Ospreys

Sunday 12th September was overcast and muggy and with the high tide being around 10am I headed out to Warleigh Point at the mouth of the River Tavy to look for Ospreys.

On arriving I had a quick scan around and immediately found an Osprey flying up the Tavy but it was quite distant and by the time I had set my scope up I lost track of it amongst the melee of Corvids it had spooked.

A short time later some paddle boarders along the Tavy flushed an Osprey which had been roosting unseen in trees by the waters edge and as it soared higher and higher over the water it was briefly joined by a second bird before they flew off in separate directions and out of sight.

Time was marching on and a hoped for final view looked less and less likely but just as I was about to pack up and leave an Osprey appeared at the mouth of the Tavy where it had a few attempts at catching fish before resting on the railway bridge. The Carrion Crows were not happy with its presence though and regularly hassled it before it flew off upriver and out of sight.

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey

Osprey 

While waiting for the Ospreys to show I regularly scanned across the river and estuary and a feeding frenzy of Black-headed Gulls out in the River Tamar caught my attention along with the sound of 2 Sandwich Terns calling amongst them. I soon picked them up amongst the swirling mass of birds before they headed downriver towards Saltash but I also picked out a Little Tern amongst the Gulls, tiny looking and regularly hovering above the water, my first for Plymouth. A Peregrine, a Greenshank, 3 Stock Doves and 6 Great Crested Grebe were also noted.

Tuesday 14th September and I took a walk at Wembury for a look about. It was very quiet with Whitethroat, 4 Chiffchaff, 4 Wheatear and 2 Swallow noted along with Kestrel, 3 Cirl Bunting, the usual Stonechats and 3 Meadow Pipit flying over calling.

The high tide roost at The Point held 3 Curlew, 6 Little Egret, 78 Oystercatcher and 30 Mediterranean Gulls (13 1st winter, 15 adult winter and 2 2nd winter). A 1st winter bird was leg ringed (Green R6ET) and subsequent enquiries have revealed it was ringed in France in July. An adult bird was also ringed (Yellow 2L14), apparently a UK ringed bird but details are still awaited. 

A big surprise was a Convolvulus Hawkmoth resting on a fence post in almost the exact same place I saw one 4 weeks ago. It was a little worn and possibly the same one I saw before. 

Convolvulus Hawkmoth 

Convolvulus Hawkmoth 

Convolvulus Hawkmoth 

Also seen were a Painted Lady, a Wall and a Comma along with many Red Admiral, Large White and Small White, an Angle Shades and Silver Y's. Long-winged Coneheads and Common Lizards were basking on the fences too in the weak and occasional sunny spells and a Common Darter was also seen basking on the footpath. 

Long-winged Coneheads 

Common Darter

The Ivy flowers were in bloom and the bushes were covered in assorted Bees and Hover flies including my first Ivy Bees of the year. 

Ivy Bee

On checking my phone while on the bus ride back to Plymouth a Little Stint had been reported from the River Plym and so I stepped off the bus at Laira Bridge for the walk along the Plym to Blaxton Meadow and back.  The tide was heading out and there was no sign of the Stint but I did see a Common Sandpiper, 9 Greenshank, 6 Dunlin, 8 Oystercatcher and 10 juvenile Shelduck with Curlews and Redshanks. 

Greenshank

National Moth Night

After all the wildlife excitement of last weekend this week has been very quiet with work, chores and weather hampering any opportunities to get out and about.

Friday 28th August was cool and showery and so we visited Saltram with Mother-in-law for a short walk and a spot of lunch. We walked down from the car park to the bird hide and back and on Blaxton Meadow on the high tide there were the usual Curlew, Oystercatcher, Little Egret, Herring Gull and Black-headed Gull along with a Stock Dove and 2 White Doves while Ring-necked Parakeets screeched in the trees nearby.

Scruffy looking Mandarin Ducks in eclipse plumage were seen roosting around the Cafe Pond with Mallards and Moorhens while we ate our lunch. A Mistle Thrush was feeding on Yew berries in the tree by the Pond and a Sparrowhawk flew overhead while Swallows swooped into the roof space of the stables to feed young in their nests.

