Local Autumnal Days Out

I had planned a quiet day for Wednesday 11th September but with news coming through of a Wryneck at Saltram I grabbed my stuff and headed out for a look. I caught the bus to Laira Bridge on what was a sunny but breezy morning, it was supposed to be a dry day but there were a few brief showers that rattled in on the wind.

As I walked up The Ride a Raven flew over being mobbed by Carrion Crows and out on the river there were 3 Shag and an adult and juvenile Sandwich Tern roosting on the buoys.

On Chelson Meadow a Kestrel and a Sparrowhawk were having an aerial ding dong with each other before Carrion Crows intervened and split them up. A Buzzard was sat up in the trees watching their antics and 2 Stonechat and 2 Whinchat were feeding out on the Meadow but were mobile and unobtrusive. A Whitethroat was briefly seen too and a Sand Martin flew over with Swallows and House Martins.

Kestrel having a rest from chasing a Sparrowhawk

There was no sign of the Wryneck and so I headed over to Blaxton Meadow for the high tide wader roost, the Meadow was quite empty of water for a change and there were 3 Greenshank, a Dunlin, 3 Redshank, 30 Curlew and 15 Oystercatcher present with a female Goosander and a Kingfisher also noted.

I headed back to Chelson Meadow for a second go at the Wryneck, again with no luck, but I did get better views of the Whinchats and there were now 4 Stonechats present. A Green Woodpecker and a Skylark were also of note and a Peregrine was picked up soaring high overhead.

Whinchat

Small White

I walked up to Marsh Mills to catch the bus home and found the Mute Swan family resting on the exposed gravel bank at Longbridge. A Kingfisher and a Common Sandpiper were also seen here.

Mute Swans - growing up fast 

It was bloody freezing when I caught the 7am bus to Wembury on Friday 13th September after a clear and still night but it did eventually become a warm and pleasant September day.

On arriving off the bus I walked along the cliffpath towards The Yealm, the usual sightings of Stonechat, Cirl Bunting, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Swallow and House Martin kept me entertained while a few Meadow Pipit buzzed around calling. A noisy Peregrine was briefly seen catching something before disappearing from view and leaving a stream of white feathers drifting in the gentle breeze. There were 4 small flocks of Mallards seen flying up The Yealm totalling 36 birds while just a single Whitethroat was found in the pathside vegetation.

I turned around and headed back to the main beach and then onwards towards The Point. Jenny had messaged news of 12 Brent Geese at The Point the previous day and amazingly they were still present, something I wasn't expecting. There were 5 adults and 7 juveniles present, feeding together but keeping in their respective family groups of 2 adults and 3 juveniles and 2 adults and 4 juveniles with the solo adult getting hassled by the other adults if it came too near.

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Pale-bellied Brent Geese

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 

Pale-bellied Brent Geese (Juvenile and Adult)

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 

Even more of a surprise was a redhead Goosander which was snorkelling for fish amongst the rocks at The Point (one had been reported here last week so possibly the same bird), a juvenile bird and my first sighting of one at Wembury.

Goosander

Goosander

Goosander

A Sparrowhawk came shooting across the beach and spooked all the small waders feeding along it, I managed to count a Dunlin, a Sanderling, 2 Ringed Plover and 8 Turnstone as they scattered out to the rocks offshore. Later I counted 9 Turnstone feeding along the beach and I also found a flock of 4 Dunlin roosting on the rocks before they flew off east.

I was pleased to find a Tree Pipit in the radar station complex, it was sat in a tree and pumping its tail before it and 2 other birds feeding in the grass below flew off to an area out of view, all remaining resolutely silent as they went. A Spotted Flycatcher was again in The Pines (and found by Jenny) and along the rocky foreshore 5 Wheatears were seen. Another Whitethroat was found at The Point along with a juvenile Dartford Warbler while an adult Sandwich Tern briefly rested on the rocks offshore before continuing west.

There were fewer Gulls around and as I was walking to The Point around 40 adult Mediterranean Gulls flew east before heading inland up the valley to the beach. A few were later seen out on the rocks but maybe they've now moved on for the winter. A Grey Heron flying west, 23 Canada Geese feeding in the stubble field and a noisy Green Woodpecker at The Point were also of note on the avian front while Red Admiral, Small and Large White, Meadow Brown, Speckled Wood and 2 Small Copper were seen flitting about. I was also pleased to see my first Ivy Bees of the autumn too and another Southern Hawker.

