Heat Wave Wildlife

It has become very hot and sunny since our return to Plymouth from our trip to Suffolk with the heat increasing daily. It is also very still with very little breeze and it is becoming quite unbearable but it has meant that conditions are perfect for back yard moth boxing. 

I had the moth box out in the back yard on our return to Plymouth from Suffolk and on checking it out the next morning on Friday 16th July after a warm and muggy night I was pleased to finally get a decent haul of moths.

The highlight was a Chocolate Tip, the first one I have ever seen, and other highlights in the trap were a V Pug, 3 Coronet, a Marbled Green, an Old Lady and a Grey/Dark Dagger. 

Coronet

Marbled Green

Old Lady

Grey/Dark Dagger

Saturday 17th July and I headed down to Falmouth in Cornwall for a 7 hour boat trip offshore to look for cetaceans and sea birds. It was a hot and sunny day as the heatwave continued to build and with very little breeze the sea was flat calm and crystal clear.

Manx Shearwaters were constantly seen along with Gannets and Fulmars. A single Storm Petrel was seen resting on the sea before flying off, a Whimbrel flew over the boat heading towards the coast, an adult Mediterranean Gull was feeding amongst a group of Black-headed Gulls and a Raven and a juvenile Peregrine were seen flying along the cliffs.

Manx Shearwater

Gannet

The conditions were ideal for looking out for any movement at the waters surface and we were very lucky to find 4 pods of Common Dolphins, all amazing encounters as they came to bow ride at the front of the boat and giving fantastic views in the clear water. They were close enough to hear their vocalisations and blows at the surface, a wonderful experience.

Common Dolphins

Common Dolphins 

Common Dolphins 

Common Dolphins 

Common Dolphins 

Common Dolphins 

Common Dolphins

An Ocean Sunfish was another good find as it flapped its fin at the surface and we also had good views of a Harbour Seal and 3 Grey Seals close to the shore. The floating and very smelly corpse of a Minke Whale was a sad sight and not the one we had hoped to see. 

Minke Whale corpse

Sunday 18th July was hotter, sunnier and even less breezey and so we headed out to Bolt Head for a coast walk, figuring it may have been cooler along the cliff path than elsewhere and indeed it probably was but only just slightly so. The hot weather meant there were butterflies everywhere and I found my first Gatekeepers and Graylings of the year along with a Dark Green Fritillary, Small Copper, a Common Blue, Meadow Brown, a Peacock, Red Admiral, Small Skipper, a Speckled Wood, a Small Tortoiseshell and Whites.

Grayling

Monday 19th July and on checking out the back yard moth box in the morning there were fewer moths than previously but the highlights were a male Four-spotted Footman, a Clay, a Brussels Lace, 3 Coronet, a Small Fan-Footed Wave and a Poplar Grey. 

Four-spotted Footman (male) 

Small Fan-Footed Wave

Poplar Grey

After checking through the moths I headed out to Wembury for a walk, my first for a few weeks now, and it was even hotter as the heatwave continues. 

Butterflies were again very noticeable and I was pleased to see a Wall, a Dark Green Fritillary,  2 male Common Blue, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown, Whites, Ringlet, Gatekeeper and quite a few Comma. 

Gatekeeper

Gatekeeper

On the incoming tide there were 27 Oystercatcher, 2 Curlew, a Little Egret and 15 juvenile Black-headed Gulls amongst the adult Gulls out on the rocks. 

Whitethroat and Stonechat fledglings were seen along the footpath, both seeming to have had a good breeding season this year and Whitethroats were heard singing too. 2 Cirl Buntings were heard singing  and another male was briefly seen while overhead a Buzzard, Kestrel and juvenile Peregrine were noted. 

Isles of Scilly Day Trip, Tuesday September 17th

With the weather forecast set fair for September 17th I booked my ferry and train tickets on the 16th for my day trip to The Scillies and indeed the weather was good - warm and mostly sunny with a gentle breeze.

After an 04:45 hrs alarm call and a train journey down to Penzance the ferry sailed out of Penzance Harbour at 09:15 hrs where 4 male and a female eider duck were bobbing about on the waves, the males either immatures or eclipse plumaged adults.

The crossing was as enjoyable as always although there were far fewer seabirds seen than on my last 2 trips. There were plenty of gannets with a few fulmar, guillemots, Manx shearwaters, distant auks and 2 ringed plovers along with a few pods of common dolphins, one of which came towards the ferry to bow ride.

Common Dolphins from The Scillonian

On arriving at St. Mary's at Midday I decided to stay on the island and look for a juvenile red-backed shrike being seen near Porth Hellick. Unfortunately the shrike had been seen around 30 minutes before I got there but had been flushed by walkers and had flown off - despite searching I didn't refind it and indeed it wasn't reported again. I did manage to see a spotted flycatcher, a whinchat and a whitethroat but the highlight was a wryneck pointed out to me by a couple of local birders which showed very well at times. Also seen were stonechats, swallows, chiffchaffs, blackcaps, house martins and song thrush.

