August Bank Holiday

We were very lucky with the weather for our ferry trip to Spain and had smooth crossings both ways but on arriving back in Plymouth the weather finally turned and I awoke the next morning (Saturday 29th August) to wind and rain, much more usual fare for an August Bank Holiday in Devon although it still felt warm and humid.

I decided to head out to Wembury Point for a sea watch but after a very tiring trip over the ocean I didn't wake up very early and caught the 9am bus, later than planned but never mind. I was all togged up in my wet weather gear and certainly needed it on arriving off the bus but by the time I headed home the rain had mostly cleared through.

Visibility at The Point was variable but there were Gannets on the move along with a steady trickle of Manx Shearwater with all mostly heading west into the wind and rain. Along the beach there were 13 Ringed Plover, 3 Sanderling, a Curlew, 3 Little Egrets and Oystercatchers and I counted a maximum of 12 mobile Mediterranean Gulls but more were undoubtedly present. The only other bird of note was a Feral Pigeon flying overhead as I waited at the bus stop for the bus back to Plymouth.

I may have been a bit of a soggy mess by the time I arrived back home but the rain we have had here in Devon this past week has already revitalised the parched grass which is now turning green again. The heatwaves and drought already seem distant memories but there is still a lot of rain needed to recover the water levels after the very dry summer.

It was warm, humid, breezey and mostly sunny as I headed out to The Plym on Bank Holiday Monday 31st August, my plan had been to head out early for the high tide at around 8:30am but I was feeling crap and decided to give it a miss, however news of a Wryneck came through and I decided against all my better judgement to go and look for it. I have had zero luck in either finding a Wryneck or catching up with birds found by others on Chelson Meadow and today, as expected, continued that duck but one day.........

While looking for the Wryneck I did see a Whinchat, a juvenile Willow Warbler, 2 Skylark, a Robin, a Song Thrush, a Linnet and a Blackcap along with Small Heath, a Small Copper, Common Blue and Clouded Yellow including an helice type. At one point all the Gulls out on the estuary on the dropping tide took to the air, presumably an Osprey had arrived to fish but despite scanning the skies from the Meadow I didn't find one in the air and by the time I arrived back at The Ride the Gulls had all resettled on the mud.

Great Black-backed Gull with a large Fish for lunch

Common Smooth-hound - found washed up near the slipway at Laira Bridge

River Plym from near Blagdons Meadow

A scan across the mudflats from The Ride revealed 5 small waders by the rowing club on the opposite bank and so I decided to walk over to Blagdons Meadow via Laira Bridge for a closer look. After a bit of a search I eventually found 10 Turnstone and 3 Ringed Plover feeding near the rowing club slipway and easily overlooked amongst the seaweed and rocks, surprisingly the Turnstone were my first on The Plym this year.

Turnstone

Ringed Plover

There were Clouded Yellows flitting about over the Meadow and following the recent rain it too was showing small signs of greening up. I had a search about and eventually found quite a few Autumn Lady's-Tresses in flower amongst the browned vegetation and looking tiny but vibrant.

Autumn Lady's-Tresses 

Autumn Lady's-Tresses

And with that August is now over for another year, it's been a busy month but a good month and one with a range of interesting sightings despite the erratic weather.