Butterflies and a Trip to Suffolk

Monday 13th July and I had a walk out to Oreston where a colony of White-tailed Hairstreaks have recently been discovered in an elm tree where the canopy of the tree is level with the footpath allowing some great views of the butterflies.

I soon found a White-letter Hairstreak on arriving at the site and there were at least 3 present in the tree top along with a Speckled Wood, a Holly Blue and a Purple Hairstreak.

White-letter Hairstreak

Purple Hairstreak

I had a look at another White-letter Hairstreak site nearby on the walk home, this time in an elm tree along the cycle path behind The Range Superstore on Billacombe Road, and after a bit of a scan around before the clouds rolled on I found one nectaring on Old Man's Beard below the elm tree before it disappeared from view.

Tuesday 14th July and we drove up to Ipswich in Suffolk for a few days away at my Mums. There were fewer than usual roadside casulalties seen on the journey to Ipswich, presumably due to the lower traffic levels following the COVID-19 lock down giving the wildlife a better chance, but I did see 3 Red Kites soaring over the M3/M25 Motorways. Even better were at least 5 Essex Skippers seen on a layby embankment along the A12 just off the M25 - we had stopped to check the car radio aerial and I had noticed some small orange butterflies flitting about over the grass which turned out to be Essex Skipper although they were very flitty and flighty.

Essex Skipper - black undersides to antennae tips

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper - Male with short, straight and inconspicuous sex brands on upper wing

Essex Skipper

Essex Skipper

Our time in Ipswich was dry but mostly overcast so butterflying was difficult but I did have the moth box out in my Mums garden on 2 nights and I did manage a short visit to Minsmere although the hides were closed, it was very busy and only 2 of the nature trails were open

Lesser Black-backed Gull Chick, Felixstowe

Mothing was interesting with some familiar species and some new ones too and in much higher numbers than I get in my own back yard here in Plymouth. The highlights were Poplar and Elephant Hawk Moths, Box-tree Moth, Least Carpet, Marbled Beauty, Brown-tail, Dusky Sallow, Feathered Ranunculus, Festoon and Ruby Tiger amongst a good assortment of commoner species.

Box-tree Moth - a pretty pest introduced from Asia

Festoon  - Male

Feathered Ranunculus(?) 

Least Carpet

Small Emerald

My trip to Minsmere on July 16th gave 9 species of butterfly in the dull and grey skies - Small Copper, Small Skipper, Gatekeeper, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Large White, Red Admiral, Peacock and a Silver-washed Fritillary - but it was too cloudy for White Admirals to be enticed to fly along the woodland rides.

Silver-washed Fritillary

Peacock

Peacock

Yellow-horned Poppy

Bird wise it was much more interesting with a good  range of waders seen - Redshank, Dunlin, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwing, Turnstone, Ruff, Avocet, Green Sandpiper, Ringed Plover, Oystercatcher, Spotted Redshank and Stone Curlew - along with Common Tern, Sandwich Tern, Mediterranean Gull, Kittiwake, Marsh Harrier, Hobby, Sedge Warbler and Sand Martin.

Stone Curlew

Stone Curlew

Another 3 Red Kite were seen on the journey back to Plymouth on July 18th, this time along the M3/A303, and the traffic around Stonehenge wasn't too bad for a change considering we travelled home on a July Saturday.

Sunday 19th July was cool and cloudy and so we had a walk along Devonport Leat on Dartmoor, starting at Burrator Reservoir. We have never undertaken this walk before which is surprising as the scenery was beautiful and the Leat very interesting. It was quite busy with walkers and cyclists but not too bad and I heard Green Woodpecker and Siskin and saw Swallows and House Martins plus Beautiful Demoiselles, Ringlet, Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown.

Beautiful Demoiselle

Beautiful Demoiselle wing

Devonport Leat Aquaduct

Brown Trout, Devonport Leat

On the way home we stopped off at Blagdon's Meadow in Plymouth where Clouded Yellows have been reported and within a few minutes of arriving I found 2 dashing across a surprisingly verdant and flower covered meadow although they rarely settled for more than a few seconds.

Monday 20th July was my last day off before returning to work and so I walked out to Oreston to look again for White-letter Hairstreaks and I soon found one perched in the eye-level elm canopy although it was very battered looking.

White-letter Hairstreak

I stopped off at Blagdon's Meadow on the walk home and again quickly found a Clouded Yellow dashing about and again it rarely settled for very long and I also saw Common Blue and Meadow Brown along with 6-spot Burnet and a Small Copper.

