We had a walk at Rame Head on Wednesday 5th August, it's been a while now since I last visited there and it was good to be back but it was all very quiet on the wildlife front with the highlight being Dodder seen growing on the Gorse bushes.
Dodder
We had a walk around Saltram on Thursday 6th August, the National Trust have opened up a new area on the estate now known as Saltram East and we headed out to have a look about along the new footpaths. It is mostly grazing fields interspersed with newly created wildflower meadows plus hedgerows and small areas of woodland and it all looks totally frazzled, dusty and brown in the continuing hot and dry weather. It will be interesting to explore this area next spring and I noticed quite a few small Elm trees along our walk so a look for White-letter Hairstreaks next Summer will also be on the cards. We also found 2 Pear trees by the roadside heading out of Saltram Estate near Stag Lodge that looked like candidates for Plymouth Pear but I'm not totally sure.
Plymouth Pear?
I returned to The Plym for a walk on Friday 7th August, I caught the bus to Laira Bridge and walked up to Blaxton Meadow and back on the high tide. I kept one eye on the river for an Osprey and one eye on the trees for a Spotted Flycatcher but by the time I reached Blaxton Meadow I had found neither.
Blaxton Meadow was still depressing to look at but I did find a Black-tailed Godwit there, it was just about visible with the roosting Curlews in the tall, overgrown vegetation. A Greenshank and an adult and 3 juvenile Shelduck were also present here along with Gulls, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Redshank, Feral Pigeon and Carrion Crow.
I headed back down the river to Laira Bridge and despite looking and listening I still couldn't find any Spotted Flycatchers in the trees. I eventually arrived at the ruined slipway near Laira Bridge and settled down to scan the estuary as the water began to drop. An adult Great Black-backed Gull was resting on a yellow buoy while 3 large and noisy fledglings constantly begged for food from the water below and 4 Shag (2 adults, 2 juveniles) were resting on other buoys or diving for fish.
Great Black-backed Gulls
A large and noisey feeding frenzy of Gulls appeared over the water and moved around the river as the fish tried to escape them and in amongst the Gulls were 3 adult Mediterranean Gulls in winter plumage. The 4 Shelduck from Blaxton Meadow also appeared out on the mudflats and began to feed along with Curlew, Oystercatcher and Redshank.
Gull Feeding Frenzy
It was pleasant sitting there in the sunshine and watching the birds, there was a gentle and cooling breeze blowing but there was no sign of an Osprey and so after 90 minutes of scanning I started to head towards the bus stop for home. However on a final lookabout all the Gulls in the nearby recycling centre silently took to the air and were quickly and noisely followed by all the Gulls out on the estuary and as I scanned through the swarming melee I picked up an Osprey heading down the river towards me. It changed its mind before it reached me and headed back up river and started to dive for fish just above the rowing club. It was successful on its third attempt and as per last year it headed off over Chelson Meadow towards Stag Lodge and was lost to sight but to say I was very pleased to see a fishing Osprey is a bit of an understatement!
I decided I would try one more time to see Brown Hairstreak to cap off my butterflying year and with yet another heatwave looming, the fifth of this summer, I headed out on Saturday 8th August to try my luck before the weather became too uncomfortably hot and unpleasant again. Being a Saturday I could catch any train for the princely sum of just £6.45 return and I arrived on site at just before 10am with the day already sunny, warm and humid. Cloudier skies were forecast for later in the day though so I kept my fingers crossed I would find my target before the clouds arrived.
It was even more browner, drier, crispier and dustier than on my visit just over 2 weeks ago but the Hemp Agrimony was still looking good and flowering well and attracting butterflies. The expected species were seen - Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Painted Lady, Red Admiral and Speckled Wood - and I also saw 2 Small Copper, a female Common Blue, a Clouded Yellow, a Comma, Small White, Holly Blue, Large White and 2 very worn looking Purple Hairstreaks but no Brown Hairstreak.
Painted Lady
Birds helped to keep me occupied with Buzzard, Sand Martin, Swallow and House Martin seen overhead, Green Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Great Spotted Woodpecker heard only and Great Tit, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, a Song Thrush, Blackbird and a Dunnock seen flitting about in the woodland.
A Common Darter, 2 Southern Hawker and an Emperor Dragonfly were also flying around and a Volucella inanis was seen feeding on the Hemp Agrimony flowers.
Common Darter
Volucella inanis
Time marched on, the clouds began to build and I wasn't hopeful of finding a Brown Hairstreak as I contemplated heading home earlier than planned. However I then noticed what at first I thought was a dead orangey leaf floating down to the ground but which was in fact a female Brown Hairstreak who promptly started egg-laying on the young Blackthorn bushes and gave some incredibly close views - my 36th butterfly species of the year.
Brown Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak egg-laying
Brown Hairstreak
It was fascinating to watch her climb head first down the stems looking for the best places to deposit her eggs and at times she totally disappeared into the foliage, eventually she would reappear and bask in the weakening sunshine before carrying on with her egg-laying and I enjoyed watching her for some time before I left her to her task. And again to say I was very pleased to see an egg-laying Brown Hairstreak was a bit of an understatement!
Brown Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
My butterflying year is now over with no more butterfly trips planned, I had thought about visiting Fontmell Down in Dorset but it is too hot and dry with all these heatwaves so I'll give it a miss this year and now it's time to get back to birding.
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