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
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