Stuart's Wildlife Diary: Local Walks and Dartmoor Days

I had a quick walk around The Plym on Thursday 24th April, it was fairly quiet but I was pleased to see and hear a songflighting Whitethroat along The Ride and there were 5 Whimbrels roosting on Blaxton Meadow with 11 Oystercatcher, 3 Redshank and 2 Greenshank. The male Wigeon was still present too, maybe he'll oversummer?

The following day I had a quick walk at Wembury, it was also fairly quiet but it was lovely to see and hear migrating Whimbrel with at least 25 mobile, wary and vocal birds along the beach, a flock of 15 heading east offshore and a flock of 6 heading east over the bus stop in the village.

Whimbrel

Whitethroats were everywhere and noisily songflighting and 3 Wheatears were seen, a female along the beach and 2 males in the wheatfield.

Wheatear

The highlight though was a Red Kite over The Point, I was on the lower footpath and had a brief view of it overhead before it disappeared from sight and so I quickly headed up the footpath to the top of The Point and managed to refind it but it was much higher and distant and moving away to the east.

Sunday 27th April was a fine and sunny day so I headed out to Grenofen for a walk. Sunday buses meant I didn't arrive there until 10am, later than I would have liked, and it's also a little earlier in the year than I would normally visit but it was just a joy to be up on the edge of Dartmoor at one of my favourite places and in beautiful weather.

I was hoping to see Tree Pipit but was out of luck, I hope they haven't gone the way of Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatcher which are also no longer present here. Also noticeable by their abscence were Yellowhammer with none seen or heard and I thought Redstart was going to be a blank too but eventually I had some nice views of a male singing away in the top of a tree.

Garden Warblers were in fine voice though and I managed to get some good views of 2 singing males with at least another 3 heard. A calling Cuckoo was a nice bonus too , I even had a very brief view of it as it flew over the downland on the opposite side of the valley.

Garden Warbler

Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff and Blackcap were all very vocal while overhead a group of 9 feeding Swift were my first of the year. There were good numbers of Brimstone flitting about with a female seen egglaying but I didn't see any Fritillaries, I guess it is still too early for them but there were plenty of Violets in flower.

Monday 28th April was a glorious day, all blue skies and sunshine and just perfect for a Dartmoor birdy day out with my mate Mavis. We started our day at Emsworthy Mire, only the second time I have been here, and we had an interesting time wandering around the nature reserve while admiring the views and the wildlife.

As per our visit last year it was too early for the Bluebells to be out in flower but we did see a few Orange-tip and Green-veined Whites flitting about and my Emperor Moth lure hasn't lost its potency despite being a few years old now and a few male Emperor Moths arrived to check it out although we didn't manage to get any photos of them.

The Cuckoos and Redstarts were the stars of the show though and we had some great views of them along with the many birders and toggers also present on site with us. At least 3 male Redstarts were seen and heard along with a lone female and at least 2 Cuckoos were seen and heard but they were all very mobile so possibly more were present.

Redstart

Watching a pair of male Cuckoos having a fight in mid-air was pretty spectacular and something we've never seen before. We also watched a Cuckoo sat up in the bushes and regularly dropping down to the ground to grab insects to eat, it seemed to be catching what looked like caterpillars or worms or grubs and it would vigorously shake them before swallowing them down. Occassionally it would call and give its position away but it was so easily overlooked when perched up in the vegetation.

Cuckoo

Mavis watching a Cuckoo watching a Mavis

After lunch we carried onwards to Challacombe Farm where we had a gentle stroll about in the continuing sunshine, it's usually freezing cold here but it was delightfully warm for a change. Pied Flycatchers were the star birds here with 3 males and a female seen and heard and all making use of the numerous nest boxes dotted around the place. A Redstart was heard singing too but we never did get a view of it but we did get a good view of a Cuckoo with a bit of an off-key call getting mobbed by 3 Meadow Pipits.

Pied Flycatcher

Marsh Marigold

As usual it had been a fabulous day out with some great birding in beautiful surroundings, Dartmooor is always gorgeous at this time of year and especially so when the sun shines. Even better is spending it with a good friend and we were both pooped, sun-kissed but very content when we arrived back home.

It was hotter still the next day (Tuesday 29th April) as we headed out to Wembury for a walk in our shorts, the first day of this year that we have had our lily white legs out in public. It was a dropping very low tide but out on the rocks with the usual Oystercatchers were at least 9 Whimbrel, 9 Turnstone and 2 Bar-tailed Godwits, one of which was in breeding plumage but sadly fast asleep.

The highlight though were 3 Green Hairstreaks at The Point, the earliest I think I have ever seen them before. They are probably my favourite UK butterfly and were absolutely gorgeous to watch.

Green Hairstreak

Wednesday 30th April and the last day of the month saw temperatures soar to 23°c as we headed up to Dartmoor for a walk in what we hoped might have been slightly cooler conditions. It probably was cooler up on The Moor and there was a refreshing and cooling breeze but it still felt pretty hot.

David headed off to explore some Leats while I wandered off to do some birding. We didn't arrive on site until Midday, later than I had planned, and with the heat I wasn't sure if the birds would be very showy but I actually had an interesting walk.

A Cuckoo was heard but remained unseen along with a Garden Warbler but 2 Tree Pipits were showy and songflighty. Redstarts and Pied Flycatchers were also vocal, I only managed to actually see 1 male Redstart but did see at least 4 male Pied Flycatchers. A Spotted Flycatcher was a nice surprise but was difficult to track through the trees and I quickly lost sight of it.

The highlight though was a Wood Warbler singing away in the trees, it was very mobile through the canopy, sometimes singing strongly and sometimes quietly but an absolute joy to see and hear as it sadly continues towards extinction as a breeding bird in Devon.