Moths and Butterflies

I had the moth box out in the back yard overnight on Friday 19th June and unfortunately on checking it out early the next morning it was rather soggy following a surprise heavy shower. There were a few moths in the trap though with the highlights being a Scalloped Oak, Yellow-barred Brindle, Common Plume, Dark Arches and Celypha striana.

 Scalloped Oak

 Common Plume

 

Celypha striana

 Dark Arches - a typically dark individual

Dark Arches - a pale individual

It was a warm and humid and sunny day and so in the afternoon we walked over to Central Park to check out the elm trees for White-letter Hairstreaks which have already been sighted here this year but there was no sign of any. A smart Comma and a Large White were seen while in nearby Ford Park Cemetery I found a few Ringlets amongst the Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and 6-spot Burnets.

 Comma

Ringlet

Before heading out we had a look through the gate of the builders yard and could see Birdy 2020 sleeping peacefully in the sunshine on a pile of roofing tiles. The adults were still noisely in attendance and we presumed the builders would again place him back on the flat roof on Monday when they returned to work, and at least he was OK.

Sunday 21st June and with sunshine forecasted for mid morning we headed off early in grey skies and showers to Upton Towans near Hayle for a walk, arriving at around 11am and still with grey skies and showers and a strong breeze. There was loads of dog shit lying around as usual for this site even though it is a nature reserve but we had a good (and careful) walk around , me enjoying the wildlife and David enjoying the remains of the dynamite workings hidden in the dunes.

I quickly found Silver-studded Blues flitting about in the ground vegetation and managed to get some lovely views of them in the cool conditions. It did eventually brighten up and although the breeze picked up too there were Silver-stuudded Blues everywhere sunning themselves and fluttering about low to the ground.

 Silver-studded Blue - Male

 Silver-studded Blue - female

 Silver-studded Blue - mating pair

 Silver-studded Blue 

 Silver-studded Blue 

 Silver-studded Blue

 Silver-studded Blue

Silver-studded Blue 

 Silver-studded Blue 

Silver-studded Blue 

Also seen were Ringlet, Large Skipper, Meadow Brown and Small Skipper along with a few Yellow Shell moths.

Ringlet

Pyramidal Orchids were in flower across the site along with a few Southern Marsh Orchids.

Pyramidal Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid 

Whitethroat and Stonechat were vocal and showy and a few Gannets were picked up distantly offshore.

A female Emperor Dragonfly was seen egg laying in a small water filled concrete bunker which also contained quite a few Newts, one of which I was able to catch and on having a good look at it I realised it was a Palmate Newt, the first one I have positively identified.

 Emperor Dragonfly

 Palmate Newt  - webbed back foot

Palmate Newt

Palmate Newt - filament end to tail

We stopped off at Perranporth on the drive home for a quick look at the view from the beach and to enjoy an expensive but tasty ice cream and arrived back in Plymouth at around 4pm after a very enjoyable day out in these weird COVID-19 lock down times. A nice day out to end a mixed and interesting week of wildlife.

Local Lock Down Wildlife Walk

The Lock Down of the UK due to the Coronavirus was instigated on March 23rd as expected with the only reasons now to leave your home being to buy food, to go to work if you can't work from home, to care for a vulnerable person and for exercise. I have to buy food and as an NHS keyworker I have to go to work but I am keeping away from helping to care for my vulnerable mother-in-law who is in a high risk group.

My exercise is my wildlife walking but my options are now limited although Plymouth Hoe, The River Plym and Saltram Park are all reachable by foot from my front door and so these places will become my hopefully weekly allowed exercise walks by following these rules - social distancing is to be maintained by keeping 2 metres apart from others when out of the house, not meeting up with friends and family when out and to only walk with members of your household, all of which are fine by me. And so with the settled, dry, sunny but cool and windy weather continuing I needed to get out for a walk on Saturday 28th March and walked from home to Saltram Park and back.

It was a glorious day and especially welcome after what seems to have been 5 months of continuous rain and wind and people were out and about walking or cycling although numbers were much, much lower than would normally be expected.

It was odd to see the roads and paths so quiet and to cross the road or move away from walkers and cyclists in order to keep 2 metres apart and I found myself avoiding eye contact with anyone passing me by instead of offering a greeting as I usually do with everybody else seeming to be doing the same.

It was great to be out and about though and I had a very enjoyable walk with the highlights being a Greenshank and a male Goosander along the River Plym while within Saltram Park Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Nuthatch, 3 Stock Doves, a pair of Mandarin Ducks on a pond in the woods (where dogs are usually disturbing any birds present) and a Mistle Thrush were seen.

 Greenshank, River Plym

 Mandarin Duck, Saltram

Mandarin Duck, Saltram

I didn't hear any Ring-necked Parakeets but a Green Woodpecker constantly yaffled away near Saltram House but kept itself out of sight. I hear Green Woodpeckers regularly but often struggle to see them, their yaffling being almost a mocking laugh aimed at me.

Violets were flowering and Bees and Bee Flys were buzzing and I had a brief view of a tatty Small Tortoiseshell along with better views of a few Peacock and Comma.

