River Exe Day Out

Wednesday 19th April and after a busy Easter weekend at work I needed to get out birding on what was a beautiful and sunny and warm day. I wasn't sure where to go and in the end decided to head to Exminster Marshes on the River Exe for a look around.

I arrived at Exminster Marsh at around 9:30 and decided to head along the back path rather than visit Powderham Marsh first, a decision that proved to be very fortuitous. As I walked along the path I heard blackcap, chiffchaff and reed warblers and sedge warblers and with a bit of patience I managed to get some decent views of them. The sedge warblers were easiest to see due to their occassional song flights whereas the reed warblers often kept low down in the reed bases and out of sight.

Reed Warbler, Exminster Marsh

Sedge Warbler, Exminster Marsh

I reached the picnic area and was checking out the corrugated sheets for grass snakes and slow worms when I flushed a large raptor out of the small trees which flew off onto the marsh. At first I thought it was a buzzard but quickly realised it was a short eared owl! I refound it sat on the grass out on the marsh with a most disgruntled look on its face before it flew back to the trees. It then flushed again and this time circled up high before drifting over the railway line towards Powderham Marsh and out of sight but it was a very nice find and my best views ever.

 Short Eared Owl, Exminster Marsh

 Short Eared Owl

 Short Eared Owl

Short Eared Owl

A few ducks were still present around the marsh - a pair of tufted duck, 3 male and a female shoveler, a male and 2 female pintail, teal, mallard and 2 male and 4 female wigeon were seen along with Canada geese, mute swan, coot, moorhen, displaying lapwings, 2 black tailed godwit and 2 pairs of display flighting oystercatchers.

Mute Swan

I carried on along the foot path and then joined the canal towpath where there seemed to be singing and song flighting sedge warblers in every bush. I also found a small dragonfly perched on the path side vegetation and was pleased to ID it as a female hairy dragonfly, a new species for me.

 Hairy Dragonfly, Exminster Marsh

  Hairy Dragonfly

 

 Hairy Dragonfly

I decided at the last minute to catch the foot ferry across the river to Topsham and to go and have a look around Bowling Green Marsh on the incoming tide. At the viewing platform over the River Clyst I bumped into my mates Mavis and Mike, a very pleasent surprise and good to see them out and about. They were heading off to the hide so after a quick look off the platform I went to join them - the light was harsh and hazy and the tide was not a very high tide so birds were distant and difficult to view but I did see bar tailed godwits, common gulls and redshanks along with 9 greenshank and a summer plumaged spotted redshank. It was a shame the views of the spotted redshank were not that great as they are such stunning birds in summer plumage.

I met Mavis and Mike at the hide but it was fairly quiet on Bowling Green Marsh with 3 whimbrel flying over and a roost of black tailed godwits being seen along with a pair of gadwall, a pair of pintail, teal, mallard, tufted duck and a few remaining wigeon. A very dark backed lesser black backed gull was roosting with the herring gulls which I called as a great black backed until I was corrected, I never have much luck with gulls!

There was no sign of the 3 reported ruff with birders in the hide stating they had flown off towards Goosemoor earlier and so I walked over to the Goosemoor viewing platform to have a look for them. I eventually found them amongst the feeding black tailed godwit flock but again the views were distant and hazy and they were also quite nervous looking and a bit twitchy and flighty, unlike the godwits they were feeding with.

I had another quick look from the hide before saying goodbye to Mavis and Mike and heading back over the river to Exminster Marsh on the foot ferry. Things were much the same at Exminster Marsh but I added a large and brown toned female peregrine, a great spotted woodpecker, 4 house martins, small tortoiseshells and a female brimstone butterfly to the day list.

Hawthorn Blossom, Exminster

I caught the bus back to Starcross and while waiting for the train I watched 2 distant Sandwich terns fishing along the river where around 100 distant pale bellied brent geese were roosting on the water off Lympstone and 12 turnstones were roosting on the pontoons.

I got off the train at Dawlish Warren for a quick 60 minute look around before catching the next train back to Plymouth but it was fairly quiet with just gulls and gannets offshore, a little grebe feeding a chick on the main pond with 2 reed warblers chuntering away in the reeds, a small copper butterfly flitting about and a lone green winged orchid beginning to go over being the highlights.

