Waders and Warblers at Wembury and a Plym Walk

Tuesday 31st May was the last day of my time off work and with the day free I headed out to Wembury for a walk. It was all sunny skies albeit a bit chilly as I left Plymouth on the bus but within 10 minutes of arriving at Wembury the skies darkened and it chucked it down with rain. I hadn't brought my raincoat with me but the shower passed by very quickly so I only got a little soaked. It fortunately didn't rain again although it did stay mostly cloudy for the rest of the walk. 

The tide was receding and I had assumed it was a bit too late in the spring now for any wader passage but I was very pleased to find 3 Whimbrel feeding together along the beach, giving themselves away as they occasionally whistled. Even better was a Ringed Plover which flew off east and a flock of 10 Sanderling and 30 Dunlin which were very confiding and stayed around feeding along the receding tide line.

Ringed Plover

Sanderling and Dunlin

Sanderling and Dunlin

Sanderling

While watching the Dunlin and Sanderling a Reed Warbler was heard singing in the small patch of Phragmites along the beach at the base of the cliff and eventually I managed to get some decent views of it as it flitted about in the vegetation, my first Wembury sighting.

Reed Warbler

Reed Warbler

Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat were seen and heard too and fledgling Stonechat, Linnet and Blackbird were noted. A single Swallow flew over heading west and a lone House Martin was seen over the village rooftops.

Along the beach a Little Egret, a pair of Mallard, 4 Canada Geese and 6 Oystercatcher were seen and amongst a large flock of Herring Gulls roosting on the rocks there were a few Great Black-backed Gulls, 11 first summer Black-headed Gulls and 2 first summer Mediterranean Gulls.

The cool and cloudy conditions hampered butterfly activity but I did see a female Common Blue, a Green Hairstreak, 2 Red Admiral, 3 Speckled Wood, a Green-veined White and at least 6 Large Skipper.

Green Hairstreak

Large Skipper

Lackey Moth and Oak Eggar caterpillars were seen along with Harlequin Ladybird larva, 3 Common Lizards and a Bloody Nose Beetle. Various Bee species were buzzing around and Swollen-thighed Beetles were feeding in the Daisy flowers.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee

Swollen-thighed Beetle

Wednesday 1st June and back to the real world with a night shift looming large that evening and so I decided to have a short walk around Saltram and along The River Plym. It was mostly sunny and felt warmer than yesterday and I arrived at Laira Bridge at around 10:30 to start my wanderings.

Insect activity was very noticeable with lots of Bees on the wing along with quite a few butterflies - a Red Admiral, a Peacock, Common Blues, Small Heaths, around 4 Meadow Brown and a surprise Clouded Yellow were all seen. Burnet Companion, a Nettle Tap and Swollen-thighed Beetles were also noted. 

Meadow Brown

Clouded Yellow

Swollen-thighed Beetle

Bird wise it was very quiet as expected but I did see my first Whitethroat of the year for the site and 2 Chiffchaff and 2 Blackcap were still singing away. Swifts, Swallows and House Martins were hawking overhead and a juvenile Raven was also seen flying over. The tide was out but along the river were 3 Grey Heron, 2 Little Egret, a Shag, 3 Oystercatcher and a pair of Shelduck with 8 ducklings. The usual assorted Herring Gulls were loafing about and with them was an adult Great Black-backed Gull and a first summer Black-headed Gull. 

I was pleased to find some Orchids in flower too with around 40 Bee Orchid and 7 Southern Marsh Orchids in bloom.

Bee Orchid

Bee Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid

Its that time of year now where birding takes a bit of a back seat and other wildlife catches my eye instead. Spring seems to have passed by very quickly this year and it was all a bit bitty and strange in nature but let's see what the rest of the year brings.