Red Admiral

Ivy Bee

Hawthorn Shield Bug

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker

News of a/the Wryneck being found/refound at Saltram on Saturday 14th September meant that my housework schedule was shelved (drat!) as I headed out to look for it. Needless to say I didn't see it (again) but I had an enjoyable walk none the less.

Highlights were a Painted Lady and a Small Copper flitting about, a male Bullfinch, a Green Woodpecker, a Roe Deer, a Kingfisher, a Kestrel, 3 Grey Wagtails, a Raven, 7 Buzzards and a Shag.

The best sighting though was of 6+ Whinchat feeding together with 4+ Stonechat and I managed to get some very nice views of them. A Yellow Wagtail was a bonus too, I heard it calling as it flew overhead but I didn't get a view of it.

Whinchat

Whinchat

Black-necked Grebe at Wembury and a Trip to Topsham

The forecast had been for a dry and mild night so I had the Moth Box out in the back yard again but on checking it out in the morning on Monday 9th September it was a little soggy after some overnight rain. Only a few moths were present with the highlights being a Copper Underwing Agg., 2 Yellow Barred Brindle, a Buff Ermine and 2 Box Tree Moths. Sadly I found an Angle Shades caught in a spiders web and being eaten by a spider, also 1 of the Box Tree Moths flew off and landed in another spiders web and was promptly caught by the spider residing there.

Box Tree Moth

Buff Ermine

I had an appointment that morning at the GP's (yes, I actually managed to get through their hallowed surgery doors!) and afterwards with the day forecasted to be dry I decided to make the most of it and headed out to Wembury for a walk. It was cool, grey and breezy but as the day wore on the sun did eventually appear and it was quite pleasant out of the brisk north-westerly wind.

The highlight of my walk was a Black-necked Grebe close in to the beach near the sewage pipe at The Point, it was very confiding as it dived away and slowly moved east along the shore. The high tide was ebbing and so I headed down to the waters edge to watch it and at times it was only a few metres away from the shore, not what I was expecting to see and my first Wembury sighting of one.

Black-necked Grebe 

Black-necked Grebe and Turnstones

Black-necked Grebe - look at that red eye

Black-necked Grebe 

Black-necked Grebe 

Black-necked Grebe 

Black-necked Grebe 

It was a case of deja vu with a Feral Pigeon picked up flying towards the main beach from the east, it was quite high up but was losing altitude and was followed by what I thought were 2 more Feral Pigeons. As they came closer I realised the other 2 birds were in fact an adult and juvenile Peregrine and just before the Feral Pigeon reached the cliffs near the church the juvenile Peregrine caught it in a puff of feathers. Shortly after I picked up another Feral Pigeon flying low over the sea from the south before heading inland up the valley to the beach, as mentioned before I rarely see Feral Pigeons at Wembury and now I've seen 4 of them in 3 days with 2 of them taken out by a juvenile Peregrine!

Another interesting sighting was of a Stoat running around the rocks offshore at The Point before swimming across the open sea back to the foreshore, it was quite a gingery colour and the black tip to the tail was quite pale so possibly a youngster. Certainly an odd place to see one in the middle of the day.

Stoat - never stopped for a second!

There was much less disturbance along the beach compared to my last visit although there were still a few dog walkers about but on the high tide I found 16 Turnstone, 5 Curlew, 2 Ringed Plover and a Dunlin along with Oystercatchers and 5 Little Egret.

Offshore a few Gannets were noted while the roosting Gull flock out on the rocks held the usual Mediterranean Gulls. The stubble field held 39 Canada Geese while a Kestrel flew overhead and Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Wheatears and 2 Grey Wagtail were all noted too. At least 1 Sand Martin was present in a feeding flock of House Martins in the valley to the beach where they were more sheltered from the wind.

A Grey Seal poking its head out of the water, a beautifully smart looking Clouded Yellow dashing past and a Small Copper feeding on Ragwort flowers were the best of the rest.

The Plym and Wembury may have thrown up some good birds lately but I fancied a change on Tuesday 10th September so I headed out to Bowling Green Marsh for the day. It was high tide when I arrived at a jam packed bird hide but at least the Marsh was jam packed with birds too.