 Small Copper, Dawlish Warren

 Green Winged Orchid, Dawlish Warren

Green Winged Orchid, Dawlish Warren

Quite a day out with some very good sightings - it should keep me going for a few days!

Butterfly Island

With the Isle of Wight being the only place in the UK where Glanville fritillaries are found it was off to Southampton on Monday 17th May to catch the ferry to the Isle of Wight for a few days away. It was nice to see lots of early purple orchids flowering by the roadside along the A38 and the Devon bit of the A303, not so nice were the usual dead birds and animals by the roadside which this time included a fox and a roe deer.

We stopped at Mottisfont Estate near Romsey on the way to Southampton, a National Trust house and gardens we haven't visited before. It was very interesting and I managed to see a red kite flying high overhead on what was a warm and sunny day. Some large trout were seen in the river running through the gardens and I saw a nice beautiful demoiselle perched on the riverside vegetation and a holly blue flying through the woods.

The hour long ferry trip from Southampton to Cowes was very pleasent in the sunshine and we enjoyed a beer as I watched common terns and Sandwich terns fly past with the usual gulls.

The weather forecast for the week wasn't looking too good but the forecast seemed to change 12 hourly meaning we had to constantly adjust our plans, especially my butterfly plans which would need sunny and dry conditions, something that looked to be in short supply while we were going to be on the island.

Tuesday 17th was bright and sunny but cool and breezey and with cloud forecast for later in the day we headed off in the morning to The Needles and The Old and New Batteries. The Needles seemed smaller than I remember but The Batteries, managed by the National Trust, were very interesting, especially the New Battery where the British space programme was conducted under top security in the 1950's, something I knew nothing about.

The Needles, Isle of Wight

I managed to find a lone adult gannet flying past offshore along with a peregrine and kestrel along the clifftops and a raven busily devouring a dead rabbit. Whitethroats were heard singing and I saw my first butterfly of the trip, a very smart red admiral.

We then headed off along the south coast and stopped off at Whiteways Quarry, now a small car park off the main road and a top spot for butterflies. Unfortunately it was starting to cloud over earlier than forecasted and on arriving 3 butterfliers were already there with 1 of them having seen 3 Glanville Fritillaries earlier before the cloud rolled in - damn!

However I quickly found a wall and a grizzled skipper on a bare piece of chalky soil and scanning the vegetation along the back of the car park where it was sheltered from the wind I quickly found a small blue, a new butterfly for me - it was small but not really blue, being more a smokey grey, but it was very smart and beautiful nonetheless.

 Small Blue

 Small Blue

Small Blue

Small Blue

Scanning around further and I found at least 2 green hairstreaks, a small heath, a brown argus, at least another 2 small blues and a pair of common blue mating. I also saw a female Adonis blue  - I wasn't sure at the time but since returning home and checking my photos I realise it was indeed one.

 Common Blues mating

 Female Common Blue

 Grizzled Skipper

 Brown Argus

 Green Hairstreak

Small Heath

Female Adonis Blue

Female Adonis Blue

The two other butterfliers present had earlier seen Glanville fritillaries in a sheltered chine further along the coast road and so after getting my fill of some quality views of quality butterflies we headed off for a look. I found the chine but the wind was blowing right up it and the now total lack of sunshine meant that it was chilly too - a dark butterfly flew past but quickly disappeared from sight but was it a Glanville? After a fruitless search to refind it it was time to head off to Carisbrooke Castle and with a sense of frustration and impending dipping.

Beetle Sp. on Thrift - common along the cliffs

The next day was wet and windy and we headed off to the Roman villa at Brading but by lunchtime there were flashes of blue in the sky and the rain eventually stopped and so we headed off to Wheelers Bay at Ventnor, a good spot for Glanvilles and somewhere I expected to be sheltered from the wind. However it was very windswept and all I managed to find were 2 small whites battling over the flower clad cliffsides. Expecting another dip I caught sight of a dark butterfly flitting amongst the red valerian in a small and  sheltered ravine and checking it out with binoculars it was indeed a Glanville fritillary - result! It kept disappearing amongst the vegetation and frustratingly stayed some distance away from the footpath but I did get a few record shots and at least I had seen one.

