Stuart's Wildlife Diary: Roseate Tern

Saturday, 25 July 2020

Mid-Summer Birding

Wednesday 22nd July was hot and sunny and so I headed out to Wembury for a walk. It was busy with walkers and beach goers and I was glad to get home and out of the sun but I had a very enjoyable walk.

It was high tide and along the beach by the sewage pipe were a roosting flock of birds although unfortunately they were regularly disturbed by walkers. A Little Egret, a Common Sandpiper, 2 Whimbrel, 20 Oystercatcher, 26 Dunlin, a Redshank and 4 Mediterranean Gulls (2 Juveniles) were all seen before moving out onto the rocks exposed by the outgoing tide - Autumn is on its way.

Cirl Buntings, Stonechat and Whitethroat were all vocal and showy along the walk along with a few Chiffchaff, a singing Blackcap keeping deep in cover, Linnet and 2 Skylark.

Plenty of butterflies were on the wing in the hot conditions - a Wall was a nice find along with a Red Admiral, 2 Small Skipper, Small Copper, Common Blue, a Comma, Gatekeeper, Holly Blue, Meadow Brown, Ringlet, Small White, Green-veined White, a Peacock, Speckled Wood and Large White. A male Beautiful Demoiselle, a Silver Y, a 6-spot Burnet, a Rusty Dot Pearl and a Drinker were also seen.

Small Skipper

Small White

Red Admiral

Wall

Silver Y

On arriving home I found a moth in the kitchen which at first I thought was a Snout but on potting it up and checking it out I was pleased to find it was a Bloxworth Snout (thanks to @MothIDUK), my second back yard sighting of one.

Bloxworth Snout

Friday 24th July and I finally visited Dawlish Warren for the first time this year. It was mostly grey and overcast but warm and muggy and still and I arrived at the closed due to COVID-19 and sadly vandalised bird hide for the high tide roost at around 10:00am.

There were plenty of Terns roosting on the island and the wooden posts of "Woodhenge" and I quickly found a beautiful adult Roseate Tern with a silver leg ring perched on a post amongst the Sandwich Terns and Common Terns and which was being admired (and the leg ring read) by the Dawlish Warren Birders present.

Roseate Tern with Sandwich Terns on Woodhenge

A Little Tern was also found roosting amongst the Terns on the island and it was great to watch and listen to the comings and goings of the Common Terns and Sandwich Terns as the adults brought in sand eels for the juveniles.

Little Tern with Sandwich Terns

Common Tern with Sandwich Terns

Roseate Tern with Sandwich Terns

Also seen from the hide area and along the beach were Dunlin, Sanderling, Ringed Plover, a Redshank, Whimbrel, Oystercatcher, a Little Egret, a Common Gull and 2 juvenile Mediterranean Gulls.

Sanderling

Common Gull with Black-headed Gulls

Despite the lack of sunshine I had a look for Brown Argus but without any joy but I did see at least 2 Clouded Yellow, a Small Skipper, a Peacock., Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Green-veined White, Small Copper, Common Blue, a Red Admiral and Speckled Wood in the dull conditions.

Clouded Yellow

Common Blue

Bee Sp.

Strawberry Clover

Marsh Helleborine

Cirl Bunting, Swallow, a Great-spotted Woodpecker on the fence posts along the Dune Ridge and a Little Grebe, Mallards and Mute Swans on the Main Pond were also noted on my wanderings before I headed home, having had a very productive July visit to The Warren.

A report of the day by the Dawlish Warren Birders can be found by clicking on the link here -

http://dawlishwarren.blogspot.com/2020/07/friday-24th-july.html?m=1

Thursday, 20 July 2017

Five Go Butterflying in Dorset - Part One

Saturday 15th July and it was off to Wareham in Dorset for a few days away in a rented cottage with Mum, sister Vik and nephew Jack. It was cloudy and breezy when we stopped off at Maiden Castle near Dorchester along the way but it felt warm and humid as we walked around the ramparts and I managed to see marbled whites, a few small heath and a few red admirals flitting about. I easily found my main target as I got out of the car with at least 4 male corn buntings seen and heard around the car park, all with very pale looking tail feathers and rumps, either from wear and tear or maybe a genetic abnormality from what is presumably a very isolated population.

Small Heath, Maiden Castle

Harebell, Maiden Castle

Marbled White, Maiden Castle

Corn Bunting, Maiden Castle

Corn Bunting with pale tail and rump

Corn Bunting

Onwards to nearby Ferrybridges at Weymouth where we met up with Mum, Vik and Jack for some lunch in the visitors centre there. A walk out onto the shingle beach was very blowy and the views were very hazy and misty but on The Fleet I had some nice views of little terns flying around and hovering for fish along with 8 dunlin, 4 ringed plovers and a variety of Mediterranean gulls including a few juveniles. Even better though were 2 roseate terns resting on the mudflats with 3 Sandwich terns, distant views even with a telescope, but very nice to see.

Mediterranean Gulls, Ferrybridges

Roseate and Sandwich Terns with Mediterranean Gulls

Roseate Tern (Centre)

Roseate Tern (Courtesy of Portland Bird Observatory and Field Centre Website)

The sun was beginning to break through the clouds and so we drove out to Portland to see the Olympic rings overlooking the harbour and then on to Broadcroft Quarry, a Butterfly Conservation wildlife reserve. A quick walk around in skies beginning to cloud over again revealed quite a few butterflies flitting about despite the breeze - common blue, large skipper, red admiral, gatekeeper, meadow brown and marbled white - but the highlight was a stunning male chalkhill blue, a new butterfly for me.

Chalkhill Blue, Broadcroft Quarry

Chalkhill Blue

A few pyramidal orchids were in flower and 3 great green bush crickets were found on the brambles.

Pyramidal Orchid

Great Green Bush Cricket

We drove down to Portland Bill for a quick look at the lighthouse and I saw a juvenile and adult gannet flying past before we headed to the holiday cottage at Wareham, having had an excellent start to my wildlife trip away.