Sunday 17th May and I decided to forego my weekly River Plym/Saltram walk and revisit Radford Lake to look for the Little Bittern but with no news of it the previous day I wasn't very hopeful and as expected there was no sign of it. I amused myself instead by watching the antics of Mallard ducklings being eagerly eyed up by nearby Herring Gulls while Chiffchaff and Blackcap could be heard singing in the trees and a Swallow chittered overhead. Heading home and a brief detour revealed a few Common Blue butterflies and Southern Marsh Orchids and it was good to hear a Willow Warbler still singing on the waste ground near St. Judes Church.
Mallard
Common Blue
Southern Marsh Orchid
Southern Marsh Orchid
With 5 days off in a row from Tuesday 19th May and with the weather continuing to be warm and dry and sunny (it hasn't really rained properly now for quite a few weeks) I decided last minute to visit Wembury for a walk, far more interesting than catching up with chores and house work as originally planned.
I spent some time looking for Green Hairstreak but unfortunately failed to find any. I did however see Wall, Small Copper, Common Blue, Peacock, Green-veined White, Speckled Wood, Large White and Orange Tip flitting about and there was a female Beautiful Demoiselle in the bushes where I had seen the male last week.
Wall
Green-veined White
Green-veined White
Beautiful Demoiselle playing Hide and Seek
Birding was slow with the highlights being 2 Raven, 4 Oystercatcher, 5 Shelduck, a male Kestrel, singing Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Cirl Bunting, Stonechats with fledglings, Whitethroat, Swallow and Fulmar.
Shelduck
A Clouded Silver and a Common Carpet were disturbed from the pathside vegetation as I walked by. I also disturbed a Tiger Moth species which looked very orange and with white spots, presumably a Cream Spot Tiger Moth, which was unfortunately very expertly snatched mid air by a male Stonechat and fed to his young in a nearby nest before I could get a good look at it. I also found some Shield Bug eggs neatly arranged on a Gorse pod.
Clouded Silver
Common Carpet
Shield Bug Eggs
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