Sunday 18th October was sunny and calm and so I decided to have my usual River Plym/Saltram wander on the last day of my "Should have been in France" weekend off.
The tide was ebbing but it had been a very high tide and Blaxton Meadow was totally underwater again with 27 Curlew roosting on one of the small islands before flying off out onto the mudflats. A female Wigeon and 5 Shelduck were out on the water and a Kingfisher was perched in a tree along the river embankment before flying upriver.
Ring-necked Parakeets were heard squawking away in the trees along with a yaffling Green Woodpecker and the usual birds were seen including Nuthatch, Jay, Coal Tit, Goldcrest, 9+ Stock Dove, Long-tailed Tit, a Great-spotted Woodpecker and 2 Chiffchaff. A few Speckled Wood were still flitting about in sheltered spots too.
Out on the estuary a Dunlin and 3 Greenshank were feeding with Redshank, Curlew and 4 Oystercatcher. Mallard, Canada Geese, Cormorant, Little Egret and Grey Heron were seen too.
I had the moth box out in the back yard that night, the first night that has been dry and above 10 degrees for some time, and in the morning I had 3 moths of 3 species, 3 more than I had expected - a Light Brown Apple Moth, a Rusty Dot Pearl and an Angle Shades.
Monday 19th October and a sunny start gave way to grey skies and a chilly breeze on my walk around Rame Head with work colleague Sue and her dog Daisy. We hoped to see some Dolphins but were out of luck although the usual Gannets were seen offshore along with a few Kittiwake and at least 3 Mediterranean Gull (1 2nd winter and 2 adults).
A Stonechat, 2 Chiffchaff and a Firecrest were seen on our walk around the cliffs where 3 Fallow Deer were seen feeding. Swallow, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were seen overhead and a few Meadow Pipits were heard flying over too.
No comments:
Post a Comment