Wood Sandpiper at Bude

A quick walk along the coast path at Wembury on Wednesday 1st August in the continuing hot weather and there were more signs of autumn in the air with 7 curlew, 3 whimbrel, 53+ oystercatchers and 5 little egrets roosting at Wembury Point on the high tide. An adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gull was picked up offshore flying east and along the path there were the usual stonechats and whitethroats, 4+ skittish and skulky cirl buntings in the sewage farm hedge, 3 fledgling carrion crows with an adult hunting for scraps of food left by holiday makers on the main beach and a flyover sparrowhawk.

Butterflies were flitting about as usual with a painted lady, a red admiral and a speckled wood seen along with large white, common blue, wall, meadow brown, gatekeeper and small white. The toilet block held a magpie moth, a dark bush cricket and 2 oak bush crickets and along the footpath I found a carnation tortrix, a new moth for me and ID'd with help from @MothIDUK on Twitter.

 Painted Lady

 Red Admiral

 Wall

 Wall

Carnation Tortrix

 Dark Bush Cricket

Oak Bush Cricket

With Mum and nephew Jack visiting for a few days we took a drive up to Bude for the day on Wednesday 8th August but the hot weather had broken and on arrival it was raining. It did clear up eventually and I did manage a quick look at Maer Lake where 2 dunlin, a curlew, 3 lapwing, 14 black tailed godwits and a wood sandpiper were seen in the drizzly gloom - the wood sandpiper was unfortunately a little distant (as the birds always are at Maer Lake) and the poor light and drizzle didn't help viewing but it was a delight to watch as always.

 Wood Sandpiper - Honest!

Wood Sandpiper (with Mallard and 2 Dunlin)

A brief trip to Wembury on Thursday 9th August before Mum and Jack headed back home and in the rock pools we found shanny and cushion starfish and in the toilet block another magpie moth and a garden pebble.

 Cushion Starfish

Garden Pebble

Pebble Prominent - found by David at work on a night shift at Derriford, Plymouth

Wood Sandpipers at Bowling Green Marsh

Thursday 27th July and with the day to myself I headed off to Bowling Green Marsh, hoping that the 2 wood sandpipers reported the day before would still be there. I had planned to catch a train after 9am when it would be cheaper but as I was up and awake early as usual I caught the 8:09am train and paid a whooping £20.10 for a return ticket - what!

The RSPB have landscaped the area in front of the hide at Bowling Green Marsh and have created some scrapes which have proved very controversial amongst the Exeter bird fraternity and have attracted a lot of negative comments, but this is where the wood sandpipers have decided to pitch up and so I was very interested to see what it was like. Arriving at Topsham I headed off straight away to the hide on a grey and dull morning, noting various Exeter birder illuminati along the way so I was hoping the sandpipers would still be there.

Arriving in the hide and I scanned around the scrapes but there was no sign of any wood sandpipers with a dunlin and a common sandpiper being the only waders to be seen. The scrape area was looking very interesting though, when it settles in and the water levels are a little lower it should prove to be a very good magnet for waders and will allow for some excellent views of them.

New Scrapes, Bowling green Marsh

I scanned around the Marsh and amongst the roosting curlew, whimbrel, black tailed godwit and redshank were 2 lapwing and 2 dunlin, while on the new large island were shelduck and cormorants amongst the roosting black headed gulls along with an adult great black backed gull, an adult lesser black backed gull and an adult winter plumaged Mediterranean gull.

The great black backed gull eventually flew off and spooked the roosting birds and I then heard the distinctive calls of wood sandpiper before picking up 2 small waders flying across the Marsh which landed right in front of the hide on the new scrapes - result! 2 delicious looking wood sandpipers which fed along the water line giving some great views.

 Wood Sandpiper, Bowling Green Marsh

 Wood Sandpiper

 Wood Sandpiper

 Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Also seen on the marsh were 2 stock dove and various eclipse plumaged ducks - mallard, a teal, 2 gadwall and 4 wigeon - and a green woodpecker was heard yaffling nearby. Sand martins were flitting about over the water with a house martin and a few swallows but I decided to move on from Topsham and caught the train back to Dawlish Warren for a look around.

