Stuart's Wildlife Diary: Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Showing posts with label Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Show all posts

Thursday, 4 June 2020

Local Wildlife Extravaganza

Work continues to piss me off, not helped by the current shit stirring and shit flinging going on following the very sad and tragic suicide of a lovely young woman from our team, and after working Long Day shifts on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th May and then Monday 1st June in baking heat and in PPE my plan for Tuesday 2nd June was to have a quiet chill out day. However with the good weather due to break on Wednesday 3rd I decided to get out wildlife watching instead to ease my weary soul and despite being absolutely knackered.

And so the first stop on Tuesday 2nd June was the south edge of Dartmoor to look for butterflies following a Twitter Tweet regarding a sighting of 4 fritillary species there (Silver-washed, Dark Green, High Brown and Small Pearl-bordered). I didn't get an early start as originally planned but I was on site by 09:45hrs and it was amazingly hot in the sun for the time of day.

I wandered around the area keeping my eyes open as I wasn't exactly sure where to actually look for the fritillaries but I did find a few Beautiful Demoiselles perched on vegetation, a Small Tortoiseshell, a Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, a brief flybe White Sp. (probably Large on size) and a male Brimstone.

Small Tortoiseshell

Large Skipper

Brimstone

I also soon found a few Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary flitting around but they never settled. Most were dull and tatty and worn but a few were smart looking and brightly coloured. Eventually I found a few nectaring on Blackberry flowers and managed some good views.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

It was good to hear Garden Warblers singing, at least 3 birds, but I couldn't catch a sight of them as they sang in deep cover. 2 Marsh Tit showed well as they foraged in an oak tree and 2 Grey Wagtail fed along a small stream. A Great spotted Woodpecker chipped away in the trees and Willow Warbler were heard singing their meloudiously sad song.

Eventually I found a large Fritillary perched on the bracken, I expected it to be a Dark Green but was very pleased to find it was a High Brown and a very smart looking one too! It was very flitty and mobile and difficult to photograph, seeming always to land in a spot obscured by vegetation, and eventually it dashed off out of sight. I then continued to see single large fritillaries flying fast over the bracken and the ones that settled were all High Brown too. I did see 2 flying together at one point but neither settled before they dashed off in pursuit of each other.

High Brown Fritillary

Brown Silver Line moths were everywhere amongst the bracken and I had a brief view of a Golden-ringed Dragonfly and a blue/green Dragonfly species but I had much better views of a male Broad-bodied Chaser patrolling back and forth along a small stream and occassionally perching on vegetation nearby.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Less pleasant to find was the mass of rubbish left by day trippers in the car park despite the No Litter signs, showing the general level of Common Sense and Social Responsibilty of the Great British Public - if you bring it out with you, take it home with you!

Clear and Concise

Obviously Not!

The weather remained hot and sunny all day with little breeze and so in the evening I headed up to Cann Woods for some Nightjar watching. It was a lovely evening only marred by the constant attentions of midges (I forgot the insect repellant) and after a long and hot walk I arrived on site at around 20:00 hrs. It has been a while since I have looked for Nightjars here (the last time was in 2015) and I have to say it turned out to be the best Nightjar session I have ever had anywhere.

There were other birders present, a total of 12 of us in the end, and we had a great time. Brief churring began at 21:05hrs with occasional churrs continuing until 21:30 hrs. It then all began properly and the action was still going strong when I left at 22:10hrs.

There was plenty of churring, wing clapping and "guicking" going on and I managed some good views of single birds flying around and occassionally two birds chasing each other with the white tail and wing markings of the males being easily seen. One bird even perched up on a fence post by the footpath to churr and I had a decent view of it despite the very poor light.

Nightjar Churring

A Green Woodpecker, a Tawny Owl, Willow Warblers, a Tree Pipit and Blackcaps were also heard and 2 Garden Warblers were having a sun down sing off and I managed a decent view of one of them in the area where I saw one back in April.

A Roe Deer buck sauntered nonchalantly across the path and a Common Spotted Orchid was found in flower in a hedgerow.

