Flying Emeralds

Thursday 27th May was warm and sunny and the best day of the spring so far and so I headed out to Wembury for a walk.

The tide was ebbing when I arrived and out on the rocks with the usual Oystercatchers were 2 Little Egret, 2 Canada Geese, 2 Shelduck and 3 male Mallard.

Blackcap and Chiffchaff were heard and Whitethroats were vocal and showy as always and it was nice to see 2 family parties of Stonechats with recently fledged young. At least 4 male Cirl Buntings were singing with 3 seen along with a single female.

I found a moth in the toilet block, a Monopsis obviella, which I caught and released outside.

Monopsis obviella

Monopsis obviella

A few Speckled Yellow were flitting about in the sunshine and I also found a Wood Carpet flitting about in the gorse.

Speckled Yellow

Wood Carpet

Tortrix Sp. 

Micro Sp. 

A  mobile and restless Wall was too quick to get a photo of and 2 Large White, 2 Green-veined White, a Small Copper and a male Orange Tip were also seen but the highlight of the walk were 4 Green Hairstreaks with 3 of them seen close together on a gorse Bush.

I always forget how small Green Hairstreaks are and how easily overlooked they can be and also how beautiful they are, they were stunning and I watched them in wonderment with the biggest grin on my face.

Green Hairstreak 

Green Hairstreak 

Green Hairstreak 

Green Hairstreak 

Green Hairstreak 

Green Hairstreak 

And so a very nice walk with a coffee and a Chunk pasty for lunch before heading home, quiet bird wise as expected but great to finally see some insect life in the warmer and sunnier weather.

Friday 28th May was the beginning of the Bank Holiday weekend getaway and the start of half term holiday hell, it will be interesting to see what it will be like as foreign travel is still pretty much non-existent under the current lock down rules.

It was cloudy but warm and so we went for a walk at Burrator Reservoir. On our Devonport Leat walk last week we missed seeing Crazywell Pool and so we walked from Norsworthy Bridge up to the Pool, a route we haven't taken before.

The usual Stonechat, Skylark and Meadow Pipit were seen along with a silent male Redstart and a very brief calling Cuckoo. Another Cuckoo was also heard calling, giving a sore throated sounding Cuck but a normal sounding Coo, and 2 Redstart were heard singing too. 

I had the moth box out in the back yard overnight which I sorted it out before our walk and was pleased to find 6 moths of 6 species! A smart Brimstone Moth was the pick of the bunch.

Brimstone Moth

The Bank Holiday weather was marvellous for a change but I was stuck in work on 2 long day shifts on the Saturday and Sunday. However with a night shift looming on Bank Holiday Monday and the good weather continuing I had a morning walk around Saltram and along the Plym.

It was quiet as expected with a Greenshank, 3 Oystercatcher and 5 Curlew on the Blaxton Meadow high tide along with 3 Little Egret, Shelduck, Canada Goose and Gulls.

No sign of any Spotted Flycatchers but I did see a singing male Whitethroat, my first here for the year. Also seen were 4 Ring-necked Parakeets squawking in the trees, 2 Swift hawking overhead with Swallows, a Nuthatch feeding a fledgling and a Green Woodpecker played hide and seek with me on a tree trunk, moving around the trunk as I tried to get a better view.

A female Orange Tip, a Green-veined White, Small Heaths and male Common Blues were on the wing in the warm sunshine. A Glow Worm larva rescued off the footpath was a nice find too. 

Small Heath

Common Blue

Glow Worm Larva

A nice walk but I did miss out on seeing a male Cirl Bunting found just before I arrived - you can't win them all! 

Ham Wall Heaven

Monday 24th May was cool, cloudy and showery but we headed out anyway for a quick walk from Sainsburys at Marsh Mills to Saltram House and back. A Swift flying overhead with Swallows was my first one in the Plymouth area this year and a surprise find was the female Red-crested Pochard on the duck pond where a female and 14 male Mandarin and 3 Moorhen chicks were also noted.

Red-crested Pochard

Moorhen

Wednesday 26th May was forecasted to be a warm and sunny day and so it turned out to be despite a fresh and cool wind, perfect for a trip to RSPB Ham Wall in Somerset with my mate Mavis. 

We arrived at the car park at just before 9:30 and it was already quite busy with birders and toggers getting their gear together. We did the same and headed off along the footpath to Shapwick Heath for the first part of our walk.

It was lovely to be out in the sunshine listening to Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Reed Warbler, Cettis Warbler and Garden Warbler and out of the wind it was pleasently warm too.

A large Slow Worm sunning itself on the footpath as we began our walk was a surprise and I carefully placed it in the vegetation by the side of the path to avoid any walker/cyclist accidents.

Slow Worm

Large Red, Blue-tailed and Variable Damselflies were flitting about in sheltered spots along with Banded Demoiselle and Scarce Chasers.

Large Red Damselfly

Blue-tailed Damsefly

Banded Demoiselle

Scarce Chaser

Brimstone, Orange Tip, Large White, Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell and Green Veined White were on the wing too.

Brimstone

We arrived at the first hide along the footpath and met the naturalist Mike Dilger from the TV leading a small tour, his voice being very distinctive and giving his identity away.

