Moths

The recent heatwave has meant some very warm nights and I had planned to get the moth box out in the back yard at some point but circumstances conspired against me and it wasn't until the night of Saturday 21st June that I finally managed to do so. Unfortunately for me a cold front moved east overnight and cooled things down somewhat, it was still a warm night though but the moth haul the next morning was a bit disappointing with a Marbled Green the highlight amongst 18 species of moths. A nice surprise though was finding a mating pair of Scarlet Tiger Moths in the shrubbery, the first I've seen in the garden before.

Rustic/Uncertain, Heart and Club, Heart and Dart with Heart and Club, Marbled Minor Agg.

Scarlet Tiger Moths

While I was putting out the moth box in the back yard at dusk it was interesting to see Ring-necked Parakeets flying over the house as they headed to their roost, I often see them flying over to their roost in the wintertime but I don't remember seeing them do so in the summertime before. 

The Herring Gulls have also nested on our chimney stack again this year and a small chick is occassionally visible or can be heard calling away, who knows how long it will be before it decides to leap down into our living room grate. There are no other Herring Gulls nesting again nearby but our pair are delighting at heading down to the flat roof below the bedroom window at around 5:30am and making a hell of a din as they assert their territory.

I headed out to Wembury for a walk on Wednesday 25th June, it was warm and humid despite the heatwave having abated somewhat although it was quite cloudy. The lack of sun didn't seem to bother the butterflies though with Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Small White, Common Blue, Small Skipper, a Green-veined White, Common Blue, a Red Admiral, a Comma, a Small Copper and my first Gatekeeper of the year all seen.

Common Blue

Small White

Gatekeeper

For the first time this year I took a walk along the cliffs heading towards Noss Mayo to check out the farm ponds for Moorhens, I heard one calling at the first pond and had a brief view of a juvenile bird flying across the water at the second pond so presumably another successful year's breeding. An Emperor Dragonfly was also seen patrolling over the water while an Azure Damselfly was seen flitting about in the pondside vegetation.

Wembury 

Azure Damselfly

The only other sightings of note on my visit were 2 Ravens overhead, 5 Gannets offshore (3 adults, 2 juveniles) and a very high count of 18 Swifts (2 over the village amongst the House Martins, 4 over the cliffs towards Stoke Point amongst the House Martins and a flock of 12 heading west offshore). 

Curious Foals at Wembury Point

We had a gentle walk around Burrator Reservoir on Friday 27th June, it was warm and humid with occassional sunny spells and there were butterflies flitting about in the pleasant conditions with a Small Copper, a Red Admiral and a Marbled White seen along with Ringlets, Meadow Browns and Small Whites. I also had a brief view of a large and bright orange butterfly, probably a Silver-washed Fritillary, and a smaller, duller orange butterfly which I think was a High-brown Fritillary.

The 2 white farmyard Geese were present out on the water and were keeping themselves apart as usual, there were 9 Cormorant, a female Mandarin, Mallards and Canada Geese present out on the water as well. House Martins were busily hawking insects overhead, Chiffchaff and Blackcap were singing away, a Grey Wagtail was feeding on the main dam and a pair of Bullfinch were skulking in the shrubbery and it was good to see Sundews growing in the usual spot by the side of the road.

Feral Goose

Sundews

With another heatwave on its way it was overcast but warm and humid on Saturday 28th June as I headed out to The Plym for a quick walk. I caught the bus to Laira Bridge and walked up to Marsh Mills on the dropping tide, it was quiet as expected but interesting none the less.

Waders are starting to return for the winter with 3 Curlew, 4 Oystercatcher and 5 Redshank roosting on Blaxton Meadow before moving over to the estuary as the mud became exposed. Out on the estuary there were 2 Mute Swan, 44 Canada Geese and the usual Shelducks including a pair with 6 very well grown young.

A Kestrel was hovering over Chelson Meadow and a Sparrowhawk caused panic amongst the Swallows as it hunted along The Ride. Chiffchaff and Blackcap were heard singing away, 3 Swifts were hawking insects high overhead and 4 Raven flew over calling, presumably a pair of adults with 2 youngsters.

I had the moth box out in the back yard again that night, it was warm, still and humid and this time I had a pretty good haul of moths in the morning with 27 species identified. I'm a bit rusty though and 2 Box Moths escaped my potting up attempts but successful catches included 2 Marbled Green, 2 Coronet, a Mullein Wave, 3 male Four-spotted Footman, a Lime Speck Pug and a Knot Grass.

Marbled Green

Coronet

Mullein Wave

Uncertain/Rustic and Knot Grass