Rain at Rame, Sunshine on Dartmoor

The weather forecast for Sunday night/ Monday morning on July 26th/27th was for gales and rain and so I decided to visit Rame Head on Monday 27th July to try a bit of sea watching. I didn't get on site until nearly 10 am, much later than I really wanted but after working a night shift on Saturday night and having only 3 hours sleep in 36 hours I needed a decent night's sleep and a lie in.

It was mizzley and very windy on arriving at The Chapel on Rame Head and as I settled into position out of the wind I picked up a few Gannet offshore quickly followed by a few Manx Shearwater moving west. The Shearwaters were moving through in a slow but steady trickle and around 100 were seen in total in my 3 hours of scanning. A few Fulmars and Kittiwakes were also noted along with more Gannets including a small flock circling over a pod of Harbour Porpoise as they unobtrusively broke the surface in the choppy seas but unfortunately I found nothing more unusual although there were some interesting reports from elsewhere along the South Devon/Cornwall coast.

At one point the rain bucketed down and visibility was almost down to zero but eventually the rain cleared through, the wind eased and the sun appeared and I watched a 6-Spot Burnet, Gatekeeper, Wall, Meadow Brown, a Red Admiral and Small White along the cliff tops and along the lanes.

 Gatekeeper

Wall

Whitethroat, Swallow, House Martin and Greenfinch were also seen along with just 1 Fallow Deer, a very impressive looking stag with large antlers.

A wet but enjoyable visit and not a lot on show although the next day Sooty Shearwater and Great Skua were both reported from Rame Head - never mind.

Wednesday 29th July was a rare day when we were both free and so we drove up to Dartmoor to walk along the old railway line from Princetown to Swell Tor Quarry and back. It was a warm but breezy day and mostly sunny and the air was very clear giving some amazing views across the Moor and out to Plymouth and the coast. It was very busy with walkers though and there were quite a few very yappy dogs but we had a very enjoyable time.

The highlight for David was finding the corbels left by the side of the railway line that had been made for London Bridge but which were surplus to requirements.

London Bridge Corbels, Swell Tor Quarry

My highlights were Wheatear, Skylark Raven, Kestrel, Buzzard, Swallow and Meadow Pipit, Emperor Dragonfly, Common Blue Damselfly and Common Darter in Foggintor Quarry and Small Heath, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell and Meadow Brown.

Emperor Dragonfly

Common Blue Damselfly

Common Darter

I finally had the moth box out in the back yard overnight on Wednesday 29th/Thursday 30th July and while it was warmer than previous nights it was still chilly and I only had a few moths in it when I checked it out in the morning. Four-spotted Footman, 2 Knot Grass, Silver Y and Lime-speck Pug were new for the garden year list in what was a disappointing total of 15 moths of 12 species.

 Silver Y

 Knot Grass

 Cabbage Moth

Lime Speck Pug

Four-spotted Footman (male)

Thursday 30th July and with a night shift looming I met my work friend Sue and her 2 children at Wembury for a walk and a chat. It was hot and sunny and pleasantly breezy and very busy with beach goers but we did see a few Gannets offshore along with an Oystercatcher, Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails along the beach. Gatekeeper. Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Small White, Peacock and Meadow Brown were flitting about and the toilet block held a Dingy Footman, a Rusty Dot Pearl and a Double-striped Pug. A female Beautiful Demoiselle was a nice find too in the valley to the beach.

Fifth Hairstreak of 2019

The August weather continues to be consistent with lots of wind and rain and with a big storm arriving on Friday August 9th the sea watching community was all in a twitter. However the storm failed to deliver much in the way of birds but on Saturday 10th we drove to Rame Head for a quick look offshore. It was very windy and the seas were rough but the light was appalling and I only managed to pick out a few very distant gannets, mostly dark juveniles, and I also picked up a few distant Manx shearwaters belting along over the water and only really visible when they briefly sheared out of the wave troughs.

With another night shift on August 12th I headed out to Wembury in the morning for another quick walk. It was quieter on this visit than last week but I did get good views of 10+ cirl buntings feeding in the wheatfield and flitting up into the hedges and there were noticeably more whitethroats around in the brambles at The Point. A wheatear in the horse fields was the first of the autumn and chiffchaffs were seen and heard calling.

With it being low tide the oystercatchers were strung out along the rocky shoreline with 3 curlews and 7 little egrets. 2 common lizards were seen on the fence and the usual butterflies were dashing about including a smart red admiral. A male beautiful demoiselle was again seen from the bridge in the valley to the beach but unfortunately there were no moths in the toilet block.

Common Lizard, Wembury

Red Admiral, Wembury

A scruffy looking robin was seen on the fence by the horse field and later another scruffy individual was seen stealing pasty crumbs at the cafe.

Robin, Wembury

Robin, Wembury

With a brief spell of good weather forecast for Wednesday August 15th sandwiched between 2 grotty days I decided to visit Neatherclay near Taunton to look for brown hairstreaks.

I caught the 07:25 train to Taunton (but boobed by not using the Split Ticketing website which would have saved me £7!) and then the bus to Neatherclay and arrived in the woodland reserve at around 10:00am. It was cloudy and breezy, not ideal weather, but there were increasingly sunny periods and along the woodland rides it was quite sheltered and quite warm in the sun.

A fellow butterflyer was already on site and showed me a brown hairstreak egg he had seen being laid by a female a week previously but there had been no sign of any adults so far that morning.

Brown Hairstreak Egg, Neatherclay

I wandered along the woodland rides and managed to find southern hawkers, common darters and both banded- and beautiful demoiselles plus small whites, speckled woods, a comma, gatekeepers, meadow browns, a silver washed fritillary, green veined whites, red admirals and painted lady but no brown hairstreaks.

Banded Demoiselle, Neatherclay

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker

Southern Hawker

Common Darter

Common Darter

 Ommon Darter

Green-veined White

Small White

Silver-washed Fritillary

Painted Lady

Fly Sp.

Time was marching on but eventually I found a female brown hairstreak resting low down on a sloe bush right by the footpath just as it flew off into the nearby trees. I eventually refound it basking on a leaf in the weak sunshine before it flew off again but a short time later I located it inspecting sloe bushes by the path, creeping down and around the branches looking for somewhere to lay its eggs.

Brown Hairstreak, Neatherclay

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

 Brown Hairstreak 

 Brown Hairstreak 

 Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak 

Brown Hairstreak

Another brown hairstreak was seen flitting about in a tree top and later another female was found egg laying by the footpath, a different individual than the one seen earlier with both its hairstreaks intact.

Brown Hairstreak, Neatherclay

Brown Hairstreak

Brown Hairstreak

It was soon time to start the journey back to Plymouth but before catching the bus back into Taunton I had a look around the Silk Mills Nature Reserve behind the park and ride bus station, somewhere I haven't visited before. I had an enjoyable walk around the reserve and added peacock, common blue and brown argus to the days butterfly list and also saw 2 kingfishers, a male reed bunting and a small red eyed damselfly.

Brown Argus, Silk Mills

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

Small Red-eyed Damselfly

It was soon time to head back to Taunton to catch the train back to Plymouth and along the way I saw 2 adult lesser black backed gulls bathing in the river with herring gulls and a pair of holly blues mating in a tree outside the train station.

 Lesser Black-backed Gull, Taunton

Holly Blues, Taunton

And so a great day out - the trains all ran to time, 14 butterfly species were seen and I have managed to see and photograph all 5 of the UK hairstreak species in one season.