Flitty Frits on Dartmoor

Birdy 2020 is no more. Not sure what happened to him, he seemed well and settled in the builders yard on the Saturday morning but on the Sunday morning before we left the house for our drive to Hayle it was eerily silent and there was no sign of the usual adult bird on sentry duty on the roof either. On returning from Hayle that afternoon there was still no sight or sound of the adults or Birdy and nor again on the Monday morning. It is possible he managed to get under the gate of the yard and on to the main road or more likely he was taken out by a cat or even a rat as he had no real fear of anything and would sleep right out in the open, being oblivious to everything around him. A very sad end to this years breeding attempt by our Herring Gull pair.

Tuesday 23rd June and with the beginning of a mini heatwave I decided to visit Grenofen again for a walk. It was a total contrast to last weeks visit with hot and humid and sunny conditions and as a result there were plenty of insects around including very active and fast flying butterflies.

I regularly saw fritillaries flitting about but they rarely settled for more than a few seconds if at all but I did manage to get some decent views of a very worn Dark Green Fritillary as it occassionally returned to briefly rest on the same Bracken frond. I also managed to get some excellent views of a very showy Silver Washed Fritillary as it dashed around a small clearing and occasionally perched low down on bushes and I also managed to get a record shot of a briefly settled High Brown Fritillary too.

Dark Green Fritillary

Dark Green Fritillary 

Dark Green Fritillary 

Dark Green Fritillary 

Silver Washed Fritillary 

Silver Washed Fritillary 

Silver Washed Fritillary

Silver Washed Fritillary 

High Brown Fritillary

Ringlet, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Meadow Brown, Comma and Large White were also seen and there were good numbers of Beautiful Demoiselles and a few Golden Ringed Dragonfly flying around too. A Long Horn Beetle was a nice find flying around before landing briefly on the bracken. My first Hummingbird Hawkmoth of the year was a nice surprise too briefly feeding on bramble flowers.

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

Long Horn Beetle

Long Horn Beetle

Bird wise it was quiet in the heat but Tree Pipit, Yellowhammer, Siskin, Goldcrest, Buzzard, Great-spotted Woodpecker and Swallow were all seen with Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler all heard still singing away.

Wednesday 24th June was another scorching hot day and with another night shift looming I headed over to Central Park in the morning for another look for White Letter Hairstreaks and this time I was in luck with a very smart looking individual giving excellent views feeding on bramble flowers.

 White Letter Hairstreak

 White Letter Hairstreak

 White Letter Hairstreak

 White Letter Hairstreak

 White Letter Hairstreak

White Letter Hairstreak 

Green-veined White and Comma were also seen in the Park and nearby in Ford Park Cemetery Marbled White, Meadow Brown and Ringlet were flying around with a Cinnabar Moth and 6-Spot Burnets. Overhead a Peregrine circled higher and higher on the thermals and Swifts and Gulls feasted on flying ants.

With the warm weather I have had the moth box out in the back yard but the catches have been small although I did find my first Small Magpie, Crassa unitella and Rustic/Uncertain of the year.

 Small Magpie

 Crassa unitella

Rustic/Uncertaim

More Butterflies and Birdy 2019

After visiting Mother-in-Law at Derriford Hospital on the morning of Saturday 29th June we travelled onwards to Grenofen Woods for a walk. It was an overcast but hot and humid day and shortly after arriving at the car park in the woods we had a brief rain shower before the cloud cleared and it became very hot and very humid in the sunshine.

We crossed back over the bridge and headed down river to start our walk along a route we haven't taken before. Fortunately there was some industrial archeology to interest David and we saw the remains of an arsenic kiln and a tall chimney hidden in the trees amongst other ruins.

Eventually we arrived out of the woods and onto West Down where David settled down to read the paper in a shady, breezy spot while I traipsed around the bracken covered slopes in the sweltering heat to look for fritillary butterflies.

In the heat a tree pipit was occassionally singing and song flighting, a willow warbler was heard too and a family party of chiffchaffs was nice to see especially as the fledglings were quite curious and came very close to me. A few stonechats were seen as well but otherwise it was quiet on the bird front.

I found a painted lady feeding on bramble flowers before a large fritillary species flew past low over the bracken and headed off out of sight in an orange blur. Shortly after I found another large fritillary flitting about before it settled on some vegetation and on closer inspection it revealed itself to be a dark green fritillary, showing its underwing patterning very nicely.