 Violets, Saltram

 Bee Sp., Saltram

 Peacock Butterfly, Saltram

 Peacock Butterfly, Saltram 

Comma, Saltram

Roe Deer were feeding out on the grass before retreating to the safety of the nearby hillside to chew the cud and a total of 14 were seen, the highest count I have had for them in Saltram Park.

 Roe Deer, Saltram

A strange walk but very much needed and very restorative in these weird and frankly scary times. My work is stressful and difficult enough on a good day and wildlife watching (and chocolate and alcohol!) gets me through it and with a complete shit storm potentially hitting my work place soon I need even more to loose myself in the natural world.

I have already been lamenting the loss of getting out for the spring migration but am hopeful of catching up with some of the summer migrants as they return south in the autumn, assuming that things may be a little less restrictive then than they are now and assuming I stay well and healthy. And in the bigger scheme of what is going on in the world at the moment there is always (hopefully) next year.

Having the River Plym, Plymouth Hoe and Saltram close by is a big plus and at least I will be able to get out there and find some good stuff - unless the rules change. And it will be good for my waist line too!

Little and Lesser Waders

Thursday 19th September was warm and sunny but with a strong easterly wind and so we decided to head off to the beach at Cawsands for the day. The Cawsand ferry was running from The Barbican but the service stopped after we arrived at Cawsands due to the increasing wind and low tide. An adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gull was seen flying overhead from the ferry to Cawsands but I had much better views of one resting along the shoreline by the Edgecumbe Arms pub at Cremyl while we waited for the ferry back to Plymouth.

Mediterranean Gull, Cremyl

Mediterranean Gull

I had the moth box out in the back yard that night and the following morning had a few nice moths to sort through, the highlights being a silver y, square spot rustics, a shuttle shaped dart, a light emerald and a large ranunculus.

Silver Y, Back-yard

Square Spot Rustic

Shuttle Shaped Dart

Light Emerald

Large Ranunculus

Large Ranunculus 

Friday September 20th was another warm and sunny day but with an even stronger easterly wind and so we headed off out for the day with Mother-in-law, firstly to Aveton Gifford where I was dropped off for a wander around South Efford Marsh while David and Beryl carried on to Kingsbridge.

A lesser yellowlegs had been seen on the marsh the previous day and had also been seen that morning but the birders on site when I arrived hadn't located the bird. I wandered down to the hide, seeing teal, 4 dunlin, redshank and curlews along the way along with a smart comma butterfly. From the hide I could see some waders roosting at the back of the marsh but they were distant and obscured and the harsh light and strong wind hampered viewing. As the tide receded the waders flew out to the estuary, a mix of greenshank and redshank, and 2 birds were left behind, a black-tailed godwit and the lesser yellowlegs. It began to feed along the waters edge but never came any closer with the viewing conditions remaining difficult but I was glad to see it, my 4th UK sighting of one.

Comma, South Efford Marsh

It was soon time for me to be picked up and we all carried on to nearby Bigbury for a walk over to Burgh Island for refreshments in The Pilchard Inn. It was great fun walking across to the Island as we were sand blasted in the strong winds blowing right across the beach and needless to say I didn't get my binoculars or camera out due to the danger of sand scratching my lenses.

Saturday 21st September and my planned pelagic trip out to The Eddytsone from Plymouth with the DBWPS Group was cancelled for a second time due to the weather conditions and so I caught the train down to Hayle for a look around. I almost decided against going as the weather forecast was for rain but I'm glad I made the effort as I had a great time and the rain held off until I headed home.

On arriving at Hayle at around 10:45hrs I walked over to the Carnsew Pool but with the tide still high there was no exposed mud and therefore no birds other than a pair of little grebes. I had a quick look up the estuary from the embankment wall of the Pool and found an osprey sat on a post out in the river but by the time I had walked along the road to get a closer view it had flown off! However it soon returned and gave some great views as it flew around the estuary spooking all the birds and hovering over the water and diving unsuccessfully for fish before disappearing from view.

Osprey, Hayle Estuary

A group of small waders were feeding in the saltmarsh where views were difficult in the vegetation but scanning through them I noted dunlin, ringed plover, turnstone and a ruff but no sign of the recently reported little stints. On Ryan's Field 2 more ruff were found amongst the roosting curlew and bar-tailed godwits along with a single black-tailed godwit and a lapwing while over on the estuary on the dropping tide I found 2 knot and a very nice spotted redshank with oystercatchers, greenshanks and redshanks plus a variety of Mediterranean gulls amongst the roosting and preening gull flock.

Greenshank

Amongst the wigeon, teal and Canada geese out on the estuary were 6 pale-bellied brent geese, only my 2nd Hayle sighting, but despite scanning around I still couldn't find any little stints and so I headed back down to the Carnsew Poool for another look. The mud was beginning to be exposed and I found a few bar-tailed godwits busily feeding when a small wader flew over my head and landed out on the mud - a little stint! It gave some great views before it flew off after a few minutes but I was very pleased to see it after a blank year last year.

 Pale-bellied Brent Goose

 Pale-bellied Brent Geese

 Little Stint

 Little Stint

Little Stint

I walked back up the estuary to St.Erth to catch the train home and as I reached the causeway bridge for a last quick scan around the osprey returned, flying over the estuary and spooking everything before landing on the post again, a nice end to a great day in what has been a great wildlife watching week.

Osprey