Lulworth Skippers on a Trip to Dorset

Sunday 18th June saw us heading off to Dorset to stay for a few days with my sister and brother-in-law who have recently moved there. They had given us a voucher for a boat and train trip from Poole to Corfe Castle as a Christmas present last year and it was duly redeemed for use while we were there and we kept our fingers crossed that the weather would behave itself on the day.

We stopped off at Maiden Castle on the drive to their house but the weather had changed and while it was warm and humid it was overcast and breezy. Maiden Castle was as stunning as always and despite the conditions I managed to see a few Marbled White, Small Heath and Meadow Brown flitting about along with a Mother Shipton and a few Six Spot Burnet.

Six Spot Burnet

Mother Shipton

A Whitethroat was heard singing, a Buzzard soared overhead, a flock of around 50 Linnet were feeding in the grass and a Hare ran across a bare field but the highlight were around 4 Corn Buntings which gave some great views perched up on fence posts and singing away.

Corn Bunting

Monday 19th June started off cloudy and breezy but it soon cleared and the winds eased and it became another hot and sunny day as we drove to Poole to catch the boat to Swanage for the first leg of our day out. It was a smooth trip despite the wind and we enjoyed the views of Brownsea Island, Studland Bay and Old Harry Rocks as we sailed to Swanage while I watched Common Terns, Sandwich Terns and Mediterranean Gulls along the way.

Old Harry Rocks

We arrived at Swanage and walked up to nearby Durlston Country Park for a look about. As we walked along the clifftop path towards the lighthouse there were plenty of butterflies flitting about and I easily found Lulworth Skippers along with Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns, Small Skippers, Large Skippers and a male Common Blue. The hot sunshine meant the butterflies were very flitty and they mostly settled on the vegetation with their wings closed but I managed to get some decent views of the Lulworth Skippers upperwings at times when their diagnostic golden crescent of rays were clearly seen.

Lulworth Skipper

Lulworth Skipper

Lulworth Skipper

Lulworth Skipper

Lulworth Skipper

Lulworth Skipper

The sounds and smells of a sea bird breeding colony were very obvious along the walk and I had some good views of Guillemots, Razorbills and Fulmars.

Razorbill

We only had a short time at Durlston before we had to walk back to Swanage to catch the steam train to Corfe Castle and by this time it was very hot and sunny indeed but the short train ride was very enjoyable. Corfe Castle was as impressive as ever and while David looked around the castle I headed off to look for butterflies.

Corfe Castle

I easily found Lulworth Skippers in the car park where I first saw them back in 2017 and they were also present around the castle mound along with Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Large Skipper, Common Blue, Small Skipper, a Small Tortoiseshell, Chimney Sweeper and a Burnet Companion.

Lulworth Skipper 

Lulworth Skipper

Lulworth Skipper 

Lulworth Skipper

A Ringlet was a year first as it flitted about around the flower beds at Corfe Castle station while we waited to catch the train back to Swanage and we had a quick (and expensive!) beer on Swanage sea front before catching the boat back to Poole but we had had a very enjoyable day out indeed.

We headed out to Badbury Rings on Tuesday 20th June for a walk, another impressive Iron Age Fort and absolutely heaving with wildlife due to its protected and undisturbed condition.

There were Pyramidal Orchids and Common Spotted Orchids everywhere and I also found a Butterfly Orchid which had unfortunately gone over.

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

Butterfly Orchid Sp.

There were loads of butterflies too with Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns, Small Skippers, Large Skippers and Small Heaths everywhere. A Painted Lady was also seen, my first of the year, but it dashed past all too quickly.

Marbled White

A Green Woodpecker, a male Kestrel, a briefly singing Garden Warbler, Whitethroats and Stonechats were also seen and 2 Chiffchaffs and a Yellowhammer were heard but the highlight again were around 5 Corn Buntings perched on fence posts and singing and flying around.

Corn Bunting

All too soon it was sadly time to head back to Plymouth but it had been a very enjoyable break away, just what we needed before preparing ourselves for Davids Mums funeral on Wednesday 21st June. Our boat and train trip had been great fun, it was lovely to catch up with family, the weather was good and I saw some interesting wildlife - perfect.

Morse

White-letter Hairstreaks

The heat wave continues and it hasn't rained now for weeks and it is hot and sticky and quite frankly unpleasant at times. However insect life seems to have responded somewhat with noticeably more butterflies around and some decent moth trap hauls being reported on the Internet but we really could to with some rain.

