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

Red-backed Shrike

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

Stonechat 

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

Green Hairstreak 

Green Hairstreak 

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

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

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

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.