The birds began to show at this point and we stood and watched Hobby and Swift dashing about overhead feeding on flies, Marsh Harriers quartering the reed beds, Great White Egrets regularly flying past, a pair of Mute Swan being trailed by 7 small cygnets and a pair of Great Crested Grebe feeding small fish to 3 small humbug-like chicks.

Pochard, Tufted Duck, Coot, Gadwall, Cormorant, Mallard and a singing Whitethroat were also seen with Cuckoo, Bittern and Reed Bunting all heard.

Pochard

Whitethroat

We carried on to the hide overlooking Noahs Lake and added Greylag Goose, Little Egret, Moorhen and Grey Heron to our list while having more excellent views of Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret and Hobby.

Great White Egret 

Great White Egret 

Great White Egret 

Great White Egret 

Great White Egret

We walked back towards the car park and stopped along the way at the first hide again to have our lunch, seeing our first fly by Bittern of the day here along with a Jay and a Great Spotted Woodpecker.

Onwards to Ham Wall and more views of Marsh Harrier, Great White Egret and Hobby were had along with regular sightings of Bitterns in flight. A pair of Shoveler, a House Martin, 3 Little Grebe and 2 Lapwing were also found along with a very showy singing Sedge Warbler.

Marsh Harrier 

A female Roe Deer showed very well but briefly before disappearing into the reeds and another pair of Great Crested Grebe were feeding small fish to 2 much more well developed chicks than the 3 seen earlier at Shapwick Heath.

All too soon the day had gone and it was time to head back to Plymouth but what a place Ham Wall is and what a fantastic day out we had.

Donacia marginata

Ctenophora pectinicornis

And now this Spring is virtually spent and I move away from birds as my main focus and spend the next few months looking downwards at moths, butterflies, insects and plants until the autumn arrives. Its been a funny old Spring (and a funny old year so far) but who knows what the next 7 months will bring?

Dartmoor Leating

May 17th was to be the next important date in the COVID lockdown easing schedule with hotels finally being allowed to open up for overnight guests and so we decided to tempt fate and book a night away at The Two Bridges Hotel on Dartmoor. The lockdown easing did indeed happen as planned and so off we headed to Dartmoor for a walk on Tuesday 18th May before heading to the hotel for our overnight stay.

The weather however was less than great with cloudy skies, a strong, cold wind and heavy showers, pretty typical of the May we are having this year.

We parked up at Burrator Reservoir to begin our walk along the Devonport Leat towards the tunnel near Old Bridge. It was further than we had expected and the strong wind and boggy ground made the going difficult at times but at least it didn't begin to rain until we were nearly back at the car.

The walk along the Leat was very interesting and the views of the Moors were stunning and along our route I had some nice views of a singing Redstart at the Stanlake Farm ruins, a Grey Heron and a male Mallard feeding along the Leat, a very odd looking, brown toned presumed immature Peregrine Falcon flying over and the ubiquitous Stonechats, Meadow Pipits and Skylarks. Cuckoo, Whinchat and Crossbill were also heard and 2 Small Copper were a nice sighting flitting around some Dandelion flowers in a brief sunny spell. A Green Tiger Beetle was also seen hunting in the grass by the side of the footpath and we even saw a Mavis in her natural habitat, out on a hike with her walking group! 

Redstart

Green Tiger Beetle

Our night at the hotel was very nice, with a hot bath, a nice meal and the best night's sleep I have had for weeks very much enjoyed and appreciated while it rained and blew a hoolie outside for most of the evening and night. 

The next morning was bright and sunny but still very cool in a strong wind and after a very hearty breakfast we started our second Devonport Leat walk, heading out from the hotel and up the West Dart River to the head weir and the start of the Leat. 

We had a look around Wistmans Wood along the way, the first time we have visited here, and I was pleased to find my first 2 Spotted Flycatcher of the year along with a Treecreeper and a Coal Tit. A Redstart and a Cuckoo were also heard. 

Wistmans Wood

Onwards to the Weir and we began our walk along the Leat, eventually venturing up the Cowslic River to see the Leat head weir there too, and again it was further than we expected but interesting with stunning scenery, strong winds and boggy ground. 

West Dart Weir

Cowslic Weir

Yomping Royal Marine Recruits

Another 2 Redstart were heard singing along the way and a Cuckoo also called a few times. Meadow Pipit, Stonechat and Skylark were also seen along with a pair of Wheatear, a Buzzard and flyover Siskins. 

We finished our walk back at the hotel and enjoyed a cream tea before heading back home, having had a very enjoyable and restorative couple of days away despite the weather.

(And Wally the Walrus seems to have left Tenby and was seen off Padstow in Cornwall on Wednesday 19th May!). 

Where's Wally?

COVID-19 lockdowns over the past 15 months have been  restrictive for everyone in many different ways. For me the restrictions on travel have been difficult, preventing me from getting out and about and visiting the places I would usual travel to for birding but fortunately there has been the Internet to keep me informed and updated as to what has been going on in the natural world. Twitter, blogs, bird news sites, etc, have all helped to let me know that wildlife has been getting on with it as usual and the images, stories and sighting reports have kept me (almost) sane.

