Lock Down Wildlife

Easter 2020 was a non-event and our plans to spend it in Bristol at my sisters to celebrate my Mums birthday went right out of the window due to the continuing COVID-19 lock down. The weather continues to mock us too as it remains dry and sunny, unusual for Easter at the best of times although it is often quite breezy, and with a few days off work over the Easter period we enjoyed a quiet time at home instead.

I had the moth box out in the back yard overnight on Sunday April 12th and despite the strong overnight breeze I found 5 moths in the trap the next morning - 2 Common Quaker, 2 Tachystola acroxantha and a Garden Carpet.

Common Quaker, Backyard

Tachystola acroxantha

Garden Carpet

It remained very windy all day on Monday 13th April (Easter Monday) but I decided to walk to Blagdons Meadow by the River Plym for a look around. It was sunny and warm out of the wind and I patiently scanned the skies in the hope of finding a passing Red Kite or Osprey but with no luck. The Meadow was bone dry as I suspected (it hasn't really rained now for over 4 weeks) and there was no sign of any orchids but Cuckoo Flower was very noticeable. A Blackcap was also singing away and 2 Swallows flew over heading upriver and I did find my first Speckled Wood of the year along with a Peacock.

Cuckoo Flower, Blagdon's Meadow

Speckled Wood

I headed home via the allotment where I found another Speckled Wood and a pair of Orange Tips with the female watched laying eggs on a weedy plant.

Speckled Wood, The Allotment

Speckled Wood

Female Orange Tip

Tuesday 14th April was sunny again and the wind had eased a little and so I walked to Ford Park Cemetery for a look around.

A few Butterflies were flitting about in the more sheltered areas and I found a Holly Blue, a Peacock, a Speckled Wood, Large White, Small White and Orange Tip along with a very smart looking Small Tortoiseshell.

 Small Tortoiseshell, Ford Park Cemetery

Small White

2 Ravens, 2 Jay and a Great Spotted Woodpecker were also seen and Chiffchaff and Blackcap were heard before it was time to head back home.

 Raven

 Robin

Robin

Thursday 16th April and it was time for my weekly walk to Saltram on another sunny but breezy day although the wind did ease later and it became very warm.

The tide was quite high although Blaxton Meadow wasn't flooded and out roosting on the mud were 3 Little Egrets and 14 Shelduck. 6 Curlews flew in to roost and with them was a very smart summer plumaged Bar-tailed Godwit but they kept getting a bit of hassle from nearby Carrion Crows and eventually they all flew off downriver.

 Bar-tailed Godwit and Curlew, Blaxton Meadow

 Bar-tailed Godwit and Curlew

 Little Egret - pinky/orange feet and pinky/lilac lores

Little Egret

The usual birds were seen and heard - Redshank, Canada Goose, Herring Gull, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Stock Dove, Ring-necked Parakeet, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, etc. - and a Swallow collecting mud for a nest was very pleasing to see. A female Sparrowhawk and a pale Buzzard overhead caused a brief bit of consternation amongst the Herring Gulls roosting out on the River but despite scanning the skies there was still no sign of an Osprey or Red Kite. It was nice to see 2 female Wheatears although the views were distant and heat hazy but better views were had of a very confiding male White Wagtail as it fed on insects along the small beach by Saltram Quay.

 Canada Goose

 White Wagtail

 White Wagtail

 White Wagtail

White Wagtail

The warm weather meant there was plenty of insect activity and Orange Tip, Speckled Wood, Large White, Peacock, Small White and Small Tortoiseshell were seen along with a Brimstone Moth, 2 Green Longhorn moths (Adela reaumurella) and St.Marks flies.

 Brimstone Moth

 Adella reaumurella

 Adella reaumurella

St. Marks Fly - 9 days early! 

And so another enjoyable walk with a bit more variety this visit but it does seem like deja vu as I walk my set route in sunny skies every week although I will no doubt complain about the weather when it eventually breaks. And I am very lucky to be able to walk to Saltram from home for a much needed wildlife fix, especially with the lock down now being extended by another 3 weeks (and probably for longer again).

Finally - A Spring Day at Wembury

Wednesday 11th April and a cool but sunny morning saw me heading off on the bus for a walk along the coast path at Wembury. As the morning progressed it became quite warm and also quite busy with Easter holiday crowds but I ended up staying longer than planned, catching the 3pm bus back to Plymouth instead of the more usual 1.30pm bus. The footpath was still a mud fest but better than on my visit on 31st March (although bizarrely I ended up getting more mud covered on this visit) and despite the mud and crowds I had a great walk.

Things started off well as I walked down the road towards the beach where I found my first moths of the year - 2 early grey moths resting on the wall of the electricity sub-station, remarkably well camoflagued and a place I have found early grey before.

 Early Grey

 Early Grey

Early Grey

Onwards to the toilet block and more moths were found - a skittish pug species which disappeared behind a cistern, 2 shoulder stripe and a water carpet.

 Shoulderstripe

 Shoulderstripe

Water Carpet

The warm weather brought out other insect life - bees, flies, bloody nosed beetles, etc - and included a comma, a red admiral and a female brimstone which wizzed by without settling and 3 peacock which were much more accomodating.

 Peacock

 Peacock

Peacock

My first common lizards of the year were out sunning themselves too with 5 along the coast path and 1 by the bus stop.