Amongst the throng of Curlew, Redshank and Black-tailed Godwits present were a few Dunlin, 25 Lapwing, 23 Greenshank, 5 Avocet, a Snipe, 21 Knot with the most exquisite scalloping on their feathers and a very smart juvenile Ruff. The highlight though were 2 beautiful juvenile Curlew Sandpipers which showed very well at times.

Spot the Curlew Sandpiper

Roosting Waders

There were plenty of Teal about too with Mallard, Shoveler, 2 Pintail and 10 Gadwall also seen while over the water at least 4 Sand Martin were hawking for insects with Swallows and House Martins.

I headed over to the viewing platform where birds were beginning to arrive from the Marsh as the tide dropped. A Ringed Plover and a few Oystercatcher were also added to the days wader list but the best sighting was a Common Seal hauled out on the mudflats.

Common Seal

It was a bit windswept when I had a look off the nearby Goat Walk so I returned to the hide just as a Peregrine hurtled across the Marsh and scattered the remaining birds. It made a kill which it ate out in the grass but I couldn't see what it had caught. With all the birds gone I returned to the viewing platform where I found the juvenile Ruff now out on the mudflats along with at least 5 Bar-tailed Godwit amongst the Curlew and Black-tailed Godwits.

A couple of birders arrived and told me there was a Common Tern roosting on a pontoon off the Goat Walk so I braved the wind and went to have a look and it was still there. I scanned downriver and also found 3 Terns flying around and diving for fish, they seemed very small like Little Terns but the views were distant and they soon disappeared downriver.

Common Tern with Black-headed Gills

Back to the viewing platform and after a bit of a wait and constant scanning I found a distant Osprey hunting over the river off Starcross, it was regularly hovering with its  legs dangling and made a few swoops down to the water but always abandoned its dive at the last minute. It then soared around for a bit before drifting over towards Exmouth where I lost sight of it.

Time was marching on and the forecasted rain was beginning to arrive so I headed back to the railway station to catch the train home. I stopped off for a final look about from the hide along the way where I found another Ruff, this time an adult male moulting into winter plumage and a nice end to my day out.

Plyming and Wemburying Again

The weather this summer hasn't been that great compared to recent years, it's been cool and cloudy and more reminiscent of the usual British summers of yesteryear. This has had an impact on wildlife and wildlife watching, most noticeably butterfly watching, but what has been more frustrating is the poor weather forecasting that's gone with it. I guess it hasn't been easy to predict the weather this summer with the lack of high pressure systems causing unsettled weather but sometimes the weather forecasting has been really bad.

A case in point was Thursday 5th September with the weather forecast before I went to bed that night giving heavy rain and yellow warnings of potential flooding for the next day. However on waking up on the morning of Friday 6th September it was dry and the sun was shining and on checking the weather forecast again it was going to remain so for the rest of the day! Very annoying as I would have been up and out early to catch the 6:30am bus to Wembury for a walk, even more annoying were sightings of Knot, Sand Martin, Yellow Wagtail and Whinchat being reported there that morning (all year ticks for me at Wembury!). Never mind.

Anyway, I decided to abandon my planned day at home and headed out to The Plym for a walk, high tide was around 8:30am but due to my late awakening I didn't arrive at Blaxton Meadow until after 9:30am to find it was still well flooded. A Common Tern had been seen here over the previous 2 days but there was no sign of it so I concentrated on the roosting waders, noting 31 Curlew, 12 Greenshank, 4 Oystercatcher and 2 Dunlin amongst the Redshank flock. Even better was a Black-tailed Godwit asleep amongst them, hidden in plain sight, but after a group of 5 Little Egrets had a hissy fit amongst the roosting waders and flushed them I lost sight of it and it didn't return to roost when the wader flock came back.

Blaxton Meadow Viewing Platform - in need of a bit of a trim back

I noticed what looked like feathers floating on the water and a closer look through my scope revealed it to be the Common Tern, now sadly deceased (apparently it had been oiled). It's black cap and pale grey upperparts were showing at the surface and when it was unceremoniously flushed down the sluice gate and out into the river I caught a brief glimpse of its red bill.

Common Tern (deceased) heading towards the sluice gates

It was quiet on Chelson Meadow too, no Whinchats this time but 3 Stonechats (2 male, 1 juvenile) were present along with a male Blackcap, a Chiffchaff, a Jay, 3 Skylark and 2 Buzzard while a Green Woodpecker was heard and Swallows and House Martins fed overhead. A bizarre sight was a Dunlin flushed out of the grass by the track, it flew off calling and at first I thought it was a Snipe until I caught sight of its downcurved bill and my brain eventually registered it's call correctly.