Mandarin Duck

Moorhen

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night for National Moth Night and the next morning I had 25 Moths of 11 Species. The theme of this year's moth night is Red Underwing, no chance of one of those in my trap, but I did have a Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and 12 Large Yellow Underwing although the numbers of Large Yellow Underwing this year are noticeable lower than usual (so far). A Spectacle was a nice first for the year and the other moths seen were a lovely Marbled Green, 3 Vines Rustic, 2 Brimstone Moth, 1 Double-stripe Pug, 1 Square-Spot Rustic, 1 Light-brown Apple Moth, 1 Common Marbled Carpet and 1 Eudonia Angustea.

Spectacle

Spectacle

Marbled Green

After sorting out the moth box I headed out to Wembury for a walk on what was a sunny but cool day with a strong northerly breeze. Being a Bank Holiday weekend I expected it to be busy and indeed it was but it wasn't too bad.

A Double-striped Pug in the toilet block and 2 Silver Y along the coast path were the only moths noted but there were many Red Admirals, Small Whites and Large Whites seen along with a Comma, 2 Common Blue, Meadow Browns, Speckled Woods, a Green-veined White and 2 Small Copper. A male Beautiful Demoiselle and 3 Hawker Sp. were also seen.

 Green-veined White

 Green-veined White

 Green-veined White

 Comma

Comma

On the incoming tide there were 2 Ringed Plover, 2 Curlew, 12 Dunlin, 5 Turnstone and 20 Redshank out on the rocks with the Oystercatchers and 6 Little Egret and a Grey Heron. 7 adult and 5 juvenile Mediterranean Gulls were roosting amongst the Herring, Black-headed and Great Black-backed Gulls on the rocks too. 

 Dunlin

 Turnstone

Dunlin

Chiffchaff, Blackcap, 2 Whitethroat, Stonechat, Linnet, Swallow and House Martin were also noted along my walk with a Buzzard overhead, Pied Wagtails along the beach and 6 Wheatear in the top horse field.

Stonechat

On checking the wildlife sightings pages on the Internet that evening I read that a juvenile Woodchat Shrike had been found at Wembury that day but it was along the footpath past the church heading towards Noss Mayo, a route I have only walked once in all the years I have been visiting Wembury and so I wouldn't have seen it anyway (and I did see the cracking male Woodchat Shrike at Wembury Point back in May of this year). 

Sunday 30th August and with 2 night shifts looming I headed out in the morning to Ernesettle Creek to look for 2 reported Osprey seen fishing along the River Tamar the previous day. It was sunny but cold in a biting northerly breeze and I was hopeful of catching up with them.

I set up my scope and scanned around briefly before hearing Oystercatchers in a bit of a kerfuffle and flying down river and on looking up I found an Osprey circling around over the water and heading over towards Kingsmill Lake on the opposite bank - a result in just 5 minutes of arriving on site!

River Tamar from Ernesettle

I watched it flying around and making a few aborted dives before it flew back to the mouth of the River Tavy where it eventually caught a fish and flew upriver and out of sight. On view for around 30 minutes and some lovely scope views and my first in the Plymouth area - very pleased.

I hung around for another hour in the hope that the second bird would appear to fish but it wasn't to be so instead I kept myself amused watching 3 Raven and a Sparrowhawk flying over, a Wheatear feeding on seaweed along the foreshore, 5 Great-crested Grebes out on the river including 2 Juveniles, 2 Dunlin flying upriver and the usual Redshank, Oystercatcher, Little Egret, Grey Heron and Gulls.

A look along Ernestettle Creek revealed a Greenshank and 2 Common Sandpipers while a Chiffchaff was heard singing and Swallows flitted about overhead.

Greenshank

A very pleasent morning indeed and something to help me get through the joys of a double night shift on a Bank Holiday weekend.

Little and Lesser Waders

Thursday 19th September was warm and sunny but with a strong easterly wind and so we decided to head off to the beach at Cawsands for the day. The Cawsand ferry was running from The Barbican but the service stopped after we arrived at Cawsands due to the increasing wind and low tide. An adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gull was seen flying overhead from the ferry to Cawsands but I had much better views of one resting along the shoreline by the Edgecumbe Arms pub at Cremyl while we waited for the ferry back to Plymouth.

Mediterranean Gull, Cremyl

Mediterranean Gull

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night and the following morning had a few nice moths to sort through, the highlights being a silver y, square spot rustics, a shuttle shaped dart, a light emerald and a large ranunculus.