Common Lizard

A male wheatear at Wembury Point with another (or the same?) later on the rocks below the horse field, 2 Sandwich terns patrolling offshore and singing chiffchaffs and blackcaps were all signs of spring migration along with 4+ white wagtails along the beach with pied wagtails and rock pipits. The highlight was the overwintering water pipit still along the beach near the sewage pipe, now in its fourth month and looking a little less scruffy as it continues its moult into summer plumage - more mobile and wary than before but not surprising with the constant flow of people walking along the beach.

 White Wagtail

 White Wagtail

 Wheatear

 Water Pipit

 Water Pipit

 Water Pipit

Water Pipit

Other birds noted were 8 male and a female mallard, 3 little egrets, a lone winter plumaged black headed gull and oystercatchers on the rocks, gannets and fulmars offshore, a raven flying out to The Mewstone with a beakful of food, 2 buzzards soaring overhead in the thermals with a sparrowhawk, 3 male and a female pheasent on the hillside above the wheatfield, a singing male cirl bunting with 2 more birds heard, stonechats, linnets and goldfinches.

 Mallard

Wren

A great day out with a coffee and a Chunk pasty from the cafe on the beach for lunch topping off a very enjoyable walk.

Willow Tit at Lower Tamar Lake

My week off work continues and with the glaucous gull reappearing on the River Plym and showing well I headed off to Marsh Mills on March 16th for a look. Arriving at 10am and the tide was an hour off being high. There were a few gulls loafing about on the water and a tiny bit of exposed mud off Blaxton Meadow but scanning through them and there was no sign of the glaucous. The nearby sewage works has been a good place to see the gull too but it was busy with workmen and the rotating arms over the tanks were not operating and so there were no gulls to be seen.

I headed off to the woods and fields for a walk while waiting for the low high tide to turn and drop and found 2 green woodpeckers, my first of the year. A flock of around 20 redwings feeding in a grassy field were a surprise along with 4 mistle thrush. The usual woodland birds were seen along with a jay and a nuthatch.

An Early English Bluebell

Heading back to the River and the tide was finally ebbing. Blaxton Meadow had 37 shelduck and 26 curlew roosting while along the railway embankment 2 greenshank, 50+ redshank and 20+ turnstone were distantly seen. A male white wagtail was quietly singing to itself on the saltmarsh at Blaxton Meadow, keeping itself apart from a small group of around 10 pied wagtails nearby, and 2 meadow pipits were also found.

Male White Wagtail

Gulls started to arrive as the mudflats became exposed but there was no sign of the glaucous gull. I did find 4 adult and 2 1st winter common gulls and a few adult lesser black backed gulls amongst the black headed, herring and greater black backs.

 Canada Geese - smaller female on the left

 Canada Geese

 Summer Plumaged Cormorant

First Winter Great Black Backed Gull with Herring Gulls

2 little grebes and a common sandpiper were also seen along the river near the sewage treatment works which was still full of workmen and not operating and so it was time to head off home to catch up on other things and to lick my wounds after another big old dip.

Thursday 17th and it was off to Lower Tamar Lake on the Cornwall/Devon border, not far away from the caravan at Bude but somewhere we have never visited. My target bird was willow tit with regular sightings on the webpages over the winter period of birds feeding on the bird food put out by local birders by the bird hide. I have only seen willow tit once - or have I? I have one record of willow tit in my bird notes, a single bird feeding high in a tree at Brandon on the Suffolk/Norfolk border back in 1989 - I was 99% certain it was a willow and not a marsh and it has remained on my British list at a 99% certainty since. Today was about changing that percentage to 100%.

It was a bright but cold and breezey day and on arrival I headed off straight away to the bird hide and bird feeders while David went off for a walk. On the Lake were a female goosander, a great crested grebe, a summer plumaged cormorant, mallard, moorhen and tufted ducks, and 5 grey heron were resting in the lakeside reeds. A few blue tits and great tits and chaffinch were around the well stocked feeders but after 15 minutes there was no sign of anything else except for a nice male reed bunting and so I decided to go for a walk instead and to return to the hide later.

Male Reed Bunting

Heading off along the footpath towards the Upper Tamar Lake and after a short walk I noticed a bird feeder hanging in the trees close to the path and a quick look gave me a brief view of a marsh/willow tit as it flew away. And so I settled down on a nearby concrete slab to watch and wait and see what would reappear. Coal, blue and great tits came and went, most dashed in, grabbed some food and flew off into cover but a few were a little more showy. Chaffinch, a jay, a nuthatch and a grey squirrel were also seen along with brief views of marsh/willow tits as they swooped in before dashing off and out of sight.

The birds were resolutely quiet until I heard the distinctive sneezey pitchou calls of marsh tits. Soon after I heard the distinctive call of willow tit, 2 short notes followed by 4 lower and longer notes and with a buzzing quality - zi-zi-tah-tah-tah-tah - quite unlike a call I have heard before - and then I watched as the bird making the call was seen flitting through the branches chasing after a second bird with a third bird also interacting with them nearby - 3 willow tits!

I managed to get some decent but brief views (and some poor photos) of the willow tits along with marsh tits on the feeders and was able to pick out the diagnostic features for willow tit - pale wing panel, extensive white cheeks, dull black cap, buff brown flanks and lack of white at the bill base - but it was difficult with the birds very active and mobile and the light very bright and harsh. But I had properly seen (and heard) willow tit at last and so we headed off to Bude for lunch and a walk around before driving back to Plymouth.

 Willow Tit

Marsh Tit

Starling, Bude