River Plym Birding

Monday 9th August was warm but overcast and so we took a walk around Burrator Reservoir on Dartmoor. It was relatively quiet but by the time we left the cars and crowds were beginning to arrive.

A winter plumaged Great Crested Grebe out on the reservoir was a nice find (a presumed immature bird), 6 noisy Raven were displaying overhead and 6 Cormorant were roosting on the barrage but the highlight were at least 3 Silver-washed Fritillary flitting about despite the lack of sunshine.

Silver-washed Fritillary

Silver-washed Fritillary

Tuesday 10th August and a sunny morning and an 8am high tide on the River Plym saw me heading out for my usual Plym/Saltram walk. It has been 9 weeks since my last visit and it was nice to be back on site.

The high tide roost on Blaxtons Meadow provided the most interest with 2 Common Sandpiper, 4 Greenshank, 3 Oystercatcher, 37 Curlew, Redshanks, 2 juvenile Shelduck, 2 Kingfishers, an adult winter plumaged Mediterranean Gull, 2 Grey Heron and 14 Little Egrets all noted with 4 Ring-necked Parakeets and 2 Stock Doves flying around overhead with Swallows.

Kingfisher with Black-headed Gulls

Common Sandpiper

I had a good scan through the assorted gulls out on the Meadow as Yellow-legged Gulls have recently been reported here but other than the Mediterranean Gull I couldn't find anything more unusual.

Around the Park a Treecreeper, a Whitethroat, a Swift and a juvenile Willow Warbler were the highlights with a yaffling Green Woodpecker and a mewing Buzzard also heard.

Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Small Heath, Meadow Brown, Common Blue and Peacock were flying around and 3 Emperor Dragonflys were seen (2 around the duck pond and 1 over the grassland). 3 juvenile Moorhen with 2 adults and 2 Mandarin Ducks were also noted around the duck pond with 13 more Mandarin Duck noted along the river.

Peacock

Small Heath

Meadow Brown

A not so nice sighting was surprisingly my first tick of the year, discovered on the back of my right calf the following day! 

River Plym Walk

I missed out on my weekly River Plym and Saltram visit last week with all the Woodchat Shrike and Little Bittern excitement going on and so it was nice to get back for a walk there on Saturday 23rd May despite the strong breeze and occassional heavy showers. It was fairly quiet people wise, probably due to the weather, but there were still plenty of cyclists plying the footpaths as usual who still don't know what 2 metres is as they cycle side by side.

Before heading out for my walk I went through the moths in the back yard moth box and was pleased to find my first White Ermine, Willow Beauty and Marbled Minor Agg. of the year amongst Vines Rustic and Heart and Dart.

 White Ermine

 Marbled Minor Agg. - number 1

Marbled Minor Agg. - number 2

It was nice to get back to Saltram Park with Chiffchaff and Blackcap still singing away along with songflighting Skylarks but the Spring excitement is now slowly slipping into the Summer doldrums. The highlight was a "singing" Spotted Flycatcher in a different area to the one I saw last year and only really noticed due to stepping off the footpath to make way for cyclists passing by. I managed to get a good view of it before it flew off higher into the trees where I lost sight of it but I was very pleased to see one after having just spent some time scanning around the area where I saw one last year without any luck.

Ring-necked Parakeets were noisy and flighty amongst the trees and a pair of Stock Dove were surprisingly confiding. As usual an unseen Green Woodpecker yaffled away in the trees. No waders were seen along the estuary or on Blaxtons Meadow but Shelduck, Canada Geese, 2 male and a female Mallard , a Grey Heron and a breeding plumaged Little Egret with orangey feet and a lilac based bill were all seen and amongst the assorted plumaged Herring Gulls and Great Black-backed Gulls were 6 assorted immature Black-headed Gulls and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Stock Dove

Despite the breeze I found Speckled Woods flitting amongst the trees while the grassland held good numbers of Common Blue and Small Heath. 2 Glow worm larva were a nice surprise find along with at least 8 Bee Orchids, looking a bit weak and weedy in the continuing dry conditions from a lack of rain. 10 Roe Deer were also seen, looking quite orangey coloured in the strong sunlight compared to their usual dark winter pelage.

