White-letter Hairstreaks

A warm and humid night meant a nicely filled back yard moth box on the morning of Wednesday 30th June with the highlight being a Lobster Moth, a first for the back yard.

Lobster Moth

Lobster Moth

Uncertain

Heart and Club

It was a warm and sunny day and so after sorting out the moth box I headed over to Oreston for a look at the White-letter Hairstreaks which had recently been reported there. I soon found at least 2 flitting about in the treetops and I had some good views of them although they were fidgety and flighty.

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

I also had a look along the Billacombe cycle path nearby but there was no sign of any Hairstreaks there although I did see my first Large Skipper of the year along with a few Ringlet and a Red Admiral.

Large Skipper

Ringlet

I also found a very nice showing of both Bee Orchids and Pyramidal Orchids nearby, hidden in plain sight by the side of the busy road.

Bee Orchids

Bee Orchid

Pyramidal Orchid

Thursday 1st July was a hot and sunny day and so we decided to head out to Stoke Point for a walk and a spot of lunch at The Ship Inn at Noss Mayo. It was a fantastic walk as always and lunch at the pub was as tasty as always and it was great to see a few butterflies on the wing - Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Large White, Small Copper, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown and a brief Fritillary (probably Silver-washed).

A male Beautiful Demoiselle perched on the vegetation by the woodland footpath near the caravan park was a surprise sighting.

Beautiful Demoiselle

Treecreeper, Marsh Tit, Whitethroat, Stonechat, Cirl Bunting, Kestrel, Raven and Peregrine were the avian highlights and a flyby Six-spot Burnet moth was a first for the year.

We stopped off briefly at Blagdon's Meadow along the River Plym on the way home and I found my first Small Skipper of the year here along with another Six-spot Burnet moth and 5 Ravens flying overhead, a presumed family party.