Thursday 21st July was warm and sunny and so we decided to take the ferry across Plymouth Sound to Cawsands for a day on the beach. On the journey to Cawsands there were 4 Mediterranean Gulls feeding together around Drakes Island, all adults moulting out of summer plumage, but there was no sign of any Sandwich Terns although it may be a little early in the autumn just yet.
On disembarking at Cawsand I did a Big Butterfly Count along the coast path to Sandways Beach, something I usually do at this time of year, but there were only a few butterflies seen this time - 3 Peacock, a Red Admiral, a Small White, a Meadow Brown, a Silver-washed Fritillary and 3 Gatekeeper along with a Six-spot Burnet moth. I did see more butterflies on arriving at Sandways Beach including a second Silver-washed Fritillary but it was after the allotted 15 minute count time (and there is no option to add less common butterflies to the count entries this year as there has been in the past so the Fritillary has unfortunately gone unrecorded).
It was very hot on the beach and we had a pleasant time admiring the views, chatting and enjoying a picnic although I did end up with a wasp sting in my mouth. I took a sip of my drink and felt something in my mouth followed by a painful sting before spitting out a wasp, not ideal for somebody who is allergic to bee and wasp stings! It is not a serious allergy, I don't require an EpiPen or anything like that but I do swell up like a balloon and so I ended up sporting a very swollen mouth and left cheek and wasn't able to go to work the next day as I couldn't wear a surgical mask as mandated for NHS establishments - so silver linings!
I had the moth box out in the back yard again on Friday 22nd July and in the morning I had some interesting moths to go through while 3 Swifts screamed overhead and Ring-necked Parakeets squawked away. The highlight was a Crescent Dart, my first for the back yard and a complete surprise as it is a coastal species. At first I thought it may have been a Turnip Moth until @MOTHIDUK on Twitter confirmed its identity. I used to see them regularly at Bude when I used my moth box at The Outlaws caravan and it was always one of my favourite moths to catch there along with Brussels Lace which also seems to be turning up in my back yard more often now too. Another new for me and interesting moth species in the trap was Metalampra italica (Italian Tubic), a moth supposedley endemic to Italy but first recorded in the UK in Plymouth in 2003, presumably having been accidentally introduced here. Finally a Rush Veneer was a sign of migration from the Continent, not surprising in the fierce heat of the past week here in the UK and in Spain and France.
Saturday 23rd July was overcast, drizzley and cool and so I headed off to Wembury for a walk. The tide was coming in and along the beach there were 4 Whimbrel and a Common Sandpiper along with 62 Oystercatcher, 4 Curlew, 5 Little Egret and 11 Mallard (5 males in eclipse plumage). There were good numbers of juvenile Black-headed Gulls amongst the adult birds along with 15 Mediterranean Gulls (2 juveniles) although surprisingly none of the birds present were ringed.
The biggest surprise were 2 Hobby dashing over the horse fields in pursuit of a Swallow, a brief view only as they quickly disappeared over the hilltop never to be seen again. 2 Buzzards, a Peregrine, a Sparrowhawk, a Swift and 4 Raven were also noted overhead.
A Green Woodpecker was heard yaffling away at the Point and 2 Cirl Buntings were heard singing while offshore it was good to see at least 3 juvenile Gannets along with 3 adult birds, all having (so far) survived the ravages of bird flu decimating Gannet colonies in the north of the UK.
Despite the cool and cloudy conditions a Wall, a Red Admiral and a Small White were seen along with a Meadow Brown, 8 Gatekeeper and a Red-banded Sand Wasp.
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