Stuart's Wildlife Diary: May 2020

Sunday 31 May 2020

Heat Wave Wildlife

Man, it's been hot this week. It is bone dry everywhere with clear skies and mostly gentle breezes and with no sign of rain to come anytime soon in the weather forecasts. It hasn't rained properly now for ages and as much as I enjoy good weather it looks and feels like the end of August after a hot, dry summer, not the usual green lushesness of late May. What impact this will have on wildlife remains to be seen.

After meeting work colleague Monica for a socially distanced gossip and catch up in a small park off Mutley Plain on Wednesday 27th May I wandered down to nearby Ford Park Cemetery for a look around on what was yet another hot and sunny day. It was too hot really and I wasn't planning to stay very long but butterflies and moths were flitting about and I eventually headed home after an hour and a half of wandering around amongst the tombstones.

Chiffchaff and Blackcap were heard singing away and Swift and Swallow flew around overhead. 2 Jay were making a huge amount of noise in a conifer tree and I scanned the dense branches for a possible Tawny Owl as the cause of all the fuss but the Jays suddenly fell silent and no Tawny Owl was to be found.

It was nice to find my first Meadow Brown of the year but they were very mobile and flighty in the heat as were Common Blue, Large White, Orange Tip, Speckled Wood and Small White. A Yellow Shell, a Burnet Companion and a Cinnabar Moth were also seen.

Meadow Brown

Yellow Shell

Burnet Companion

I was glad to get home and out of the heat but on checking my phone I had received a text from Russ about a sighting of a Red-backed Shrike at Saltram that morning and so I headed straight back out, foregoing my longed for cup of tea.

It remained hot on my walk to Saltram and along the way I could hear House Martin chittering overhead. Chiffchaff and Blackcap were heard singing in Saltram Park and Skylarks were also songflighting.

I eventually found the Red-backed Shrike, a stunning male bird, and I watched it along with the 7 other birders present but it was mobile and flighty and often elusive. The views were mostly distant and heat hazy and I hadn't brought my telescope with me but eventually the other birders left and I was left alone and had some great views of the bird perched out in the open on a bramble bush before I too had to leave.

Red-backed Shrike

Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Small Heath, Burnet Companion and Cinnabar Moth were also seen and there were more Bee Orchids in flower in the spot I found them last week and I also found more Bee Orchids elsewhere across the site.

Cinnabar Moth

Bee Orchid

I was very glad to get back home and out of the heat for a much needed cup of tea but I was very pleased to see such a beautiful bird so close to home again, my second one at this location following another smart male bird seen here back in June 2016.

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night and the next morning I had a few moths in the trap with a Yellow-barred Brindle the highlight, a runner up for my top 10 back yard moths list. A nice Treble Lines and a Eudonia lacustrata were nice finds too.

Yellow-barred Brindle

Treble Lines

Eudonia lacustrata

After sorting out the moth box I headed out to Wembury to meet Mavis for a coast path walk. It was hot and sunny again but with a stronger Easterly breeze which kept things more comfortable.

We weren't expecting much in the way of birds but had good sightings of Whitethroat, Stonechat, Cirl Bunting, Linnet and Chiffchaff. 2 Kestrel had a bit of an aerial ding-dong overhead, 3 male Mallard flew along the beach towards the River Yealm, Fulmars wheeled around The Mewstone, Gannets circled around offshore, 6 Canada Geese were roosting together in the sheep field and single Swallow and House Martin hawked overhead.

Stonechat

I was very pleased to eventually find 2 Green Hairstreaks in a spot I haven't seen them before and we had some lovely views of them flitting about in the gorse.

Green Hairstreak

Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Common Blue, Small Copper and Large White were also seen along with a very smart looking Small Tortoiseshell and my first Large Skipper of the year.

Small Tortoiseshell

Large Skipper

Small Tortoiseshell

Stinking Iris and Foxglove were flowering very well and a newly emerged Golden-Ringed Dragonfly was found perched in the bushes near the main beach.

Stinking Iris

Foxglove

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

A very enjoyable but hot walk and I was glad to get back home and out of the sun. And with May now coming to an end it has proven to have been a very excellent Spring despite the current curtailments in place due to COVID-19. Mostly local wildlife watching has been very interesting and enjoyable as the stress and strain of the current sad and strange time continues and who knows what the Summer will now bring.

Monday 25 May 2020

River Plym Walk

I missed out on my weekly River Plym and Saltram visit last week with all the Woodchat Shrike and Little Bittern excitement going on and so it was nice to get back for a walk there on Saturday 23rd May despite the strong breeze and occassional heavy showers. It was fairly quiet people wise, probably due to the weather, but there were still plenty of cyclists plying the footpaths as usual who still don't know what 2 metres is as they cycle side by side.

Before heading out for my walk I went through the moths in the back yard moth box and was pleased to find my first White Ermine, Willow Beauty and Marbled Minor Agg. of the year amongst Vines Rustic and Heart and Dart.

