Plymouth Hoe and River Plym

The weird world of lockdown continues and it very much feels like Groundhog Day with "eat, sleep, work, repeat" very much the order of the day and not helped by the glorious weather we have had since it all began with every day seeming to be dry and sunny. Going to work is currently the most normal thing in my life even though it is not normal when I am there due to all the changes that have occurred to accomodate the expected Coronavirus influx and with staff going off sick to self isolate for 7 or 14 days or 12 weeks the rota has had to be flexible too resulting in my early shift on Tuesday April 7th having to be changed to a night shift. It was a sunny but breezy day and so I decided to take a lunchtime walk to Plymouth Hoe for a quick look around before my looming night shift.

I had 2 targets in mind, the first being Sandwich Tern which I quickly connected with as I scanned around from Duttons Cafe. There were at least 9 birds present but they were very mobile around The Cattewater and along The Hoe so assessing numbers was difficult but never before have I felt so pleased to see and hear my first Sandwich Terns of the year in these weird times.

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Tern

Sandwich Terns

Sandwich Terns

My second target was Holly Blue and I eventually found 2 flitting about the ivy growing up the walls of The Citadel along with a confiding Woodpigeon and lots of bees and flies.

Holly Blue

Holly Blue

Woodpigeon

Bee Sp.

Bee Sp.

Thursday April 9th and I decided to take my weekly walk to Saltram on what was a sunny and eventually very warm day. The tide was ebbing and out on the mudflats of the River Plym there were the usual birds with 3 Oystercatcher, 1 Curlew and 10 Redshank seen along with Shelduck, Canada Geese, Little Egret and 2 Grey Heron.

 Grey Heron and Little Egrets, Laira Bridge

Grey Heron and Little Egrets

A Swallow gave away its prescence as it flew overhead, chittering away in the sunshine, and Chiffchaff and Blackcap were very vocal in the undergrowth although the Blackcap mostly sang from within cover with the Chiffchaff being much more showy. A Stock Dove cooed and a Ring-necked Parakeet screeched in the trees, both giving brief views, but a pair of Stock Dove were seen flying across the mudflats before setting down. Nuthatch were vocal and showy too and quite confiding, maybe due to the reduced numbers of human visitors to the Park at the moment.

Nuthatch, Saltram

A pair of Mandarin were again on the small pond in the woods but were disturbed by some dogs and flew off towards Saltram House.

Mandarin, Saltram

A Comma, a male Brimstone (in the same place as I have seen one on my previous 2 visits and maybe the same individual?), 2 Holly Blue, Peacocks, Small Whites, Orange Tips (including a single female) and Large White were all flitting about but in the warm sunshine they didn't settle for any photographs.

I checked out some of the gorse bushes I came across on my walk in the vain hope of finding some Green Hairstreaks but without any luck although I will keep checking. I did however find quite a few Sloe Bugs on the gorse although they were very active and regularly flew off when I approached them.

Sloe Bug

Another very pleasant walk in these strange times and one that is becoming routine and familiar, it will be interesting to see how the wildlife changes week by week as the year progresses.

And with the warm weather I had another go with the moth box in the back yard that evening and on checking the next morning I had 3 moths of 3 species - Herald, Common Quaker and a male Muslin Moth.

 Herald

 Common Quaker

 Muslin Moth

 Muslin Moth

Muslin Moth

Osprey at Bowling Green Marsh

Not a good start to the week on Monday 31st August with a long day at work becoming more and more of an endurance test as the tooth I have had trouble with on and off for the past year became increasingly painful. That night I hardly slept due to the pain, the worst pain I have ever experienced, and the following afternoon a visit to the dentist saw instant relief when a hole was drilled in the tooth and a load of muck came out - yuck!

And so a trip to Perranporth on Wednesday 2nd September was a little uncomfortable and I felt sore and groggy from painkillers and antibiotics but at least the sun eventually appeared although it remained cool in a strong northerly breeze. It was a very low tide and we were able to see the remains of the wreck of the La Seine in the surf, only the second time I have seen them.

3 Sandwich terns were roosting along the beach where 3 sanderlings were busily feeding. Offshore gannets and fulmars were passing by and a kestrel flew around the cliffs making quite a noise. A few trout were seen in the stream but the water level was high and the flow fast from all the recent rain and they were mostly hard to see. A painted lady was a nice surprise, I have seen very few of them this year, but best of all was a lesser weaver fish along the beach, the first I have seen. It was lying prone on the sand above the water line but on returning it to the water it promptly buried itself in the sand where it was very well camoflagued.

