Saturday 6th May was the coronation of King Charles III and so despite the poor weather conditions I headed out to Wembury for a walk. It was cool, breezy, misty and mizzly as I caught the 7am bus and I hoped the weather, the early start and the coronation would mean a quieter walk with no disturbance along the beach at high tide but unfortunately there were still quite a few dog emptiers present despite all this.
However there were waders present on the high tide despite the disturbance and amongst the usual Oystercatchers were at least 5 Whimbrel, 5 summer plumaged Dunlin, 2 summer plumaged Turnstone, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit (1 in partial summer plumage), a moulting Grey Plover and 26 variously plumaged Sanderling. They were all flighty and mobile but as the tide receded and more foreshore was exposed they settled down somewhat and gave some nice views.
A nice surprise was a Garden Warbler singing in the bushes near the church and I managed a brief view before it disappeared into cover and became silent - my first spring record of one at Wembury. The Cettis Warbler was also still singing away along with Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps and at least 5 male Whitethroats were songflighting despite the wet conditions.
A pair of Cirl Bunting were feeding on the seaweed mass along the beach where 6 Black-headed Gulls and a Lesser Black-backed Gull were roosting amongst the Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls. Nothing was seen offshore though and including The Mewstone which was totally shrouded in mist!
No flying insects were seen, not surprising in the poor weather conditions, but 2 Bloody Nose Beetle larva were found on some Hedge Bedstraw and along the beach a Spotted Ray egg case was found washed up on the tideline.
I was wet and muddy when I arrived back home and I managed to catch the end of the coronation ceremony on the TV with all the pomp and pageantry that goes with it, a strange relic in these modern times but oddly comforting too.
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