The August Bank Holiday weekend duly arrived and the weather was dry and sunny, perfect for our nephew Camerons wedding to Nieve on Saturday 23rd August at Rumleigh Farm in the Tamar Valley near Bere Alston. An overnight stay at the Wetherspoons in Tavistock and taxis to and from the Farm were all booked and off we headed to enjoy the celebrations. Being a very rural location and right by the River Tamar I hoped there would be some wildlife to enjoy amongst the festivities and indeed I had an interesting time.
I felt a little sorry for a nest of Swallows, it was just inside the entrance to the toilets with the bright lights and the noise from the live band keeping them awake until gone Midnight. They were a few days off fledging with adult feathering but still sporting yellow lined gapes.
Small Bats were flying around the farm buildings, probably Pipistrelles, and down by the river Bats were seen feeding over the water at dusk, presumably Daubenton's. I could hear Teal, Mallard and Common Sandpipers down by the river too as dusk turned to night along with the hootings of at least 4 Tawny Owls in the trees nearby and I also had to rescue a young Goat that had gotten its head stuck through a wire fence, a good grasp on its horns and some gentle manoeuvring soon had it freed and returning to the flock.
I had the moth box out in the back yard on Sunday 24th August and the next morning found 5 Box Tree Moths in the trap, 4 light forms and 1 dark. I'm not sure if I'll catch any next year as the topiary Box Trees in the nearby park have been totally decimated by their caterpillars.
There were only 2 Large Yellow Underwing in the trap (where are they all this year?) along with a single Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and also of note were a Marbled Green, 2 Mullein Wave, a very worn Maidens Blush and a Eudonia pallida plus quite a few Wasps.
After sorting out the trap I caught the bus out to Marsh Mills for an early morning walk around Saltram, high tide was around 8am and with it being Bank Holiday Monday and a sunny day I was keen to get out and back before the hordes arrived. Blaxton Meadow was back to being a lake with water still streaming in through the sluice gates when I arrived there and the only small waders I found were 2 Common Sandpipers and a Dunlin. The usual Redshanks were roosting along the back wall and also present were 30 Curlew, 3 Oystercatcher, a Whimbrel, 8 Greenshank and a Black-tailed Godwit. The juvenile Great Crested Grebe was still present too and looking much more at home on the large expanse of water and a Kingfisher and 2 adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls were also seen.
I headed onwards to Chelson Meadow to look for Whinchats, noting a very active Spotted Flycatcher around the dipping pond along the way. The Meadow seemed very quiet at first with a Skylark and a Whitethroat the only birds of note until I picked up an Osprey flying over carrying a fish and very likely the same bird I saw last Friday. It was heading in the direction of Stag Lodge and I watched it in the hope it would land in a tree where I could get a good look at it but it kept going and I lost sight of it.
With more scanning of the Meadow I eventually found 2 Whinchats out in the long grass along with at least 4 Stonechat (1 male), they were all very mobile and difficult to track as they seemed to just disappear before reappearing elsewhere but I was pleased to finally see my first Whinchat of 2025. I also found my first Plym Small Copper of the year and again there were quite a few Clouded Yellows flitting about which I gave up counting in the end. A Roe Deer and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth were also seen here before it was time to return home to escape the heat and the building crowds.
I headed out to Wembury on the 7am bus the next morning (Tuesday 26th August), it was cooler and breezy following a little overnight rain and I wished I had put on a jumper before leaving the house. The sun soon got going though and it became warm and humid and a jumper was no longer required.
It was coming up to high tide and the breeze was whipping up the waves which were surging up the beach, the Gulls were loving it as they fed in the surf but the Oystercatchers and Little Egrets trying to roost along the beach weren't so keen. A Curlew, a Whimbrel and 6 Turnstone were also present along with the usual Mediterranean Gulls, none of which were sporting any leg rings.
With The Plym throwing up some good birding in the past week I was hoping for Wembury to do the same but it was fairly quiet on my walk with the highlights being 3 Wheatear on the rocks below the horse field, 5 Swallows over heading west, a Moorhen heard at the farm ponds, Whitethroats flitting about in the bushes and a Sandwich Tern flying west offshore.
There were good numbers of Small Copper flitting about, they seem to have suddenly had a good emergence, and also seen were Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Large White, Speckled Wood, Small White, Red Admiral, a Peacock, a Painted Lady and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth. A male Beautiful Demoiselle was resting by the stream in the valley to the beach and 3 Rabbit were feeding in the horse field.
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