Dartmoor Walk

I worked a Long Day on Monday 8th June and while I am still very angry and pissed off by current events I had a better day. I had Tuesday 9th June off and had no plans for the day but when I awoke early at just after 6am the sky was clear and sunny and so after some breakfast and a bit of TV watching I made a last minute decision to visit Roborough Down for a walk. I arrived on site at 09:30hrs and the forecasted clouds were beginning to appear and by 11:30hrs the sun had disappeared behind them but I still had an enjoyable walk.

It was cool in the breeze when I first arrived but in the shelter of bushes and shrubs it was warm in the sunshine and I found a few butterflies on the wing - a Small Tortoiseshell, 2 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (1 worn, 1 fresh looking), Meadow Brown, Small Heath, Large Skipper and 3 Green Hairstreak with a female watched egg laying on the soft young growth of Gorse.

Small Tortoiseshell

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak

Green Hairstreak

The male Dartford Warbler was again singing energetically in the same spot and showed very well allowing me to take some slightly better quality record shots than usual. Sadly I have to assume that he has yet to find a mate this Spring considering his vigorous and sustained performance so late in the year.

Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

Stonechat, Bullfinch, Willow Warbler, Meadow Pipit, Skylark and Yellowhammer were all seen and a surprise was a female Pheasent sat out on the grass in the open before leaping up to reveal around 10 small chicks underneath her which scattered into the bushes while she flapped and squawked at me.

Yellowhammer

Pheasent chick

Another surprise was a family party of Stoats which frolicked together along the Leat, never stopping for more than a second before disappearing into the gorse when a dog arrived on the scene.

Stoats

A large Drinker Moth Caterpillar was found on the footpath and moved to safety nearby and a Scorpion Fly was a nice find and I even managed a photo of its tail which nicely shows how it gets its name. A few Brown Silver Line moths were flitting about in the bracken too.

Drinker Moth Caterpillar

Scorpion Fly

Scorpion Fly tail

Brown Silver Lines

Dartmoor ponies were feeding out on the Down including a very handsome looking young foal and an adult Pony that would not leave me alone, probably because it could smell the apple in my rucksack although at one point it managed to get a nibble on my binoculars!

Dartmoor Pony Foal

Sleepy Pony

Out for the Count Pony -I know how it feels!

A very nice walk indeed and a place close to home which I know very little about, I certainly should visit here more often.

More Local Birding - Warblers and Cirl Buntings

A 1st Winter glaucous gull was reported on the River Plym on February 21st (the day I was there birding!) and was also reported again on the 22nd and so on the 23rd I headed off to have a look for it - and as expected I didn't see it!

It was however a bright and sunny but cold day and it was nice to be out admiring the birds in the bright sunshine with that air of hope and/or expectation that I might get to see the bird I was looking for. No glaucous gull but I did see :- 2 pairs of red breasted mergansers diving for food in the river channel at low tide; 2 male goosanders floating downriver at Marsh Mills with 1 disappearing but the other roosting on the mud at low tide; a single greenshank; a very smart looking kingfisher flashing past over the water; 3 buzzards and a male sparrowhawk soaring over the woods at Marsh Mills; a great crested grebe and 2 little grebes; 2 common sandpipers together along the river edge near the railway bridge; and a pair of Canada geese.

Male Goosander, River Plym

Thursday 25th and another bright and sunny but cold day and I decided to head off to Wembury for a walk as I have neglected it a little so far this year. A lot of clearing work has occurred since I last visited back at the beginning of January with mechanical clearance of vegetation in the pony field and on the hillside above the cliff footpath at Wembury Point. Unfortunately the gorse bushes by the footpath where I found the green hairstreaks last year have gone, I only hope that any female green hairstreaks laid their eggs on the remaining gorse clumps and not those that have been removed.

I was also concerned about the Dartford warblers I watched last year as the area where I most often saw them had also been cleared but I need not have worried as I eventually found a very smart male associating with a pair of stonechats - unfortunately I found it just as the world and his dog (literally) walked by and the stonechats flew off and the Dartford warbler just disappeared. I watched and waited for a while before heading off only to find a nice pair of Dartford warblers together further along the path - this pair were stuck together like glue, the male followed wherever the female went and I am sure that there are 2 males and a female present again, the same as last year, as the first male I saw was very much alone.

And here are some more of my amazing Dartford warbler photos - not!

 Female Dartford Warbler

 Male Dartford Warbler

Female Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

I finally managed to see my first cirl buntings of the year too -  a male singing from the top of a hawthorn bush near the sewage farm with a second male heard singing nearby and a male calling in the hedgerow near the HMS Cambridge footpath.