Roe Deer

Common Spotted Orchid

The walk home was as spooky as ever through the dark woodland but with clear skies and an almost full moon it was quite well lit and I arrived back home safe and sound, having had an amazing wildlife day.

Moon

With the clear skies and warm temperature I had the moth box out in the back yard that night but I had to set the alarm clock for the morning as rain was forecasted from 06:00hrs. I managed to get the moth box sorted and packed away before the rain arrived despite the attentions of the Herring Gulls nesting on our chimney stack again this year who presumably now have a hatched chick or chicks in the nest as they squawked and dive bombed me before eventually giving up. The sight of a very large Brown Rat digging in the soil of one of the planters was also unwelcome before it disappeared into the shrubs.

The moth box had a good haul inside with the highlight being a very smart Broad-barred White, a new moth for me. Mullein Wave, Dwarf Cream Wave, Heart and Club, Peppered Moth, Ingrailed Clay and Bright-line Brown-eye were nice finds too and there were around 20 Heart and Dart also present.

Broad-barred White

Mullein Wave

Peppered Moth

Heart and Club

Ingrailed Clay

To finish my wildlife extravaganza we walked down to the allotment later that morning in between the rain showers and I found 4 Bee Orchids in flower nearby, looking very good despite the recent lack of rain.

Bee Orchids

Friday, 22 May 2020

Thurlestone and Dartmoor

Wednesday 20th May and we headed out for a coastal walk with the skies sunny and only a little breeze, parking up at Thurlestone and walking to Hope Cove and back on what was a very hot day. The beaches and car parks were busy but the footpath was fairly quiet and we kept away from other people as much as possible.

The highlight of the walk was a songflighting Sedge Warbler, my first of the year and a bird I wasn't expecting to see this lock down year. It leapt out of the bushes singing away, landing on brambles to continue singing for a short time before leaping up into the air again for one last flourish and then falling silent.

Sedge Warbler - auto-focused on the brambles!

A Reed Warbler was chuntering away in the reeds by the bridge over the Ley, keeping itself well hidden, but Whitethroat were much more showy and vocal all along our walk.

Whitethroat

At South Huish Marsh a pair of Shelduck were looking after 8 fluffy ducklings with another 4 adults roosting nearby. House Martins were gathering mud for nests and Swifts and Swallows swooped around overhead.

Other birds seen and heard were Raven, Chiffchaff, Stonechat, Buzzard, Kestrel, Grey Heron and Pied Wagtail.

Common Blue, Speckled Wood, Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Holly Blue and Wall were seen but the highlight were at least 5 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary flitting across the cliff tops, some very smart looking but some quite worn. They rarely settled for long though as they patrolled low over the vegetation looking for females.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

It was also nice to finally find some Spring Squill on the clifftop too although it was mostly going over but the Thrift was looking absolutely stunning in the sunshine.

Spring Squill

Thrift

Spurge

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night and in the morning I had 14 moths of 7 species including a lovely Mullein Wave, one of my top 10 back yard moths, and it was good to find 2 Bee Moth and a Vines Rustic in the moth box too.

Mullein Wave

Bee Moth

Vines Rustic

Thursday 21st May and with the good weather continuing we headed up to Dartmoor for a walk. We started off at a woodland site which was absolutely stunning in the sunshine, full of bird song and with amazing views.

A Wood Warbler singing was the highlight but I couldn't locate it in the trees and it soon fell silent. A Garden Warbler and at least 2 Redstart were also heard but not seen along with a Yellowhammer, Willow Warbler and songflighting Redpoll but I did see a Tree Pipit, at least 2 Spotted Flycatcher, 2 male Pied Flycatcher with more heard, Blackcap, a Marsh Tit and a Cuckoo with another one heard only. A Green Woodpecker was heard yaffling away but I did eventually get a brief flight view of it between the trees.

Fritillaries were flitting over a hillside but wouldn't stay still for a second, presumably Small Pearl-bordered, and I also saw a few Beautiful Demoiselle and a very lovely Green Hairstreak.

