Heat Wave!

Thursday 6th August was grey and murky but warm and humid and on a walk around Plymouth Hoe there were 3 Sandwich Terns silently diving for fish off Tinside Pool (which is now open again) and a Jersey Tiger flitting about in the ivy along The Promenade  - Autumn is here.

Jersey Tiger - taken with my phone

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night and had a decent haul of moths the next morning with the highlights being Jersey Tiger, Four-spotted Footman, Mother of Pearl, Yellow-barred Brindle, Marbled Beauty and Acleris forsskaleana.

Brimstone Moth

Acleris forsskaleana

Male and Female Four-spotted Footman

Aspilapteryx tringipennella

Blastobasis adustella

After sorting out the trap I headed off to meet 3 work colleagues (Jen, Ada and Emily) at Admirals Hard in Stonehouse to catch the ferry across to Mount Edgecumbe to start a fund raising walk in memory of our dear work colleague Katie who sadly took her own life back in April. It was hot and sunny and humid and very still and the walk of around 12 miles around Mount Edgecumbe, Cawsands, Whitsand Bay and the Rane Pennisula was hot and sticky but very enjoyable and with some stunning scenery.

Various wildlife was seen along the walk with the highlights being a Southern Hawker dragonfly, an eclipse/immature male Eider Duck off the slipway at Cremyll with an adult and juvenile Sandwich Tern noisily diving for fish nearby, a very flitty male Oak Eggar moth rescued off the road, a Magpie Moth, 2 Sparrowhawks together overhead and a small group of Fallow Deer in the woods. Butterflies were very active in the heat too with Wall, Red Admiral, Holly Blue, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Common Blue and Large White all seen.

Southern Hawker

Male Oak Eggar

Working a long day in the heat on Saturday 8th August was not fun but with another scorching hot day on Sunday 9th August and with the day off I decided to visit Netherclay Community Woodland near Taunton to look for Brown Hairstreaks which have been reported from here. It was sunny when I left Plymouth but by the time I arrived in Taunton it was totally overcast although it did eventually clear.

Wandering around Netherclay in the increasing heat and sunshine I soon found a Brown Hairstreak by the footpath just as it flew up into a nearby tree but shortly after I found a beautiful female egg laying in a sloe bush which gave some great views before also disappearing off into the trees. At least another 2 very showy egg laying females were found as I wandered around the footpaths and were very lovely to see - I always thought Green Hairstreak was my favourite Hairstreak but I'm not so sure now!

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

Also seen were a Holly Blue, a Silver-washed Fritillary, Gatekeeper, Small White, Speckled Wood, Large White and Green-veined White along with a male Beautiful Demoiselle and a Golden-ringed Dragonfly. A few birds were seen too including Bullfinch, Swallow and Chiffchaff with Raven, Green Woodpecker and Great-spotted Woodpecker all heard.

Large White

Golden-ringed Dragonfly

It was baking hot by the time I walked over to Silk Mills Nature Reserve across the road from Nerherclay to look for Brown Argus but I was out of luck this time. I did find a Small Skipper plus Meadow Brown and Common Blue but an Emperor Dragonfly, Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common/Azure Damselfly, Red-eyed Damselfly and Small Red-eyed Damselfly were all good to see. A showy Kingfisher, bathing Lesser Black-backed Gulls, skulky Reed Warblers and a surprise flock of 14 Common Sandpipers flushed from the reeds and noisily flying around the small lake before disappearing back into the reeds were the avian highlights.

Small Red-eyed Dragonfly

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night and the next morning had a good haul of moths, not surprising given the warm and humid overnight conditions, and the highlights were Marbled Green, Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and a lutescens form of Jersey Tiger.

 Jersey Tiger  - lutescens form

 Marbled Green

 Marbled Beauty

 Broad-bordered Yellow Undereing

 Pyrausta aurata

Case-bearing Clothes Moth

I managed to get everything packed away before a huge thunderstorm rolled in but it quickly cleared and returned to hot and sunny conditions and so I walked over to the nearby Drake Reservoir to look for a Lesser Emperor Dragonfly reported there the previous day. Viewing was difficult though as the Reservoir footpath remains closed due to the COVID lockdown although there is no reason now why it shouldn't be reopened.  There was no sign of the Lesser Emperor but I did find a male Emperor Dragonfly patrolling around which are dominant over Lessers and will chase them off. A Common Darter, 2 Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common/Azure Damselfly and a Small Red-eyed Damselfly were also seen.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Drake Reservoir

A night shift that night was a hot and sticky affair endured by all and the following night shift was even hotter but with some compensation had as I waited for the bus on Royal Parade to take me to work with 2 Hobby dashed around overhead chasing Flying Ants amongst the Herring Gulls.

