Red-veined Darters

I headed out to Wembury for a walk on Friday 17th July, I caught the 9am bus as I had to sort out the moth box in the back yard before I left but on arriving at Wembury it was already baking hot and I wished I had caught the early bus instead, there wasn't much exciting in the moth box either but never mind.

Straw Dot

Jersey Tiger Moth

Cydia splendana - Chestnut Tortrix

Common Carpet

A surprise sighting at Wembury was a 1st summer/2nd winter Common Gull feeding along the beach amongst the Black-headed and Mediterranean Gulls, otherwise it was all the usual fayre for mid-July and not helped by the excessive heat.

Common Gull

There were plenty of butterflies on the wing though, they really are having a good summer this year with Gatekeepers the most abundant species. There were a few Clouded Yellow flitting about too including 2 helice types which were good to see.

Clouded Yellow - helice type female

After having brief views of the Odonata present at Drakes Reservoir last week before meeting up with my friend Monica I was keen to go back for a proper look and so I headed there again on Sunday 19th July. It was feeling warm and muggy despite the mostly overcast skies but I was hoping that something would be active around the water.

As soon as I arrived I found a male Emperor Dragonfly buzzing around along with at least 3 females which occassionally were seen ovipositing. At least 4 Common Blue Damselfly were also flitting about and at least 4 Small Red-eyed Damselfly were also seen on the small patch of Lily pads but the views were tricky at times.

Small Red-eyed Damselfly 

Common Blue Damselfly (female)

A bright red Darter species then caught my eye and when it settled I was very pleased to ID it as a Red-veined Darter which is a new Dragonfly species for me here in the UK, I watched it for a while and then also found another one nearby.

Red-veined Darter 

Red-veined Darter 

Red-veined Darter 

Red-veined Darter 

Red-veined Darter 

Red-veined Darter 

There were quite a few recently fledged Herring Gulls present amongst the adults, it seems to be a bit of a creche for them and amongst them was a pair of Lesser Black-backed Gulls trying to regurgitate food for their fledgling while trying to chase off any juvenile Herring Gulls trying to steal the food from them. A Little Egret was a surprise amongst the Herring Gulls too while overhead 2 Swift and a Swallow were seen flying over.

Herring Gull Fledglings, Drakes Reservoir

The creche would be a lovely place for Birdy and Burdy to go to, if I could get them there with their parents in tow I would as I fear they will end up as roadkill on the busy road nearby like last years youngsters. Indeed we did see a recently killed fledgling Herring Gull in the road on our walk back from a trip into town that afternoon but on checking the roof when I got home I was pleased to see it wasn't one of our fledglings.

Burdy and Birdy (or Little and Large)

We have tried to keep our distance from the fledglings this year so they keep some instinctive fear of humans in the hope that they will also have some fear of cars but time will tell. We try to ignore them when we go out in the back yard and they generally run off when we appear but we always keep the water bowl topped up for them. We have also fed the adults with fish sticks from the bedroom window while keeping out of sight as much as possible, the adults then regurgitate the fish sticks for the fledglings so they get a healthier meal than the fast food crap they usually get from their parents and hopefully without them associating food with us. Unfortunately our neighbours have been feeding them bread from their windows too and more overtly so I don't know if it will make any difference in the end.

It was back to Wembury for a walk on Monday 20th July, I caught the 7am bus this time and it felt quite pleasantly cool when I arrived although it soon warmed up again. It was still quiet but there were 3 Grey Heron out on the rocks on the incoming tide, a juvenile and 2 adults and my first at Wembury this year. Mediterranean Gull numbers had increased but they were mobile and flighty and difficult to count accurately but there was a single juvenile bird present and there were also now 3 1st summer/2nd winter Common Gulls feeding along the beach amongst the Black-headed Gulls.

Common Gull

Black-headed Gull - juvenile

Butterflies were again noticeable and included Clouded Yellows, Painted Lady and Peacocks and there were also 2 Adders basking in dappled shade at The Point where 3 Hummingbird Hawkmoths were buzzing about or resting on the vegetation.

Painted Lady

Clouded Yellow

Clouded Yellow - helice type

Adder

Hummingbird Hawkmoth 

Bee Wolf

With a surprise report of an adult breeding plumaged Knot on Blaxton Meadow that morning while I was at Wembury I decided to have a quick look for it on the high tide the next day (Wednesday 22nd July). I arrived just after Midday and Blaxton Meadow was looking as green as ever but there was some water on the Meadow and more excitingly there were roosting birds!

Blaxton Meadow

I hadn't brought my scope with me and viewing the birds was difficult with many distant and tucked down into the vegetation or hidden along the water channels but eventually I picked out 2 Oystercatcher, 5 Greenshank, around 70 Redshank and around 20 Curlew. I found the Knot too but the views were obscured as it preened and then slept amongst the Redshank while mostly hidden by the weeds. There were also 2 Whimbrel hidden amongst the weeds with the Curlews before they noisily flew off down river and in amongst the large flock of roosting Black-headed Gulls were 2 Mediterranean Gulls (an adult and a 2nd summer bird) and both moulting out of breeding plumage. 