There were 3 reports though that really sparked my curiosity and that I yearned to go and see, the first being the Northern Mockingbird found in Exmouth in January 2021. I finally managed to travel to Exmouth on April 8th to go and see it but unfortunately it did an overnight flit to Sussex the night before.

The second report was of an American Herring Gull in Newlyn Harbour in March this year which piqued my love/hate relationship with Gulls and which did stay around until May when I managed to get to Newlyn to see it. This bird was ridiculously confiding and almost came to sit on my lap as I sat on the beach eating my lunch, a throw back from all the visiting toggers with their massive camera lenses throwing food out to the Gulls to attract them closer.

The third report was of a Walrus, first seen in Ireland in March of this year and then relocating and seemingly settling at Tenby in Wales a few days later. This sighting was the one that gave me the most excitement but Tenby seemed such a long way away. 

However with my NHS Trust giving all staff an extra day of annual leave as a thank you for working through the COVID pandemic (and quaintly named a Well Being Day) I cashed it in along with a normal day of annual leave and made plans to go and try my hand at Where's Wally?

Originally we had planned to travel by train but it would be a long and expensive journey and with GWR services having a meltdown due to a manufacturing flaw in their carriages resulting in cancellations and rescheduling of services we decided to drive to Tenby instead. 

The weather on leaving Plymouth on Thursday 13th May was foul with torrential spells of heavy rain amongst the constant drizzle but by the time we were heading into Wales over the Severn Bridge the heavy rain spells were noticeably easing. The drive in Wales was new and interesting and despite the grey skies and misty mizzle hampering the scenic views I did see 2 Red Kites overhead before we eventually arrived in Tenby at around 1:30pm.

Tenby in the rain

On arriving in Tenby we headed down to the RNLI lifeboat station where Wally is mostly seen hauled out but there was no sign of him and a large crowd of people were milling about looking quite despondent. I scanned around offshore with my binoculars and quickly found Wally logging on the water surface and occasionally showing his head above the water before he disappeared from sight for good but at least we had seen him albeit briefly and distantly. 

We returned to the lookout later in the afternoon but there was still no sign of him although a diminutive looking Glaucous Gull flying past and landing on the old lifeboat slipway provided some distraction.

Glaucous Gull

Glaucous Gull

The weather was still foul with continuing mizzle and rain spells and so David headed off to the hotel to dry off and warm up while I decided to take a walk along the coast by the golf course for a look around.

Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Blackcap were all heard singing away despite the poor weather conditions but all kept themselves hidden away in cover. A Lesser Whitethroat briefly singing was a nice surprise and I managed a few obscured views as it sulked in the bushes before flying off to sing again further away.

Rooks, Jackdaws, Carrion Crows and Magpies were feeding out on the greens of the golf course and I was very pleased to find a Chough amongst them before it was disturbed by golfers and flew off.

Chough

Also on the greens were a feeding flock of 17 Whimbrel and in the rough were quite a few short stemmed Green-winged Orchids coming into flower. 

Green-winged Orchid

Along the beach a summer plumaged Dunlin and 2 Sanderling were feeding along the waters edge while offshore Gannets were diving for fish.

Dunlin

Sanderling

By now I was wet and cold so headed back to the hotel for a COVID secure evening meal and a good nights sleep with plans made for an early start the next day to do some more Wally watching.

I awoke the following morning at around 6am and headed out to the RNLI station despite the continuing heavy rain. There was no sign of Wally on the slipway on the incoming tide but suddenly he appeared close to the rocks just below the footpath and I had some fantastic views of him until he moved further out into the Bay. And I had him all to myself, even hearing his breath sounds as he surfaced in the still and flat calm seas.

Walrus

I telephoned David to come and join me and shortly after he arrived Wally reappeared at the waters surface out in the Bay but heading towards the slipway at quite a speed and eventually he finally hauled himself out and showed himself off in all his wonderful gloriousness. And what a beast he is, absolutely amazing and utterly beautiful to see, certainly one of the bizzarest things I have seen in the UK in May.

Wally the Walrus

Wally the Walrus

Walrus

Walrus

Wally Watchers started to arrive and David returned to the hotel but I stayed a bit longer to watch Wally along with a very showy Harbour Porpoise very close to shore which actually leaped out of the water a few times.

Harbour Porpoise

Harbour Porpoise

Gannets, a Fulmar, juvenile Kittiwakes, 5 whistling Whimbrel flying over and Cormorants were also seen before I headed back to the hotel for breakfast and at least by now the rain was noticeably easing.

After breakfast the rain finally stopped and we had a final wander around Tenby before taking a last look at Wally who was still on the slipway and giving great views in better light but eventually we had to leave and head back to Plymouth.

Walrus

Walrus

Walrus

Walrus

Walrus

Wally on the RNLI slipway

The journey home was interesting again and with the sun beginning to shine from behind the clouds we had better views of the scenery. Another 2 Red Kites were seen overhead along the way and we duly arrived back in Plymouth with no incidents, having had a very wet but very enjoyable time away and amazing views of a Walrus.