Male Cirl Bunting

2 ravens flew along the clifftops calling and tumbling and were joined by a pair flying over from The Mewstone to chase them off. Along the shoreline were 37 oystercatcher , 2 curlew, a grey heron and 4 little egrets but the beach was fairly seaweed free and there was no sign of any water pipits, just a few rock pipits. 2 grey wagtails flew over calling and I heard 2 meadow pipits calling too but I couldn't locate them. A female blackcap showed very well while preening in bushes in a garden by the road to the beach along with a male bullfinch eating the buds of a sloe bush.

Female Kestrel

Despite the chilly weather I found a common lizard basking in the sunshine, the earliest I think that I have seen one, and a pair of bloody nosed beetles were found mating.

 Common Lizard

Bloody Nosed Beetles

Flowering Celandine sp.

The café was closed so no pasty for lunch but a very pleasant walk anyway and a reminder of how much I love a walk at Wembury.

South Devon Coast Day and a Trip to Dawlish Warren

A sunny but breezey day on October 28th and despite it being half term holiday hell we headed off to Prawle Point for a walk.

I have only been to Prawle Point once before, many years ago, and was struck at how isolated and unexplored it felt. The drive down to the car park at the Point followed an increasingly overgrown and narrowing pot-holed lane but we finally got there and I was rewarded with a firecrest feeding in the trees as soon as I got out of the car.The isolated location meant it wasn't too busy with people but a large walking group appeared on the footpath as we were leaving.

A male kestrel and a male stonechat along with a red admiral butterfly were seen on the walk to the Coastguards lookout and scanning the sea from the lookout there were a few gannets circling around. Closer inspection revealed at least 3 harbour porpoise beneath them and despite the choppy sea they showed very well as they surfaced at the top of a swell and then surfed just under the water as the swell rolled, the bright sunlight helping to highlight them very well under the water.

We had lunch at The Pigs Nose pub in Prawle village before heading off to Beesands. It was much busier here than at Prawle Point but we found a car parking space and walked off along the beach towards Slapton Ley, seeing a swallow around the houses and a large peregrine overhead. A quick look at the hedgerow near the hide at Beesands Ley revealed just 1 goldcrest but at least 4 chiffchaff feeding in with grest, blue and long tailed tits along with another red admiral.

At Slapton Ley a surprise were 2 male red crested pochard in front of the hide at Torcross, my first sighting here. They were found earlier in the autumn when they were in eclipse plumage but haven't been reported for a while. I have always thought of them as dabbling ducks despite their pochard name and so was surprised to see them both diving underwater for brief periods.

Record shot of the 2 male Red Crested Pochard

There were lots of variously plumaged and aged gulls bathing on the Ley and amongst the herring, black headed, lesser black backed and greater black backed gulls were a 1st winter Mediterranean gull and a first winter common gull. I also saw what I think was a 1st winter yellow legged gull but it was too distant in the fading light for me to be sure - why do I torture myself?

Saturday October 31st and another sunny but breezey day and I headed off to Dawlish Warren on the train, a bargain at £7.30 for a return. It was quiet on arrival at 9 o'clock but got busier with half term holiday makers as the day went on although it was nice and peaceful on the nature reserve itself.

A quick look off the seawall for a reported black redstart drew a blank and there was little offshore apart from gulls, shags and cormorants. I headed off to the hide as it was a very high tide and settled down to watch the wader roost. A surprise was the reported purple sandpiper, a first here for me, with the dunlin, knot, ringed plover, turnstone, curlew, oystercatcher, sanderling and grey plover but the birds were all very flighty and eventually the purple sandpiper was lost from sight. It was strange to see some of the waders roosting on the posts in front of the hide and even weirder to see a dunlin resting on the back of a knot on a post! In the estuary were a male and 2 female red breasted merganser and in The Bight were wigeon, 2 female teal, shelduck and (dark bellied) brent geese along with a very black brant looking pale bellied brent goose.

Turnstone on the Seawall

 Roosting Grey Plover, Dunlin and Knot from the hide

 Pale Bellied Brent Goose (left) with Dark Bellied Brent Geese and a Shelduck

 Pale Bellied (left) and Dark Bellied Brent Geese

Left to Right - Shelduck, 2 Dark Bellied Brent geese and a Pale Bellied Brent Goose

I headed off to Warren Point for a look around and had some nice views of a female Dartford warbler feeding in the gorse, a first for me here, but I dipped on the 2 short eared owls reported earlier.

