It was off to Andover in Hampshire on Thursday 2nd April (Maundy Thursday) to meet up with my Mum and Sister for a few days away over the Easter break to celebrate my Mums 80th Birthday. The weather wasn't kind and it was cool, breezy, mostly overcast and damp but we had an enjoyable time and I had a few interesting wildlife sightings along the way.
The highlight was a sighting of a Brook Lamprey while out walking my sisters rescue dog Morse at Anton Lakes, it was swimming around in the gravel in the crystal clear water of the River Test and at first I thought it was an Eel before I saw it moving small stones around with its suckered mouth, unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me!
A close runner up though for the sighting of the trip were at least 3 Spotted Bee-fly seen while on another dog walk at Danebury Fort, they were buzzing around Primrose flowers in brief sunny spells while a Violet Oil Bettle was also seen bimbling along nearby.
It was too chilly for a single butterfly sighting on our visit but it was great to regularly see Red Kites soaring overhead and also to see plenty of Cowslip in flower and I was pleased to hear a Cetti's Warbler calling away on yet another dog walk at Rooksbury Mill.
We drove back to Plymouth on Easter Sunday 5th April and expected a nightmare journey along the A303 but the road was pretty clear, even around Stonehenge, and along the way I saw more Red Kites and a Roe Deer and sadly lots of road kill consisting of mostly Badgers, Deer and Pheasants.
Easter Monday 6th April was sunny but cool and breezy as I headed out to The Plym for a walk. It was high tide but Blaxton Meadow was virtually (and depressingly) waterless as usual although there were birds present and including 8 Greenshank, 3 Curlew, an Oystercatcher, Redshanks, 5 Black-headed Gulls and 2 very dark-backed adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls presumably of the Larus fuscus fuscus race.
At the duck pond the pair of Red-crested Pochard were present with the female looking much more relaxed around the male, maybe we will have baby Red-crested Pochards later in the year. It was lovely to see 3 Swallows flitting about overhead, my first for The Plym this year, and a female Great Spotted Woodpecker was seen in a nearby tree.
Other sightings of note were 4 Roe Deer (1 male), 4+ Linnet, a pair of Grey Wagtail, 2 Kingfisher, a Common Sandpiper, a female Brimstone and a Coal Tit.
I headed out to Wembury on the 7am bus on Tuesday 7th April, it was a sunny day but there was a strong easterly wind, stronger than I had expected, and as a result the birding was a little heavy going.
Along the beach I inadvertently flushed a roosting flock of Gulls when I peered over the cliff top, all were variously aged Herring Gulls except for an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull with very yellow legs and a very black back and presumably another fuscus type. Also along the beach were the usual Oystercatchers with 3 Little Egret, 3 male Mallard and 9 Turnstone.
I picked up 2 Swallows coming in off the sea with a further 5 seen heading east along the coast, 3 Sand Martins were also seen overhead and heading inland.
I had taken my scope with me in the hope of some offshore action and even though the winds were stronger than forecasted I had a good seawatch (for Wembury). The highlight were 3 flocks of Common Scoter (7, 12 and 8) all heading east, a high count for Wembury, and amongst the Gannets and Fulmars flying about were a few Manx Shearwaters, Auks and Kittiwakes although all were mostly distant. I also had a brief view of a Common Dolphin fin breaking the surface but in the choppy seas I failed to refind it or any others.
A male Brimstone flitted past me in the relative shelter of the valley to the beach and an Adder was again sunning itself in the usual spot and presumably the same one I've seen on my previous visits.
With a Hoopoe being seen at Heybrook Bay in the afternoon after I had returned home and a weather forecast later that evening of a hot and sunny day to come I decided to revisit Wembury to have a look for it on Wednesday 8th April. Needless to say there was no sight or sound of the Hoopoe but it was a very hot and sunny day as forecasted and unlike the previous day there wasn't a breath of wind and I had a very interesting walk.
A Whimbrel roosting on the rocks amongst the Oystercatchers started things off well swiftly followed by a Peregrine seen perched up high on The Mewstone before it launched itself after a passing Woodpigeon which somehow managed to evade being caught. There were at least 4 Whitethroats singing away too, presumably fresh in overnight, and a Swallow was seen coming in off the sea. Offshore was much quieter than yesterday but at least 15 Manx Shearwater were picked up moving east and 4 Common Scoter flew west. At least 3 Common Dolphins were seen leaping out of the water before disappearing behind The Mewstone and at least 6 Harbour Porpoise were seen moving west and doing their usual blink and you'll miss it surface rolls.
Butterflies were on the wing in the heat and sunshine with a Wall Brown, a Small White, a Comma, a Speckled Wood, a Holly Blue and Peacocks seen but the best were at least 3 Green Hairstreaks, my earliest ever sighting of them and thankfully seen flitting about in the Gorse bushes in their usual spot despite The National Trusts clearance work.
The Adder was in the usual place and enjoying the sunshine but today she was joined by an amorous male and I watched spellbound as the male entwined around the female although she didn't seem very receptive to his advances. The views were unfortunately obscured by the vegetation and so I quietly moved away and left them to it.
