Dartmoor Pearls and a Yellow-legged Surprise

Pearl-bordered (top) and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries

I last visited Steps Bridge near Dunsford back in 2018, a very lovely Devon Wildlife Trust nature reserve along the River Teign on the edge of Dartmoor, and with the good weather continuing and reports of Pearl-bordered Fritillary being on the wing I headed out for a look on Saturday 10th May.

After an early start and a train and bus journey I arrived at Steps Bridge at around 9:30am and started my walk through the woods along the riverside. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was already feeling quite warm in the sunshine but there were surprisingly very few people out and about considering it was a sunny Saturday.

The glades in the woodland were full of flowering Bluebells and Ramsoms and I very quickly found a Pearl-bordered Fritillary sunning itself amongst the vegetation in the second glade I came to.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Peael-bordered Fritillary

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

A few more were seen as I continued my walk but when I trekked up the very steep path to the viewpoint near Clifford Bridge the hillside was covered with them as they flitted across the ground and barely settled for a second.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Pearl-bordered Fritllary

A Large White, Brimstones, Speckled Woods and Peacocks were also seen enjoying the warm weather along with Common Heaths and Speckled Yellows. A few Early Purple Orchids were seen in flower amongst the Bluebells and Ramsoms and 2 Oil Beetles were found trundling along the footpath before being moved to safety, probably Violet Oil Beetles considering the habitat.

Early Purple Orchid

Oil Beetle

Oil Beetle

Turkey Tail fungus growing on a dead tree stump

Pied Flycatchers were heard singing away but with the trees in quite a bit of leaf now I never caught a sight of one. A male Redstart showed very well though as it sang away in the top of a tree but it was distant while a Tree Pipit showed much closer with 1 or possibly 2 more heard nearby.

Redstart

Tree Pipit 

Tree Pipit

Other birds of note were 3 Raven, a Sparrowhawk and a Siskin overhead and a Dipper and a fledgling Grey Wagtail along the river. Sadly there were no Wood Warblers seen or heard, the woods here used to be one of the last bastions of breeding Wood Warblers in Devon but it seems it has now finally fallen too.

Having seen the Fritillaries so quickly and easily and well and with the building heat of the day causing them to become supercharged and not settling I decided to catch an earlier bus back to Exeter and then stop off at Dawlish Warren on the train journey back to Plymouth for a quick look about.

It probably wasn't the brightest idea to visit Dawlish Warren on a sunny Saturday in May but once I had walked through the Kiss Me Quick Chavness of the resort area and into the nature reserve itself it was peaceful and calm and full of wildlife.

I only wandered around the main pond for about an hour before resuming my train journey to Plymouth but the highlights in that short time were 2+ singing Reed Warblers, 6 Little Grebes (2 adults, 4 chicks), a male Cirl Bunting, Southern Marsh Orchids coming into flower and a single Green-winged Orchid starting to go over.

Green-winged Orchid

Green-winged Orchid

I had a quick walk around The Plym and Saltram on Tuesday 13th May, it was fairly quiet as expected but I did see 2 House Martins, my first here this year, and it was good to see 6 Swifts chasing each other overhead.

A Common Sandpiper, 4 Mute Swan, a female Stonechat, a Southern Marsh Orchid coming into flower, a female Roe Deer and 2 Rabbits were also of note and the 2 Canada Geese families on Blaxton Meadow were still present, 1 family still contained 4 goslings but the other family was now down to 5 goslings from 6.

Rabbit

The highlight of the walk though was a Yellow-legged Gull out on the estuary by the gas pipe as the tide was receeding, busily preening away amongst the assorted Gulls present and keeping itself to itself as Yellow-legged Gulls always seem to do when in a flock of other Gulls. The dark grey mantle colour and yellow tinged leg colour varied with the light and angle of view but it was quite a distinctive looking bird. I was sure it was a Yellow-legged Gull but didn't call it at the time as I have fudged up far too many Gull ID's over the years and wanted to consult my guide books, I also really wasn't expecting to see a Yellow-legged Gull in May on The Plym and a 3rd calendar year bird as well although there is always the issue of hybrid birds and this one was too far away to properly check for this.

Yellow-legged, Lesser Black-backed, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls (Top to Bottom)

Yellow-legged Gull (top) - a 3rd Calendar Year Bird 

There were also a few moths present in the underpass at Marsh Mills - a Pale Tussock, 2 Common Swift, a Yellow-barred Brindle and a Dark-barred Twin Spot Carpet.