White Ermine

Marbled Minor Agg. - number 1

Marbled Minor Agg. - number 2

It was nice to get back to Saltram Park with Chiffchaff and Blackcap still singing away along with songflighting Skylarks but the Spring excitement is now slowly slipping into the Summer doldrums. The highlight was a "singing" Spotted Flycatcher in a different area to the one I saw last year and only really noticed due to stepping off the footpath to make way for cyclists passing by. I managed to get a good view of it before it flew off higher into the trees where I lost sight of it but I was very pleased to see one after having just spent some time scanning around the area where I saw one last year without any luck.

Ring-necked Parakeets were noisy and flighty amongst the trees and a pair of Stock Dove were surprisingly confiding. As usual an unseen Green Woodpecker yaffled away in the trees. No waders were seen along the estuary or on Blaxtons Meadow but Shelduck, Canada Geese, 2 male and a female Mallard , a Grey Heron and a breeding plumaged Little Egret with orangey feet and a lilac based bill were all seen and amongst the assorted plumaged Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls were 6 assorted immature Black-headed Gulls and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Stock Dove

Despite the breeze I found Speckled Woods flitting amongst the trees while the grassland held good numbers of Common Blue and Small Heath. 2 Glow worm larva were a nice surprise find along with at least 8 Bee Orchids, looking a bit weak and weedy in the continuing dry conditions from a lack of rain. 10 Roe Deer were also seen, looking quite orangey coloured in the strong sunlight compared to their usual dark winter pelage.

Common Blue

Small Heath

Glow Worm Larva

Bee Orchid

I stopped off at Blagdons Meadow on the walk home where it was bone dry underfoot but a few more Southern Marsh Orchids were flowering in the slightly less dry areas.

Southern Marsh Orchid

Another enjoyable walk and one that continues to throw up surprises and interest in these lock down times. And as lock down continues I have realised a few things about my life - firstly, I really no longer enjoy my current job and I need to do something about it, secondly, now that everything is closed down due to COVID-19 I realise I waste a lot of money on nothing (coffees, snacks, lunch out, glasses of wine, train and bus fares, etc.) and thirdly, I really do not pay enough attention to the wildlife close to home. All things to mull over in the coming months with restrictions on daily life set to continue for some time yet.

Friday 22 May 2020

Thurlestone and Dartmoor

Wednesday 20th May and we headed out for a coastal walk with the skies sunny and only a little breeze, parking up at Thurlestone and walking to Hope Cove and back on what was a very hot day. The beaches and car parks were busy but the footpath was fairly quiet and we kept away from other people as much as possible.

The highlight of the walk was a songflighting Sedge Warbler, my first of the year and a bird I wasn't expecting to see this lock down year. It leapt out of the bushes singing away, landing on brambles to continue singing for a short time before leaping up into the air again for one last flourish and then falling silent.

Sedge Warbler - auto-focused on the brambles!

A Reed Warbler was chuntering away in the reeds by the bridge over the Ley, keeping itself well hidden, but Whitethroat were much more showy and vocal all along our walk.

Whitethroat

At South Huish Marsh a pair of Shelduck were looking after 8 fluffy ducklings with another 4 adults roosting nearby. House Martins were gathering mud for nests and Swifts and Swallows swooped around overhead.

Other birds seen and heard were Raven, Chiffchaff, Stonechat, Buzzard, Kestrel, Grey Heron and Pied Wagtail.

Common Blue, Speckled Wood, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue and Wall were seen but the highlight were at least 5 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary flitting across the cliff tops, some very smart looking but some quite worn. They rarely settled for long though as they patrolled low over the vegetation looking for females.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

It was also nice to finally find some Spring Squill on the clifftop too although it was mostly going over but the Thrift was looking absolutely stunning in the sunshine.

Spring Squill

Thrift

Spurge

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night and in the morning I had 14 moths of 7 species including a lovely Mullein Wave, one of my top 10 back yard moths, and it was good to find 2 Bee Moth and a Vines Rustic in the moth box too.

Mullein Wave

Bee Moth

Vines Rustic

Thursday 21st May and with the good weather continuing we headed up to Dartmoor for a walk. We started off at a woodland site which was absolutely stunning in the sunshine, full of bird song and with amazing views.

A Wood Warbler singing was the highlight but I couldn't locate it in the trees and it soon fell silent. A Garden Warbler and at least 2 Redstart were also heard but not seen along with a Yellowhammer, Willow Warbler and songflighting Redpoll but I did see a Tree Pipit, at least 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 male Pied Flycatcher with more heard, Blackcap, a Marsh Tit and a Cuckoo with another one heard only. A Green Woodpecker was heard yaffling away but I did eventually get a brief flight view of it between the trees.

Fritillaries were flitting over a hillside but wouldn't stay still for a second, presumably Small Pearl-bordered, and I also saw a few Beautiful Demoiselle and a very lovely Green Hairstreak.

Green Hairstreak

We enjoyed a picnic lunch while enjoying the magnificent views before moving on to take a walk along a Leat. It was an interesting walk and along the way I had great views of 2 male and a female Cuckoo along with a male Redpoll and Stonechats. Cotton Grass was flowering and a Grey Wagtail was heard singing and in the Leat were small, darty fish which were presumably Trout.

Two very lovely days out in these continuing difficult times and very much needed by me to ease my weary soul.