It was cool and calm with occassional sunny spells on Thursday 13th March as I headed out to Wembury for a walk. It is now light enough in the mornings to be able to catch the 7am bus to Wembury (or even the 6:30am bus) but after yet more dental drilling the previous day and a frosty start to the morning I was in no mood to get out of bed and so I caught the 9am bus instead.
It was quiet at Wembury as expected, it's that time of year when winter birds are still lingering but summer birds haven't yet arrived and it all feels a bit static but expectant.
There is still ongoing work to the cliff top footpath at Wembury, it's being widened and hard-cored and this will make it much easier to negotiate especially in the wetter winter months. This will also mean an increase in overall footfall and with plans to improve the path all the way to The Point there will probably be a lot more disturbance to the wildlife.
Wembury Footpath "Improvements" - not good news for the Digger Wasps that used to nest along this stretch
A Cetti's Warbler was heard in the valley to the beach but it only called once and never revealed itself. Also heard were 2 Chiffchaffs, presumably new arrivals, and a further 2 silent birds were also seen. A small flock of Chaffinch were also still present at the Sunflower field at The Point and with them were a few Cirl Buntings and a male and 3 female Reed Buntings along with an ever watchful Kestrel on telegraph wires nearby.
Reed Bunting
Reed Bunting
Kestrel
A Redshank, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Little Egret and a pair of Mallard were found along the beach but the highlight was a Scandinavian Rock Pipit (littoralis) feeding on the seaweed mass amongst the regular Rock Pipits (petrosus).
Scandinavian Rock Pipit (not the best photos!)
There was no sign of the Dartford Warblers on this visit as they revert to their usual stealth mode and it was too chilly and cloudy for any Adder or Butterfly sightings but I did find a Common Lizard, a pair of mating Bloody Nose Beetle and my first Black Oil Beetle of the year.
Common Lizard
Black Oil Beetle
With the mostly sunny, settled and cool weather continuing I had plans to get out and about to make the most of it but with painful dental treatment making me feel like crap I didn't feel up to doing much. However I felt a little better on Sunday 16th March and with it being another glorious day of sunshine I dragged myself out to The Plym for a walk. It took me a while to get going in the morning and I didn't arrive off the bus at Marsh Mills until around 11:45am but at least I managed to get out of the house. With it being a sunny Sunday it was very busy around the Park but I had an enjoyable walk all the same.
First Wood Anemone of the year
The tide was still heading out towards being low and there was plenty of mud out on the estuary, however Blaxton Meadow was still flooded and there were just 3 tardy male Wigeon feeding out on the water.
At the duck pond the pair of Red-crested Pochard were still present, the male continues his love lorn vigil with her and while she seemed a little bit more receptive towards him she would regularly swim away if he came too near. The usual Mandarins were also present and mostly paired up but there was still no sign of the female Wood Duck.
Red-crested Pochards
Red-crested Pochard
A look around Chelson Meadow was Wheatear-less but 3 Stonechat (2 males) were good to see. However the highlight here were 2 Woodcock, only my 3rd sighting for The Plym (previous sightings were singles in January 2017 and November 2021). I flushed 1 bird as I walked around the wet Willows, it clattered through the branches, did a big poo and flew off towards the wet wood. A Snipe flushed soon after, calling as it went and flying off towards Laira and then a second Woodcock flew up out of the long grass, also did a big poo and flew off over the tip. Finally another Snipe was flushed out of a nearby boggy area, again calling as it flew off towards the wet wood.
Other highlights on my walk were 3 Mute Swan (a female and 2 juveniles), a Little Grebe and a Common Sandpiper at the gas pipe, a briefly singing Chiffchaff, 2 displaying Stock Doves, a first-summer Mediterranean Gull preening amongst the Black-headed Gulls out on the mudflats and a Goldcrest feeding in a Pine tree.
Mute Swan
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