope Cove it had stopped and the house martins were still prospecting for nest sites around the buildings as we headed back to Plymouth.

Hope Cove Signage

Wembury and Saltram Park

Saturday 11th May and as it was a sunny but breezy day I headed off to Wembury on the bus for a walk. I was expecting it to be busy with people due to the good weather but it wasn't too bad.

With the nights being quite chilly at the moment it was no surprise that there were no moths in the toilet block but I did disturb a common carpet from the path side vegetation on my walk.

Common Carpet

Butterflies were on the wing despite the breeze and I saw orange tip, speckled wood and peacock along with my first small white and common blue of the year.

 Common Blue

Peacock

Bird highlight was a smart male whinchat in the sewage farm hedgerow, my first spring sighting of one here at Wembury.

Whinchat

Whitethroats were singing and songflighting all along the walk, they seem to be in very good numbers this year, and I also heard and saw chiffchaff and blackcap. A singing male cirl bunting showed very well and a few swallows flitted about overhead. At The Point on the high tide 18 oystercatcher, 3 whimbrel, 1 curlew and a winter plumaged bar-tailed godwit were roosting with a pair of shelducks, a pair of Canada geese and 2 male and a female mallard.

An odd sight was a clump of gorse shield bug eggs laid on a gorse flower.

Gorse Shield Bug Eggs

An enjoyable mornings walk despite the breeze, and it actually felt like summer is nearly here at last.

Sunday 12th May and with another night shift looming I caught the bus out to Laira Bridge for a walk around Saltram Park, a perfect antidote to a thick head from David's cousins 65th birthday the night before.

It was sunny again but still breezy and I managed to see small white, green-veined white, speckled wood, orange tip and my first small heath of the year.

 Small White

 Small White

 Small White

 Small Heath

Small Heath

A late male wheatear was a surprise and there were good numbers of skylarks seen and heard.

Wheatear

Chiffchaff and blackcap were heard along with jay and ring-necked parakeet and swallows were seen flying around overhead. I kept an eye out for spotted flycatcher without any luck but it was good to see a few fledgling robins skulking in the bushes.

With my head cleared it was time to catch the bus back home, a nice walk in the sunshine and I left before the Sunday hordes arrived.