Green Hairstreaks at Wembury

The weather so far this May has been less than stunning and with another cool, breezy and showery day on Wednesday 10th May I headed out for a River Plym and Saltram walk.

It was high tide and out on Blaxton Meadow I found my first Plym Bar-tailed Godwit of the year in the company of a Curlew.

Bar-tailed Godwit with Curlew

A House Martin overhead was also a Plym first for the year but otherwise it was quiet with 2 Mistle Thrush and a Green Woodpecker on Chelson Meadow, singing Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps heard only, a male Orange Tip flitting past in a brief sunny spell and a Brown Rat skulking around The Duck pond being the highlights.

It was finally a warm and sunny day on Friday 12th May and so I headed out to Wembury for a walk. The sun was shining and it became a very warm day indeed and I wished I had worn my shorts for the first time this year, and as a result of the increased temperatures and sunny skies there was plenty of insect activity to investigate.

I hoped to find my first Green Hairstreaks of the year and eventually I did with 2 found in the usual place and showing very well as they constantly held aerial skirmishes with each other.

Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak

A surprise sighting was a Clouded Yellow flying along the beach below Wembury Point and heading west but more usual sightings were 2 Red Admiral, 2 Large White, Holly Blue, Peacock, male Orange Tips, Green-veined White, a male Brimstone and a Silver Y.

Silver Y

Dark Bush Cricket Nymph

A bigger surprise was a male Vagrant Emperor over the main beach while I was eating my pasty, it dashed across the beach and headed away, never to be seen again, but I managed an excellent view of its pale blue thorax against a plain, dark body as it flew past.

The tide was heading in and along the beach were a Whimbrel, a Bar-tailed Godwit, 30 Oystercatcher, 2 Little Egret, 2 Shelduck and a pair of Mallard along with 16 Turnstone including a ringed bird from a scheme in Portugal - ringed on 18/10/20 as a juvenile at Canto Salt Pans, Alcochete, Portugal, and its first reported sighting since.

Ringed Turnstone - K3 in black on yellow on left leg, green on right leg

Turnstones

A pair of Cirl Bunting were again feeding on the seaweed mass along the beach while Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and Whitethroats busily sang away. Stonechat were also seen including a pair with 2 well grown fledglings but there was no sight nor sound of the recent Dartford Warbler. The Cettis Warbler was still singing away in the valley to the beach.

House Martins were back over the houses in the village and Swallows were flitting about too including a group of 4 which flew in off the sea and headed inland. A Sparrowhawk was seen circling high overhead, the only raptor of the day.

With more night shifts looming on Monday 15th May we had a quick morning walk around Saltram. It was good to see Swallows and House Martins hawking for insects above the cows feeding out in the fields but otherwise it was quiet on what was the low tide.

Hawthorn Blossom

I didn't find any Common Blues but I did see my first Small Heath of the year along with a Holly Blue, a Red Admiral, a Speckled Wood and a female Orange Tip.

Small Heath