I wasn't planning a River Plym/Saltram versus Wembury Birdtrack-off this year due to the planned works at Saltram and the destruction of some wonderful habitat to make way for the solar farm but with nothing happening there as yet I've decided to give it another go. I'm sure The Plym will win again although it may depend on when the works begin but I would at least like to get to 100 species of birds for Wembury this year.
I had always thought that Wembury would give me the best variety of birds and the highest species total over a year but it seems that The Plym is the better site in this regard and so I decided to visit each site over 2 days to compare what I saw.
It was all beautiful blue skies when I got out of bed in the morning of Sunday 2nd April and so I headed out to the River Plym and Saltram for a walk despite it being low tide. Unfortunately the blue skies didn't last with the cloud cover steadily increasing over the course of the morning but at least it remained dry and I had an enjoyable walk.
Despite the low tide I did see 2 Greenshank, 3 Curlew, 5 Oystercatcher and Redshank along with 4 Grey Herons, 8 Little Egrets, 5 Goosander (2 males) and the usual Gulls. There was no sign of the female Red-crested Pochard on the duck pond but 17 Moorhen and a pair of Mandarin Duck were present.
Chiffchaffs were yammering away and I had a brief view of a male Blackcap but a highlight were 4 Willow Warblers, 3 in the Wet Wood and 1 on Chelson Meadow which all showed very well and gave short, quiet snatches of their song. Another highlight were 2 Sand Martin which flew over heading west, quite high up and distant but very distinctive.
I finally saw my first Peacock Butterfly of the year along with 3 Dark-edged Bee Fly in their usual spot, always a joy to see in the spring.
Monday 3rd April was grey and overcast when I got out of bed in the morning but I headed out to Wembury on the bus anyway and eventually the forecasted sunny spells arrived although it was cool in the strong easterly breeze.
As I walked down the hill from the bus stop towards the beach a Willow Warbler was quietly singing to itself in one of the gardens as it flitted about in a willow tree, eventually showing very nicely. Two more birds were seen, 1 at the back of the wheatfield and bizarrely 1 along the beach feeding on the rotten seaweed with a pair of Cirl Bunting, a female Wheatear, a White Wagtail and a pair of Stonechat!
It was quiet offshore but 2 adult Gannet were good to see and Fulmars were again wheeling around the cliff face of The Mewstone. Only 4 Oystercatcher and 3 Little Egret were seen along the beach although it was low tide and there were 2 1st calendar year Common Gulls sat out on the water amongst the Herring Gulls.
Plenty of Chiffchaff were singing away along with a showy Blackcap. Cirl Buntings were regularly heard (and seen) too with at least 3 males present. A Kestrel, 2 Shelduck and 3 Buzzards were seen flying overhead and 2 Red-legged Partridge were skulking in the long grass of the HMS Cambridge wheatfield now that the other wheatfield has been ploughed over. The Cettis Warbler was again belting it out from deep cover in the valley to the beach, hopefully it will find a mate and nest this year.
I finally found my first Common Lizard of the year basking on a fence post and I also saw my first Small Tortoiseshell of the year although it was very flitty and mobile. 3 Peacocks were much better behaved and posed nicely for the camera along with a Dark-edged Bee Fly which are always a delight to watch.
And so how did the 2 visits compare? 48 species for The Plym and 41 for Wembury and bringing the year totals to 80 and 69 respectively. Things are ticking along very nicely.
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