More Holiday-less Holiday

My Annual Leave continues and local wildlife watching remains the order of the day. At least the weather is settled with dry and mostly cloudy skies and cool nights. And keeping local is actually quite interesting as I continue to explore sites and habitats close to home that I would ordinarily overlook.

Friday 19th March and we drove out to Endsleigh Nursery at Milton Abbot to collect a Greengage tree for the allotment, hopefully this one will take as the previous 2 trees we have bought have both died. On the way home we stopped off at the Dartmoor Bakery at Yelverton for a take away coffee and a Jaffa Dartmoor Swirl before having a walk at Cadover Bridge. It was grey and cold in a strong North Easterly breeze and there was no sign of the Sand Martin or Fieldfare reported from earlier that morning with the highlight of the walk being a pair of Goosander on the river. 

Blackaton Cross, Cadover Bridge

Saturday 20th March and I headed off for my usual River Plym and Saltram walk. It was another grey day but there was very little breeze for a change and I had a very enjoyable walk.

As I arrived at the lookout the Blaxton Meadow roost on the low high tide was disturbed by 2 female runners along the sea wall (despite the No Entry signage) and I watched 15 Curlew, 6 Oystercatcher, Shelduck, Canada Geese and Gulls all disappear off down river.

No Entry

Read The Sign - No Entry! 

Winter met summer with 2 Redwing seen and 2 Chiffchaff heard singing, both my first on my Plym walk for this year. A flyover Snipe, 2 male Bullfinch, a male Kestrel, a pair of Stonechat, a Great Spotted Woodpecker, 2 Green Woodpecker (1 seen, 1 heard) and 2 Mistle Thrush were all seen in the Park with 2 Treecreeper (eventually) showing well in the flooded wood the highlight.

Treecreeper

Along the River a Greenshank, 3 Dunlin and a female Goosander were seen along with 5 Little Egret and 25 Redshank.

Greenshank

Goosander

Cherry Plum Blossom - sepals reflexed, not spreading

Sunday 21st March and a look inside the back yard moth box on my first trapping session of the year revealed just one moth, a Common Quaker. 

Common Quaker

Later while on a walk around Plymouth Hoe dodging the crowds we found the Long-tailed Duck still present in The Cattewater, busily and distantly diving away amongst the buoys, but there was no sign of the Purple Sandpiper on the rocks.

Monday 22nd March and I headed out to Wembury for a walk in occasionally sunny skies. It was mild and still and very pleasant when the sun did shine from between the clouds and I had a very interesting walk.

The highlight were 2 smart looking male Wheatear flitting about at The Point. 4 Chiffchaff singing and 2 Peacock butterflies engaged in an aerial battle added to the spring feeling along with a male and 3 female Black Oil Beetles rescued off the main footpath and placed in nearby vegetation.

Wheatear

Peacock

Black Oil Beetle - male

Black Oil Beetle - female

A female Kestrel and 5 Buzzards overhead, Fulmars around The Mewstone, the usual Stonechats and Goldfinches and around 5 male Cirl Buntings singing were also noted.

Cirl Bunting

2 Coal Tit in the village gardens and a 1st summer Common Gull roosting on the rocks with Herring Gulls were Wembury firsts for the year.

Common Gull with Herring Gull

The Bar-tailed Godwit was still present, roosting on the rocks with the Oystercatchers, and a Meadow Pipit was feeding on the seaweed mass along the beach with Rock Pipits and Pied Wagtails. 

The Sloe Blossom was looking absolutely stunning along the footpath and a Ruby Tiger caterpillar was sunning itself in the grass. 

Sloe Blossom

Sloe Blossom - sepals spreading, not reflexed

Ruby Tiger caterpillar

Tuesday 23rd March and the last day of my annual leave was meant to be a cloudy day and so I planned to visit The Hoe before catching up on chores. It was indeed cloudy when I left the house but by the time I arrived at Rusty Anchor the sky cleared and the sun shone and as I hadn't brought out a hat with me I ended up with a bit of a sun kissed head by the time I arrived back home. 

At Rusty Anchor I was very pleased to find 2 Purple Sandpipers for a change, 1 busily feeding and 1 tucked up asleep. 

