Colour Ringed Wood Warblers at Yarner Woods - 2015

May 9th and a day of sunny spells with a strong breeze and the bribe of cake at Bovey Tracey had David driving me out to Yarner Wood for a couple of hours while he shopped for garden stuff at Mole Valley and Trago Mills.

I heard a pied flycatcher singing as soon as I got out of the car but I couldn't find it in the trees and so I headed off up the footpath towards the bridge. Almost immediately a wood warbler was heard singing in the young birch trees on the right of the path and I managed a few distant views as it constantly moved around the branches - it had an orange ring on its left leg and 2 on its right leg, a yellow ring and a dark blue or black ring. By the bridge a second bird was singing and I had much better views - this bird had an orange ring on its left leg and an orange ring and a red ring on its right leg. It sang constantly as it moved through the canopy but I had some lovely views of what is one of my favourite birds - I always worry that it will be the last time I see one as their numbers are plummeting here in the UK. Another bird was heard briefly singing nearby and later I had views of an unringed bird feeding high up in the canopy in the same area.

 Wood Warbler

 

 Wood Warbler singing away

 

Wood Warbler - close up of leg rings

 



Pied flycatchers were busily singing away throughout the woods and I had some good views of male birds flitting about the trees.

Pied Flycatcher

  



Also seen were a pair of bullfinch, a pair of siskin with the male looking quite stunning as it fed on the woodland floor, 2 treecreepers, a female great spotted woodpecker, marsh tits and nuthatches. A green woodpecker and a redstart were heard only and a raven croaked noisely as it flew over the trees. 6 male mandarin and a pair of mallards were around the pond while a grey wagtail was heard calling nearby.

Nuthatch
 

Mandarin Duck - 3 of the 6 males around the pond
 



On the heath a male yellowhammer was half heartedly singing while a male whitethroat was much more energetic. A redpoll flew over in display flight, cha-cha-cha-ing away, and swallows and house martins passed overhead.

A holly blue, male and female brimstones and a longhorn moth, Nematopogon swammerdamella, were also seen in the woods and common milkwort was in flower on the heath.

 Longhorn Moth - Nematopogon swammerdamella

 

Common Milkwort

 



May 10th and it was grey and overcast but at least the breeze had dropped. I headed off to Wembury for a walk and despite being a Sunday it was relatively people free. Along the beach at high tide were 5 whimbrel and a little egret roosting with 42 oystercatcher, a shelduck and a pair of mallard. 9 Canada geese were resting in the wheatfield and another 2 birds were out on The Mewstone.

 Whimbrel

 

Whimbrel

 



After a bit of searching I eventually found a female Dartford Warbler at Wembury Point - as usual it was constantly on the move and this time I avoided the urge to try and take some more distant and blurry shots of it. It was nice to see the female again but there was no sign of the male (or males).

Whitethroats, chiffchaffs and blackcaps were as vocal as usual and swallows were noticeable flitting around overhead. 2 cirl buntings were briefly heard singing and a male kestrel hovered over the fields above the horse stables.

Strangest sight was a female type red breasted merganser close to shore at Wembury Point, it was busily snorkelling and occasionally diving as it drifted off  towards the main beach and is my second ever sighting at Wembury.

Red Breasted Merganser

 



Also seen were 3 common lizards, bloody nosed beetle larva, a bedraggled looking water carpet moth in the toilet block, a lackey moth larva nest and 2 common carpet but no butterflies were on the wing. Ragged Robin and yellow flag iris were flowering in the valley to the beach and a pasty for lunch from the café rounded off a pleasant mornings walk.

 Lackey Moth Larva

 

Bee Sp.

Warblers and Damselflys at Exminster Marsh

Despite the bad weather forecast on May 8th I headed off to Exminster Marshes anyway - the forecast kept changing and so I just decided to go for it and take my chances. It was cool and overcast and breezey but the rain didn't arrive until I got on the train back to Plymouth.

Arriving at the RSPB car park at Exminster Marsh at 9:30 and it was surprisingly quiet with very little bird song. Swifts, swallows, house martins and sand martins were very active over the marsh, flying low over the ground trying to find food, and Canada geese and shelducks were roosting amongst the cows.

I walked along the back path towards the Turf Hotel and began to hear bird song - a few very quiet reed warblers and 2 noisey reed buntings. Sedge warblers were much more vocal and showy and Cettis warblers were explosive but secretive amongst the vegetation. A lone willow warbler was heard along with chiffchaffs and blackcaps but there were no whitethroats or lesser whitethroats.

 Reed Warbler in a tree!

 Reed Warbler

 Sedge Warbler

Sedge Warbler
 

Sedge Warbler

 



A peregrine was perched on the usual pylon, taking short flight sorties around the marsh causing complete panic amongst the nesting lapwings. A small falcon high overhead turned out to be a hobby, it was joined by a second bird and both flew off north, while a female kestrel flew low along a hedgerow.

 Nervous looking Grey Heron

Oh Dear!

A male gadwall, a pair of tufted duck, 8 whimbrel, 11 summer plumaged dunlin and a great spotted woodpecker were also seen but the best surprise was a yellow wagtail which flew over calling, gaining height and flying off east. I rarely see a springtime yellow wagtail and was pleased with my brief and distant view although I keep hoping that they will start breeding on the marshes soon.

Despite the cool conditions I found a few damselflys perched on vegetation by the footpath in more sheltered areas. They were small and easily overlooked but nice to find.

 Large Red Damselfly - male

Damselfly sp.

 Large Red Damselfly - female

Damselfly sp.

Walking back to the bus stop and a hobby circled overhead, a much better view as it flashed its red thighs before dashing off and out of sight. I headed on to Dawlish Warren with a common sandpiper, around 18 turnstones and 2 whimbrel flying over calling seen at Starcross along the way. At Dawlish Warren I hoped for some birds offshore in the windy conditions but it was fairly quiet - 2 great crested grebes, distant Sandwich terns, a few adult gannets and a flock of around 40 common scoters were the best of it. The scoters flew across the Bay from Berry Head in a loose, strung out flock before landing on the sea and totally disappearing from sight.

At least 3 reed warblers were singing in the reeds at the main pond with 1 bird seen, the birds were keeping low down in the strong breeze. A blackcap, a chiffchaff and 4 whitethroats were more showy. A green woodpecker, a great spotted woodpecker, a female stonechat and 8 whimbrel feeding on the grass in Greenland Lake were the other avian highlights and a brief sunny spell brought out a female orange tip, green veined whites and my first small copper of the year.

 Female Orange Tip on Cuckoo Flower

 Flower sp.

Small Copper