Thunderclouds building at Wembury
With Spring migration all but over now and the Summer Doldrums knocking at the door I wasn't expecting much in the way of birdlife but a Redshank along the beach with 4 tardy Whimbrel was a surprise and a single Feral Pigeon flying over heading east was unusual. Offshore I picked up a single Manx Shearwater flying west along with a few Gannets while plenty of Whitethroat were flitting about in the pathside vegetation including a few birds carrying food for hungry nestlings.
I had a look for Green Hairstreaks but with no luck and there were actually very few Butterflies seen despite the hot conditions, just a few flitty Painted Lady and a Red Admiral, a Small White and a Speckled Wood. However I did find my first Wembury Beautiful Demoiselle along the stream but it soon flew off out of sight.
Beautiful Demoiselle (Female)
I very quickly had had enough of the heat and humidity and so I caught the 9;45am bus back home and just after getting into the house a heavy rain shower arrived but the heat and humidity remained after it had passed through.
I had planned to meet up with Dave the Butterfly Guy to look for Marsh Fritillaries up on Dartmoor on Thursday 28th May but with cloudy skies and cooler temperatures forecast I decided to give it a miss. It was noticeably cooler overnight and I finally had a good night's sleep and on waking up in the morning it felt cooler and fresher but the sky was overcast and so I decided to head out to Roborough Down for a walk.
I arrived off the bus at around 11am and despite the grey sky it was starting to feel very hot and humid and as the day went on the clouds cleared and it became very unpleasantly hot again, however I did end up having an interesting walk although I was glad to head home and get out of the sun.
As I started my walk I immediately noticed Painted Lady butterflies flitting about, they were everywhere after what has been a big influx into the UK. Some were worn and faded but many looked in pristine condition and they were feasting on Blackberry flowers, basking in the sun or dashing about all over the place.
Painted Lady
Painted Lady
Painted Lady
I also quickly found Small Pearl Bordered Fritillaries dashing about too, they have emerged in good numbers this year. They were constantly flitting about and I had forgotten how small, fast and flitty they are as they just disappeared from sight when flying low over the ground amongst the vegetation. A few did stop very briefly to nectar on Blackberry flowers and I managed to get a few photos before they were off again but it was a very tricky undertaking and I could never get very close to them.
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
There were good numbers of Silver Y and Brown Silver-line moths being kicked up from the grass as I walked along the leat and I was also very pleased to find 2 Green Hairstreaks, 2 Small Heath, 2 Red Admiral, 2 Holly Blue, a female Common Blue, both male and female Brimstones and a very smart looking Clouded Yellow.
Green Hairstreak
Clouded Yellow
Clouded Yellow
The small pools across the Down were all dried up except for 2 and they were both looking mucky and in dire need of some rain to stop them from disappearing too. The main Dragonfly pond had the most water in it and buzzing over the surface were a male Broad-bodied Chaser and a male Emperor Dragonfly and they were constantly tussling with each other. There were 2 female Broad-bodied Chasers egg-laying in the water but this didn't stop the male regularly grabbing hold of them and trying to mate with them before letting them go. The females seemed to have a clear mucus-like substance on the tip of their abdomen at times, apparently this surrounds the eggs and on contact with the water forms a jelly to help stick the eggs to the underwater vegetation.
The Emperor Dragonfly never settled for a second and it was interesting to watch it snatch small flies out of the air to feed on but the Broad-bodied Chasers did occassionally settle for short periods. Azure Damesfly were also present with at least 2 pairs seen mating.
Broad-bodied Chaser (male)
Broad-bodied Chaser (male)
Broad-bodied Chaser (female)
Mating Azure Damselfly
There were a few Heath Spotted Orchids in flower across the Down, they were small but very delicate and pretty looking, most had a pinkish hue but a few looked very white.
Heath Spotted Orchid
Heath Spotted Orchid
Bird wise it was quiet with a Skylark, 2 songflighting Meadow Pipit, 3 Swallow, 3 Swift, 3 singing Yellowhammers, a male Bullfinch and Stonechats of note. Willow Warblers were vocal and showy at times while a Green Woodpecker, a Chiffchaff and 2 male Pheasant were heard only. The highlight though was a male Dartford Warbler which popped up on the Gorse near me as I was being scolded by a pair of Stonechat nearby.
Yellowhammer
Dartford Warbler
A Broad-biled Sandpiper was found at Dawlish Warren on Friday 29th May but with plans for the day I couldn't go to look for it. I really didn't expect it to stick around and I wasn't in the mood to endure the chaos of Dawlish Warren again on a sunny Saturday during Half Term Holiday Hell but news came through that it was still present in the morning on Saturday 30th May and so I grabbed my stuff and headed out.
I didn't arrive off the train at Dawlish Warren until 09:52am, a little later than I would have liked, and I headed straight out to The Bight where the Sandpiper has been showing. It was a bit of schleck in the hot sunshine and over the soft sand but I walked as quickly as I could and told myself it would be good for my core muscles.
There were birders lined up along the dune ridge at Groyne 13 with telescopes trained upriver and as soon as I joined them they quickly pointed out the Sandpiper to me as it fed fairly close to us out on the mud with a few Dunlin and Ringed Plover. It was quite dark looking with a white belly, smaller than the Dunlin it was with and sporting a very distinctive head patterning reminiscent of a Jack Snipe. It was busily feeding away and moving back and forth in front of us and I enjoyed some great scope views of it for around 45 minutes before all the waders took to the air and flew off down to the distant waters edge on the dropping tide and out of sight.
Broad-billed Sandpiper, The Bight - close but no cigar for my camera
Broad-billed Sandpiper - photo courtesy of Oli Mockridge, @yeovilbirder.bsky.social on Bluesky
With the Sandpiper unlikely to return until the evening incoming tide I headed back to the nature reserve for a look about where it felt hot and airless. The Southern Marsh Orchids were still in flower but mostly looking the worse for wear after a week of very hot and dry weather but I did notice quite a few Wild Asparagus in flower around the site. A showy male Whitethroat was songflighting whereas a singing male Cirl Bunting kept itself hidden in the vegetation and at the Main Pond at least 2 Reed Warbler were singing and I managed to get a few decentish views of at least 2 more birds.
A few Meadow Brown were flitting about, my first of the year, and I rescued a Yellow Belle moth from the grasp of what looked like a Robber Fly but it wasn't in a very good way as I tucked it away in the grass and out of the sun.
Yellow Belle
Male Broad-bodied Chaser, Main Pond
Canada Geese pair with 8 Goslings on the Main Pond
Canada Geese
By Midday I had had enough of the heat and crowds and so decided to head home early, my train was delayed (as usual) but the hold up had been caused by the Sir Nigel Gresley steam train coming through on a rail enthusiasts day trip. The delay also meant I had distant views of the Red Arrows display team and their coloured smoke trails as they did their thing over nearby Torbay for the Paignton Airshow.
The Sir Nigel Gresley
I was home by 2pm after what was quite the easy Twitch of a new bird for me and it only cost me £7.15 return on the train with my railcard. The Broad-billed Sandpiper showed straight away when I arrived and showed well for around 45 minutes and the small crowd of birders present were a nice bunch to chat with. It also goes to show that even though Spring is virtually over there are still a few surprises to be had.
No comments:
Post a Comment