Dark-barred Twin Spot Carpet

It was off to Wembury on Wednesday 14th May for a walk, I caught the 7am bus to look for waders at The Point on the high tide before the dog walkers arrived and I succeeded with 15 Turnstone, 5 Whimbrel, a Sanderling and a Dunlin present along with the usual Oystercatchers and a Little Egret and 5 Mallard (1 female).

A Swift flying east over The Point was a nice surprise, a bird that can be tricky to catch up with at Wembury at times. A few Swallows passed overhead too and it was lovely to watch a Swallow coming in off the sea and looking very relieved to have finally reached land.

A pod of around 30 Common Dolphin were seen distantly offshore as they leapt out of the water heading east, not so nice was a very smelly cetacean corpse washed up on the beach, it seemed quite large so possibly a Bottlenose Dolphin. A dead Slow Worm on the footpath was an unpleasant surprise too.

On a happier note there were 7 Green Hairstreaks at The Point and all showed very well, also seen were 3 Painted Lady and at least 1 Large Skipper.

Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak

Painted Lady

An odd sighting was a bedraggled looking Grey Squirrel out on the rocks and looking very uncomfortable as it waited for the tide to recede.

Grey Squirrel on the rocks

There was no sign of the P600 boat fishing off the beach on this visit but there were 3 small boats present and pulling up Crab/Lobster pots in the Marine Conservation Area as usual.

Thursday 15th May was yet again a hot and sunny day as I headed out to Dartmoor for a walk to look for Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries. I caught the bus to Yelverton and had planned to walk to Grenofen via Long Ash before catching the bus back to Plymouth, however it was such a hot day and I saw plenty of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries at Long Ash so I never got to Grenofen and instead returned to Yelverton and caught the bus home from there.

A Gorgeous View

There were good numbers of Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary on the wing but in the sunshine and heat they rarely stopped for a second. Getting any photos was pretty much Mission Impossible but I managed a few in the end.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary 

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary with a damaged wing

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary 

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary 

Also seen were plenty of Brimstone, a Small Heath, a Small Copper, 4 Painted Lady, a Common Blue, 4 Speckled Wood, a male Orange-tip, a Red Admiral and a Holly Blue.

Painted Lady

Copper Greenclock Beetle - Poecilus cupreus

Birdwise the highlight was a very mobile Cuckoo which was frequently heard calling and I did get a nice fly past view of it at one point. At least 4 Garden Warblers were also noisily singing away including a very showy one belting it out at the top of a Hawthorn Tree and Willow Warblers were singing away everywhere too.

Garden Warbler

To finish off the day as I headed home on the bus I saw 2 Red Kites soaring over a grassy field being cut for hay near The Dartmoor Diner and continuing my good run of Devon Red Kite sightings for this year. 

Red Kites

Monday 5th May was sunny but chilly in a strong north-easterly breeze as I headed out to Exminster Marshes for a walk. Being May Day Bank Holiday Monday I was able to use my Devon and Cornwall Railcard on trains before 9:30am and so I arrived into Starcross on time at around 8:50am and the return ticket only cost me £7.65.

I decided to save some more money and also work on my waistline at the same time by walking to Exminster Marsh and back although walking into the strong breeze on the journey towards Turf Locks was a bit challenging.

I had a quick look about in Powderham Park along the way and could hear 4 Reed Warblers chuntering away but keeping well hidden and out of the wind in the base of the reeds. A bit of phishing worked wonders though and one came out of hiding to investigate me before disappearing back into cover. Unfortunately phishing didn't work on 2 singing Reed Buntings who remained concealed in the vegetation.

On arriving at Turf Locks I headed over to the back path of Exminster Marsh where a Lesser Whitethroat had been reported the previous day. Eventually I heard it singing and while it was quite vocal it was mobile and skulky and singing from quite a large area although possibly a second bird may have been present. I did manage to get a few brief views of it in flight and perched up in the trees but eventually it fell silent.

Exminster Marsh from the Viewing Platform

Reed Warblers were noisy and skulky too but again responded well to phishing and briefly showed themselves, they seem to be present here in very good numbers this year. Cetti's Warblers were also heard but I did get good views of 2 Sedge Warblers singing right out in the open.