Green Hairstreak

We enjoyed a picnic lunch while enjoying the magnificent views before moving on to take a walk along a Leat. It was an interesting walk and along the way I had great views of 2 male and a female Cuckoo along with a male Redpoll and Stonechats. Cotton Grass was flowering and a Grey Wagtail was heard singing and in the Leat were small, darty fish which were presumably Trout.

Two very lovely days out in these continuing difficult times and very much needed by me to ease my weary soul.

Monday, 11 May 2020

Wildlife Walks

Lock Down UK 2020 due to COVID-19 continues and it really is "eat, sleep, go to work, repeat" with some wildlife walks thrown in here and there to mix things up a bit.

I have resigned myself to the fact that I will be unlikely to see certain summer migrants this year - eg, Wood Warbler, Pied Flycatcher, Little-ringed Plover, Sedge Warbler, etc. - but I was very pleased and surprised to find a Reed Warbler singing away in the hedgerow at the allotment on The Barbican here in Plymouth on May 7th, one of the summer migrants that I wasn't expecting to connect with this year. I have heard both Reed and Sedge Warblers in the past singing from trees and shrubs in Plymouth city centre at this time of year but this one I actually got to see, brief views only as it moved through the vegetation but a very welcome sight and sound.

Reed Warbler

I have also finally managed to get out on 2 long walks to the edge of Dartmoor, a long walk on May 1st and a very long walk on May 6th, and I managed to see a good selection of wildlife with Green Tiger Beetle, Early Purple Orchid, Wall Brimstone, Green-veined White, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, Red Kite, Cuckoo, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Garden Warbler, Yellowhammer, Willow Warbler, Swift, Sand Martin, Common Sandpiper, Reed Bunting, Grey Wagtail, Kestrel, Slow Worm and Beautiful Demoiselle being the highlights in sunny but breezy conditions - very restorative in these continuing difficult times.

Green Tiger Beetle

Brimstone

Green-veined White

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-birdered Fritillary

Willow Warbler

Tree Pipit (with tick behind eye)

Tree Pipit

Yellowhammer

Cuckoo

Slow worm

Moth boxing in the back yard overnight on May 9th/ 10th produced my first Buff Ermine and Heart and Dart of the year along with a new moth for me, a Grey Birch albeit a very faded one (with thanks to ID help from @MothIDUK on Twitter). Best of all was a Buff-tip, one of my top 10 back yard moths, maybe I'll get all 10 of them this year? ( I've already got Early Grey).

Grey Birch

Diamond-back Moth (pale form)

Common Pug

Buff Ermine

Buff Tip

Heart and Dart

Sunday May 10th was warm and sunny and after an early start sorting out the moth box I took my usual weekly walk to the River Plym and Saltram. The vegetation was again noticeably more advanced than on my previous visit and bird song seemed to be lessened but it was still an interesting walk.

It was a very high tide and on Blaxton Meadow there were 3 Whimbrel roosting with 3 Oystercatcher and 2 Curlew along with a Little Egret, Shelduck, a Canada Goose and 3 Mallard (1 female).

Whimbrel and Curlew

Little Egret

Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Swallow, Ring-necked Parakeet, Stock Dove, Buzzard, Coal Tit, Song Thrush, Grey Heron and Skylark were seen and/or heard and I managed to find my first Small Heath and Common Blue of the year along with Orange Tip, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Peacock, Green-veined White and Large White.

Grey Heron

Small Heath

Common Blue

A pair of Roe Deer passed very close by me as I sat quietly against a tree, the male looking very smart with his short antlers and giving a little bark as he ran off when he realised I was there.

Roe Deer

Grey Squirrel

I stopped off at Blagdons Meadow on the walk home where it continues to be very dry underfoot but I did find 3 Southern Marsh Orchids coming into flower in a damper area along with Early Purple Orchids which were small and stunted and mostly going over (and smelling like Tom cats). It was also nice to see Swallows and House Martins collecting mud from the estuary for nest building.

Early Purple Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid

House Martin

Nearing home and 2 Willow Warblers were heard singing on the waste ground by St.Judes church, a nice surprise and a nice end to an enjoyable walk.