Stuart's Wildlife Diary: Ringed Plover

Showing posts with label Ringed Plover. Show all posts

Thursday, 24 September 2020

Yet Another Yellow-legged Gull at Wembury

Monday 21st September was another very busy long day shift at work and on getting home at around 9pm I put the moth box out in the back yard again. It was a still and warm night again although cooler than my previous nights trapping on Saturday and in the morning I disappointingly only had 8 moths of 7 species in the trap - Silver Y, Light Brown Apple Moth, Tachystola acroxantha, Square Spot Rustic, Lesser Yellow Underwing, Large Yellow Underwing and 2 Willow Beauty (1 of which was faded and which I thought at first was an Engrailed).

Willow Beauty

Willow Beauty (ID'd with help from @MothIDUK)

After sorting out the trap and having some breakfast I headed out to Wembury for a walk. It was cool and overcast which seemed to keep visitor numbers down and which meant there was less disturbance along the beach for the birds roosting there on the very high tide.

The usual Gulls were feeding on the rotting seaweed along the beach and roosting on the rocks but numbers were much reduced from my previous visits. Mostly Herring Gulls of assorted ages were feeding on the seaweed with a juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gull and a few juvenile Great Black-backs while Black-headed Gulls noisily fed along the breaking surf line. Amongst them were 7 Mediterranean Gulls (1 juvenile) and all unringed.

Mediterranean Gull

I did find another juvenile/1st Winter Yellow-legged Gull amongst them, giving itself away as it flew onto the rocks and showing its white rump with smartly contrasting dark tail band.

Yellow-legged Gull

I have had quite a run of Yellow-legged Gull sightings at Wembury in the last 2 weeks, presumably due to the high number of Gulls feeding along the beach and attracting the Yellow-legs in. Or maybe there are more around this year or I am getting better at picking them out or maybe I'm spending more time looking for them. Whatever the case it has been nice to find 4 of them now with 3 photographed (badly) and clearly different birds.

Waders were also showing well on the high tide with 2 Knot roosting amongst the 54 Oystercatcher and 6 Curlew present at The Point, only my second Wembury sighting, while along the beach there were 15 Turnstone, 9 Ringed Plover, 2 Dunlin, 3 Bar-tailed Godwit (presumably the same birds seen on previous visits) and 4 Grey Plover.

Ringed Plover

Bar-tailed Godwit

Knot

Grey Plover

While watching the Gulls and Waders a Kingfisher flew in to fish in the rock pools while a Wheatear flew along the beach and Gannets dived offshore. 5 Little Egrets were looking a little forlorn as they roosted together on the rocks and Pied Wagtails and Rock Pipits fed along the beach with a few Meadow Pipits. Overhead a Kestrel, a Sparrowhawk and a Peregrine were noted and along the coast path Stonechat, Chiffchaff, Cirl Bunting and Blackcap were seen.

The cool and sunless conditions meant only a single Red Admiral and 2 Large White were seen along with a surprise Wall, presumably a third generation individual. In the toilet block there were 2 Rusty Dot Pearl and 2 Eudonia angustea which I caught and released outside.

Eudonia angustea

Ivy Bee on Ivy - a new species for me

A very nice walk as always with a tasty Chunk pasty for lunch from the cafe on the beach topping off a nice trip out.

Friday, 9 August 2019

Wembury, 8th August

A quick walk along the coast path at Wembury before yet another dreaded night shift on Thursday 8th August was relatively quiet but signs of the approaching autumn were in the air.

Waders were roosting at The Point on the hgh tide and along with 4 little egrets there were 77 oystercatchers, 5 curlew and my first Wembury ringed plover of the year.

Ringed Plover

A cirl bunting was heard singing and I had a few brief flight views of birds flying over the wheat in the wheat field which was looking very much like it was ready to be harvested. Better views were had of a nice male feeding a fledgling in the sewage farm hedge.