Clouded Yellow

Common Blue  - female

River Plym and Wembury Walks

Sunday 22nd March was a gloriously sunny day and despite a biting Easterly wind it was a day just begging to be out and about and walked in. It was also Mother's Day but with the COVID-19 pandemic escalating we are all advised to stay inside and not visit our Mums, easy for me as she is 300 miles away, but I really wanted to get outside before we are placed in total lockdown. And with cryptic news on the Internet of a Stone Curlew found that morning at a private site in Plymouth my mind was made up and I headed out for a walk along the River Plym. We are being advised to maintain social distancing when out and about, keeping at least 2 metres away from others, and this is what I did although there weren't many people about anyway. I also walked there and back, avoiding the bus and saving some money and helping my waist line in the process.

The tide was low when I arrived at Laira Bridge and I watched 3 Little Egrets feeding out on the mudflats, grabbing lugworms out of the mud and snaffling them down while a Chiffchaff sang in the nearby trees.

 Little Egret, River Plym

Little Egret

Skylarks were singing over Chelson Meadow as I walked along The Ride and Greenfinches were songflighting overhead, a lovely sight and sound as they appear to be getting more common again.

I wandered around Saltram and managed to find a flyby Brimstone while at least 4 Peacocks and 3 Commas gave some good on the deck views.

 Peacock, Saltram

 Comma

Comma

A Mistle Thrush, at least 4 mobile and flighty Stock Doves and 7 flyover Redwings were also seen and it was lovely to hear and see my first Willow Warblers of the year with 2 individuals feeding on insects in amongst the catkins. 3 Wheatears were also good to find but they were mobile and flighty and soon disappeared from sight.

I met local birder Chris and he had seen the Stone Curlew a few minutes earlier but had lost track of it when some dog walkers had walked past and despite us both scanning around we couldn't refind it. Chris eventually had to leave (we maintained social distancing the whole time), and I wandered around a bit more but just as I was about to give up and head off home I found it, unfortunately a bit distant as it walked around in the long grass. I walked closer towards it but I lost sight of it in the grass until it eventually flew off as I approached. I followed its flight path and eventually found it again and managed to get some great views of it although I really wished I had taken my telescope out with me as it was still distant. It was attracting some unwelcome interest from the nearby Carrion Crows and Jackdaws and eventually was chased off by them, flying off and out of sight again but after having had such good views of it it was time to head home.

 Stone Curlew 

 Stone Curlew 

Stone Curlew

As I was walking back I heard a Peregrine calling and on scanning around I found it as it stooped at the Stone Curlew which was flying over the nearby hillside - what! The Stone Curlew pitched down into the vegetation but the Peregrine kept flying around, calling and stooping at the ground in an attempt to flush the Stone Curlew but as I approached it gave up and flew off. The Stone Curlew then flew off too and out of sight, having had a lucky escape thank goodness.

A great bird to see, my first in Devon and probably some of the best views I have had of one. And thanks to local birder Martin for getting the cryptic news out so promptly although I guess only 3 of us managed to actually see it.

Monday 23rd March was another sunny but windy day and with the lockdown of the UK imminent and my going back to work tomorrow I wanted one last wildlife walk and so I caught the bus to Wembury. There were only 4 of us on the bus and we all spaced ourselves out in seats away from each other but it felt very strange.

At Wembury Sloe was in full blossom and it was a relief to find the Sea Kale along the beach beginning to emerge from the sand after all the damage to the beach from the winter storms.

 Sloe Blossom, Wembury

Sea Kale

It was quiet on the bird front but it was great to see and hear Chiffchaffs, Skylarks and Cirl Buntings singing.

 Cirl Bunting

Cirl Bunting

A female Kestrel was nice to see hovering over the hillside and Stonechats, Dunnocks and Linnets were noticeable along the coastal footpath. 2 Canada Geese were noisily resting on the rocks at the low tide and Gannet and Fulmar were seen offshore. 2 Mistle Thrush in the horse field were a surprise find.

3 Common Lizards, 6 Oil Beetles, Bee Fly, Bloody-nosed Beetles and a Peacock butterfly were also seen before David met me for a lunch of sandwiches and Pepsi Max sat out on a bench along the footpath (the cafe, as are all cafes, was closed) before we drove home in the car - a nice but breezy walk and maybe my last wildlife walk for some time to come.

 Common Lizard

 Oil Beetle

 Oil Beetle 

 Oil Beetle

 Bee Fly

 Bee Fly

Shield Bug

Enoplops scapha