River Plym Walk, 28th June 2020

A walk from home along the River Plym to Saltram and back has become more of a fortnightly event now that we are well and truly in the Summer Doldrums and with the day free on Sunday 28th June it was time to head out again for another look around.

It was quite breezey and there were only a few brief spells of sunshine but I managed to find quite a few butterflies flitting about in the more sheltered spots although many were quite worn looking. A Peacock, a Small Copper, a Red Admiral, Small and Large Skipper and Marbled White were looking quite smart but Ringlet, Small Heath, Common Blue and Meadow Brown were mostly all looking the worse for wear.

 Small Skiper

 Peacock

 Marbled White - newly emerged

 Marbled White - still pumping up its wings

 Small Copper

 Small Heath

Ringlet

Birding was slow but a Common Sandpiper and a 2nd Summer Mediterranean Gull were nice finds at Blaxton Meadow on the high tide along with 8 Curlew, a juvenile Black-headed Gull amongst around 100 variously plumaged adults, a Grey Heron, 3 Little Egret and a juvenile Shelduck amongst the adult birds present. Chiffchaff and Blackcap were heard singing with Skylarks also songflighting and House Martin and Swallow were skimming for flies over the grassy fields. Stock Dove were heard cooing and 2 birds were seen together flying overhead. A female Pheasent was disturbed from the long grass and put on quite a display as its young chicks dispersed away into cover.

A nice walk but already with a sense of approaching autumn in the air.

Flitty Frits on Dartmoor

Birdy 2020 is no more. Not sure what happened to him, he seemed well and settled in the builders yard on the Saturday morning but on the Sunday morning before we left the house for our drive to Hayle it was eerily silent and there was no sign of the usual adult bird on sentry duty on the roof either. On returning from Hayle that afternoon there was still no sight or sound of the adults or Birdy and nor again on the Monday morning. It is possible he managed to get under the gate of the yard and on to the main road or more likely he was taken out by a cat or even a rat as he had no real fear of anything and would sleep right out in the open, being oblivious to everything around him. A very sad end to this years breeding attempt by our Herring Gull pair.

Tuesday 23rd June and with the beginning of a mini heatwave I decided to visit Grenofen again for a walk. It was a total contrast to last weeks visit with hot and humid and sunny conditions and as a result there were plenty of insects around including very active and fast flying butterflies.

I regularly saw fritillaries flitting about but they rarely settled for more than a few seconds if at all but I did manage to get some decent views of a very worn Dark Green Fritillary as it occassionally returned to briefly rest on the same Bracken frond. I also managed to get some excellent views of a very showy Silver Washed Fritillary as it dashed around a small clearing and occasionally perched low down on bushes and I also managed to get a record shot of a briefly settled High Brown Fritillary too.

Dark Green Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary 

Dark Green Fritillary 

Dark Green Fritillary 

Silver Washed Fritillary 

Silver Washed Fritillary 

Silver Washed Fritillary

Silver Washed Fritillary 

High Brown Fritillary

Ringlet, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Meadow Brown, Comma and Large White were also seen and there were good numbers of Beautiful Demoiselles and a few Golden Ringed Dragonfly flying around too. A Long Horn Beetle was a nice find flying around before landing briefly on the bracken. My first Hummingbird Hawkmoth of the year was a nice surprise too briefly feeding on bramble flowers.

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

Long Horn Beetle

Long Horn Beetle

Bird wise it was quiet in the heat but Tree Pipit, Yellowhammer, Siskin, Goldcrest, Buzzard, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Swallow were all seen with Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler all heard still singing away.

Wednesday 24th June was another scorching hot day and with another night shift looming I headed over to Central Park in the morning for another look for White Letter Hairstreaks and this time I was in luck with a very smart looking individual giving excellent views feeding on bramble flowers.

 White Letter Hairstreak

 White Letter Hairstreak

 White Letter Hairstreak

 White Letter Hairstreak

 White Letter Hairstreak

White Letter Hairstreak 

Green-veined White and Comma were also seen in the Park and nearby in Ford Park Cemetery Marbled White, Meadow Brown and Ringlet were flying around with a Cinnabar Moth and 6-Spot Burnets. Overhead a Peregrine circled higher and higher on the thermals and Swifts and Gulls feasted on flying ants.

With the warm weather I have had the moth box out in the back yard but the catches have been small although I did find my first Small Magpie, Crassa unitella and Rustic/Uncertain of the year.

 Small Magpie

 Crassa unitella

Rustic/Uncertaim

Moths and Butterflies

I had the moth box out in the back yard overnight on Friday 19th June and unfortunately on checking it out early the next morning it was rather soggy following a surprise heavy shower. There were a few moths in the trap though with the highlights being a Scalloped Oak, Yellow-barred Brindle, Common Plume, Dark Arches and Celypha striana.

 Scalloped Oak

 Common Plume

 

Celypha striana

 Dark Arches - a typically dark individual

Dark Arches - a pale individual

It was a warm and humid and sunny day and so in the afternoon we walked over to Central Park to check out the elm trees for White-letter Hairstreaks which have already been sighted here this year but there was no sign of any. A smart Comma and a Large White were seen while in nearby Ford Park Cemetery I found a few Ringlets amongst the Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and 6-spot Burnets.

 Comma

Ringlet

Before heading out we had a look through the gate of the builders yard and could see Birdy 2020 sleeping peacefully in the sunshine on a pile of roofing tiles. The adults were still noisely in attendance and we presumed the builders would again place him back on the flat roof on Monday when they returned to work, and at least he was OK.

Sunday 21st June and with sunshine forecasted for mid morning we headed off early in grey skies and showers to Upton Towans near Hayle for a walk, arriving at around 11am and still with grey skies and showers and a strong breeze. There was loads of dog shit lying around as usual for this site even though it is a nature reserve but we had a good (and careful) walk around , me enjoying the wildlife and David enjoying the remains of the dynamite workings hidden in the dunes.

I quickly found Silver-studded Blues flitting about in the ground vegetation and managed to get some lovely views of them in the cool conditions. It did eventually brighten up and although the breeze picked up too there were Silver-stuudded Blues everywhere sunning themselves and fluttering about low to the ground.

 Silver-studded Blue - Male

 Silver-studded Blue - female

 Silver-studded Blue - mating pair

 Silver-studded Blue 

 Silver-studded Blue 

 Silver-studded Blue

 Silver-studded Blue

Silver-studded Blue 

 Silver-studded Blue 

Silver-studded Blue 

Also seen were Ringlet, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown and Small Skipper along with a few Yellow Shell moths.

Ringlet

Pyramidal Orchids were in flower across the site along with a few Southern Marsh Orchids.

Pyramidal Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid 

Whitethroat and Stonechat were vocal and showy and a few Gannets were picked up distantly offshore.

A female Emperor Dragonfly was seen egg laying in a small water filled concrete bunker which also contained quite a few Newts, one of which I was able to catch and on having a good look at it I realised it was a Palmate Newt, the first one I have positively identified.

 Emperor Dragonfly

 Palmate Newt  - webbed back foot

Palmate Newt

Palmate Newt - filament end to tail

We stopped off at Perranporth on the drive home for a quick look at the view from the beach and to enjoy an expensive but tasty ice cream and arrived back in Plymouth at around 4pm after a very enjoyable day out in these weird COVID-19 lock down times. A nice day out to end a mixed and interesting week of wildlife.