Otherwise the usual birds were seen including 2 Common Sandpipers and 4 Cormorant along the river, Mandarins on the duck pond, Ring-necked Parakeets screeching away in the trees, a Sparrowhawk being mobbed by a Swallow overhead and a Kingfisher perched up in the bushes by the Blaxton Meadow sluice gate. 

The Fields are currently being Mob Grazed by Cows - hopefully a passing Yellow Wagtail will be attracted in to join them

Silver Y - 1 of 2 seen in the Marsh Mills underpass

I headed out to Wembury for walk on Saturday 7th September, the weather forecast was for sunny spells with rain arriving in the afternoon and so it proved to be for a change! I caught the 7am bus (there is no 6:30am bus on a Saturday) and with the high tide at 9am I hoped to get to The Point to look for waders before there was too much disturbance but I was foiled by dog walkers, wild swimmers, fishermen (on the rocks and in a boat), walkers, spear fishers and toggers, not surprising on a Saturday morning in September with fair weather. Despite this I did see a Whimbrel, a Ringed Plover, a Dunlin, a Common Sandpiper, 4 Curlew, 10 Turnstones and Oystercatchers, not bad considering all the disturbance and the lack of washed up seaweed along the beach at the moment.

Dunlin

The usual Mediterranean Gulls were present too amongst the roosting Gulls, I counted at least 40 birds out on the rocks but more were undoubtedly present. I had a good look for any ringed birds but couldn't find any on this visit. Offshore the usual Gannets were milling around and diving for fish, a small feeding frenzy was also going on and underneath them was a small pod of feeding Common Dolphins moving swiftly west. Later the Common Dolphins were seen slowly moving east, no doubt stuffed full of fish. A small pod of Harbour Porpoise were also seen much closer in to shore, they were being quite splashy at the surface which appeared to be some kind of interaction between them and at times I could see the spray of their exhaled breath. Also seen offshore were 2 Common Scoters flying west along along with 2 Sandwich Terns.

Whitethroat, Chiffchaff, Stonechat, Cirl Bunting and Blackcap were flitting about in the scrub and I managed brief views of 2 Willow Warblers and also a Whinchat which flew up into a dead tree before being chased off by a Chiffchaff, never to be seen again. Wheatears were also seen with 1 in the stubble field and 2 at The Point. I also bumped into Jenny again and she picked up 2 Mute Swan flying past and heading towards The Yealm, my first for Wembury this year. We also picked up Sand Martins feeding overhead with Swallows and House Martins, at least 4 were seen amongst the flock feeding high over the sea out near The Mewstone.

Whinchat

I then returned to the main beach and then headed up the cliff path towards The Yealm, I wasnt expecting much but a Feral Pigeon flying over towards the village was a surprise, not an easy bird to see at Wembury. Despite this I then saw yet another one, unfortunately this one was being chased by an adult and juvenile Peregrine and was eventually caught by the juvenile bird (and probably the reason I rarely see Feral Pigeon at Wembury!). Stonechat, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat were seen along the path and overhead Swallows were flitting about but the biggest surprise was a very tardy Swift feeding amongst them. Sadly the fields were still cow-less and so there were no Yellow Wagtails present either.

Green-veined White

It began to spit with rain and so it was time to head home but it had been an enjoyable walk despite the worse than usual disturbance along the beach at high tide.

Mothing, Plyming and Wemburying

As meteological autumn arrives I had my moth box out in the back yard for only the 3rd time this year. It was a warm and humid but breezy night and on checking the box out on waking up on Sunday 1st September I had a nice haul of moths. A late Jersey Tiger Moth was a surprise with more usual fare including a Yellow-barred Brindle, a Yellow Shell, a Willow Beauty and a Blastobasis adustella. There were plenty of Large Yellow Underwings going bonkers in the box, living up to their alternative name of Large Yellow Blunderwings, and I had to be very careful as there were some very pissy Wasps buzzing around in the box too. Square Spot Rustic were present and showing a range of colouration and a Small Dusty Wave was, I think, a garden first.

Square Spot Rustic

Small Dusty Wave

Migrant moths were present too with a Rusty Dot Pearl, 2 Diamond-back Moths and 2 Palpita vitrealis all noted. A Box Tree Moth was in the trap too, a very pretty introduced moth but a very destructive one.  