A walk around the meadow and woods on the way back to the train station to look for the reported firecrest and yellow browed warbler also drew a blank and I didn't find the Pallas's warbler seen yesterday either. I did find a male great spotted woodpecker, 2 male and a female bullfinch, a singing chiffchaff and at least 5 goldcrests. A red admiral, a small tortoiseshell and a few common darter were also seen on the wing in the warm sunshine.

Common Darter

With the mild weather I decided to have the (repaired) moth box out in the back yard for probably the last time this year. I wasn't expecting much but this morning I had a large yellow underwing, a light brown apple moth, a rusty dot pearl and a Tachystola acroxantha, a nice end to my mothing year.

Clouded Yellows - at last!

A Wembury walk on Tuesday 15th September was still quiet in overcast skies. A chiffchaff singing at Wembury Point sounded very mournful and a few others were heard calling from cover. A lone swallow flew overhead (surely they haven't left Wembury yet?) and 2  wheatears flew off inland from the top horse field.

Offshore a few gannets were flying around but the best sighting were 14 brent geese flying east low against the waves, appearing to fly in to Plymouth Sound. There were a few sightings of brent geese along the south Cornwall coast on the same day (15 at Marazion and 16 at The Lizard), maybe they were the birds I had seen? I suspect the birds may have been pale bellied types but they were too distant and low to get any detail on (the Marazion birds were pale bellied).

Despite the overcast sky a few butterflies were on the wing, noticeably red admirals, along with a small tortoiseshell, a speckled wood and some whites, but the highlight were 3, possible 4 clouded yellows, my first of the year. They were feeding on thistles in the sheltered corner of the wheatfield but were very flighty and would land on the ground in the stubble of the wheatfield where they just seemed to disappear. Very pleased to see them though and it brings my butterfly list for the year to an amazing 36 species.

 Clouded Yellow

I also had some nice views of a dark bush cricket resting on the fence post along with a longwinged conehead and 2 small common lizards, and there was a lone flounced rustic in the toilet block but the general lack of birds was a bit disappointing.

 Dark Bush Cricket

A perfect autumn day on September 19th and I decided to head out to Wembury again, ditching my original plan to visit Dawlish Warren for the high tide roost. It was a beautiful day - warm, sunny and still - and I wasn't expecting much in the way of birds but it turned out pretty good.

 Stunning views from Wembury Point

The Mewstone, Wembury



No moths were found in the toilet block which wasn't a good start but a grey wagtail feeding on the nearby beach with a pied wagtail was nice to see. Walking along the coast path towards Wembury Point and robins were very noticeable, they seemed to be everywhere and were noisey and feisty with birds regularly seen chasing each other.

 A peregrine calling overhead alerted me to its prescence along with all the roosting gulls on the beach taking to the air. It had a bird in its talons, probably a magpie, and was constantly mobbed by 4 carrion crows as it flew over. A pair of kestrel and 4 buzzads also flew over along with 4 swallows heading east and a lone house martin over Heybrook Bay.

Wembury Point was the place to be with a good range of birds seen. A whimbrel and a common sandpiper on the beach near the sewage pipe kicked things off nicely along with a juvenile/1st winter Mediterranean gull on the nearby rocks, and roosting on the rocks below the cliffs were 9 curlew, 30 oystercatcher and 6 little egrets. A meadow pipit was feeding on the beach with rock pipits and pied- and white wagtails and a few more meadow pipits were heard calling overhead.

Juvenile/1st Winter Mediterranean Gull



Stonechats were noticeable around the old HMS Cambridge rifle range and this was where the bird of the day appeared, a first winter whinchat, flying in to the top of the brambles before being chased off by nearby stonechats. A very smart bird - nice peachy flush on the breast, pale supercilium and plain upperwings with no white markings in flight.

Also around The Point were 5+ whitethroat feeding on blackberrys, 3+ chiffchaff, and 4+ blackcap (1 male) feeding on elderberrys. 3 male cirl buntings were singing with 2 seen and another nice surprise was 1+ juvenile  Dartford warblers flitting around the brambles near a party of stonechats - very active and mobile and skulking and there were probably 2 birds present.

My usual high quality snap of a Dartford Warbler



A peacock, a small tortoiseshell, a holly blue, large white, small white, 2 speckled wood, red admirals, 2 painted lady and a clouded yellow were seen along with a rush veneer, a common carpet and a silver y.

And so a good day out at Wembury at last - a nice range of birds and buterflies, a Chunk pasty and coffee for lunch and a snooze on the beach in the sunshine - perfect!

Aish Tor Fritillaries

Wednesday June 17th and my mate Mavis had organised a short walk with friends at Mel Tor on Dartmoor as part of her 70th Birthday celebrations. The weather forecast was initially promising but it changed and on the day it was cloudy, misty and breezey but warm and humid. Very annoying as the previous day was very pleasent as is today. Never mind.

