Wembury Visits and a Dartmoor Day

I headed out to Wembury for a walk on Wednesday 23rd July, I caught the 9:05am bus and started my visit by walking along the coastpath towards the River Yealm. I checked out the farm ponds again for Moorhens, I didn't see any but I heard an adult calling along with the cheeping of 2 chicks. A bonus sighting along the path was a Peregrine circling over the cliffs before it drifted away, my first at Wembury this year.

I then walked back to Wembury Point, it was low tide and out on the rocks were the usual Oystercatchers along with 3 Little Egret, a Whimbrel and at least 17 Mediterranean Gull which included 2 juveniles and a ringed adult. Offshore a few adult Gannets were moving west including a group of 5 and there were 2 Fulmar still present on The Mewstone cliff face.

A juvenile Willow Warbler was very showy at The Point along with Cirl Buntings, Whitethroats, Stonechats and Linnets while a Meadow Pipit feeding in the horse field with Pied Wagtails was an early autumn sighting.

Willow Warbler

Robin

There were plenty of Butterflies flitting about with many Gatekeepers on the wing and it was good to see Wall Brown in continuing good numbers.

Painted Lady

Large White

A mating pair of Beautiful Demoiselle and a mating pair of Azure Damselfly were seen in the valley to the beach and 3 Common Lizard were basking in the sun on the wooden fences.

Beautiful Demoiselle

Azure Damselfly

Common Lizard

We had a trip to the beach at Cawsand on Thursday 24th July, it was warm and sunny and surprisingly our first trip of the year. It was quiet on the wildlife front but the usual Mediterranean Gulls were flying about along the shoreline and also further offshore while a few flyby Silver-washed Fritillary were noted along the coastpath along with Gatekeeper, Comma, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown and Large and Small Whites.

On our return home we found an interloper on the flat roof with Birdy, another juvenile Herring Gull but larger and able to fly. The parents were not happy about it's prescence and were making lots of noise and Birdy wasn't keen either and would half-heartedly peck at it if it came too close but the next morning they were both cosied up together and having a preen in the Ivy leaves. I'm not sure where he has come from, I don't think he belongs to our Herring Gull family but the adults eventually accepted him and have been feeding him while becoming very territorial again.

The Squatter (front bird) and Birdy

The Squatter (front bird) and Birdy

I have also noticed that one of Birdys parents has very dark eyes giving it a distinctive, eerie look. Maybe it's a genetic abnormality or possibly a sign of a previous infection with Avian flu.

Birdys Parents

We headed up to Dartmoor for a walk on Friday 25th July, it was a hot and sunny day and we hoped it would be a little cooler at a higher altitude which indeed it was somewhat. Before we left the house I had to rescue a Magpie which had flown into the bedroom through the open window and which was actually a lot easier to catch and release than I expected it to be.

We ended up at Warren House on Dartmoor for our walk and headed down the valley to Golden Dagger, it was our first visit here of the year and it was an interesting walk as we rarely visit Warren House in July. Very noticeable was how high and how extensive the Bracken was, also noticeable and a little concerning were the large number of dead clumps of Heather dotted across the landscape.

I had hoped to catch up with my first Whinchat of the year here but was out of luck, I hope they haven't gone the way of the Ring Ousel which are now extinct at this site. The highlight though were 4 Crossbill which flew north high overhead and giving themselves away by calling as they went. Other sightings of note were a Jay, a Reed Bunting, Willow Warblers, Stonechats and Swallows.

Butterflies were flitting about with a male Brimstone, a Small Copper and Small Heaths seen along with the usual Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Common Blue, Peacock and Whites.

Peacock

Dragonflies were buzzing about too and amongst the Keeled Skimmers and Large Red Damselflies were 3 Golden-ringed Dragonfly and 3 Beautiful Demoiselle. Floral highlights were Bog Asphodel, Marsh Woundwort and Sundew.

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

Golden-ringed Dragonfly and mating Large Red Damselfly

Bog Asphodel and Marsh Woundwort

I headed out to Wembury again on Saturday 26th July, this time for the 8:00am high tide at The Point. It was overcast when I stepped off the bus at around 7:30am and I headed straight up to the church for a quick scan about offshore in the flat calm conditions but there was nothing much to see.

I carried on to The Point and managed to get there before any dog walkers arrived which was a bonus and along the beach with the Gulls and Oystercatchers were a Redshank, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Whimbrel, 4 Little Egret, 6 Mallard (4 males) and around 20 mobile Mediterranean Gulls, none ringed but with at least 4 juveniles present amongst them. A noisy juvenile Sandwich Tern with an adult bird were also seen and later 2 adults were watched diving for fish along the beach where a Grey Seal was seen poking its head out of the water.

Redshank

Sandwich Terns

Offshore there were Gannets moving west including a few juveniles which was nice to see with a small Shearwater also picked up too. A pod of 20+ Common Dolphin were also moving west, mostly unobtrusive at the surface but with occassional leaps into the air while 2 Kittiwakes were seen roosting on The Mewstone.

A Common Lizard, a Painted Lady, a Gatekeeper, a Magpie Moth and a Grey/Dark Dagger were the non-avian highlights but with the forecasted drizzle and mizzle duly arriving at around 9:30am the offshore visibility plummeted and it was time to head home before I got too soaked.

Batman enjoying a walk in the drizzle!