Silver Y, Back-yard

Square Spot Rustic

Shuttle Shaped Dart

Light Emerald

Large Ranunculus

Large Ranunculus 

Friday September 20th was another warm and sunny day but with an even stronger easterly wind and so we headed off out for the day with Mother-in-law, firstly to Aveton Gifford where I was dropped off for a wander around South Efford Marsh while David and Beryl carried on to Kingsbridge.

A lesser yellowlegs had been seen on the marsh the previous day and had also been seen that morning but the birders on site when I arrived hadn't located the bird. I wandered down to the hide, seeing teal, 4 dunlin, redshank and curlews along the way along with a smart comma butterfly. From the hide I could see some waders roosting at the back of the marsh but they were distant and obscured and the harsh light and strong wind hampered viewing. As the tide receded the waders flew out to the estuary, a mix of greenshank and redshank, and 2 birds were left behind, a black-tailed godwit and the lesser yellowlegs. It began to feed along the waters edge but never came any closer with the viewing conditions remaining difficult but I was glad to see it, my 4th UK sighting of one.

Comma, South Efford Marsh

It was soon time for me to be picked up and we all carried on to nearby Bigbury for a walk over to Burgh Island for refreshments in The Pilchard Inn. It was great fun walking across to the Island as we were sand blasted in the strong winds blowing right across the beach and needless to say I didn't get my binoculars or camera out due to the danger of sand scratching my lenses.

Saturday 21st September and my planned pelagic trip out to The Eddytsone from Plymouth with the DBWPS Group was cancelled for a second time due to the weather conditions and so I caught the train down to Hayle for a look around. I almost decided against going as the weather forecast was for rain but I'm glad I made the effort as I had a great time and the rain held off until I headed home.

On arriving at Hayle at around 10:45hrs I walked over to the Carnsew Pool but with the tide still high there was no exposed mud and therefore no birds other than a pair of little grebes. I had a quick look up the estuary from the embankment wall of the Pool and found an osprey sat on a post out in the river but by the time I had walked along the road to get a closer view it had flown off! However it soon returned and gave some great views as it flew around the estuary spooking all the birds and hovering over the water and diving unsuccessfully for fish before disappearing from view.

Osprey, Hayle Estuary

A group of small waders were feeding in the saltmarsh where views were difficult in the vegetation but scanning through them I noted dunlin, ringed plover, turnstone and a ruff but no sign of the recently reported little stints. On Ryan's Field 2 more ruff were found amongst the roosting curlew and bar-tailed godwits along with a single black-tailed godwit and a lapwing while over on the estuary on the dropping tide I found 2 knot and a very nice spotted redshank with oystercatchers, greenshanks and redshanks plus a variety of Mediterranean gulls amongst the roosting and preening gull flock.

Greenshank

Amongst the wigeon, teal and Canada geese out on the estuary were 6 pale-bellied brent geese, only my 2nd Hayle sighting, but despite scanning around I still couldn't find any little stints and so I headed back down to the Carnsew Poool for another look. The mud was beginning to be exposed and I found a few bar-tailed godwits busily feeding when a small wader flew over my head and landed out on the mud - a little stint! It gave some great views before it flew off after a few minutes but I was very pleased to see it after a blank year last year.

 Pale-bellied Brent Goose

 Pale-bellied Brent Geese

 Little Stint

 Little Stint

Little Stint

I walked back up the estuary to St.Erth to catch the train home and as I reached the causeway bridge for a last quick scan around the osprey returned, flying over the estuary and spooking everything before landing on the post again, a nice end to a great day in what has been a great wildlife watching week.

Osprey

Sandpiper Deja vu

A walk around Stoke Point on September 1st after finishing night shifts was very pleasent in the warm, hazy sunshine and high cloud. No yellow wagtails but I did see 2 wheatear, stonechats, a male yellowhammer, cirl buntings, 2 kestrel, 2 buzzards, a raven, swallows, house martins and gannets.

Kestrel

No clouded yellows either but I did see small tortoiseshell, red admiral, painted lady, large white, common blue, holly blue, meadow brown, small white and speckled wood. A rose chafer was also seen buzzing around ivy flowers, looking resplendently metallic green in the sunshine, and it was nice to see Autumn squill growing on the usual footpath bankside in numbers I haven't seen before.

 Meadow Brown - mating pair

 Grass Veneer Sp.

