On waking up on Thursday 18th August it was overcast and feeling cooler than of late and with a mid-morning high tide due I headed out to Wembury for a walk.
Despite the lack of sunshine it still felt warm and there were a few butterflies flitting about with a Small White, 4 Common Blue, 3 Red Admiral, Gatekeepers and Meadow Browns all seen.
There was a high count of 101 Oystercatcher roosting at The Point with a Whimbrel, 6 Curlew and 4 Little Egret. A male eclipse Mallard was bobbing around on the sea nearby and a total of 14 Mediterranean Gulls were also noted (2 juveniles, 1 2nd Winter and 11 adults, all unringed). All the birds were spooked by a flyby juvenile Peregrine before returning to the rocks to continue their resting.
2 Sanderling were trying to roost along the beach but were being regularly disturbed by dog walkers and a dead baby Harbour Porpoise washed up on the tide line was a sad sight.
There were 38 Canada Geese roosting in the stubble field and a nice surprise sighting were 2 adult Red-legged Partridge feeding at the back of the field with 3 well grown young. A Green Woodpecker was again yaffling away at The Point and this time I finally managed to get a brief flight view of it and the first Meadow Pipit of the Autumn was flushed noisely out of the long grass.
A report of the Osprey being refound on The Plym came through on WhatsApp and so on the way home I stopped off at Laira Bridge for a look. Unfortunately there was no sign of it as expected but I enjoyed my hour long wander around before the mizzle arrived and I headed home.
The best sighting was of a Tree Pipit again, probably the same bird as seen on Tuesday as it was in the same area and again on being flushed out of the grass it circled around overhead before heading off out of sight and remaining silent the whole time.
I headed out again to The Plym on Sunday 21st August and again there was no sign of any Osprey but I had quite a productive walk anyway with the highlight being my first Plym Sandwich Tern. It was resting on a buoy on the high tide just above Laira Bridge before flying around and diving for fish and then disappearing downriver.
The tide was heading in and there was a nice selection of waders coming in to roost at Blaxton Meadow - 17 Oystercatcher, 24 Curlew, 1 Whimbrel, 6 Dunlin, 100+ Redshank, 2 Common Sandpiper and best of all 2 juvenile Ringed Plover.
Out on the Estuary the usual 5 Mute Swans were present with 2 Grey Wagtail, a Kingfisher and a Common Sandpiper. The woods held the usual birds too with some good views had of a bedraggled looking Spotted Flycatcher during a heavy shower.
A Tree Pipit was again seen in the usual place, this time flushed out of a bush before silently flying off into the grass. Later another one was seen flying overhead with another one shortly after, possibly all the same bird but maybe 3 birds present and all totally silent!
The forecast overnight on Monday 22nd August was for possible showers so I decided to risk it and had the moth box out in the back yard. Unfortunately the showers had been definite and a soggy moth box greeted me the next morning but despite this I had caught a few moths.
The usual suspects of Light Brown Apple Moth, Willow Beauty, Double Striped Pug, Brimstone Moth, Square Spot Rustic and Garden Carpet were found in the moth box with Vines Rustic being the most numerous moth. Also found in the box were a Yellow-barred Brindle, a Dusky Thorn, a Rush Veneer, a Cydia splendana, a very dark Pearly Underwing, a Wormood Pug and a Eudonia angustea.
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