 Spotted Flycatcher, St.Mary's

 Wryneck, Whitethroat and Stonechats

Wryneck and Whitethroat

Juvenile Swallow

A few butterflies were seen flitting about - large whites including a mating pair and some caterpillars feeding on nasturtiums, small whites, a peacock and quite a few speckled woods of the Scilly form.

 Large White

 Large White Caterpillars

Speckled Wood - Scilly form

A green sandpiper was a nice find from the hide at Porth Hellick Pool along with a snipe and 2 grey wagtails but time was marching on and it was soon time to head back to Hugh Town to catch the 16:30hrs ferry back to Penzance.

The ferry crossing back to Penzance was enjoyable too with gannets, fulmar, Manx shearwaters and guillemots seen along with 3 juvenile kittiwakes, a great skua and a razorbill plus the usual common dolphins.

Arriving back in Penzance and St. Michael's Mount was looking gorgeous in the setting sun and I eventually arrived back home at 22:45hrs having had a very long and tiring but very enjoyable day out.

 St. Michael's Mount

 St.Michael's Mount

Juvenile Herring Gull, Penzance Harbour

Sea Watch Fest on the Pont Aven Ferry

Friday 6th October was fine and sunny, a beautiful autumn day and surprisingly warm by lunchtime, and so I headed off to Wembury for a quick walk. Despite the promise of something unusual present in the air I saw the usual suspects for the time of year but enjoyed the walk anyway. Highlights were an adult winter Mediterranean gull amongst the gull roost on the rocks, 7+ mobile and flighty little egrets along the shore on the outgoing tide, 3 juvenile swallows over the horse stables before heading off west, a juvenile wheatear feeding in the horse field, chiffchaffs including a singing bird, cirl buntings including a singing bird, a hunting female sparrowhawk and at least 2 curlew on the rocks amongst the oystercatchers. Best of all was a flock of around 20 common scoter flying west distantly offshore, my first Wembury sighting.

No moths in the toilet block but plenty of butterflies were on the wing - red admirals, large whites, speckled woods, small coppers and 2 very smart looking clouded yellow. There were 5 common lizards and a dark bush cricket also making the most of the warm sunshine as they basked on the wooden fences.

 

 Clouded Yellow

Dark Bush Cricket

In the evening we enjoyed a meal at The Dock with Julie and Matt before boarding the Amorique ferry to Roscoff in France for our usual yearly short break away. The crossing was very calm and still but I didn't sleep that well, probably due to too much food and alcohol before going to bed, and on arriving in Roscoff in the early morning it was dull and grey. The sun did eventually appear and it was pleasently warm before the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in but it did at least remain dry. We broke from tradition and instead of visiting Morlaix we caught the ferry across to the Ile de Batz from Roscoff, a 10 minute trip and something we haven't done before. The Ile was very beautiful, peaceful and quiet and with a feel of the Isles of Scilly but without the crowds. We eventually found a cafe that was open where we had a beer and then had a walk up to the lighthouse on the highest point of the island at just 44 metres above sea level before we caught the ferry back to Roscoff for an over night stay at the Hotel des Arcades.

The usual birds were seen along the shore from Roscoff and from the ferry - a kingfisher, 4 brent geese, Sandwich terns, a lone Mediterranean gull amongst the black headed gulls, little egrets, 4 greenshank, turnstones, shags, grey herons, great black backed gulls, curlews and herring gulls with a few gannets noted distantly offshore. The highlight though was a female marsh harrier battling against the wind on the Ile de Batz as viewed from the lighthouse in what has been a very marsh harrier year.

 Roscoff

Ile de Batz Lighthouse

Too much food and alcohol made for another poor nights sleep again and on leaving the hotel at 8am to catch the ferry back to Plymouth it was dark, still, mizzly and misty and there had been lots of rain overnight with large puddles present in the car park that were not there the previous day.

It was still misty and mizzly as we set sail at 9:15am on the Pont Aven ferry but the sea was flat and calm and I wasn't sure how successful my wildlife watching was going to be. I needn't have worried though as I had my best Roscoff to Plymouth ferry trip ever - the previous days strong winds and the overnight rain had made for some interesting conditions.

As we left port I picked up 2 adult winter Mediterranean gulls flying by in the gloom looking even more ghostly white than usual and as we passed by the last rocky outcrops offshore a few gannets drifted past. I then picked up 2 shearwaters heading west across the front of the ferry and was pleased to see they were Balearic - I ran across to the other side of the ferry where I picked up one of the birds as it continued west before it was lost to the mist and I was very pleased to have seen them considering the poor weather conditions. Shortly after 4 guillemots flew past with more gannets followed by a razorbill and then I picked up another shearwater heading west which I was delighted to find was a sooty shearwater and which was closely followed by another Balearic shearwater allowing good comparison especially in relation to size. 2 more single Balearic shearwaters were picked up heading west with more gannets and then the mist finally cleared and the mizzle stopped and the visibility improved as we headed on into the English Channel.