Autumn Squill

I had the mothbox out in the backyard that night and the next morning had a nice selection of moths but no large ranunculus. There were 30+ large yellow underwings neurotically flapping around in the trap and disturbing everything else, the first big count for the backyard this year, along with 5 Vines rustic and lots of wasps. I had been very careful around the wasps as I am allergic to their stings but after putting the trap away and looking at the moths I had potted up I was stung on the left boob, a crafty wasp had climbed into my clothes and given me a nasty sting. I immediately took some anti-histamine and some brufen but it soon became red, swollen, itchy and very painful and has taken a few days now to improve but hasn't been as bad as the last time I was stung as a kid.

Sunday 4th September and we had a walk along the coastpath at Thurlestone on a overcast and breezey but warm day. The maintenance work at South Huish Marsh has been completed and the pools were nicely filled from the recent rain but they were also totally waderless. It was also good to see the footpath has been moved and no longer weaves around the hedge of the grassy field where the cliff collapsed a few years ago and now provides a much more easier and scenic path for walkers.

The field by the car park overlooking the marsh held the most interest with 2 wheatears and around 10 yellow wagtails feeding with pied/alba wagtails, linnets, starlings and meadow pipits. The yellow wagtails were very nervous and flighty and difficult to keep track off as they regularly flew around and disappeared amongst the tufty grass but I reckon there were at least 10 birds with 3 seen on the ground and 3 in the air at one point. A whitethroat, a chiffchaff, stonechats and a whinchat were also seen feeding along the barbed wire fence of a sheltered field edge.

 Yellow Wagtail with Starlings - record shot

 Yellow Wagtail - record shot

Whinchat - record shot

The toilet block at Thurlestone golf course actually had some moths inside - 7 snout, 2 double striped pugs, a square spot rustic, a small bloodvein and a Mullein wave - but unfortunately I had no pots with me so couldn't catch them to release outside.

 Mullein Wave

Small Bloodvein

Monday 5th September and a day to myself saw me heading off to Bowling Green Marsh again on a warm and humid and cloudy day, arriving at the hide and finding a seat this time at around 09:15hrs. The tide was high and I quickly found a spotted redshank roosting amongst the redshank, curlew, black tailed godwit and dunlin. Even better was spotting my target bird, an osprey, circling over the River Clyst before heading off up the Exe and out of view. A fellow birder found the long staying wood sandpiper feeding along the shoreline amongst a large roost of black headed gulls but it disappeared behind some vegetation and was never seen again. A green sandpiper also repeated last weeks views as it flew up from vegetation along the river channel in front of the hide where it had been feeding unobserved and disappearing off towards Goosemoor.

I headed off to the viewing platform to look for the osprey but the only bird on show at the high tide was a wheatear on the garden wall of Riversmeet House. I carried on to the Goatwalk and a brief scan found the osprey low over the water near Turf Locks, it vigourously shook itself in mid air before gaining height as it carried off a large fish it had just caught and which I had just missed seeing. It continued to gain height as it arched around before dropping down into trees at Turf and out of sight.

Black Tailed Godwits off The Goatwalk

Back at the hide and 2 yellow wagtails dropped in briefly before flying off again towards Exminster Marsh and I had some brief views of a curlew sandpiper amongst the roosting waders before birds began flying off towards the River Clyst on the receding tide. Heading back to the viewing platform and I found 2 curlew sandpipers feeding on the mudflats amongst the dunlins.

After a spot of lunch in Topsham I headed down to the recreation ground to look for yellow legged gulls with a juvenile having been seen there the previous day but I was out of luck (see www.2birdtheory.blogspot.co.uk for some great photos). While torturing myself scanning through variously aged herring, great black backed, lesser black backed and black headed gulls I found a winter plumaged Mediterranean gull, a kingfisher, a cormorant catching small eels, 2 flyover yellow wagtails and a common sandpiper preening on the pebbley shore. It was soon time to head off home on the train but it had been another Exe-cellent day out at Topsham and another 4 sandpiper day.

 Mediterranean Gull with Black Headed Gulls

Gulls at Topsham Rec.

That night I had the moth box out in the backyard again and in the morning I had a large ranunculus at last along with over 40 large yellow underwings, a copper underwing, a male four spotted footman and a willow beauty amongst others. Lots of wasps again but this time I didn't get stung!

 Four Spotted Footman - male

 Large Ranunculus

Large Ranunculus