Offshore a few gannets and fulmar were seen but there was much excitement with 2 presumed juvenile peregrines busily chasing after a flock of 7 small waders, probably dunlin. The peregrines managed to isolate 1 bird from the other 6 which rapidly disappeared off westwards but the lone bird very fortunately managed to eventually escape westwards too.

A small feeding melee of gulls close to shore held 2 scruffy adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gulls and 2 juveniles amongst variously plumaged herring gulls and black-headed gulls and juvenile great black-backed gulls.

A blackcap was heard singing and chiffchaff were heard and briefly seen along with just a single scruffy looking whitethroat but stonechat showed very well including good numbers of fledglings.

No moths in the toilet block again but I did see my first Jersey tiger moth of the year flitting about on the road leading up from the beach. A very active knot grass caterpillar was seen on the wooden fence but the best was a privet hawkmoth caterpillar found on a privet bush near the bus stop and my first one ever.

Jersey Tiger Moth

Knot Grass

Privet Hawkmoth

Painted lady, red admiral, gatekeeper and whites were flitting about and 2 small and black common lizards with a large male were seen along with bloody nose beetles while a dark bush cricket catching a ride on the window of the bus on the journey home was a surprise.

Dark Bush Cricket

Saturday, 10 September 2016

The Wrong Sandpiper

September 8th and it was time to head off to Perranporth for our usual autumn trip. It was sunny but breezey and on arriving at The Watering Hole on the beach the black clouds rolled in and it began to rain! It soon passed and we were able to enjoy our cooked breakfasts outside overlooking the beach and with the sand between our toes as per usual.

Perranporth Beach - Gorgeous!

A great day out and with the sun not disappearing behind the clouds until we left for home at around 4pm and with some nice wildlife sightings as well.

A male stonechat, a hovering kestrel and rock pipits were seen along the cliffs while offshore a single fulmar and gannets were seen all heading south. The stream held the usual trout but there were more of them than I have ever seen before although most were a little on the small size.

Trout

Along the beach were the usual roosting gulls - herring, black headed and lesser black backed - but there was no sign of any Mediterraneans. A juvenile gull posed a few ID headaches - I think it is a pale and advanced juvenile LBBGull but it doesn't look quite right, I thought it might be a weedy YLGull with a weak bill but it doesn't look quite right for that either.

Juvenile LBBG looking a bit YLGully

LBBG

A lone dunlin was seen flying along the beach and later some walkers disturbed a small flock of waders hunkered down in the sand - I watched them fly away, noting 2 sanderlings and a ringed plover amongst the dunlins but they were soon gone and lost from sight.

A lovely day as usual despite the stiff breeze and getting mugged for £30+ at Waitrose on the way home!

September 9th and we headed off to Siblyback Reservoir for a walk on a grey and overcast and very windy day. The water levels in the reservoir were low, a shock after only having visited the reservoir in winter when it has been full to the brim. There was lots of muddy shore on show but despite searching I couldn't find the reported buff breasted sandpiper or pectoral sandpiper although I did see 2 very tame ringed plovers and a common sandpiper.

Ringed Plover

We then headed off to the National Trust estate at Cotehele for lunch and a look around the gardens and orchards. The orchards were very interesting with the trees in the old orchard looking beautifully gnarled and lichened and the trees in the new orchard growing well and filling out. The windy weather was causing apples to fall off the trees and so we tasted a few that we watched fall to the ground and they were very tasty.

Mistletoe on Apple Tree

A few red admirals and wasps were feeding on some of the rotten fruit on the ground and I also saw a small white feeding on flowers and a speckled wood, and around the pond were at least 2 male southern hawkers with a third male seen trapped in the roof of the barn in the new apple orchard.

Red Admiral

Southern Hawker - male

Pond Reflections

Small White

Heading home and the clouds were becoming increasingly dark and rain filled looking but it had been a nice day out despite being mugged for £30+ in Waitrose again on the way home!

Tuesday, 23 August 2016

Yellow Legged Gull!

