Heatwave Wildlife

After my interesting visit to Exminster Marshes in April I had planned to revisit there again in May but the often grotty weather thwarted my plans. However with the current heatwave forecasted to build I decided to head out there on Saturday 23rd May on what will probably be my last proper birding day out for a few months now as the Summer Doldrums arrive. It was sunny and feeling very warm when I arrived off the bus at around 9:45am and I walked over to the Powderham Marsh viewpoint first in the hope that the glare and heat haze wouldn't be too bad but it already was and viewing conditions were challenging.

I scanned about for a Little Ringed Plover but with no luck although the waterside vegetation was much more luxuriant than on my April visit and they could have been hidden away out of sight. I did find a male Shoveler and 3 Tufted Duck (2 males) amongst the Gadwall and there were a large number of Canada Geese present including many goslings, the most I think I have ever seen. Also of note here were flyover Collared Dove, Jay and Great Spotted Woodpecker, a singing Whitethroat and a male Beautiful Demoiselle.

I then did my usual walk around the Marsh starting along the back path, there were numerous Reed Warblers singing away along with Sedge Warblers and Reed Buntings, all showed very well at times and especially the Reed Warblers which are suckers for a bit of Phishing and can't help themselves but look at what is making all the noise.

A flyover Black-tailed Godwit was a surprise and there were 5 Tufted Duck (4 males) on the lagoon but an immature Spoonbill was the highlight here, it was roosting out on the Marsh before being spooked by cattle and flying off over to The Exe. A female Marsh Harrier was also picked up circling high overhead towards the M5 bridge and a Hobby was a dramatic sight as it dashed over the Marsh towards Exminster village at high speed.

With the heat continuing to rise, the heat haze getting worse and the birds going skulky and quiet I decided to head to Dawlish Warren for a look about. As I alighted off the delayed (as usual) train at Dawlish Warren I really questioned my sanity as it was absolutely heaving with people, not surprising on a sunny Bank Holiday weekend, but after a quick look off the seawall where a female Eider and 6 Common Scoter (5 males) were seen I hurried into the nature reserve itself where things were much more of an oasis of calm.

I had a wander around the main pond where I saw 2 Reed Warbler, a Little Grebe, a pair of Moorhen with 2 chicks and a male Broad-bodied Chaser while in the surrounding grassland there were loads of Southern Marsh Orchids in flower, a few flowering Blue-eyed Grass and a Painted Lady butterfly flitting about.

Southern Marsh Orchids

Southern Marsh Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid 

Blue-eyed Grass

Broad-bodied Chaser

With higher temperatures forecast again for Sunday 24th May I decided to head out to The Plym to look for butterflies, I had planned an early start but didn't get myself organised until news of a singing Reed Warbler came through and I quickly headed out on the bus to Laira Bridge to start my walk.

There were butterflies on Chelson Meadow with Common Blue, Small Heath and Painted Lady flitting about along with my first Large Skipper of the year. I was very pleased to find at least 5 Dingy Skipper across a large area of the Meadow, maybe various small colonies or maybe one large one, and I dare to hope that they may survive somehow when the solar farm is built here. Even better though was my first Plym Green Hairstreak, I've always thought they should be present on the Meadow but have never found one until today, it was a little worn but I'll take it!

Large Skipper

Dingy Skipper

Dingy Skipper

Dingy Skipper 

Dingy Skipper 

Dingy Skipper 

Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak

I had a look and listen for the reported Reed Warbler and eventually heard it quietly singing away in the undergrowth but unfortunately it never showed itself, this one obviously hadn't read the Reed Warbler handbook and didn't respond to any amount of phishing despite being a new Plym bird for me! A male Kestrel was also seen hovering overhead, a Plym year first, and I was pleased to see evidence of successful Stonechat breeding with a female flitting about the bushes with 4 well grown fledglings in tow. A Whitethroat was seen briefly and I also found around 20 Southern Marsh Orchids which seem to have just suddenly come into flower.

Southern Marsh Orchid 

Otherwise my visit was much the same with the usual birds seen and yet another unsuccessful search for Spotted Flycatchers undertaken and with the heat building it was time to head home to cool off.

It was hotter still the next day, Bank Holiday Monday May 25th, and it was too hot to do anything other than take a quick walk down to The Allotment to look for Bee Orchids in the nearby flower meadow. I eventually found just 1 in flower but a singing Whitethroat was a surprise and I also saw a male Common Blue, a Painted Lady and a Burnet Companion moth.

Bee Orchid

With the high night-time temperatures I had the moth box out in the back yard that night for the first time this year and with the bedroom window being open I was woken up at 5am by the screeching of around 50 Ring-necked Parakeets in the trees across the road. They must have decamped there from their usual roost in the trees on nearby Charles Cross Roundabout but they were making a hell of a noise, I hope they don't make a habit of it. I was therefore a little bleary eyed as I sorted out the trap at this very early hour, a few moths got away as I'm a little bit rusty with using the collection pots but I was pleased to find a Buff-tip amongst the egg trays, the first one in the garden for some time now, and other highlights from the trap were a Bordered Straw, 2 Small Mottled Willow, a Lychnis, a Silver Y and 10 Diamond-back Moths.

