Osprey on The Plym and a Brown Hairstreak Finale to my Butterfly Year

Birdy and Burdy continue to come and go on the flat roof, sometimes they linger for a while and sometimes they are joined by the adults who are becoming more and more stand-offish with them but at least things are mostly a little quieter in the mornings.

We had a walk at Rame Head on Wednesday 5th August, it's been a while now since I last visited there and it was good to be back but it was all very quiet on the wildlife front with the highlight being Dodder seen growing on the Gorse bushes.

Dodder

We had a walk around Saltram on Thursday 6th August, the National Trust have opened up a new area on the estate now known as Saltram East and we headed out to have a look about along the new footpaths. It is mostly grazing fields interspersed with newly created wildflower meadows plus hedgerows and small areas of woodland and it all looks totally frazzled, dusty and brown in the continuing hot and dry weather. It will be interesting to explore this area next spring and I noticed quite a few small Elm trees along our walk so a look for White-letter Hairstreaks next Summer will also be on the cards. We also found 2 Pear trees by the roadside heading out of Saltram Estate near Stag Lodge that looked like candidates for Plymouth Pear but I'm not totally sure.

Plymouth Pear?

I returned to The Plym for a walk on Friday 7th August, I caught the bus to Laira Bridge and walked up to Blaxton Meadow and back on the high tide. I kept one eye on the river for an Osprey and one eye on the trees for a Spotted Flycatcher but by the time I reached Blaxton Meadow I had found neither.

Blaxton Meadow was still depressing to look at but I did find a Black-tailed Godwit there, it was just about visible with the roosting Curlews in the tall, overgrown vegetation. A Greenshank and an adult and 3 juvenile Shelduck were also present here along with Gulls, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Redshank, Feral Pigeon and Carrion Crow.

I headed back down the river to Laira Bridge and despite looking and listening I still couldn't find any Spotted Flycatchers in the trees. I eventually arrived at the ruined slipway near Laira Bridge and settled down to scan the estuary as the water began to drop. An adult Great Black-backed Gull was resting on a yellow buoy while 3 large and noisy fledglings constantly begged for food from the water below and 4 Shag (2 adults, 2 juveniles) were resting on other buoys or diving for fish.

Great Black-backed Gulls

A large and noisey feeding frenzy of Gulls appeared over the water and moved around the river as the fish tried to escape them and in amongst the Gulls were 3 adult Mediterranean Gulls in winter plumage. The 4 Shelduck from Blaxton Meadow also appeared out on the mudflats and began to feed along with Curlew, Oystercatcher and Redshank.

Gull Feeding Frenzy

It was pleasant sitting there in the sunshine and watching the birds, there was a gentle and cooling breeze blowing but there was no sign of an Osprey and so after 90 minutes of scanning I started to head towards the bus stop for home. However on a final lookabout all the Gulls in the nearby recycling centre silently took to the air and were quickly and noisely followed by all the Gulls out on the estuary and as I scanned through the swarming melee I picked up an Osprey heading down the river towards me. It changed its mind before it reached me and headed back up river and started to dive for fish just above the rowing club. It was successful on its third attempt and as per last year it headed off over Chelson Meadow towards Stag Lodge and was lost to sight but to say I was very pleased to see a fishing Osprey is a bit of an understatement!

I decided I would try one more time to see Brown Hairstreak to cap off my butterflying year and with yet another heatwave looming, the fifth of this summer, I headed out on Saturday 8th August to try my luck before the weather became too uncomfortably hot and unpleasant again. Being a Saturday I could catch any train for the princely sum of just £6.45 return and I arrived on site at just before 10am with the day already sunny, warm and humid. Cloudier skies were forecast for later in the day though so I kept my fingers crossed I would find my target before the clouds arrived.

It was even more browner, drier, crispier and dustier than on my visit just over 2 weeks ago but the Hemp Agrimony was still looking good and flowering well and attracting butterflies. The expected species were seen - Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood - and I also saw 2 Small Copper, a female Common Blue, a Clouded Yellow, a Comma, Small White, Holly Blue, Large White and 2 very worn looking Purple Hairstreaks but no Brown Hairstreak.

Painted Lady

Birds helped to keep me occupied with Buzzard, Sand Martin, Swallow and House Martin seen overhead, Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker heard only and Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, a Song Thrush, Blackbird and a Dunnock seen flitting about in the woodland.

A Common Darter, 2 Southern Hawker and an Emperor Dragonfly were also flying around and a Volucella inanis was seen feeding on the Hemp Agrimony flowers.