Local butterflyer Dave emailed news that the White-letter Hairstreaks had emerged at Oreston and so I headed out for a look on Thursday 15th June. I arrived on site at around 08:45hrs and it was already feeling very hot in the sunshine but I quickly found a White-letter Hairstreak flitting about in the treetop. Over the next hour I watched up to 4 White-letter Hairstreaks dashing about engaged in aerial skirmishes or resting briefly on the leaves with their wings angled to capture the heat of the sun but they never came very close and never settled for very long.

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

A surprise was a flyover Marbled White, my first of the year, and an immature Common Darter showed nicely too. 2 Speckled Wood were also seen and they regularly disturbed the resting Hairstreaks as they passed them by.

Common Darter

I headed off to check out the Elm tree by The Range for White-letter Hairstreaks but with no luck although a male Orange Tip was noted and I enjoyed the flowering Bee Orchids and Pyramidal Orchards by the footpath along the way.

Bee Orchids

Pyramidal Orchid

Pyramidal Orchid

I decided to have a quick look at The Plym before heading home despite it being a low tide and out on the mudflats were 2 Oystercatcher, a Curlew, 2 Little Egrets and 2 Grey Herons along with Canada Geese, Cormorants, Shelducks and the usual Gulls (Herring, Black-headed and Great Black-backed).

There were lots of butterflies flitting around with good numbers of Meadow Brown and Marbled White noted. A Red Admiral, a Holly Blue, 2 Small Skippers and a Large Skipper were also seen.

Small Skipper

Large Skipper

That night I finally put the moth box out in the back yard for the first time this year and the next morning had a decentish haul of moths, nothing unusual but nice to see and I wasn't too rusty on the ID'S either.

Riband Wave - an oddly coloured specimen

We had a short walk at Saltram later that morning on Friday 16th June, it was hot and sunny and again the tide was low but 2 Oystercatcher, a Grey Wagtail, singing Chiffchaff and Blackcap, 9 Mandarin Duck and the pair of Mute Swans with 2 cygnets were all seen. An Emperor Dragonfly was buzzing around over the duck pond this time and Meadow Browns were flitting about everywhere in the heat but we were very glad to return home and into the coolness of the house.

Curlew Sandpiper at Wembury

Monday 5th June and with 2 night shifts looming we took a lunchtime walk around Plymouth Hoe in the sunshine. I remembered my camera this time and took some photos of the Bee Orchids in the meadow by the allotment, they are spindly and floppy in the current hot and dry spell but they still look amazing.

Bee Orchid

With the night shifts duly completed I headed out to Wembury on the bus on Thursday 8th June for a walk. It was another hot and sunny day but with a strong easterly wind and I had a very productive walk indeed.

I arrived at 7:30am and headed out to The Point on the incoming tide in the hope that there might be some wader action despite the late date. At first there didn't seem to be anything present other than 2 Little Egret and 13 Black-headed Gulls but a slight movement amongst the peebles along the surfline caught my eye and there hidden in plain sight were a little group of waders - 6 Turnstone, 5 Sanderling, 2 Dunlin and a cracking Curlew Sandpiper, only my second record for Wembury and my first ever spring record of one.

Curlew Sandpiper 

It showed amazingly well along with the other waders present, they allowed a very close approach as the fed, preened and slept along the tideline while hunkering down in the strong wind.

Curlew Sandpiper and Sanderling

Curlew Sandpiper and Turnstone 

Curlew Sandpiper 

Curlew  Sandpiper 

Curlew Sandpiper and Turnstone

Curlew Sandpiper 

Curlew Sandpiper 

Curlew Sandpiper is one of my favourite birds and this was probably the best views I've ever had of one, a very special treat that had me grinning from ear to ear and very much needed by me in these sad and unsettling times.

Sanderling 

Sanderling 

Dunlin

I eventually tore myself away and carried on with my walk, on my return there was no sign of any waders and a walker I passed and stopped to chat to had seen a flock of around 12 small waders flying past so I guess they had all moved on.

Also along the beach were 12 Oystercatcher, 2 Shelduck and a first summer Mediterranean Gull while offshore Gannets, Fulmar, Shags and Cormorants were noted.

Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat were singing away with the Whitethroats being very showy in their aerial sorties and Stonechats, Cirl Buntings and Song Thrush were seen and heard too.