 Trout, Perranporth

 Lesser Weaver Fish, Perranporth

 Lesser Weaver - showing its poisonous spines

Lesser Weaver



Sandwich Terns, Perranporth



Friday 4th and it was still cool in the northerly breeze and quite overcast and so we had a walk along the coast from Thurlestone to Hope Cove and back. Unfortunately there was some digging work going on at South Huish Marsh so lots of disturbance but I did manage to find a snipe and 5+ dunlin lurking in the vegetation. A further 4 dunlin were seen flying east along the beach where a juvenile Mediterranean gull was feeding in the surf with black headed gulls. 2 juvenile wheatears were also seen, 1 along the beach and 1 in a mown field along the coast path. A hummingbird hawkmoth was a nice surprise feeding on red valerian flowers with small whites and small tortoiseshells. Again there were no yellow wagtails or clouded yellows to be seen.

Juvenile Wheatear, Thurlestone Beach



Sunday 6th and I headed off on the train to Topsham for a look at Bowling Green Marsh. It was sunny and increasingly warm, not what had originally been forecasted, and it was a very pleasant day out. Arriving at the hide at just after 11am and it was virtually empty which was a bit of a surprise. I settled down and scanned around as the waders arrived on the approaching high tide, seeing lapwing, redshank, curlew, dunlin, black tailed godwit, an avocet, a ruff, a spotted redshank and a greenshank. 4 pintail and 13 wigeon with teal and mallard were a taste of autumn but there was no sign of the 16  yellow wagtails seen the previous day although I heard a brief and distant call of a bird flying over.

The highlight was a juvenile osprey which was picked up quite low down as it circled over the River Clyst. Surprisingly it didn't cause any panic amongst the roosting birds on the Marsh and it slowly gained height before disappearing off towards the north east.

A look from the viewing platform and 2 distant Sandwich terns were roosting on a buoy and a post downriver. A smaller tern was roosting on another post further downriver, it was very dark looking and presumably a black tern but the heat haze and distance precluded a definite ID (both a black- and little tern were reported on the Exe that day).

A walk around Goosemoor to Darts Farm was busy with cyclists but from the viewing screens I had some nice views of 27+ greenshanks with black tailed godwits, dunlin, redshank and 2 very nice ruff.

 Dunlin, Black tailed Godwit, Shelduck, Redshank, Greenshank and Ruff - Goosemoor

 Greenshank, Ruff and Shelduck - Goosemoor

Greenshank and Ruff, Goosemoor



A brief stop at Exminster Marsh on the way home to look for yellow wagtails drew a blank, I seem to keep missing them this autumn but at least I had a flight view of one back in the spring.

I have also had the moth trap out in the back yard with a nice mix of moths including a large ranunculus (with a bald head!), one of my favourite moths and a sign that autumn is definitely here.

 Square Spot Rustic, Back Yard Moth Trap

Marbled Beauty, Back Yard Moth Trap

Large Ranunculus, Back Yard Moth Trap

Another Glaucous Gull

The good news of the week was that the railway line between Newton Abbot and Exeter was reopening on the 4th April and with an originally favourable weather forecast for Saturday 5th April a trip to Dawlish Warren was something to help get me through a particularly shitty week at work. However the 5th April dawned and it was cold and misty and with occasional rain but I headed off anyway.

Arriving at Dawlish Warren I first checked out the sea from the seawall but seeing nothing in the mist I headed off to the hide for the high tide roost. On the golf course a lone brent goose was resting while a party of 9 were feeding along the shoreline of The Bight with another bird seen feeding in front of the hide. Amongst the roosting oystercatchers and herring gulls and great black backed gulls were a very smart looking adult lesser black backed gull, a few common gulls, 4 knot, 7 grey plover, 7 ringed plover and 2 dunlin. Out in the estuary a pair of red breasted mergansers were bathing before drifting upriver and a common seal poked its snout out of the water a few times before disappearing below the water again. Sandwich terns, my first of the year, were busily flying up and down the river and over The Bight to the sea, very mobile and noisy and a little late this year as I normally see them in March. It was difficult to work out how many were present but I did see 7 together at one point.

I had a walk out to Warren Point, somewhere I rarely go when I visit the Warren, seeing a pair of stonechat, a meadow pipit, linnets and songflighting skylarks along the way. At the Point I had a look across to Exmouth Quay for the reported 2nd Winter glaucous gull but there was no sign of it until some walkers flushed a flock of roosting gulls by the waters edge at Warren Point and I caught sight of it flying across the river, very pale looking and a brute of a bird. It eventually landed on the roof of a house near the Quay where it had a preen, having been hassled by herring gulls as it flew across the river. A very nice bird to see and my 3rd bird of this winter.

Heading back to the railway station and a gannet in the mist was all I could find on a quick look at the sea along with a few gulls and Sandwich terns. Around the pond 5 Canada geese were seen and 2 little grebes were heard trilling. A great spotted woodpecker was feeding on the peanut feeder with greenfinch and blue and great tits, and 2 chiffchaffs were heard singing nearby. Unfortunately with the lack of sunshine the sand crocus blooms were closed but despite the weather and getting soaked I had had a pretty good day out.