My first Glanville Fritillary

Heading back to the car and I kept my eyes open and amazingly while wandering through some boulders by the footpath in a slightly more sheltered area I disturbed a Glanville from the ground. It landed in some bushes and I got some nice shots of its beautiful underwings. Even more amazing was being able to pick it up and observe it very close too as it enjoyed the warmth of mammalian skin - it didn't want to move and so we carefully placed it on the underside of some leaves to protect it from ominous looking rain clouds that were fast approaching.

 Glanville Fritillary - beautiful underside of wings

 Glanville Fritillary - warming up in Davids hand

 Glanville Fritillary

Glanville Fritillary

We had a quick walk on nearby Bonchurch Down, a good site for Adonis blues, but by now it was cold, cloudy and windy and it eventually began to rain and as a result it was totally butterflyless and so we headed off back to the hotel - but at least I had seen my target butterfly and the main purpose of my trip so at least I could now relax.

The next morning was warm and sunny but breezey and before heading off to Osborne House we drove to a sheltered quarry at Brook Down, another top butterfly site. The road to the quarry was closed due to resurfacing work so we walked uphill and across fields to the quarry where it was very warm in the sunshine and where butterflies were whizzing about - small blues, orange tip, grizzled skipper, dingy skipper and.....Adonis blues doing common blue impressions. Another result!

Brook Down Quarry

 Dingy Skipper

Small Blue

 Small Blue

AdonIs Blue - showing a peek of its brilliant blue upperwings

 Grizzled Skipper

 Dingy Skipper

The Adonis blues were a little worn and faded and I wasn't sure about their ID as despite being very blue I wasn't sure if they were blue enough and the black markings in the white borders giving a chequered effect didn't seem quite complete enough. I uploaded the 3 photos below to the excellent UK Butterflies website for ID help and quickly received a very detailed and scientific reply.

 Adonis Blue

 Adonis Blue - with damaged wings

Adonis Blue

Here is the reply I received :-

"These are all Adonis.

There are lots of reasons for this, some more subtle than others. The group of blues that Adonis belongs to (Lysandra) have prominent androconial furriness in the forewings that common blues lack. All these show this clearly [EDIT: the middle picture shows this clearly - the others indirectly], so cannot be common blues. The fringes are also a good sign. Common blue may show chequering in the inner half of the fringe, which is darker in tone than the outer, but all these show dark marks extending into the outer half of the fringe - and the inner half is not darker.

These are the obvious signs. There are other more subtle signs that come with experience of both butterflies".

Below are yet more photos of what were very beautiful butterflies and ones that I was very pleased to see.

 Adonis Blue

 Adonis Blue

 Adonis Blue

Adonis Blue

A bonus was a field above the quarry full of green winged orchids, a new orchid for me and unexpected.

 Green Winged Orchid

 Green Winged Orchid

 Green Winged Orchid - close up of green veins on petals

Green Winged Orchid - white form

On the drive to Osborne House we passed the chine where I had seen the flyby butterfly species a few days before and so a quick stop for a quick look did reveal a Glanville fritillary flitting about in the sunshine - some good views again and in a more natural setting than Davids hands!

 Glanville Fritillary

Glanville Fritillary

Osborne House was very interesting and I added speckled wood, green veined white and brimstone to my butterfly list but even better was a red squirrel running around the cafe tables at the Swiss cottage - I had hoped to see one but wasn't really expecting to.

Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel

Durbar Room, Osborne House

The next day and it was an early morning ferry trip from Yarmouth back to the mainland at Lymington. More common terns and Sandwich terns were seen on the crossing but a surprise were eider ducks around the estuary mouth - 5 males, an immature male and 2 females.

And so my butterfly trip was a great success despite the iffy weather and with a few nice birds, a new orchid, my first English red squirrel, history and culture, beautiful scenery and good food to boot as well - a really good time away