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.

Butterflies and a Swallow

Lock down continues, the weather remains dry and sunny but windy and I am starting to get a bit of cabin fever after just 2 weeks but Saturday 4th April duly arrived and it was time to head out for my weekly, solo, local, socially distanced wildlife walk from home to Saltram, something I have been looking forward to immensely all week long.

It was cool and breezy but out of the wind it was very warm and I was abl9le to walk around with just my t-shirt on and I wished I had worn shorts and not my jeans.

The tide was heading in as I arrived at Laira Bridge and along the Plym there were the usual suspects - Little Egret, Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher. Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Mallard, Shelduck and GBB + H + BH Gulls with 1 adult LBBGull. A Greenshank and 22 Turnstone were also noted.

Little Egret

Little Egret

Little Egret

Turnstone

In the woods a Stock Dove was cooing and Ring Necked Parakeets briefly screeched while Chiffchaff and Blackcaps were singing away and 2 Green Woodpeckers yaffled away unseen.

Bluebells were flowering amongst the violets and primroses and it was lovely to see my first Orange Tip and Small Whites of the year along with a Brimstone and Peacocks.

Bluebells

Bluebells

Peacock

Peacock

Peacock

Orange Tip

Orange Tip

Small White

Small White

Small White

Small White

A herd of 14 Roe Deer were again seen resting together and a Grey Squirrel played peek-a-boo in a pine tree, making a lot of noise as it scrabbled up the rough bark of the tree.

Grey Squirrel

The highlight though was my first Swallow of the year which I picked up skimming low over the grass before it gained height and flew off north, a very welcome sight in these weird times and proof that life carries on during this lock down period.

Robin

Wembury and Saltram Park

Saturday 11th May and as it was a sunny but breezy day I headed off to Wembury on the bus for a walk. I was expecting it to be busy with people due to the good weather but it wasn't too bad.

With the nights being quite chilly at the moment it was no surprise that there were no moths in the toilet block but I did disturb a common carpet from the path side vegetation on my walk.

Common Carpet

Butterflies were on the wing despite the breeze and I saw orange tip, speckled wood and peacock along with my first small white and common blue of the year.

 Common Blue

Peacock

Bird highlight was a smart male whinchat in the sewage farm hedgerow, my first spring sighting of one here at Wembury.

Whinchat

Whitethroats were singing and songflighting all along the walk, they seem to be in very good numbers this year, and I also heard and saw chiffchaff and blackcap. A singing male cirl bunting showed very well and a few swallows flitted about overhead. At The Point on the high tide 18 oystercatcher, 3 whimbrel, 1 curlew and a winter plumaged bar-tailed godwit were roosting with a pair of shelducks, a pair of Canada geese and 2 male and a female mallard.

An odd sight was a clump of gorse shield bug eggs laid on a gorse flower.

Gorse Shield Bug Eggs

An enjoyable mornings walk despite the breeze, and it actually felt like summer is nearly here at last.

Sunday 12th May and with another night shift looming I caught the bus out to Laira Bridge for a walk around Saltram Park, a perfect antidote to a thick head from David's cousins 65th birthday the night before.

It was sunny again but still breezy and I managed to see small white, green-veined white, speckled wood, orange tip and my first small heath of the year.

 Small White

 Small White

 Small White

 Small Heath

Small Heath

A late male wheatear was a surprise and there were good numbers of skylarks seen and heard.

Wheatear

Chiffchaff and blackcap were heard along with jay and ring-necked parakeet and swallows were seen flying around overhead. I kept an eye out for spotted flycatcher without any luck but it was good to see a few fledgling robins skulking in the bushes.

With my head cleared it was time to catch the bus back home, a nice walk in the sunshine and I left before the Sunday hordes arrived.

The Wrong Sandpiper

September 8th and it was time to head off to Perranporth for our usual autumn trip. It was sunny but breezey and on arriving at The Watering Hole on the beach the black clouds rolled in and it began to rain! It soon passed and we were able to enjoy our cooked breakfasts outside overlooking the beach and with the sand between our toes as per usual.

Perranporth Beach - Gorgeous!

A great day out and with the sun not disappearing behind the clouds until we left for home at around 4pm and with some nice wildlife sightings as well.

A male stonechat, a hovering kestrel and rock pipits were seen along the cliffs while offshore a single fulmar and gannets were seen all heading south. The stream held the usual trout but there were more of them than I have ever seen before although most were a little on the small size.

 Trout

Trout

Along the beach were the usual roosting gulls - herring, black headed and lesser black backed - but there was no sign of any Mediterraneans. A juvenile gull posed a few ID headaches - I think it is a pale and advanced juvenile LBBGull but it doesn't look quite right, I thought it might be a weedy YLGull with a weak bill but it doesn't look quite right for that either.

 Juvenile LBBG looking a bit YLGully

 LBBG

 LBBG

LBBG

A lone dunlin was seen flying along the beach and later some walkers disturbed a small flock of waders hunkered down in the sand - I watched them fly away, noting 2 sanderlings and a ringed plover amongst the dunlins but they were soon gone and lost from sight.

A lovely day as usual despite the stiff breeze and getting mugged for £30+ at Waitrose on the way home!

September 9th and we headed off to Siblyback Reservoir for a walk on a grey and overcast and very windy day. The water levels in the reservoir were low, a shock after only having visited the reservoir in winter when it has been full to the brim. There was lots of muddy shore on show but despite searching I couldn't find the reported buff breasted sandpiper or pectoral sandpiper although I did see 2 very tame ringed plovers and a common sandpiper.

 Ringed Plover

Ringed Plover

We then headed off to the National Trust estate at Cotehele for lunch and a look around the gardens and orchards. The orchards were very interesting with the trees in the old orchard looking beautifully gnarled and lichened and the trees in the new orchard growing well and filling out. The windy weather was causing apples to fall off the trees and so we tasted a few that we watched fall to the ground and they were very tasty. 

Mistletoe on Apple Tree

A few red admirals and wasps were feeding on some of the rotten fruit on the ground and I also saw a small white feeding on flowers and a speckled wood, and around the pond were at least 2 male southern hawkers with a third male seen trapped in the roof of the barn in the new apple orchard.

 Red Admiral

 Southern Hawker - male

 Southern Hawker - male

Pond Reflections

 Small White

 Small White

 Small White

Small White

Heading home and the clouds were becoming increasingly dark and rain filled looking but it had been a nice day out despite being mugged for £30+ in Waitrose again on the way home!