Saturday August 20th and with a wet and windy day forecasted (unseasonably so) I headed off to Rame Head for a seawatch, something I haven't done before. It was cloudy and windy as I left Plymouth and true to form as I stepped off the bus at Whitsand Bay it absolutely chucked it down - typical. It quickly passed and I soon settled down between the rocks on the cliffs below the ruined chapel to scan the sea, sheltering from the occasional squally shower that rattled in on the breeze.

Rame Head

Amorique Ferry and The Great and Little Mewstones at Wembury

Amorique Close-up

A few gannets were passing by heading west, a variety of plumages from adult to juvenile with everything in between, and over the 3 and a half hours I was there watching there was a constant movement of them. Some of the immatures were quite oddly patterned which had my pulse racing at times. Manx shearwaters were also moving through west, probably an average of 5 a minute with the odd trickle and pulse at times, but in the final hours watch from 12:30 to 13:30 I only recorded 5 individuals. The only other birds of note were the occasional fulmar, oystercatcher and shag and great black backed, lesser black backed and herring gulls.

There was a report on Birdguides of 116 Balearic shearwaters passing by Rame Head from 06:30 to 14:30, I never saw any other birder there while I was present and other than a brief and distant view of a probable Balearic shearwater and a probable sooty shearwater I never saw anything unusual (some of the Manxies I saw close to shore did show some dark markings in their armpits but otherwise had very white underparts).

The highlight was a pod of common dolphins moving west off the headland, distant views and very unobtrusive as they moved by very quickly and out of sight. Their location was given away by a swirling group of gannets overhead but other than the occasional fin at the surface and occasional leap out of the waves I would have missed them. I counted 6 at the surface together but there were more present and it was quite exciting (and difficult) to track them across the Bay.

Sunday 21st August and I decided to head off to Dawlish Warren in the morning before the forecasted rain arrived in the afternoon. I caught the train to Dawlish and walked to the hide at Dawlish Warren to catch the high tide roost, noting an adult winter plumage Mediterranean gull amongst the gulls roosting along the beach along the way.

The island in front of the hide had roosting oystercatchers, carrion crows, Sandwich terns, herring gulls and great black backed gulls but not much else. Small waders started to fly into The Bight as the tide receded and scanning through them I managed to find myself a nice juvenile curlew sandpiper amongst the ringed plover, dunlin, sanderling and turnstone. It stayed asleep for most of the time with its head tucked under its wings but it stood noticeable taller than the nearby dunlin and had a lovely peachy pink flush across its breast. Eventually it woke up and flew nearer to me and started to feed amongst the salt marsh before flying off and out of sight but I had some very nice views in my scope.

Oystercatchers in front of the hide

Curlew Sandpiper (top right) with Ringed Plovers

Curlew Sandpiper (top right) with Dunlin and Ringed Plovers

Juvenile Ringed Plover

Adult Ringed Plover

Best of all was a surprise juvenile yellow legged gull right in front of the hide. I had been casually watching the juvenile herring gulls floating about and squabbling over scraps of wood and seaweed fished out of the water when I noticed a much paler and brighter looking bird amongst them. My first thought was that it was a juvenile great black backed gull but it was only slightly but noticeably larger than the herring gulls with a much heavier looking bill. Pale head, neck and breast, a slight dark smudge behind the eye, dark upperparts contrasting with the pale head and neck all noted before it flew up into the air showing a white rump and a black tail band and disappeared from sight! I was just about to call it out in the hide before it flew off and I really would have liked to have watched it properly for longer but as it flew off I felt a touch of shock at actually have found a yellow legged gull after all this time!

Heading back to the train station and I managed to find a gatekeeper, meadow browns, a green veined white, a large white, 2 male and a female common blue and a small copper along with a Pyrausta aurata, 6-spot burnets and 2 male yellow belles in the Greenland Lake area. Autumn ladies tresses were flowering and it was nice to see a pair of cirl buntings with 2 fledglings.