Bordered Straw

Small Mottled Willow

Lychnis

Buff Tip

Wembury Waders and Gulls

The weather has been pretty grim of late and it's felt more like mid-March than mid-May with cool temperatures, overcast skies, wind, mist, mizzle and rain and so I haven't been out on a wildlife walk for over a week. The weather on Wednesday 20th May wasn't that great either but I really needed to get out somewhere and so I caught the bus out to Wembury for a walk along the coast path. It was misty, breezy, cold and mizzley and as I stepped off the bus I started to regret my decision but as the morning wore on the mist cleared, the mizzle dried up and the sun appeared weakly through the clouds and I ended up having an interesting walk.

The high tide was just starting to turn and so I headed straight out to The Point to look for waders in the hope that the bad weather would have kept the dog walkers away. However just as I arrived there and found a flock of small waders along the shoreline a dog walker appeared and flushed them all! However they did quickly return and I counted 37 Sanderling in varying plumages and 8 summer plumaged Dunlins and while watching them a flock of around 15 small waders flew west offshore before disappearing from sight but they never returned for me to ID them.

Sanderling and Dunlin

Sanderling and Dunlin

Sanderling

Sanderling

Also along the beach were the usual Oystercatchers, 7 Turnstone, 5 Whimbrel, 2 Shelduck, 3 Mallard (2 male) and a Little Egret. The remains of a Little Egret were also found in the sheep field with the bones having been picked clean by scavengers and there were 4 Canada Geese hunkered down in the wheatfield. 

Various Gulls were roosting along the beach or feeding in the surf and amongst the usual Herring Gulls were a few Great Black-backed Gulls, a 3rd summer Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Black-headed Gulls, a 1st summer Mediterranean Gull and a 1st summer Common Gull. A 4th summer and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull also flew past offshore heading west along with 3 1st summer Kittiwakes which unusually flew between the shore and The Mewstone and when the mist cleared around 30 distant Manx Shearwaters were also picked up offshore moving west along with a few Gannets.

Common Gull

Herring Gull and Common Gull

Mediterranean Gull and Black-headed Gulls

Mediterranean Gull

Despite the weather I did get a brief view of a White butterfly flitting past and also a good look at a Bloody-nosed Beetle on the footpath, only my second one of the year at Wembury following the footpath upgrade.

Bloody-nosed Beetle

An unusual sight was a buoy washed up on the rocks having escaped its anchorage, it appeared to be some kind of experimental buoy and belongs to a marine company based in Plymouth.

Buoy

 

Buoy

Buoy and Mewstone

With the weather set to change and a heatwave imminent (and over a Bank Holiday weekend!) I headed out to The Plym for a quick walk on Thursday 21st May. It was overcast but noticeably warmer and when the sun did occassionally break through the clouds it felt very warm and humid indeed. I'm a bit loathe to visit The Plym these days as the state of Blaxton Meadow is just too depressing to look at but at least at this time of year there is plenty of non-avian wildlife about to distract me.

It was high tide but Blaxton was virtually waterless as usual and along with the usual Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Herring Gull, Shelduck and Canada Geese were an adult Great Black-backed Gull, a Grey Heron and 3 Little Egret but it was nice to see a pair of Shelduck with 7 small ducklings. A Swallow and 3 Swift were seen overhead and a surprise Kingfisher dashed past as it headed upriver towards Marsh Mills.

I had a look for Spotted Flycatcher in the usual area with no luck but a pair of Jay, 3 Stock Dove, 3 Buzzard, 2 Roe Deer, Garden Chafers, a male Orange-tip and an Azure Damselfly kept me amused and on the walk back to the bus stop I found a Common Swift in the Marsh Mills Underpass.

Roe Deer

With sunny skies and high temperatures forecast for Friday 22nd May I had planned to visit Roborough Down to look for butterflies but on waking up in the morning it was dull and overcast. I also felt a bit rough after enjoying a few too many sherbets the night before and so I scrapped my plans and headed out to Wembury on the 11am bus instead. As the bus headed down into the village I saw a Swift flying over the village roofs amongst the House Martins, my first for Wembury this year, but sadly it was only a brief view.

Despite the grey skies it felt warm and humid as I stepped off the bus and with the tide heading in I made my way to The Point for the wader roost, needless to say there was a lot of disturbance along the beach but out on the rocks was a small roosting flock of Oystercatchers and with them were a Whimbrel and a Turnstone.

A pair of Red-legged Partridge showed very well in the horse field, otherwise the usual birds were seen along my walk. However with the cloud eventually dissipating and the sun appearing the temperature rose and insect activity increased and I spent more time looking down at the ground than looking up at the sky.

Red-legged Partridge

I found 3 Green Hairstreaks in their usual place and walking further along the footpath I found 4 more, some looked very fresh but a few were looking battle worn. Also seen were 2 very smart looking male Common Blues, a Green-veined White, 3 Large White with 2 females seen egg-laying, 2 Speckled Wood, a Red Admiral and a Painted Lady.

Green Hairstreak

Common Blue

I also found a Speckled Yellow, Cocksfoot Moths and a Rush Veneer and there were quite a few Thick-thighed Beetles seen too.

Speckled Yellow

Thick-thighed Beetle

The bus back to Plymouth was running late and so while waiting at the bus stop for it to arrive I scanned the skies in the hope of seeing the Swift again but I was out of luck. Typically though I did find a distant Hobby circling high overhead just as the bus arrived so unfortunately my views of it were brief, I couldn't relocate it as the bus travelled out of the village but I did get some good views of at least 2 Swifts over the rooftops along with a Sparrowhawk flying through with a small bird in its talons.