 Common Blue

 Common Blue

 Common Blue

 Small Heath

Small Heath

 Glow Worm Larva

 Glow Worm Larva

Glow Worm Larva

 Bee Orchid

 Bee Orchid

 Bee Orchid

 Bee Orchid

Bee Orchid

I stopped off at Blagdons Meadow on the walk home where it was bone dry underfoot but a few more Southern Marsh Orchids were flowering in the slightly less dry areas.

Southern Marsh Orchid

Another enjoyable walk and one that continues to throw up surprises and interest in these lock down times. And as lock down continues I have realised a few things about my life - firstly, I really no longer enjoy my current job and I need to do something about it, secondly, now that everything is closed down due to COVID-19 I realise I waste a lot of money on nothing (coffees, snacks, lunch out, glasses of wine, train and bus fares, etc.) and thirdly, I really do not pay enough attention to the wildlife close to home. All things to mull over in the coming months with restrictions on daily life set to continue for some time yet.

Wembury and Saltram Park

Saturday 11th May and as it was a sunny but breezy day I headed off to Wembury on the bus for a walk. I was expecting it to be busy with people due to the good weather but it wasn't too bad.

With the nights being quite chilly at the moment it was no surprise that there were no moths in the toilet block but I did disturb a common carpet from the path side vegetation on my walk.

Common Carpet

Butterflies were on the wing despite the breeze and I saw orange tip, speckled wood and peacock along with my first small white and common blue of the year.

 Common Blue

Peacock

Bird highlight was a smart male whinchat in the sewage farm hedgerow, my first spring sighting of one here at Wembury.

Whinchat

Whitethroats were singing and songflighting all along the walk, they seem to be in very good numbers this year, and I also heard and saw chiffchaff and blackcap. A singing male cirl bunting showed very well and a few swallows flitted about overhead. At The Point on the high tide 18 oystercatcher, 3 whimbrel, 1 curlew and a winter plumaged bar-tailed godwit were roosting with a pair of shelducks, a pair of Canada geese and 2 male and a female mallard.

An odd sight was a clump of gorse shield bug eggs laid on a gorse flower.

Gorse Shield Bug Eggs

An enjoyable mornings walk despite the breeze, and it actually felt like summer is nearly here at last.

Sunday 12th May and with another night shift looming I caught the bus out to Laira Bridge for a walk around Saltram Park, a perfect antidote to a thick head from David's cousins 65th birthday the night before.

It was sunny again but still breezy and I managed to see small white, green-veined white, speckled wood, orange tip and my first small heath of the year.

 Small White

 Small White

 Small White

 Small Heath

Small Heath

A late male wheatear was a surprise and there were good numbers of skylarks seen and heard.

Wheatear

Chiffchaff and blackcap were heard along with jay and ring-necked parakeet and swallows were seen flying around overhead. I kept an eye out for spotted flycatcher without any luck but it was good to see a few fledgling robins skulking in the bushes.

With my head cleared it was time to catch the bus back home, a nice walk in the sunshine and I left before the Sunday hordes arrived.

Cuckoos and Whinchats on Dartmoor and a Wembury Walk

May 20th and it was time for my annual Dartmoor day with Mavis and Mike - well, just Mavis this year as Mike was away at their daughters. It was cold with a brisk North Westerly breeze but when the sun came out from behind the clouds it was quite pleasant, the sun appearing more and more as the day progressed.

We started off at Challacombe Farm where we saw many of our target birds for the day - a cuckoo heard calling, getting nearer and nearer to us before flying overhead; a male redstart heard singing but not seen; a pair of spotted flycatchers feeding in the trees before melting away, never to be seen again; a songflighting tree pipit, the first I have seen here; 2 stock doves flying over and later heard coo-ing; a very brightly coloured male redpoll songflighting overhead ; a treecreeper and a nuthatch feeding in the trees; and a pair of whinchat feeding together before chasing off a much brighter coloured male which interloped on their territory.

