Binocular Woes and a Chilly Start to June Continues

I noticed that I had lost a plastic covering on the hinge of my binoculars, I'm not sure when it had come off and it could have been weeks ago but I set about trying to source a replacement. I contacted Swarovski but they no longer provide free replacements for optics over 10 years old and gave me details of Swarovski stockists here in the UK to purchase one from which I duly did, however the price was £19.60! - £14.60 plus £5 postage and packaging! It arrived quickly (in less than 48 hours) and I found not 1 but 2 of them in the envelope but it seems an awful lot of money for a tiny piece of plastic.

I think it is an upgraded version and has a silver Eagle on it, I'm sure the one I lost was all black, and I also noticed that Sam West had lost his too when I watched "Sam and Ade go birding" on TV so I am not alone. Mine had survived 23 years of use so hopefully this new one will last another 23 years and I also now have a spare but it was a bit of a dear do. I did have my binoculars serviced by Swarovski during the COVID lock down for free despite them being 17 years old and they also re-covered them despite them not needing it, I've also had a free replacement strap and rainguard from them in the past so I can't really complain.

My Battle-scarred Binoculars with a new (and expensive) hinge cover

I used my now properly attired binoculars for the first time on a walk at Stover on Monday 8th June, it was cool and breezy but the clouds eventually cleared through and we missed the forecasted showers. It became quite pleasantly warm when out of the breeze but it wasn't too busy at Stover and we had an enjoyable walk with some interesting wildlife sightings along the way.

I kept my eyes and ears open for Spotted Flycatchers but with no luck again, I have yet to see one this year with Pied Flycatcher now easier to find than Spotted, and I failed to find Marsh Tit too although there were good numbers of fledgling Blue, Great and Coal Tits around and especially on the bird feeder by the aerial walkway which was still being filled with food. There were 12 fat looking Grey Squirrels on the ground underneath the feeder along with a fat looking Brown Rat but all of them scarpered when a Buzzard flew through the trees while a pair of displaying Stock Doves looked on from the nearby branches.

Brown Rat

Out on the Lake a single Great Crested Grebe and 5 Tufted Duck (4 males) were seen amongst the Coot and Mallard and a Mute Swan was seen in the reeds seemingly sitting on a nest while a pair of Mute Swans were swimming around with 5 middle sized Swanlings. There were also 3 pairs of Mandarin Duck coming to the waters edge for food, the females were looking very smart compared to the males which were moulting into eclipse plumage and the females were also much feistier than the males and would regularly chase after any Mallards that came too close.

Great Crested Grebe

Grey Heron

A male Brimstone and a Painted Lady were the only Butterflies seen but there were plenty of Azure Damseflies buzzing around along with a few Blue-tailed Damselfly and 2 Large Red Damselfly. Single Scarce Chaser and Broad-bodied Chaser were also seen along with 2 Four-spotted Chaser but none of them settled for long and never very close to the path, however Common Spotted Orchid in flower were much easier to look at and photograph.

Azure Damselfly

Blue-tailed Damselfly and Large Red Damselfly

Scarce Chaser

Four-spotted Chaser

Common Spotted Orchid

Peacock Tail at Trago Mills

It was cool and breezy again on Tuesday 9th June and with heavy showers between the sunny spells as I headed out to Wembury for a walk. Birdwise it was very quiet as expected for June with 3 Sandwich Terns and a 1st Summer Kittiwake offshore heading west the highlight. The only butterflies seen were a Painted Lady and a Speckled Wood and there was just a single male Beautiful Demoiselle present along the stream but I did get some good views of a Brown Trout jumping out of the water to catch flies.

Slender-bodied Digger Wasp, Wembury - a male with "paddles" on the front legs used for digging

On the way home I stopped off at Oreston where there were at least 4 White-letter Hairstreaks flitting about in the Elm tree despite the windy conditions and nearby there were 5 Pyramidal Orchids coming into flower along with 8 Bee Orchids.

White-letter Hairstreak - tricky to photograph with the branches constantly swaying in the breeze

Pyramidal Orchids coming into flower

Bee Orchids showing the yellow pollinia involved in self-fertilisation

Spring Ends and the Summer Doldrums Arrive

The heatwave finally broke on the last day of meteorological Spring and Sunday 31st May saw me heading out to Dartmoor for a walk with my mate Mavis. It felt much cooler but still warm and humid and the sky was mostly overcast with occassional sunshine breaking through. I had woken early to sort out my mothbox in the back yard and it was very slim pickings but I did have my first Heart and Dart and Heart and Club of the year. I also ripped my little toe nail in half the night before as I put the moth box together, I caught it on the corner of the clear perspex sheets and it's sore and painful to walk on but never mind.

