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. 

Tigers in the Garden and Rock Pooling at Wembury

Moth boxing overnight on Friday 31st July/Saturday 1st August was again a little disappointing despite warmer temperatures but it was quality if not quantity with a beautiful Coronet the highlight.

Coronet

Coronet

A Ruby Tiger and a Jersey Tiger were great to see too along with 3 male Four-spotted Footmen, a faded Clay, a Lesser Yellow Underwing and a Large Yellow Underwing.

Four-spotted Footman (male)

Jersey Tiger

Jersey Tiger

Ruby Tiger

After sorting out the moth box I headed out to Wembury for a walk. It was cooler than my visit on Thursday and cloudier too and by the time I headed home it had totally clouded over and as a result there were fewer people around.

Bird wise it was quiet again with a Whimbrel, 2 Curlew, Oystercatchers, a Little Egret and 3 adult Mediterranean Gulls moulting into winter plumage seen along the beach. Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Whitethroat were seen and heard along with the usual Linnet, Cirl Bunting and Stonechat. Gannets and a lone Fulmar were seen offshore and a Ringed Plover was heard calling but remained unseen. A Kestrel hovered over the hillside and a Grey Heron was disturbed from the small stream in Churchwood Valley.

Butterflies were on the wing with Speckled Wood, a Small Skipper, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Small White, Holly Blue, Peacock, Red Admiral and Common Blue all seen. The toilet block held a Brimstone Moth, a Riband Wave, 3 Dingy Footman and 2 Double-striped Pug and along the walk I found a single Silver Y. Digger Wasps were again buzzing around their burrows along the footpath and various bees were buzzing around the flowers.

Speckled Wood

Bee Sp.

 Digger Wasp

Digger Wasp

I walked over the rocks at Wembury Point on the low tide to get a better look at a juvenile gull that I thought looked Yellow-legged Gull like but which turned out to be a Herring Gull and while out on the rocks I had a look in the rock pools and found quite a few interesting creatures including Porcelain Crab, Brittle Star, Cushion Starfish, Sea Urchin and Hermit Crab amongst others.

Porcelain Crab

Porcelain Crab 

Brittle Star

Brittle Star

 Brittle Star

Brittle Star 

Sea Urchin

Common Lizards were out sunbathing on the fences with 3 seen and 3 male and a female Beautiful Demoiselle were seen along the stream in the valley to the beach.

Common Lizard

Beautiful Demoiselle showing the white pseudo-pterostigma on the tip of the leading edge of the wings

Sunday 2nd August and I decided to take my usual walk out along the River Plym and through Saltram to Blaxton Meadow for the afternoon high tide roost, something I have neglected to do recently. I took my telescope with me to scan through the gulls on the Meadow as yellow-legged gulls have been reported recently from here but there were only Black-headed Gulls and Herring Gulls present with a lone juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull along with 34 Curlew, Canada Geese, a Grey Heron and 11 Little Egret.

Nuthatch, Swallow, Stock Dove, Buzzard, Blackcap and a Skylark were seen around Saltram with Chiffchaff and Ring-necked Parakeet heard.

Butterflies were on the wing in the warm and humid conditions and Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Common Blue were all seen along with a worn Small Skipper, a worn Marbled White and a Clouded Yellow plus 6-Spot Burnet and Shaded Broad-bar.

 Clouded Yellow

 6-Spot Burnet

Shaded Broad-bar

Heat Wave Moths and Butterflies

July 18th and an even hotter day than before and it was time to hit the beach. We headed over to Cawsands in Cornwall on the ferry from The Barbican in Plymouth and it was a beautiful and sunny and still day. Not much in the way of birdlife in the sweltering heat but a buzzard high overhead was probably enjoying the cooler air up there if not the noisy attentions of herring gulls. It was so hot I even had a swim in the sea, something I haven't done in this country for many a year now.

Walking back from Cawsands to Cremyll through Mount Edgcumbe Park was hot and sweaty but good for butterflies with marbled whites, ringlets, meadow browns, gatekeepers,  a small tortiseshell, large skippers, large whites and red admirals all being seen but there was no sign of any purple hairstreaks around the oak tree where I saw them last year. A consolation was seeing a silver washed fritillary dashing across the bracken covered hillside but it didn't settle and was soon lost from sight. More obliging was my first male four spotted footman of the year flitting about the buildings at Derrys Cross in Plymouth.

Four Spotted Footman - male

I had the moth box out in the back yard overnight and in the morning of July 19th I had a small but varied catch with an eyed hawkmoth and a cinnabar moth being new for the back yard and other highlights being buff tip, dot moth, small yellow wave, 2 marbled green and coronet.

Marbled Green

Marbled Green

Buff Arches

Four Spotted Footman - female

Cinnabar Moth

Buff Tip

Buff Tip

Eyed Hawkmoth - found on bushes by moth trap and with damage to right wing

Small Yellow Wave

Coronet - a beautiful looking moth

Despite the heat I headed off by bus to Wembury for a walk and there were lots of butterflies on the wing with small skipper, small copper, red admiral, gatekeeper, ringlet, large white and common blue all seen. A dwarf cream wave and a buff ermine were found in the toilet block which I caught and released outside and along the walk I saw six spot burnets, a silver y and a knot grass caterpillar.

 Dwarf Cream Wave

 Red Admiral

 Small Copper

Knot Grass Caterpillar

A few birds were seen too including 2 whimbrels along the beach, gannets distantly offshore including a few all dark juveniles, a male kestrel trying to hunt for prey at Wembury Point despite the noisy attentions of 2 juveniles, chiffchaffs, whitethroats, stonechats and at least 2 singing male cirl buntings.

David and Julie arrived in the car and we enjoyed a pasty and coffee for lunch before having a paddle in the sea in the increasing heat. It was soon too hot and so after enjoying an ice cream we headed off back home to seek out some shade and cool down.

Back to work in the morning - not looking forward to it!