Four very cute and tame piglets at Challacombe Farm

 



David joined us for lunch at the Warren house Inn before Mavis and I headed off to Golden Dagger and Soussons for the afternoon. Despite the strong breeze we had some good sightings - a mobile cuckoo was heard calling and we had some lovely views of it perched in the top of a hawthorn bush; a tree pipit songflighted briefly; a male kestrel mobbed a hovering buzzard; a male redpoll songflighted regularly overhead; a pair of siskins briefly landed in a willow tree before flying off; 2 garden warblers were heard but not seen; and a male whitethroat songflighted in the usual area near the ruined cottage.

Cuckoo, Warren House

Most noticeable were whinchats, they seemed to be everywhere along the walk. The males were busily singing and most appeared to have attracted a mate for the summer. At times they were quite confiding, showing well quite close to the path but were always active and rarely stayed still for long.

Male Whinchat, Warren House



Also seen were a green tiger beetle, sundew, tadpoles in the stream that flows along the footpath, a female orange tip, a green veined white and a peacock butterfly but there was no sign yet of the heath spotted orchids.

 Green Tiger Beetle

Sundew



May 21st and I decided to head out to Wembury for a walk. It was warm and sunny with the breeze much gentler than yesterday. The highlight was a sedge warbler singing in the vegetation behind the boat yard but despite waiting and watching I couldn't catch a sight of it. Also seen were 9 whimbrel flying West along the coast, a shelduck roosting on the beach, 12 Canada geese resting and feeding in the wheat field, a singing cirl bunting and a little egret on the rocks at high tide. A female wheatear was seen feeding in the horse field, maybe a late migrant or a bird of the Greenland race?

Shelduck, Wembury



Whitethroats were very noticeable along the walk, busily songflighting, and I heard blackcaps and heard and saw chiffchaffs. Swallows were busily hawking around the stables and a male pheasant was feeding amongst the sheep in the sheep field.

Insects were much in evidence in the warm weather - bloody nosed beetle larva, green shield bug, scorpion fly and sloe bug along with speckled wood, orange tip, large white, green veined white, wall, common carpet and at least 5 speckled yellow.

 Green Shield Bug

Sloe Bug



Heading home and I stopped off at Laira Bridge to have a look around the nearby Billacombe Railway nature reserve, owned by Plymouth City Council. It has decreased yet more in size due to the continued building work at the old Billacombe Quarry site with areas gravelled over and a lot of vegetation cut back. I am assuming that the Council plans to extend the cycle path along the route of the old railway line now that the railway bridge across the River Plym has been renovated and opened for cyclists and pedestrians - indeed there are signs up for planning permission to build a bridge across The Ride to connect the railway bridge to the railway line, looks like the nature reserve will be no more, very sad.

I had a look around and saw a holly blue, a red admiral, a speckled wood, a Pyrausta aurata, a common carpet and what I think was a dingy skipper whizzing past.

Pyrausta aurata, Billacombe Railway



There were squares of roofing felt dotted around and I searched under each one, eventually finding a slow worm under one of them. I assume they are either being used for monitoring purposes or to capture and move any slow worms found under them before more disturbance and destruction of the reserve occurs for the new cycle path construction. A similar thing was done before the house building began in Billacombe Quarry but here it was much more organised - the felt squares were all numbered and pegged down unlike the ones today.

Slow Worm, Billacombe Railway



I headed onwards to Blagdon Meadow to look for orchids and butterflies and was quite surprised at how dry the meadow was. Swallows were flitting around the boat wreck by the footpath, some birds entering inside presumably to nest again. House martins were flying over chittering and I watched them collecting mud from the estuary as the tide went out. Early purple orchids were in flower including a few white forms but there was no sign of any Southern marsh orchids yet. A male common blue and at least 3 small heath were on the wing along with orange tips and green veined whites and I also found a burnet companion moth and a false oil beetle. A female broad-bodied chaser with yellow markings along the side of its broad abdomen was a surprise, perching briefly on vegetation before flying off.

False Oil Beetle, Blagdons Meadow

 Small Heath

 Burnet Companion

 Early Purple Orchid

Female Broad-bodied Chaser, Blagdons Meadow



Not a bad couple of days wildlife watching but it is getting to that time of year when birding slows down and insects and plants come to the fore.