We met at Bel Tor and walked to Mel Tor, enjoying some wonderful scenery despite the mist and gloom. A willow warbler was singing and showed well and 2 ravens flew over croaking and tumbling. A skylark sang overhead as we tucked in to sandwiches and cake, Mavis calls it her bird of happiness because if you can hear one you must be somewhere nice.

Willow Warbler

After lunch was finished and everybody had drifted away we took a walk along Dr.Blackalls Drive to nearby Aish Tor, a good site for fritillaries including the rare high brown. Stonechats were seen along the walk including a few singing males and on arriving at Aish Tor I initially dismissed a singing bird as a stonechat due to my fritillary focused mind. Something twigged in my brain and I had a quick scan around and saw a very smart male Dartford warbler singing from a gorse bush before flying off being chased by a female - a nice and unexpected surprise in what has been a bit of a Dartie year so far.

 Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

A small tortoiseshell flying past in the strong breeze had my pulse racing and brown silver line moths were disturbed from the vegetation. A few small heath were also seen flitting about but no fritillaries. I saw a chap searching through the bracken on the lower slopes so headed over for a chat - he was visiting from Surrey and had seen a few fritillaries fly past but had been unable to ID them properly as they had failed to settle on vegetation. Just then a ray of sunshine burst through the clouds and 2 fritillaries flew past very quickly without landing - large and very orange looking but high brown or dark green? A few more fly pasts later and I still hadn't caught a decent glimpse of them and that was that.

I did get some nice views of 3 green hairstreaks on gorse bushes and a large dragonfly species flew over the bracken. A small fritillary species landed briefly on the ground before flitting off, it was quite worn and probably a pearl bordered but it could have been a small pearl bordered.

Pearl Bordered/ Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary - Honest!

A male yellowhammer was a splash of colour on a gloomy day although it was starting to clear up and the sun was beginning to show more and more. But it was time to head off back to Plymouth and it had been a case of right place, right time but wrong conditions - too windy and cloudy - but at least I had seen some fritillary species and the Darties were a nice consolation. I certainly want to revisit here again on a better day and soon!

Little Ringed Plover, River Plym

A last minute days annual leave on April 22nd and it was off to Bude with the Outlaws to sort out the caravan for the summer season. It was sunny but cool in a strong breeze which made putting up the awning with 2 80+year olds a lot of fun! Amongst all the usual sorting out the caravan shananigans I managed to hear a whimbrel calling overhead and I saw a flyover raven, hovering kestrel, a calling greenshank, swallows and sand martins.

A walk to nearby Maer Lake and a male pochard and a pair of shoveler were notable, the female shoveler being very pale looking. 2 shelduck were with the feeding teal and mallard and I also found a common sandpiper and 5 summer plumaged dunlin. A chiffchaff was singing away but a willow warbler was much more subdued, quietly singing brief snatches of song in a hedgerow out of sight.

The toilet block held 3 moths - a male pale tussock, a male brindled beauty and a new moth for me, a frosted green, ID'd with help from the Cornwall Moth Group e-forum.

Male Pale Tussock

Male Brindled Beauty

Frosted Green

Wembury beckoned on April 23rd, another sunny but breezey day. 17 whimbrel were along the beach with just 1 summer plumaged bar-tailed godwit. They were wary and flighty due to the high tide but gave some nice views. Whitethroats, chiffchaffs and blackcaps were vocal and showy and swallows flew past regularly. A willow warbler quietly sang deep in cover.

Goldfinch

At Wembury Point I quickly found a male Dartford warbler harrassing and chasing off a disgruntled looking male whitethroat. Further along the path I found a singing male Dartford warbler, active and mobile as usual, and I wonder if there are actually 2 males at the Point this year. There was no sign of any females though.

Another distant and blurry Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

2 common lizards, orange tips, green veined whites, a speckled yellow moth, a wall, holly blues and a ruby tiger moth were the non-avian highlights.

Wall

Ruby Tiger Moth

Green Veined White

Male Orangetip

On the bus journey back to Plymouth I decided to get off at Laira Bridge for a walk to Blaxton Meadow by the River Plym to have a look for a little ringed plover reported there yesterday. I soon found the bird feeding on the marshy ground very close to the footpath where it gave some great views. It was interesting to see it feeding in the same manner as the 3 birds I saw at the same site in March 2013 - shaking the vegetation with one foot and snatching at any insects disturbed. A very nice bird to see on the River Plym and a nice end to the day.

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Little Ringed Plover

Speckled Wood, Saltram