Out on the river were a pair of Shelduck with 3 well grown fledglings and at the beach by the gas pipe there were 8 Common Sandpipers and a Collared Dove with a noisy Kingfisher dashing past. However the highlight of my walk was a presumed adult Yellow-legged Gull preening and then sleeping in amongst the roosting Herring, Great Black-backed, Black-headed and Lesser Black-backed Gulls. The views were distant and heat hazy but it's my first sighting of one this year.

Yellow-legged Gull - 4CY or Adult

Yellow-legged Gull (Upper Right)

Yellow-legged Gull (Upper Right)

Yellow-legged Gull 

Robin - enjoying some of my Oat Bar lunch

Gulls, Moths and Butterflies

The Herring Gull chicks out on next doors flat roof continue to grow while making lots of poop and lots of noise but they are quite fun to watch. The adults are attentive and protective of them and also make lots of territorial noise and especially so at around 5 O'clock in the morning but hopefully the chicks will fledge soon. Birdy is still larger and more advanced than Burdy who is still sporting downy feathers on his head and we are just hoping that they do not end up being run over on the nearby busy road when they finally fly away.

Herring Gull parents

Birdy and Burdy

Birdy and Burdy

Burdy - smaller and still with downy feathers around the head

Birdy - just about ready to fledge with plenty of noisy wing flapping and lift-offs going on

The nights remain "tropical" as this heatwave continues so I have had the moth box out in the back yard to see what's about. With the bedroom windows remaining open overnight the Gulls are my early morning alarm call and on checking the moth box out on Tuesday 14th July I had a rather disappointing catch considering the weather and the number of moths caught in Mavis and Mikes garden last week.

A yellow form of Jersey Tiger was the highlight but it was gone before I could pot it up and a Pinion-streaked Snout was also an unusual find but I fluffed up the photos. A Small Mottled Willow, a Rush Veneer and 2 Silver Y represented the migrants and a good range of micro moths included Phycita roborella, Metalampa italica, 3 Crassa unitella and Spilonata ocellana.

Swallow-tailed Moth

Phycita roborella

Crassa unitella

Small Dusty Wave

Spilonata ocellana

Metalampa italica

Pinion-streaked Snout

We had a recall by Vauxhall regarding the airbags in our car and after having them replaced (for free) at Vospers at Marsh Mills we had a walk around nearby Saltram later that morning. It was a very low tide but a Kingfisher along the river near the sewage outlet was a nice sighting. What wasn't a nice sight was the state of Blaxton Meadow, it was bone dry and not helped by the lack of any recent rain and the back-to-back heatwaves, and it was also covered in weeds and resembling the cricket pitch it once was - so much for salt marsh conservation work.

Blaxton Meadow - becoming more and more depressing

Blaxton Meadow

"Owzat" indeed

The usual birds were seen on our walk around the Park with 3 Swift feeding overhead, a singing Blackcap, Mandarins around the duck pond and noisy Ring-necked Parakeets in the trees the best of it. It was looking dry and parched everywhere but there were good numbers of Gatekeeper flitting about and a male Beautiful Demoiselle was a good find.

I planned to visit Roborough Down with my mate Mavis on Thursday 16th July to look for Grayling but I know from previous experience how difficult they can be to locate here at times. The Down is managed by The Maristow Estate with areas of vegetation regularly cleared or burnt to improve grazing for animals, as it regrows it becomes suitable and then unsuitable for Graylings, an area that is good for them one year can become too overgrown the following year and they move on. With this in mind I decided to visit Roborough Down for a bit of a recee on Wednesday 15th July to try and pin down the best areas to look for them the next day.

It was overcast, breezy and cooler than of late when I arrived off the bus at around 9am but it was still feeling warm and humid. Eventually the sun did start to break through the clouds and it became another hot day again with a warm breeze.

All the small ponds had dried up with the main Dragonfly pond diminished to a small patch of watery, muddy sludge. I did find a Golden-ringed Dragonfly patrolling along the long dried up Leat and I had a brief view of a Common Darter but no other Odonata were seen.

I had a good search for Grayling but after a good look about I had failed to find any,  eventually I was in the right place at the right time and managed to see just 2 individuals resting on the ground.

Grayling

Grayling

There were lots of Gatekeepers on the wing though, they seemed to be everywhere along with Silver-Y moths and there were also good numbers of Hornet Robber Flies seen resting on animal dung and waiting for a passing meal.

Hornet Robber Fly

Hornet Robber Fly

A female Brimstone, a Small Copper, Meadow Brown, a Small Heath, a Peacock, a Small White, a brief fly-by Silver-washed Fritillary, Red Admiral, Painted Lady and a Wall Brown were also seen flitting about.

Bird wise it was quiet but 2 Green Woodpecker, a male Bullfinch and a male Yellowhammer were of note but the highlight were sightings of 3 singing male Dartford Warbler, they were keeping down in the Gorse but I had brief views of them as they flew between the bushes.

With the heat building again I was glad to return home on the bus after grabbing an iced bun from the Strawberry Fields Cafe. Unfortunately my Roborough Down visit with Mavis had to be cancelled but I did meet up with my old work friend Monica that morning as planned (Thursday 16th July) and while waiting for her to arrive I watched an Emperor Dragonfly and around 4 Small Red-eyed Damselfly buzzing around at Drakes Reservoir on North Hill.