Purple Sandpiper

Purple Sandpiper

7 Turnstones and a Rock Pipit were also found on the rocks and a Raven flew overhead but the highlight was a Grey Seal, presumably a female based on size and face shape and which bobbed around in the water close to the sea wall, frequently diving for short periods and always returning to the surface at the same spot. 

Grey Seal

Grey Seal

 Grey Seal

Grey Seal

A quick look off Fisherman's Nose and the female Long-tailed Duck was found still busily diving away amongst the buoys in The Cattewater, distant as always but I had brought my scope with me this time and so I had some nice views of it for a change. 

Butterflies and a Swallow

Lock down continues, the weather remains dry and sunny but windy and I am starting to get a bit of cabin fever after just 2 weeks but Saturday 4th April duly arrived and it was time to head out for my weekly, solo, local, socially distanced wildlife walk from home to Saltram, something I have been looking forward to immensely all week long.

It was cool and breezy but out of the wind it was very warm and I was abl9le to walk around with just my t-shirt on and I wished I had worn shorts and not my jeans.

The tide was heading in as I arrived at Laira Bridge and along the Plym there were the usual suspects - Little Egret, Redshank, Curlew, Oystercatcher. Canada Goose, Mute Swan, Cormorant, Mallard, Shelduck and GBB + H + BH Gulls with 1 adult LBBGull. A Greenshank and 22 Turnstone were also noted.

Little Egret

Little Egret

Little Egret

Turnstone

In the woods a Stock Dove was cooing and Ring Necked Parakeets briefly screeched while Chiffchaff and Blackcaps were singing away and 2 Green Woodpeckers yaffled away unseen.

Bluebells were flowering amongst the violets and primroses and it was lovely to see my first Orange Tip and Small Whites of the year along with a Brimstone and Peacocks.

Bluebells

Bluebells

Peacock

Peacock

Peacock

Orange Tip

Orange Tip

Small White

Small White

Small White

Small White

A herd of 14 Roe Deer were again seen resting together and a Grey Squirrel played peek-a-boo in a pine tree, making a lot of noise as it scrabbled up the rough bark of the tree.

Grey Squirrel

The highlight though was my first Swallow of the year which I picked up skimming low over the grass before it gained height and flew off north, a very welcome sight in these weird times and proof that life carries on during this lock down period.

Robin

Local Lock Down Wildlife Walk

The Lock Down of the UK due to the Coronavirus was instigated on March 23rd as expected with the only reasons now to leave your home being to buy food, to go to work if you can't work from home, to care for a vulnerable person and for exercise. I have to buy food and as an NHS keyworker I have to go to work but I am keeping away from helping to care for my vulnerable mother-in-law who is in a high risk group.

My exercise is my wildlife walking but my options are now limited although Plymouth Hoe, The River Plym and Saltram Park are all reachable by foot from my front door and so these places will become my hopefully weekly allowed exercise walks by following these rules - social distancing is to be maintained by keeping 2 metres apart from others when out of the house, not meeting up with friends and family when out and to only walk with members of your household, all of which are fine by me. And so with the settled, dry, sunny but cool and windy weather continuing I needed to get out for a walk on Saturday 28th March and walked from home to Saltram Park and back.

It was a glorious day and especially welcome after what seems to have been 5 months of continuous rain and wind and people were out and about walking or cycling although numbers were much, much lower than would normally be expected.

It was odd to see the roads and paths so quiet and to cross the road or move away from walkers and cyclists in order to keep 2 metres apart and I found myself avoiding eye contact with anyone passing me by instead of offering a greeting as I usually do with everybody else seeming to be doing the same.

It was great to be out and about though and I had a very enjoyable walk with the highlights being a Greenshank and a male Goosander along the River Plym while within Saltram Park Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Nuthatch, 3 Stock Doves, a pair of Mandarin Ducks on a pond in the woods (where dogs are usually disturbing any birds present) and a Mistle Thrush were seen.

 Greenshank, River Plym

 Mandarin Duck, Saltram

Mandarin Duck, Saltram

I didn't hear any Ring-necked Parakeets but a Green Woodpecker constantly yaffled away near Saltram House but kept itself out of sight. I hear Green Woodpeckers regularly but often struggle to see them, their yaffling being almost a mocking laugh aimed at me.

Violets were flowering and Bees and Bee Flys were buzzing and I had a brief view of a tatty Small Tortoiseshell along with better views of a few Peacock and Comma.