Another sooty shearwater was picked up heading west and gave some great views as it passed across the front of the ferry and eventually I picked up 3 great skuas, 2 sat on the sea together and a third bird flying around nearby before settling on the sea as well. I decided it was time to get a cup of tea and a cake so headed down to the cafe but quickly realised my mistake as I looked out of the cafe windows to see more great skuas flying around and a large raft of gannets sat on the sea which included a Manx shearwater and a great shearwater - bugger! I quickly headed back up on deck where more great skuas were flying around with gannets and I soon picked up a pod of common dolphins splashing around and leaping out of the water before moving off away from the ferry. Another raft of gannets on the sea included yet another sooty shearwater and I picked up another less showy pod of common dolphins before it quietened down and I finally got to have my tea and cake in the cafe - however I had to quickly wolf it down when I noticed a storm petrel fluttering over the water right in front of the ferry and so I headed back up on deck as quickly as possible.

Yet more great skuas and gannets were seen and I managed to find more storm petrels including a flock of around 10 birds together in front of the boat. A Manx shearwater was seen flying north and more guillemots and razorbills were seen flying past. Fulmars and kittiwakes were also noted along with more pods of common dolphins, there seemed to be small pods everywhere and they were very showy, coming in to the front of the ferry to bow ride - I must have seen 300+ common dolphins in total.

 Common Dolphin splashes 

 Common Dolphins

Gannet and Common Dolphin

Gannets, great skuas, fulmars, herring gulls, guillemots, great black back gulls and common dolphins continued to be seen right up to the Eddystone Lighthouse and as the ferry sailed across The Sound to Millbay Docks a pair of common scoters were near Drakes Island before flying off out to sea, my first sighting in Plymouth Sound and a nice end to the journey.

Curlew Sandpiper, Bowling Green Marsh

Friday 8th September and with another day of grotty weather forecasted I decided to head off to Topsham for the morning hide tide wader roost at Bowling Green Marsh where I could at least sit in the bird hide out of the wind and rain. It was raining as I stepped off the train at Topsham at 9am but it stopped shortly after I arrived and it remained dry although mostly overcast for the rest of the day.

As I entered a packed hide I was met by Dave from Daves Diary who was pointing out a juvenile curlew sandpiper in amongst the waders close to the hide on the new scrapes - a very smart looking bird busily feeding with a few dunlin between the legs of sleeping curlews and redshanks.

 Curlew, Redshank and Black Tailed Godwit

 Curlew Sandpiper

 Curlew Sandpiper

I spent a while in the hide as the tide began dropping until the waders began to fly off to the River Clyst and amongst the curlew, redshank, black tailed godwit, greenshank, lapwing and dunlin were a green sandpiper, a female ruff, 2 whimbrel, a bar tailed godwit and a few ringed plover along with the curlew sandpiper. Eclipse plumaged ducks were dotted around the marsh - pintail, gadwall, mallard, teal, shoveler and wigeon - and a female marsh harrier showed very well quartering back and forth over the reeds at the back of the marsh. A few house martins, sand martins and swallows were buzzing over the water and a kingfisher resting on one of the islands was a nice surprise.

I wandered over to the River Clyst viewing platform to watch the waders feeding on the increasingly exposed mud and managed to find a curlew sandpiper amongst the dunlins, presumably the same bird seen earlier on the marsh. 2 kingfishers were fishing from the walls of Rivers Meet House but there was no sign of any ospreys.

 Kingfisher

 Greenshank

Curlew Sandpiper

Onwards to Dawlish Warren for a quick look around and from the dune ridge I scanned the estuary on a low tide where the only birds of note were a few common terns resting on the sand banks with Sandwich terns. Offshore there was a large mass of birds feeding offshore which seemed to consist of herring gulls and gannets with a few terns while on the sand banks were more roosting Sandwich terns with 2 very smart black terns, my first at Dawlish Warren.

Black Terns

Autumn ladies tresses were still in flower across the site and I also saw a few common darter, a few hawker dragonflies, a male common blue, meadow browns and gatekeepers before it was time to catch the train home just as the rain began to fall again.

 Common Darter

 Sand Wasp

Autumn Ladies Tresses 

 Autumn Ladies Tresses 

Autumn Ladies Tresses 

Tuesday 12th September and I headed down to Falmouth with work colleague Sue for a wildlife boat trip with Orca Safaris, something we have been wanting to do for some time. The weather was looking good for the trip and we headed off from Falmouth Docks out into the bay in grey skies and a gentle breeze. A few gannets and shags were soon found and 2 mute swans close to the beach were a surprise. Eventually we found a small pod of common dolphins much to Sue's delight and we had some great views as they swam around the boat before getting bored and moving away.

 Common Dolphin

 Common Dolphin

 Common Dolphin

Common Dolphin 

 Common Dolphin

Common Dolphin

 Common Dolphin

Common Dolphin

Gannet

Also seen were a few guillemot, plenty of gannets, shags and herring gulls, a first winter Mediterranean gull, a few cormorant, great black backed gulls and 3 Sandwich terns but we didn't go far enough offshore to find any interesting sea birds. And on the way back to shore we got involved with a lifeboat rescue of a yacht that had lost its steering - a very enjoyable trip.

Falmouth Lifeboat