I headed out to Wembury for a walk on Monday 17th August, it was another hot and sweaty day and I really should have caught the 7am bus instead of the 9am bus to avoid some of the heat. It was quiet on the bird front as I expected but the male Common Scoter was still present close in to the beach, there were 25 Mediterranean Gulls roosting on the rocks at high tide and 3 distant Kestrels were seen hovering over The Point and potentially evidence of local breeding success. The highlight though was a very flitty and mobile Red-veined Darter found along the footpath, my first at Wembury and presumably a migrant from the Continent.
I had the moth box out in the back yard that night and the next morning the forecasted mizzle had arrived but the moth box was still relatively dry. I had a small but varied catch again with another Vestal and Box Tree Moth present but the highlight were 3 Tebenna micalis (Small Thistle Moth, a.k.a Beautiful Twitcher). I had caught one in my garden moth trap back in July but it had flown off before I could get a proper look at it or a decent photo so I was pleased to get a second chance. The larva feed on Common Fleabane and there is none growing nearby that I am aware of and so I assume these are migrants although there is plenty of Common Fleabane in flower at nearby Wembury at the moment.
We headed off on the train to Topsham on Thursday 20th August to meet up for lunch with my sister Vik and brother-in-law Nik who were holidaying at nearby Ottery St.Mary. I had a bit of time free before they arrived and so I had a quick look at the birds from the hide at Bowling Green Marsh as the tide headed in. The water levels on the Marsh were incredibly low, the lowest I've ever seen them before, and it will take a lot of rain to even begin to top it up to its usual level.
Despite the low water level there were birds present but most of the birds were roosting right at the back of the Marsh up against the reeds and I really wished I had my scope with me. However I did have some nice views of a Green Sandpiper, a Common Sandpiper, at least 7 Cattle Egrets, Greenshank, Black-tailed Godwit and Teal amongst all the usual species. The Cattle Egret eventually came quite close to the hide to feed amongst the Cows laying on the ground and chewing the cud and it was interesting to watch the Cattle Egrets picking off Flies from the Cows faces which were totally unbothered by their attentions.
Exeter Birder Paul was in the hide and earlier he had seen 3 Spoonbills out on the Marsh but they were no where to be seen as I scanned about. Eventually I found them off the nearby viewing platform overlooking the River Clyst where they were feeding and preening together in the shallow water.
After my brief and scope-less visit to Bowling Green Marsh I had a yen for another River Exe visit and so I headed off on the train to Dawlish Warren on Saturday 22nd August. It was a sunny day but with the latest heatwave having abated the temperatures were back down to normal for the time of year and it was pleasantly warm and much more enjoyable to be out in. A sunny Saturday in August is probably not the best day to visit Dawlish Warren but after arriving off the train at around 10:30am and walking through the tourist-tat village I entered the peace and calm of the nature reserve and had a very interesting walk.
High tide was around 2pm and my plan was to sit on the dune ridge and scan around The Bight for birds coming in to roost on the high tide. The sun would be behind me so making viewing easier but I hadn't factored in the heat haze which did hamper things somewhat, I also hadn't factored in the low high tide so the birds didn't come in very close but I made the best of the conditions.
There were plenty of very mobile Terns around, either roosting on the mudflats, fishing offshore or noisely flying over the Dune Ridge. Most were Sandwich Terns but in amongst them were quite a few Common Terns and a single Little Tern which looked tiny next to the Common Terns and even tinier against the Sandwich Terns.
The waders were also very mobile too with Dunlin, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, Knot, Oystercatcher, a Bar-tailed Godwit, Redshank and Curlew all seen with the highlight being a Ruff which flew in to roost with 2 Knot, a large and buffy looking bird so presumably a juvenile female.
Around the Main Pond a Willow Warbler was briefly heard singing with a lovely yellow juvenile also seen. A juvenile Reed Warbler, 4 Mallard (3 female and a large duckling), a Grey Heron, a Teal and 5 Moorhen were also seen here along with Common Darters and Migrant Hawkers which rarely settled for very long.
After a good search I eventually managed to find just one Autumn Lady's-Tresses in flower while Painted Lady, Clouded Yellow (including 1 helice type), Meadow Brown and Common Blue were seen flitting about.
I had planned to stay longer but on checking the train times online the usual delays and cancellations were going on and so I had to leave earlier than I wanted to to ensure I got home but I had really enjoyed my visit - it's just such a shame that entrance to the bird hide and access to it are no longer allowed as I would have had much better views of the birds in the estuary.
