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.
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.
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.
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.
