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.

Local Wildlife and a Better Mood

I headed out to Saltram for a look about on Sunday 10th May, it was a sunny day but feeling cool in the brisk north-easterly wind unless sheltered from it. With a bit of a Clothes Moth infestation going on at home at the moment and with the new moth killer sprays we've bought nowhere near as effective as the old (and now banned) ones that we've used in the past we've had to resort to using special smoke bombs so hence my need to get out of the house for a few hours.

I had a look for Dingy Skippers in the 2 areas of Chelson Meadow that I saw them in last year, I couldn't find any but I wasn't able to  linger there for long and the site was very exposed in the brisk wind. The only butterflies I saw here were a Small Heath and a male Common Blue while 5 Swifts feeding overhead were a nice sighting.

Blaxton Meadow was depressingly back to being virtually waterless despite the high tide and only Gulls, Shelducks, Carrion Crows, a Little Egret and a Grey Heron were present - The National Trust are doing such a great job here - while out on the river near the gas pipe sign an Oystercatcher was roosting on the small area of mud with 4 Black-headed Gulls, Herring Gulls and an immature Cormorant. There was no sight or sound of the Willow Warbler on todays visit but to finish off my walk there were 2 moths in the Marsh Mills Underpass, a Small Dusty Wave and a Pale Tussock.

Pale Tussock

I met up with my old work friend Sue on Monday 11th May, we ended up going out to lunch at the Strawberry Fields Diner on Roborough Down where we sat upstairs in front of a large picture window looking out across the countryside towards Cornwall. The grass fields near the Diner were being cut for sillage/hay making and this had attracted in 4 Red Kites along with 2 Ravens, 3 Buzzards and Carrion Crows which we enjoyed watching as we ate our lunch and chatted.

Red Kite

Wednesday 13th May was sunny but cool in a brisk north-westerly breeze and with more Cloths Moth smoke bomb detonations scheduled I had to vacate the house and so I headed out to Wembury for a walk. I didn't get going very early and ended up catching the 10am bus but it actually ended up working out very well as the cool wind was keeping people away and there wasn't too much disturbance along the beach on the incoming tide.

There were 31 Turnstones out on the rocks near the main beach, all looking smart in summer plumage and presumably migrants and not local wintering birds. I also picked up a flock of 10 small waders offshore and flying west, they quickly disappeared from sight before I could get a good look at them but they appeared to be heading into the beach at The Point so I carried on with my walk in the hope of refinding them.

At The Point the usual Oystercatchers were present out on the rocks along with at least 6 flighty and mobile Whimbrel which often gave their delightful whistling call as they flew along the beach. I also heard the plaintive call of a Grey Plover and eventually found it out on the rocks where it was surprisingly very well camoflagued before it flew onto the beach to feed. I then heard the plaintive call of a Ringed Plover which was easier to find out on the rocks, it was in the company of 2 Dunlin before they all took off and headed west and out of sight.

Grey Plover

As the tide came in the waders moved closer to the shore and I found a presumed 1st summer Bar-tailed Godwit in non-breeding plumage feeding along the waters edge before roosting on the nearby rocks where it was joined by 2 Sanderling. 

Oystercatcher, Bar-tailed Godwit and Whimbrel

Bar-tailed Godwit and Oystercatcher

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

To finish off the mini-waderfest a flock of 9 waders suddenly flew in to the waters edge, possibly 9 of the 10 I had seen earlier and consisting of 5 Dunlin and 4 Sanderling, but with time now marching on I had to leave to head back to Plymouth.

Along the walk back to the bus stop I had a quick scan offshore and picked up Manx Shearwaters moving about and circling around in a feeding flock with Gannets and Fulmars, about 100 birds in total but I couldn't see any cetaceans underneath them. To finish off my walk I found a Common Lizard sunning itself on the wall near the bus stop, my first proper view of one this year.

Common Lizard

With time still to kill before I could return to our smoke filled house I stopped off at Laira Bridge for a walk along The Plym up to Marsh Mills. An Osprey had been seen catching a fish here around lunchtime the previous day so I kept my eyes open along my walk but without any luck.

I had another quick look around Chelson Meadow where it was a little more protected from the wind than on my last visit and I finally found a Dingy Skipper but in a different area than where I've seen them before. It was quite faded and I only managed a record shot before it was gone but I was glad to have finally found one here.

Dingy Skipper

Common Blue

Despite the high tide Blaxton Meadow was in the same depressing state as usual but there was some water slowly trickling in through the sluice gates. The usual birds were present - Canada Goose, Shelduck, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow and Herring Gull - and there were also 4 Little Egret roosting along the back wall and 2 very smart looking adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls in amongst the Herring Gulls.