Wembury, Burrator Reservoir and Central Park Walks

Birdy 2020 may be no more but the nesting Herring Gulls on the chimney stack across the road from us have 2 chicks this year. One has jumped off the chimney stack and is now residing on a small flat roof below the main roof but the other is still residing on the actual stack. They are noisy and fun to watch but it's not the same as having our own Birdy.

The weather has been a bit hit and miss lately but with a dry night forecast for July 1st/July 2nd I had the moth box out in the back yard. It was a cool and breezy night though and there were only a few moths in the trap the next morning but I did find my first Cabbage Moth of the year, my 52nd garden moth species of 2020.

Cabbage Moth

We took a walk out at Wembury later that morning and very luckily had around 45 minutes of broken sunshine as we walked along the coast path before the clouds rolled in properly. I found my first Gatekeeper of the year, a very smart looking individual and quite approachable in the cool conditions - my 28th butterfly species of 2020. Small White, Red Admiral and Meadow Brown were also seen.

Gatekeeper

An Oag Eggar caterpillar basking in the sun was moved to safety off the footpath, a very large and hairy caterpillar and feeling quite warm when held in my hand, it must be ready to pupate soon. A Common Lizard was also making the most of the brief sunny spells as it basked on a wooden fence by the footpath.

Common Lizard

Cirl Buntings were seen and heard and the only other birds of note were Stonechats, a Little Egret and Whitethroats.

We had a Chunk pasty and a coffee for lunch from the beach cafe which we enjoyed while watching the antics of Carrion Crows which were stealing food from the unattended bags of beach going picnickers and feeding the food to a noisy fledgling with distinctive white markings in its wings.

 Carrion Crow

 Carrion Crows

Carrion Crows

Monday 6th July and after working night shifts over the weekend we headed up to Burrator Reservoir for a walk. It was breezy with occasional sunny spells and out of the wind it was pleasently warm in the sunshine. There were a few butterflies on the wing with Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Small Skipper and Small White all seen along with a Silver-washed Fritillary which unfortunately did not settle for more than a few seconds at a time.

A newly emerged Keeled Skimmer was a nice find as it struggled to get airborne, only managing to fly a few metres before crash landing into the grass. A Double Line moth was a very nice find, a smart looking moth that at first I thought was a Large Yellow Underwing and a new moth for me. Bog Asphodel was in flower in the boggy areas by the roadside but there was no sign of any Sundews. Some very handsome looking Long Horn Cows were quietly chewing the cud under the trees by the roadside and were not bothered by the attentions of people (including me) taking their photos.

 Keeled Skimmer

 Double Line

Double Line

 Bog Asphodel

 Long Horn Cow

Long Horn Cow

Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Green Woodpecker were heard and Jay, Swallow, House Martin and Siskin were seen but the highlight were around 10 Crossbills feeding in the pine trees. They were noisy and flighty amongst the tree tops before moving off, at least 2 red coloured males were seen amongst the green plumaged and yellow rumped females/juveniles.

Crossbill

Tuesday 7th July and I decided to take a walk over to Central Park to look again for the White-letter Hairstreaks. It was warm and humid with occasional sunny spells but with a strong breeze. The elm trees were busily swaying but on the lee side out of the wind I did manage to see at least 3 Hairstreaks flitting about and chasing each other. I was hoping they would come down to feed on the nearby thistles or the few remaining blooms on the cottoneaster bush but they stayed in the treetops.

 White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

I checked out a nearby cottoneaster bush which still had a lot of fresh flowers on it and was pleased to find 3 Hairstreaks dashing about in the top of the elm tree nearby, a tree I haven't seen them in before, and eventually 2 did come down briefly to feed on the blooms although they stayed right at the top of the bush  - cue some poor record shots!

 White-letter Hairstreak

 White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak 

Also seen were Comma, Large White, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell and a possible brief flyby Painted Lady along with a Southern Hawker and various Bees.

 Comma

 Southern Hawker

 Buff-tailed Bumblebee

 Buff-tailed Bumblebee

Red-tailed Bumblebee

I also had a look around nearby Ford Park Cemetery where Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Small White and Ringlet were seen along with 6-Spot Burnet moths, Cinnabar moth caterpillars and a Pyrausta despicata.

 Marbled White

 6-Spot Burnet

 Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar

 Pyrausta despicata

Red Clover