Palpita vitrealis

Box Tree Moth

Monday 2nd September was warm and humid, still and mizzley and with heavy showers and periods of rain but I headed out to Saltram and The Plym for a walk anyway as the previous day had seen some interesting birds being reported there, namely Redstart, Tree Pipit, Whinchat and Sand Martin. I was hoping that some if not all of these birds might have stuck around and still be present but I wasn't expecting much in the grotty weather.

As it turned out I was too late to the party with just the Sand Martins still around with at least 4 seen feeding within a flock of Swallow and House Martin over the cow fields, my first for The Plym this year.

A Kestrel, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, a Jay, at least 7 Ring-necked Parakeets, 3 Stonechats and 2 Common Sandpipers were the other highlights with a Green Woodpecker and a Nuthatch also heard. A few Meadow Brown were seen too in the drier spells on what was a claggy and damp walk.

Tuesday 3rd September was cooler and fresher with mizzley spells as I headed out to The Plym and Saltram again. It was claggier than forecasted but it did eventually clear up and the sun appeared from behind the clouds.

Blaxton Meadow was flooded on the high tide but there were 33 Curlew, 12 Greenshank and 5 Dunlin roosting with the Redshanks and the 4 Mute Swans (2 adults with their 2 cygnets) were out on the river with Canada Geese.

Canada Geese

A look around Chelson Meadow was initially a bust but I decided to give it some time and as the sun began to emerge the birds appeared with 4 Stonechats (2 males, 2 juveniles) and a Whitethroat seen. Eventually I found 3 Whinchat which showed very well at times although they were flighty and very mobile across the Meadow and possibly new arrivals since the weekends birds. A Spotted Flycatcher was also found feeding along the boundary hedgerow but the highlight was a sighting of a Clouded Yellow, my first of the year.

Whinchat

Whinchat

Whinchat

Clouded Yellow

Clouded Yellow

A Green Woodpecker, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Jay, a Roe Deer and a Small Heath were the best of the rest with Swallows noted overhead but there were no House or Sand Martins to be seen.

I had an early start on Wednesday 4th September as I headed off to Wembury on the 6:30am bus for a walk. It was fresh and cool at such an early hour but warmed up as the day wore on although when the sun occassionally disappeared behind the clouds the temperature noticeably dropped. I had originally planned to first walk along the cliffpath towards The Yealm before heading to The Point but when I arrived off the bus I changed my mind and headed straight to The Point, a good decision as it turned out.

It was high tide and I could see a flock of Mallards out on the water just off the beach at The Point, as I got nearer I stopped to count them and there were 46 birds present, however 1 was noticeably much smaller than the others and on getting nearer to them I was very pleased to see it was actually a Teal. Even more of a surprise was a Pale-bellied Brent Goose which flew in from the west to join them briefly before continuing on its journey east.

Teal with Mallard

Teal and Mallard

Teal and Mallard

Pale-bellied Brent Goose and Mallard

Pale-bellied Brent Goose 

Along the beach with the usual Oystercatchers were 7 Ringed Plover, 6 Turnstone and 4 Curlew with an unseen Redshank heard calling. 4 Little Egrets were present too.

Curlew and Oystercatcher 

I attempted to count the Mediterranean Gulls present amongst the Gulls out on the rocks and in the stubble field but they were flighty and mobile and often obscured from view, I  counted 39 birds (3 juveniles) but undoubtedly more were present. A juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull was also present amongst the Gulls along the beach while also roosting in the stubble field were 36 Canada Geese.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

I had a scan offshore with my scope, Gannets were noted flying about and a pair of Common Scoter flew east. I picked up a Balearic Shearwater flying west just out past The Mewstone and shortly afterwards a flock of 13 flew west much closer to shore and showing a variety of underpart tones as they went.

A juvenile Dartford Warbler was flitting about in the vegetation at The Point in the company of Stonechat, Whitethroat and Chiffchaff while in The Pines a Green Woodpecker, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaffs, a Willow Warbler and 2 Spotted Flycatcher were seen (the Spot Flys having been found by Jenny the previous day and luckily still present). A Spotted Flycatcher and a Willow Warbler were also seen in the valley to the beach.

HMS St.Albans offshore 

A sadly deceased Pygmy(?) Shrew found on the path

Common Lizard