 Violets, Saltram

 Bee Sp., Saltram

 Peacock Butterfly, Saltram

 Peacock Butterfly, Saltram 

Comma, Saltram

Roe Deer were feeding out on the grass before retreating to the safety of the nearby hillside to chew the cud and a total of 14 were seen, the highest count I have had for them in Saltram Park.

 Roe Deer, Saltram

A strange walk but very much needed and very restorative in these weird and frankly scary times. My work is stressful and difficult enough on a good day and wildlife watching (and chocolate and alcohol!) gets me through it and with a complete shit storm potentially hitting my work place soon I need even more to loose myself in the natural world.

I have already been lamenting the loss of getting out for the spring migration but am hopeful of catching up with some of the summer migrants as they return south in the autumn, assuming that things may be a little less restrictive then than they are now and assuming I stay well and healthy. And in the bigger scheme of what is going on in the world at the moment there is always (hopefully) next year.

Having the River Plym, Plymouth Hoe and Saltram close by is a big plus and at least I will be able to get out there and find some good stuff - unless the rules change. And it will be good for my waist line too!

Springtime

Tuesday 26th March and we finally managed to get out for a walk along the coast path at Stoke Point, surprisingly for the first time since July last year. It was a mild and sunny day and an enjoyable walk with stunning views as always.

Chiffchaffs were singing away and amongst the numerous peacock butterflys flitting about I also saw a small tortoiseshell and my first speckled wood of the year. There was no sign of any Dartford warblers on the recently swaled cliffsides but plenty of stonechats and a pair of cirl buntings were seen along with flyover raven, kestrel, buzzard and peregrine. Best birds though were 2 marsh tit seen in the woodlands near Noss Mayo as we walked into the village for lunch at The Ship Inn.

Small Tortoiseshell, Stoke Point

Friday 29th March and I caught the bus out to Wembury for a walk on another sunny but cooler day. No moths were found in the toilet block but I did find a light brown apple moth in the bushes by the bus stop and I managed to see 4 speckled wood, 9 peacock, a small tortoiseshell and a male orange tip flitting about.

 Speckled Wood, Wembury

 Peacock, Wembury

Light Brown Apple Moth, Wembury

The usual birds were seen and heard - chiffchaffs, blackcaps, stonechats, cirl buntings, pheasents, rock pipits, mallards, little egrets, oystercatchers, etc, - but the best bird was a male wheatear at The Point looking very smart in the sunshine.

 Wheatear, Wembury

Cirl Bunting, Wembury

Sloe Blossom, Wembury

While at work on Saturday 6th April I received a text from local birder Russ regarding a ring ousel having been found by the River Plym that afternoon and so the next morning I headed out for a look but without too much hope. As expected there was no sign of it but it was a pleasant walk all the same.

I  caught the bus to Marsh Mills and walked through Saltram Park to Chelson Meadow before returning to Marsh Mills to catch the bus home. The tide was high when I arrived at Blaxton Meadow and a dunlin was roosting with the redshanks and 6 little egrets while along the river I found a common sandpiper and 3 greenhanks.

It was good to see the new viewing area overlooking the river near the meadow giving better views of the estuary but not so good to see a dog charging across the meadow on the high tide disturbing the birds.

Viewing Platform, Blaxton Meadow

In Saltram Park a single stock dove was seen along with a pair of ring-necked parakeets checking out nesting holes in the trees, hopefully there won't be too much competition between the 2 species. Nuthatches were vocal and showy in the trees and 2 house martins flew over heading north. Chiffchaffs, blackcaps and skylarks were seen and heard along with an unseen yaffling green woodpecker and 7 roe deer were feeding out in the open on Chelson Meadow. It was also good to see my first willow warbler of the year busily feeding away in the trees as it gave quiet snatches of song.

 Roe Deer, Chelson Meadow

Primroses, Saltram

The tide had dropped on my return walk and out on the estuary I found a 1st summer common gull amongst the gulls, a single greenshank  and bizarrely a pair of stock doves feeding out on the mud along with a sleeping pair of mandarin ducks by the stream near the Plympton road bridge.

 Greenshank, River Plym

Mandarin Ducks, River Plym

 Little Egret, River Plym

Little Egret, River Plym

A very restorative walk despite the Sunday crowds and with some great wildlife sightings right on my doorstep,