While waiting for Mavis to pick me up at Yelverton I found a White Ermine and a Clay Triple Lines on the outside wall of the newly refurbished toilet block and after meeting Mavis we headed off to Challacombe Farm to start our birding and butterflying walk with fingers crossed that the sun would make more prolonged appearances.

It felt quiet at Challacombe with the late date, cloudy sky and fresh breeze keeping birdsong to a minimum but we did hear a Chiffchaff, a Blackcap, a Song Thrush and a few Willow Warbler. There were Swallows flitting about overhead and House Sparrows chirping away around the buildings with a Jay, a Great Spotted Woodpecker and a pair of Grey Wagtail also seen along with lovely views of House Martins collecting mud from the roadside.

Chickens at Challacombe Farm

The sun did start to appear more frequently and it felt pleasantly warm out of the breeze and butterflies began to appear too, most notably Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries which were everywhere and showed very well.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

We also found 3 Speckled Wood, 2 Red Admiral and 2 Painted Lady but there was no sign of any Marsh Fritillary in the wet meadow although there were surprisingly quite a few Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries flying around in the meadow just to confuse us.

Azure Damselfly, a pair of mating Red-eyed Damselfly, Keeled Skimmers and Beautiful Demoiselles were also seen and it was a joy to see so many Heath Spotted Orchard in flower and showing a wide range of colours, sizes and patterning.

Keeled Skimmer

Heath Spotted Orchids

We also failed to find any Spotted Flycatchers on our wander about but it had been a lovely walk as usual although my toe was giving me a bit of jip by the time I caught the bus home from Yelverton.

I had a quick walk around Saltram on Tuesday 2nd June, it may now be meteorological Summer but it was cool and breezy with showers and sunny spells, a complete contrast to last week's heatwave. As expected all the usual fayre for June was seen and I still failed to find any Spotted Flycatchers. Just a single Speckled Wood was noted flitting about in a brighter spell while the continuing degradation of Blaxton Meadow by The National Trust just depresses me more and more. At least my toe feels better, I've done quite a number on it but hopefully it will continue to improve and my walking will get easier.

News of White-letter Hairstreaks having been seen at Oreston that day had me heading out there for a look the next day, Wednesday 3rd June. The weather wasn't great, it was cool, breezy, grey and showery with only very brief sunny periods and I really wasn't too hopeful but I did find one resting on a leaf despite the awful butterflying conditions. It looked very smart so presumably very recently emerged and hopefully more will be seen in the coming weeks.

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

While admiring the Hairstreak a Collared Dove flew overhead, a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap were heard singing and there were Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls roosting on the roof of the Post Office building while nearby 6 Bee Orchids were in flower although they were starting to go over.

Bee Orchids

I caught the 7am bus out to Wembury on Friday 5th June, it was cool, grey and breezy when I arrived but the grey skies did eventually clear and it felt warm in the sunshine when out of the wind. I wasn't expecting much on the bird front now that June has arrived but along the beach at The Point on the incoming tide there were a few tardy waders with a Whimbrel, a Dunlin and 4 Sanderling seen amongst the usual Oystercatchers.

Sanderling 

Sanderling and Dunlin

Sanderling 

Dunlin and Sanderling

Also along the beach were a Little Egret, a pair of Shelduck and 3 Mallard (2 males) while offshore a single Gannet was seen heading west and Fulmars were wheeling around The Mewstone. Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Whitethroat were still singing away and I saw fledglings of Blue Tit, Great Tit and Whitethroat along my walk. A Green Woodpecker was seen around the horse stables and 2 female Kestrels, 2 Buzzards and a female Sparrowhawk were seen overhead.

Butterflies were on the wing when the sun got going and I saw a male Orange-tip, a Red Admiral, a Painted Lady, a Speckled Wood, a Small Copper, Common Blues (all males), 2 Large Skipper, Meadow Browns and a Green-veined White. 

Large Skipper

There were also at least 4 male Beautiful Demoiselles along the stream with a single female also seen egg-laying.

Ovipositing female Beautiful Demoiselle

Male Beautiful Demoiselle on my foot