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.