Dark Green Fritillary 

Dark Green  Fritillary 

Dark Green Fritillary

It would regularly fly off for brief sorties around the area before returning to the same spot but eventually it ended up in a tussle with a second fritillary passing by and this fritillary eventually won control of this obviously lucrative spot. This fritillary had signs of wear on it's right wing and so was clearly a different individual but I never caught a sight of its underwing. I thought it was a high brown fritillary and subsequent ID help on Twitter confirmed my suspicions.

High Brown Fritillary

High Brown Fritillary wing close-up

A third fritillary joined the party and all 3 eventually became embroiled in a tussle before they all disappeared from view and with David's boredom threshold having been reached it was time to head homewards to cool down with a very cold beer.

Tuesday 2nd July and I decided to investigate the elm situation in Central Park again in the hope of maybe finding white letter hairstreaks. It was warm and sunny but a little breezy and on arriving at the hacked back elm tree where I saw the hairstreaks last year I met local naturalist Vic Tucker who was searching for the hairstreaks too. He had seen one briefly which was very good news and I was even more pleased to learn from him that the surrounding trees were in fact elm hybrids and suitable food plants for white letter hairstreak caterpillars so hopefully the colony should be ok.

A comma, meadow browns, a marbled white and a red admiral were all seen and eventually I picked up a white letter hairstreak flitting about in the top of a hybrid elm tree before disappearing from sight. Further brief sightings were had and eventually 2 were seen tussling with each other in flight over the leaves before 1 settled briefly in view on a leaf. Later 1 was seen flying down to a flowering cottoneaster tree nearby and I eventually found it nectaring on the blooms but it was fidgety and often obscured by the vegetation and eventually I lost sight of it. I couldn't make out the white 'w' mark but could see the orange colouring on the brown underwings before it flew off. It presumably flew back into the tree tops as I failed to refind it amongst the flowers but I was very relieved and very pleased to have seen it.

Walking home via Ford Park Cemetery I saw my first gatekeeper of the year, looking freshly emerged, along with 2 painted lady, ringlet, marbled white, meadow brown and a small tortoiseshell.

 Gatekeeper

 Gatekeeper 

 Marbled White

 Small Tortoiseshell

Pyrausta aurata

Pyrausta aurata

The next morning was the morning after the night before due to a night out on the town for sister-in-law Julie's 60th birthday and so with the weather still good and my head a little sore I decided to head up to Central Park for another look at the white letter hairstreaks. More butterfliers were present this time including Ian Teague who was very informative regarding elm trees and the situation in Central Park.

Bizarrely a white letter hairstreak was eventually found down on the grass before flying off and I managed to get a brief view of it. I also checked out the tree tops again and this time found just a single white letter hairstreak flitting about and occassionally giving some good if distant views settled on leaves. However David eventually arrived to meet me and it was time to head off to The Hoe for lunch without any better views (or photos).

And it is that time of year again when we become foster parents to Birdy the herring gull chick, this year he started coming down the chimney on Sunday 30th June and we rescued him out of the living grate on Tuesday 2nd July before placing him on next doors flat roof. He is smaller and fluffier than other chicks we have rescued in previous years and was very quiet and passive on being handled but after placing him out on the flat roof the adult birds arrived immediately, scoffed all the tinned sardines we had placed out on the roof in a bowl and then regurgitated them to Birdy which he duly ate and he seems to be all ok - noise, mess, sleepless nights and early morning starts here we come!

Birdy 2019 - looking like butter wouldn't melt!

Dorset and Wiltshire Butterflies

My original plan had been to visit Salisbury in Wiltshire for a few days away for my birthday so I could visit nearby Bentley Woods to look for purple emperors, a little late in the season in normal years but too late this year due to the amazing hot and dry weather we have been experiencing recently so curtailing the season early - hence my visit to Bentley Woods by train back in June.

And so on Wednesday 18th July we drove to Salisbury but with Bentley Woods no longer on the itinerary and on the drive there we stopped off at Athelhampton House and Gardens in Dorset for a visit. The house was very interesting and the gardens were lovely and I managed some interesting wildlife sightings.