I picked up a Red Kite very high overhead heading north-east, another one was later seen on the opposite side of The Exe flying over Topsham, much lower down but also heading north-east. A Marsh Harrier was seen hunting over the Marsh, an immature/female bird, and at least 2 Hobby were also seen with some lovely views had of a single bird perched up on the roof of a brick shed out on the Marsh and later distant views of 2 birds together dashing about overhead.

Hobby (honest!)

A male Wigeon, 3 Tufted Duck (2 male), 3 Shoveler (2 male), 2 Little Grebe, Gadwall, Lapwing, a Whimbrel, a Little Egret, an Egyptian Goose and a Cattle Egret were also of note while out hawking over the Marsh were plenty of House and Sand Martin, Swift and Swallow, I don't think I've seen such a large number of Swift together before with probably 100+ present.

Back at Starcross Station while waiting for the train to take me home I picked up an immature Spoonbill flying upriver on the almost high tide, it flew over the trees near Starcross Yacht Club and disappeared into Powderham Park. Even better was a Red Kite flying low over the houses being mobbed by a Carrion Crow before gaining height and heading off north-east.

Red Kite

Red Kite

It was sunny again on Wednesday 7th May but it felt warmer with the cold north-easterly wind having eased somewhat. I had planned to meet up with Dave the Butterfly Guy for a Dingy Skipper look about at the Plymouth site but we rescheduled for the following day and so I headed out to Roborough Down for a walk instead.

I arrived off the bus at The Dartmoor Diner at around 10:45am and walked along Drakes Leat to Clearbrook, there was plenty of bird song in the air along the way and especially that of Willow Warblers which are here in good numbers this year.

There were Butterflies flitting about too, mostly Brimstones including egg-laying females but also a Red Admiral, a Small Copper, a Speckled Wood, a Green-veined White, a Large White and 2 Small Heath. I took my Emperor Moth lure with me and had what I at first thought was an Emperor Moth flying past me but it turned out to be a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary which landed briefly before dashing off out of sight. Sadly I didn't find any Green Hairstreaks on this visit though and nor did I entice in an Emperor Moth to my lure, I think it's time to buy a new one for next the spring next year.

Speckled Wood

A Cuckoo was a good sighting as it silently flew over the Heather before disappearing from view, later another one was heard calling from over the other side of the valley. A male Kestrel hovered overhead and Buzzards were enjoying the thermals with 6 seen together in the air at one point. A Raven, a Siskin and a few Swift and Swallows were noted overhead too.

A farmer was busily ploughing some fields down in the valley and had attracted a large flock of Herring Gulls in to feed on the turned over soil, at least 2 Lesser Black-backed Gulls were in amongst them along with a few Buzzards but best of all was a very smart Red Kite. It would take to the air with the rest of the feeding birds as the tractor came near but would then return to the ground as it passed by, unfortunately a little distant but continuing a good run of sightings of them this year in Devon.

With the recent lack of rain the small ponds were mostly dried up but the largest pool still contained water and buzzing around it were 2 very smart looking male Broad-bodied Chasers, a mating pair of Large Red Damselfly and a Blue-tailed Damselfly.

Broad-bodied Chaser

I headed out to Wembury on Thursday 8th May for a walk, it felt cooler with more cloud cover and a stronger breeze but as the day wore on the cloud dissipated and it did warm up a little bit.

It was very quiet at Wembury with the breeze keeping things subdued and just the usual birds and wildlife were seen. It was low tide as well but along the beach near the sewage pipe I found 2 Whimbrel and 2 Dunlin and at least 32 Turnstone, most of which were looking very smart in their breeding plumage. A Shelduck, a Little Egret, 3 Canada Geese, Oystercatchers and a pair of Mallard were also present and a male Grey Wagtail was also seen on the main beach.

Turnstones and Dunlin

Interestingly I did see a Fisheries Patrol Boat offshore, it intercepted a fishing boat hauling up Crab/Lobster pots before it moved away and left the fishing boat to continue its activities.

I stopped off on the bus journey back to Plymouth and met Dave the Butterfly Guy at the Dingy Skipper site but despite a good look about we failed to find any. There were a few Common Blue flitting about though and I was pleased to see a Small Yellow Underwing again.

Common Blue

Waders and Butterflies

I headed out to Wembury for a walk on Thursday 1st May on what was forecasted to be another hot and sunny day. High tide was due at around 9am so I caught the 7am bus in the hope of beating the dog walkers to it and on arriving off the bus at Wembury I headed straight down to The Point to see what was about.

