I headed out to The Plym for a high tide visit on Wednesday 14th October, it was mild and overcast as I stepped off the bus at Marsh Mills at around 9:30am and as I walked down to Blaxton Meadow I stopped briefly to watch an adult and 3 juvenile Mute Swans preening out on the water below Longbridge.
A walk around the Park was quiet but I did see Meadow Pipits flying around overhead and feeding down in the long grass, surprisingly my first of the year for The Plym. A flock of 21 Mistle Thrush flying over was a surprise, they landed briefly in the tree tops before carrying on south. Jays were also noticeable too as they flew around overhead on their search for Acorns to cache for the winter, 4 were seen in the air together at one point but I'm sure more were present.
Other sightings of note were a Wigeon, a Little Grebe, 2 Common Sandpipers, a Grey Wagtail and a Kingfisher along the river, the usual noisy Ring-necked Parakeets in the trees, a Goldcrest near the sewage works and a Clouded Yellow on Chelson Meadow.
Since returning home from Turkey the nights have been mostly mild but also wet and I haven't been able to get the moth box out in the back yard but with warm and dry weather forecast overnight on Wednesday/Thursday 14th/15th October I put the moth box lights on in the dining room window to see what would appear. I checked the window and outside walls in the morning as dawn arrived and for my troubles I found 4 Light Brown Apple Moths, however also present was a beautifully pink Vestal which made it all worthwhile.
I headed out to Wembury on the bus later that morning, I arrived at 9:45hrs and it was warm, humid and very misty as I began my walk but it did eventually clear and it was very pleasant in the sunshine. The clement weather meant a few Butterflies were on the wing and I saw a Small Copper, 2 Red Admiral, 3 Clouded Yellow and 4 Small White.
It was high tide and along the beach were 2 Ringed Plover, 7 Turnstone and a Curlew along with Oystercatchers, 8 Little Egret and 2 adult Mediterranean Gulls. The white faced Rock Pipit that spent last winter along the beach was also back for another season but it was flitty and flighty this time.
Up on The Point there were a good number and mix of birds feeding in the weedy field with Linnet, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Chaffinch, Cirl Bunting, Dunnock, Meadow Pipit and a pair of House Sparrow seen - hopefully something more unusual might turn up here as the season progresses.
It was back to Wembury on Saturday 17th October, I managed to get myself up and out for the 7am bus for a change on what was a beautifully clear, calm and surprisingly cold morning with a hint of promise in the air.
As I walked up to the church there were Woodpigeons flying around in all directions and all presumably local birds but over the course of the morning regular flocks containing up to around 100 birds flew purposefully west with a Feral Pigeon and 2 Stock Doves picked out amongst them. Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Finches were also on the move, mostly moving west but also with a lot of local movement going on as well. I did pick out a Siskin amongst them and also 2 Swallows which was a nice surprise.
The day warmed up nicely and Butterflies appeared with a Speckled Wood, 2 Painted Lady, 3 Red Admiral, 5 Small White, at least 8 Clouded Yellow and a late Meadow Brown all seen and I also found 2 Common Darters.
The weedy field at The Point was still full of Finches (Chaff, Green and Gold), Linnets, Woodpigeons, Meadow Pipits, Skylarks and Cirl Buntings along with a few Dunnock, 2 Stock Doves and 2 male House Sparrows and I also heard a Red-legged Partridge calling while a Kestrel looked on from the telegraph wires.
There were Pheasants everywhere but with the arrival of a Pheasant shooting party there will be a few less on my next visit. The beaters did flush out 2 Red-legged Partridges from the fields along with the Pheasants, one escaped the guns but the other appeared to be less lucky.
There was a Dunlin along the beach on the high tide with 10 Turnstone, 2 Curlew, Oystercatchers, 2 Mediterranean Gull (an adult and a 2nd winter) and 5 Little Egret while out on the water but close to shore were 93 Mallard, mostly males, they were present off the sewage pipe when I first arrived but soon flew off in small flocks until none were left.
Other birds of note were a Firecrest, a Goldcrest, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Sparrowhawk, 2 Buzzard, a Gannet and 5 Blackcap (3 males) and there was a good movement of Chiffchafffs generally heading west amongst the coastal shrubbery.
With the weather set fair again on Sunday 18th October I decided to make the most of it and get out again for a walk along The Plym, starting off at Laira Bridge and walking up to Marsh Mills on the incoming tide. It was sunny but cool in the breeze and Saltram was very busy with walkers, cyclists and dogs but I had an interesting time.
The only overhead sign of migration was a flock of around 50 Woodpigeon moving purposefully west and in amongst them was a single Stock Dove. A pair of Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaff were also seen skulking in the undergrowth but the best sighting was of a Sandwich Tern along the river, I heard it calling from the bird hide at Blaxton Meadow and it took me a moment to realise what it was. I couldn't see it though but eventually it came in to view diving for fish off Blaxton Meadow and later it was seen resting with the Gulls out on the mud near the gas pipe where I could see it was sporting a silver ring on its right leg.
There was only a little water on Blaxton Meadow on this visit due to the current neap high tides but there were 8 grumpy looking Grey Herons present roosting along the wall and 5 redhead Goosander fishing in the small pool of water by the sluice gates with a Little Egret in attendance to grab any fish disturbed by the Goosanders.
Other highlights from my walk were a Common Sandpiper, a Kingfisher, 2 Little Grebes, a Grey Wagtail, a Kestrel, 2 Green Woodpecker, a Stonechat, 12 Greenshanks and 5 Roe Deer but with the number of people, dogs and cyclists increasing it was time to head home for lunch.
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