There continues to be somewhat of a dearth of butterflies at the moment, presumably a knock on effect from last years drought amongst other factors, but despite the strong wind I did see 2 Red Admiral, a Green-veined White, a Meadow Brown and a Large Skipper.

Large Skipper

Along the stream were 3 Beautiful Demoiselles, 2 males and a female and they very sensibly kept hunkered down amongst the Hemlock Water Dropworts.

Beautiful Demoiselle

I visited Wembury again on Friday 9th June, this time with work friend Sue for a chat and a catch up. It was still very windy but there was no sign of any waders along the beach other than the ever present Oystercatchers.

A Common Lizard, a male Beautiful Demoiselle, a few Red Admirals, Meadow Browns and Green-veined Whites, 2 Gannets offshore and a singing Cirl Bunting were the highlights and a bizarre sight was a dead Rabbit by the side of the footpath which may have been a victim of a dog attack.

June!

June is here and the year is whizzing by at an alarming rate. It won't be long now before its Christmas again!

I have at last reached my target date and I have finally done it and handed in my notice at work. I'm not sure what's next but I no longer want to be this anxious, knackered, irritable, stressed, depressed version of myself and so it's time for a change - nearly 29 years of nursing in the NHS has exacted a heavy toll and it is one that I can no longer endure although it has also been a privilege to have worked in the role that I have.

Work has been an ever growing struggle since the beginning of the year and even my wildlife hasn't been soothing my soul as it usual does and I've felt like I'm just going through the motions. In fact the last 3 years have been increasingly shite, ever since the COVID lock down in 2020, but now its time to stop as I just feel very burnt out, not good for me but certainly not good for the patients in my care.

Anyway, after 2 more night shifts we had a walk around Plymouth Hoe on Wednesday 31st May and I was pleased to find my first Bee Orchids of the year in the wild meadow near the allotment along with my first Burnet Companion of the year - unfortunately I had left my camera at home!

Thursday 1st June was hot and sunny as the settled spell of weather continues and we took a short walk on Roborough Down to look for butterflies before heading off to visit Davids Mum in her residential home as her health continues to decline.

There were plenty of Brimstones flitting about but little else, just 2 Speckled Wood, a Wall, 3 Small Heath and 2 Green Hairstreak. I took my Emperor Moth lure out with me but I wasn't expecting any success as the lure is over 2 years old and it's a bit late in the season for them, however a worn male eventually did appear which was nice to see.

Emperor Moth

Willow Warbler, Whitethroat, Chiffchaff and Blackcap were singing away and Yellowhammer and Stonechat were also seen and heard but the highlight were 2 male Dartford Warbler singing away in areas I've not seen them in before.

Heath Speedwell

I headed off to work on Friday 2nd June for a 4 hour shift to make up my time from attending a funeral of a family member a few weeks ago but not before a young rat ran over my feet in the breakfast room while I was getting ready! With the hot weather I had left the back door open overnight by mistake and it must have wandered in and got lost. I'm not sure where it went as I had already closed the back door but I left the door slightly open when I headed off to work so hopefully it found its way out.

It was another hot and sunny day and after working my 4 hours I caught the bus to Marsh Mills for a River Plym and Saltram walk. I had hoped to see some butterflies but there were very few around although I did see my first Meadow Brown of the year along with a few Small Heath and Speckled Wood.

Meadow Brown

I found lots of Grass Vetchling in flower, I saw just 1 last year and didn't photograph it so was pleased to find so many on this visit along with a few Burnet Companion moths flitting about in the grass with them.

Grass Vetchling 

The ground was bone dry with the ongoing heat and lack of rain but I did find a few Bee Orchids and Southern Marsh Orchids in flower.

Bee Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid

At the dipping pond Azure Damselflies were locked together in mating embraces and a menacing Emperor Dragonfly was buzzing around over the water.

Azure Damselfly

It was very quiet bird wise, not helped by the midday heat and a low tide but Chiffchaff and Blackcap were still singing away and Swifts, Swallows and House Martins were hawking overhead. A smart looking third calendar year Mediterranean Gull was amongst the gull roost on Blaxton Meadow and it was a surprise to see 2 small Mute Swan cygnets with their parents at Marsh Mills, I've no idea where they nested but the first breeding I've recorded for the Plym.

Mute Swans

Mute Swans

Very sadly David's Mum passed away that evening, Rest In Peace dear Beryl. X