There was quite a mass of seaweed on the beach near the sewage pipe and busily feeding on it were a Ringed Plover, 3 Sanderling, 3 Dunlin, at least 10 Whimbrel, 5 Bar-tailed Godwits and at least 21 Turnstone, all gave great views and with not a dog walker in sight.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Whimbrel and Turnstone 

Ringed Plover

Shelduck

Bar-tailed Godwits

Bar-tailed Godwit

Whimbrel 

Not so nice was seeing the Cardy D fishing boat P600 arriving to pull in fishing nets again very close to the beach in the Wembury Marine Conservation Area despite it being a (voluntarily) no fishing zone. This time they pulled in 2 nets and were even closer in to the beach, more large silvery fish (Sea Bass?) were caught in the nets along with Spider Crabs and what looked like a large Wrasse. 

I have reported the incident from the 17th April to Devon and Severn Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authority and have also reported todays activities too but don't know if anything can be done to stop them.

Wembury Marine Conservation Area Code of Conduct

P600 - Fishing well within the Wembury Marine Conservation Area

P600 - Really Starting to Piss Me Off Now

P600 - What The Actual F***?

It began to cloud over as the morning wore on but the heat kept the butterflies active and I saw my first Small Copper and Common Blue of the year and I had good views again of 2 Green Hairstreak.

Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak

Small Copper

I caught the bus back to Plymouth and stopped off along the way to visit a site where Dingy Skippers are present. I had hoped to meet Dave the Butterfly Guy there but had to leave for home before he arrived which was a shame, we'll have to catch up another time.

It was hot and humid but increasingly overcast and it wasn't looking too promising as I wandered around the area looking for the Skippers, there were a few Common Blues flitting about which were looking very smart, presumably recently emerged, and some Early Purple Orchids were in flower too but there were no Skippers to be seen. I did find a Small Yellow Underwing, I had seen one here on my visit last year but couldn't get a photo of it, I was more successful on this visit but it was tiny and constantly active so only a record shot was obtained.

Common Blue

Early Purple Orchid

Small Yellow Underwing

Eventually I found a pair of Dingy Skippers in a prolonged aerial tussle before they dashed off in opposite directions and I lost track of them. I had forgotten how small and how fast they are but eventually I refound them resting separately on the ground, one was very, very worn but the other was pristine. They continued to regularly skirmish in the air together, sometimes for a few minutes at a time, they also had a go at any Common Blues passing by and I was surprised when finally getting good views of them that the worn individual was able to keep up with the other intact one. 

Dingy Dingy Skipper

Dingy Skipper

Dingy Skipper

It was another warm and mostly sunny day on Saturday 3rd May although cooler and more pleasant than it was earlier in the week. I caught the bus out to Marsh Mills but I wasn't very organised again and didn't arrive until gone 9:00am.

High tide was due at around 10:45am and after some big tides this week I was expecting Blaxton Meadow to be well flooded but there was surprisingly quite a bit of mud on show and busily feeding away on it were 4 Bar-tailed Godwit, 3 Whimbrel and 2 Oystercatchers. 

Bar-tailed Godwit

Bar-tailed Godwits

Whimbrel

Also present were 5 Little Egret, a Grey Heron, Shelduck, 8 Black-headed Gulls, 4 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 5 Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, a male Mandarin and 2 pairs of Canada Geese, 1 pair with 4 small yellow goslings and the other pair with 6.

Canada Geese with Goslings

I had a look around Chelson Meadow where a Whitethroat was songflighting and 3 Swifts hawked overhead while Skylarks sang away and a male Stonechat looked on. I found some leaf florets of Bee and Southern Marsh Orchids starting to emerge and 3 Small Heath and a Common Blue were flitting about. The best sighting though was of a Dingy Skipper, my first ever sighting here, and I got some nice views of it before it dashed off and was gone. Presumably it is an individual that has wandered away from the nearby colony that I visited on Thursday which is not that far away as the Skipper flies. There is an old record of Dingy Skipper being seen at Chelson Meadow by local birder Russ, I don't know how old the record is, but they are so small and fast and I've never looked for them here before so maybe they have just been overlooked. Either way a nice and unexpected sighting.

Whitethroat

Common Blue

Small Heath

Dingy Skipper

Pale Tussock, Marsh Mills Underpass