Common Darter

Volucella inanis

Time marched on, the clouds began to build and I wasn't hopeful of finding a Brown Hairstreak as I contemplated heading home earlier than planned. However I then noticed what at first I thought was a dead orangey leaf floating down to the ground  but which was in fact a female Brown Hairstreak who promptly started egg-laying on the young Blackthorn bushes and gave some incredibly close views - my 36th butterfly species of the year.

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak egg-laying

Brown Hairstreak 

It was fascinating to watch her climb head first down the stems looking for the best places to deposit her eggs and at times she totally disappeared into the foliage, eventually she would reappear and bask in the weakening sunshine before carrying on with her egg-laying and I enjoyed watching her for some time before I left her to her task. And again to say I was very pleased to see an egg-laying Brown Hairstreak was a bit of an understatement!

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

My butterflying year is now over with no more butterfly trips planned, I had thought about visiting Fontmell Down in Dorset but it is too hot and dry with all these heatwaves so I'll give it a miss this year and now it's time to get back to birding.

August Arrives

I can't believe it is August already, this year has gone by so frighteningly fast but here we are. The heatwave and drought continue and there is scorched vegetation and brown grass to be seen everywhere in a very dusty and dry looking Devon and I'm really looking forward to some rain, however I would suspect that when the rain finally does arrive it won't stop and I'll be moaning about how wet it is.

Birdy and Burdy seem to have finally fledged and have flown the nest but they keep returning and are now spending more and more time back on the flat roof, we've never had Herring Gull chicks that can fly so well hang around the flat roof for so long before. The adults continue to feed them but the early mornings are becoming a little quieter although they still have periods of being excessively noisey as the sun rises.

I was going to visit Wembury on Monday 3rd August but with an Osprey being seen on The Plym the previous day I switched plans and headed there instead, catching the bus to Marsh Mills and then walking downriver to Laira Bridge. I arrived at just after 9am on the tide high but Blaxton Meadow was as depressing and dry as usual with the Redshanks and at least 2 Greenshank choosing to roost on The Embankment wall instead. On Blaxton Meadow there were a few Herring Gulls, 5 Little Egret, 5 Oystercatcher and 7 Shelduck (2 adults and 5 juveniles) and hidden in the tall vegetation were at least 17 Curlew.

A look for the recently reported Spotted Flycatcher was unsuccessful but the blue phase Ring-necked Parakeet was sticking its head out of the usual nest hole while I was looking for the Flycatcher.

Chelson Meadow was dry, brown and crispy underfoot and pretty much birdless but I did find 10 species of butterfly here including at least 4 second brood Dingy Skipper (2+ faded individuals and 2+ bright looking individuals), lots of Clouded Yellows including an helice type and good numbers of Small Heath. An Ectophasia crassipennis feeding on an Umbellifer flower head was a nice find too.

Dingy Skipper 

Dingy Skipper

Dingy Skipper

Dingy Skipper

Clouded Yellow (helice type) - a very small individual

Small Heath

Ectophasia crassipennis 

Ectophasia crassipennis 

I ended up along The Ride on the dropping tide to scan the river for any sign of an Osprey, I was out of luck as expected but 2 noisey Sandwich Terns were a bonus as was a flyover Peregrine. I also found a ringed Black-headed Gull feeding out on the mudflats amongst the assorted Gulls present (details awaited but apparently ringed in Belarus) and a Shag was roosting out on one of the buoys.

Black-headed Gull K609

I headed out to Wembury for a walk on Tuesday 4th August, I caught the 7am bus and it was cool, overcast and muggy when I arrived. There had been some brief showers overnight but it was bone dry along the footpath, the sun did break through the clouds at times although a heavy shower did arrive as I left for home.

Wembury Rain Clouds

Wembury

I walked out towards The Point to look for a male Common Scoter that had been  reported close in to the beach near the sewage pipe for the past 4 days, I quickly found him busily diving away and it was nice to get some closer views of a Wembury Common Scoter rather than the usual distant views as they fly past offshore.

Common Scoter - male

Oystercatchers, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Whimbrel, a Curlew and 3 Little Egret were along the beach on the incoming tide and there were Mediterranean Gulls amongst the Black-headed Gulls, all 2nd summer or adult birds moulting into winter plumage except for a juvenile and a 1st summer bird. The most I counted were 12 but they were mobile along the beach so more were undoubtedly present.

There were still good numbers of Clouded Yellow flitting about, it really is a good year for them, and there were also plenty of Common Blue, Painted Lady and Hummingbird Hawkmoths on the wing too along with a single Comma.

Clouded Yellow

Common Blue

Common Blue

A Slow-worm was a surprise on a footpath down to the beach, quite a long looking individual but it disappeared very quickly into the pathside vegetation. A Hornet Robberfly was also a nice find as was a Carrion Beetle larva, probably Silpha tristis.

Hornet Robberfly

Carrion Beetle larva