White-letter Hairstreaks

A warm and humid night meant a nicely filled back yard moth box on the morning of Wednesday 30th June with the highlight being a Lobster Moth, a first for the back yard.

Lobster Moth

Lobster Moth

Uncertain

Heart and Club

It was a warm and sunny day and so after sorting out the moth box I headed over to Oreston for a look at the White-letter Hairstreaks which had recently been reported there. I soon found at least 2 flitting about in the treetops and I had some good views of them although they were fidgety and flighty.

White-letter Hairstreak

White-letter Hairstreak

I also had a look along the Billacombe cycle path nearby but there was no sign of any Hairstreaks there although I did see my first Large Skipper of the year along with a few Ringlet and a Red Admiral.

Large Skipper

Ringlet

I also found a very nice showing of both Bee Orchids and Pyramidal Orchids nearby, hidden in plain sight by the side of the busy road.

Bee Orchids

Bee Orchid

Pyramidal Orchid

Thursday 1st July was a hot and sunny day and so we decided to head out to Stoke Point for a walk and a spot of lunch at The Ship Inn at Noss Mayo. It was a fantastic walk as always and lunch at the pub was as tasty as always and it was great to see a few butterflies on the wing - Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Large White, Small Copper, Common Blue, Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell, Meadow Brown and a brief Fritillary (probably Silver-washed).

A male Beautiful Demoiselle perched on the vegetation by the woodland footpath near the caravan park was a surprise sighting.

Beautiful Demoiselle

Treecreeper, Marsh Tit, Whitethroat, Stonechat, Cirl Bunting, Kestrel, Raven and Peregrine were the avian highlights and a flyby Six-spot Burnet moth was a first for the year.

We stopped off briefly at Blagdon's Meadow along the River Plym on the way home and I found my first Small Skipper of the year here along with another Six-spot Burnet moth and 5 Ravens flying overhead, a presumed family party. 

Wembury and a Dartmoor Moth Morning

Saturday 1st July and it was a warm and sunny morning and so I headed off to Wembury for a quick walk. It was quiet on the bird front as expected with the highlights being 3 male and a female mallard, 27 oystercatcher and 2 curlew along the beach at high tide, a lone gannet offshore, chiffchaffs and whitethroats seen and heard, blackcaps heard, stonechats including fledglings and 2 cirl buntings singing with 1 seen.

A buff ermine was found in the toilet block and was released outside and along the walk I saw a few silver y and a rush veneer in the grass. Butterflies were on the wing too with a small copper, a small skipper, a red admiral, a comma, meadow browns, ringlets and 3 marbled whites seen and I also saw a very pretty hoverfly which I think is Chrysotoxum bicinctum.

Meadow Brown

Marbled White

Spider sp.

Chrysotoxum bicinctum

I met David and Julie at The Eddystone pub at Heybrook Bay and we had a nice lunch followed by a short walk and we sat on the beach putting the world to rights while admiring the stunning scenery and enjoying the sunshine before we headed back home.

Sunday 2nd July and with a dreaded night shift looming I headed out in the morning on the bus to Yelverton where I met Mavis for a charity moth morning at Welltown near Walkhampton in aid of Childrens Hospice Southwest. It was held in a local couples large and stunning gardens complete with rills, streams and mini cascades which looked beautiful in the sunshine. The opening of the moth trap was fun if a little disorganised but everybody was very interested and amongst the ususal crowd pleasers - elephant hawkmoth, poplar hawkmoth, buff arches, buff ermine, buff tip and white ermine - were a few more interesting moths - lobster moth, rosy footman, green silver-lines, fan-foot and what I think is a royal mantle.

Marbled White Spot

Green Arches

Elephant Hawkmoth

Elephant Hawkmoth

Rosy Footman

Common Footman

Purple Clay

Mullein

Lobster Moth

Lobster Moth

Buff Tip

Royal Mantle

Buff Arches

Elephant Hawkmoth

Elephant Hawkmoth

Elephant Hawkmoth

A very pleasent morning with good company and warm sunshine and all for charity - and I won a bottle of red wine in the raffle which was an added bonus too.