I had the moth box out in the back yard again on August 22nd/23rd and was very pleased on checking it out in the morning to find a Marbled Green inside it which this time I was able to pot up and get a good look at. Flounced Rustic, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Light Emerald, Angle Shades and Pyrausta despicata were nice finds too.
Marbled Green
Marbled Green
Flounced Rustic
Pyrausta despicata
Angle Shades
Setaceous Hebrew Character
A Melodious Warbler had been found at Dawlish Warren on Tuesday 18th and I had expected it to be a skulky one day wonder and while it was skulky it was still present on Saturday 22nd. Spoonbills had also appeared at Bowling Green Marsh on Wednesday 19th and were also still present on Saturday 22nd and so I decided to go and have a look for them all on Sunday 23rd.
High tide on the River Exe was around 10:30am and so I visited Bowling Green Marsh first for the high tide roost. The RSPB hide was open and only had 2 Birders inside which was a surprise and 1 of them very kindly got me onto the 2 Spoonbills (an adult and a juvenile) which were asleep side by side and obscured by vegetation from where I was sitting.
I moved position and managed some good scope views of them as they occasional awoke to briefly preen but eventually they moved position and were totally obscured by the vegetation.
Spoonbill - adult
Spoonbill
Spoonbill - juvenile
A winter plumaged Knot and a Lapwing were found amongst the roosting Curlew, Redshank, Dunlin and Black-tailed Godwit and around 20 noisy Greenshank flew over towards Goosemoor.
Curlew
Redshank, Dunlin and Teal
An adult Common Gull was found amongst the Black-headed Gulls and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull patrolled around the Marsh terrorising the smaller roosting waders.
Amongst the eclipsed plumaged Teal and Mallard out on the Marsh were 2 juvenile Shelduck, 4 Gadwall, 2 Wigeon and a few Shoveler while out diving on the open water were a Little Grebe and bizarrely a juvenile Scaup.
Scaup
I moved on to Dawlish Warren, heading straight to the area where the Melodious Warbler was being seen and expected a bit of a wait to see it as it was proving to be very skulky and elusive for long periods of time but within a few minutes of arriving it was found by 1 of the birders present and showed very well for around 5 minutes before disappearing again.
Melodious Warbler
Melodious Warbler - with damaged left eye
Melodious Warbler
Melodious Warbler
Melodious Warbler
It was a very smart looking bird as it moved around the bramble bushes snaffling down Shield Bugs but it had a very nasty looking damaged left eye although it obviously wasn't affecting its feeding abilities. My first UK sighting of one having only ever seen them in Spain before and a very nice and unexpected sighting too.
I had a wander around the Greenland Lake area where Autumn Lady's Tresses were in flower and a Red Admiral, a Green-veined White, Meadow Brown and Common Blue were flitting about. A Migrant Hawker was resting on a gorse Bush and a juvenile Wheatear was feeding out on the golf course.
Autumn Lady's Tresses
Autumn Lady's Tresses
Autumn Lady's Tresses
Autumn Lady's Tresses
Migrant Hawker
Migrant Hawker
I returned to the area where the Melodious Warbler was being seen and spent a bit more time looking for it but it never showed again before I had to leave. I did see a juvenile Willow Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff (with 1 heard singing) and Long-tailed Tits in the trees while waiting and it was nice to chat to some of the birders present although it was a little bit too twitchy for my comfort and liking.
As I headed home tired but happy after another wildlife filled day it was nice to reflect on all my fantastic sightings over the weekend and to be thankful for being able to get out and about to see it in these continuing weird COVID-19 restricted times.
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