Comma, holly blue, red admiral, large white, meadow brown, gatekeeper and small white were all seen along with a hummingbird hawkmoth, beautiful demoiselle, flyover siskin and a family party of spotted flycatchers moving through the trees.

Comma

Hummingbird Hawkmoth

Beautiful Demoiselle

Driving on to Salisbury and we stopped off in a layby on the A35 near Bere Regis where I wandered around the very dry vergeside vegetation looking for Essex skippers which are found here. I had a very brief view of a skipper before it dashed off, it had the black tips to the underside of its antenna indicative of an Essex skipper but despite searching I couldn't refind it.

Common blues were flying around and I watched one checking out what I thought was a female common blue but on closer inspection I realised it was a brown argus, appearing newly emerged and in beautiful condition.

Brown Argus

Brown Argus

Further searching in hot and humid conditions while the traffic thundered past along the carriageway was proving fruitless and just as I was about to give up and head back to the car I eventually found an Essex skipper which was quite flighty and a swine to observe but I managed to get a few photos of the black undersides of its antenna - I was very pleased to find one as it has been over 32 years since I last saw one back in Suffolk.

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper 

Essex Skipper 

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper

On to Salisbury and The Grasmere Hotel where we stayed for 3 nights was very nice, the room was cool and quiet and with no noisy herring gulls nearby so we actually slept very well. The hotel was on the river and with views of the cathedral and we had a very pleasent stay.

Thursday 19th July and it was hot and sunny and humid as usual and we headed out to Old Sarum for a visit, somewhere we have visited twice before in the winter but never in the summer. It was very interesting but for me the butterflies stole the show, they were everywhere - small white, brimstone, peacock, small tortoiseshell, red admiral, ringlet, common blue, brown argus, large white, gatekeeper, meadow brown, marbled white, chalkhill blue, green veined white and clouded yellow - amazing!

 Brimstone

 Large White

 Small Tortoiseshell

 Chalkhill Blue

Clouded Yellow

Also seen was a dusky sallow feeding on a thistle flower, a new moth for me, along with the usual silver y and 6 spot burnet, and yellowhammers were busily singing away.

Dusky Sallow

Onwards to nearby Woodhenge, a new place for us, and we followed a National Trust walking trail around the nearby area. A corn bunting and another spotted flycatcher family were the bird highlights with more brown argus and common blues being the butterfly highlights. I checked out all the skippers flitting about but all the ones I was able to identify were small and not Essex. The views on the walk were lovely across Salisbury Plain towards Stonehenge and the Barrows were interesting too but the traffic jams on the A303 didn't look much fun.

 Spotted Flycatcher 

 Brown Argus

Small Skipper - orange underside to the antenna tips

Small Skipper

Our last visit of the day was to Figsbury Ring, a National Trust managed Iron Age Fort and another site awash with butterflies - chalkhill blue, brown argus, large white, meadow brown, brimstone, small white, common blue, marbled white, holly blue and gatekeeper all flying with small heath and faded dark green fritillary also seen along with a Pyrausta nigrata.

 Dark Green Fritillary

 Small Heath

 Chalkhill Blue on Harebell

Chalkhill Blue 

Pyrausta nigrata

Friday 20th July and another hot and sunny day greeted us as we drove to Old Wardour Castle near Tisbury for a visit, a very peaceful and interesting place with a red kite flying over adding some avian interest.

Next stop was Heale Gardens near Salisbury where another family party of spotted flycatchers were seen in the trees, a hobby dashed past overhead and brimstones and green veined whites flitted about with a Pyrausta aurata.

 Spotted Flycatcher 

Spotted Flycatcher 

Pyrausta aurata

The final stop of the day was Woodhenge again where we had another wander around, seeing small heath, yellowhammers and a roe deer on a walk around the area.

Yellowhammer with House Sparrow

Saturday 21st July and our final day before heading back to Plymouth was spent looking around Salisbury and admiring the amazing architecture. A look along the river bank in the hotel garden before checking out revealed a few banded demoiselles resting on the vegetation along with a brief view of a green looking damselfly, probably an emerald damselfly.

We visited the cathedral and did a tour of the spire, something we did 20+years ago and which was a great experience then as now. I didn't manage a sighting of any peregrines which usually nest on the spire (but not this year) although I did hear a bird calling a few times.

Salisbury Cathedral

And so a great trip away, good weather, some interesting sight seeing and loads of butterflies - perfect!