From the train I saw 2 common sandpipers (1 at Powderham and 1 at Cockwood), turnstones roosting on the harbour wall at Starcross and Herbert the resident Slavonian grebe still in summer plumage off Cockwood. Dawlish Warren was very busy with holidaymakers as expected and so I headed off to the sea wall for a look where Sandwich terns were very successfully diving for fish close to the shore. Further out were around 40 common scoters spread out across the bay while further out still were a few gannet and some very distant Manx shearwaters. A mute swan sat on the sea off Langstone Rock looked very out of place before it flew off up the estuary.

Mute Swan, Dawlish Warren

The reserve was much less busy and around the main pond I saw a reed warbler, a singing cirl bunting, a flyover bullfinch, a blue tailed damselfly and a very nice small red-eyed damselfly. 

 Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Dawlish Warren - maximum zoom

Small Red-eyed Damselfly - cropped shot

A few butterflies were on the wing in Greenland Lake despite the grey skies - common blue, meadow brown, large white, small copper and gatekeeper - along with quite a few 6 spot burnet moths, and I thought I found a brown argus but it turned out to be a very small and a very brown looking female common blue.

 Male Common Blue

 Female Common Blue

Female Common Blue

Blue Eyed Grass - still a few in flower

Saturday 29th July and it was grey, misty and raining, and with some interesting birds being seen off the south coast following some recent unseasonal weather conditions I decided to go to Rame Head for a sea watch - only problem being there was hardly any breeze and so I got cold and wet and saw very little! But it was all good practice and experience and I had nothing better to do and I did manage a few interesting sightings.

Land sightings consisted of 2 raven, a female kestrel, yellowhammers, a male cirl bunting, stonechats, linnets and whitethroats along with a speckled wood, a wall, meadow browns and gatekeepers (despite the rain). Sea sightings consisted of 2 harbour porpoise very close to the rocks just off the headland giving brief, blink and you miss it views as they surfaced a few times before never being seen again, and there were gannets, herring gulls, great black backed gulls and shags offshore.

The rain stopped for around an hour between 11 and 12 and this proved to be the best period of sea watching with a whimbrel, an oystercatcher and a dunlin in with 5 turnstone seen flying west and around 70 Manx shearwaters moving offshore in a strung out, straggly pulse, all heading west except for 3 heading east.

The rain returned and so I decided to call it day and headed off home to dry out and warm up but it had been an enjoyable morning all the same.

A Quartet of Sandpipers

Sunday August 28th and a day off to myself and I had planned to visit Preston Down in Torbay for the Devon Butterfly Groups walk to look for brown hairstreaks but on opening the bedroom curtains it was grey and misty and drizzly so I decided to head off to Bowling Green Marsh at Topsham instead. The weather did improve and it stayed mostly dry but was cloudy and humid.

I started off in the hide and quickly found the spoonbill which had been present for a few days but it was doing what spoonbills always do - sleep! It occassionally awoke and showed its bill but would quickly tuck its bill under its wing again and return to sleep.

Sleeping Spoonbill

The usual birds were on show across the Marsh including black tailed godwit, teal, little egret and lapwing but a winter plumaged spotted redshank was a nice find busily feeding in the water along with a common sandpiper feeding along the muddy shoreline, my first sandpiper of the day.

I headed off to the viewing platform overlooking the River Clyst and scanned around where the highlights were a spotted redshank roosting with redshanks on the mudflats, presumably a second bird to the one seen feeding on the marsh, a Sandwich tern resting on a buoy down river on the Exe, 2 juvenile curlew sandpipers feeding along the shoreline (sandpiper species number 2) and greenshanks and black tailed godwits feeding and flying around.

A holly blue was flitting about along the hedgerow as I headed back to the hide and it was a surprise to find the hide totally packed out after being virtually empty earlier but I managed to find a standing place at the back. Birds were flying in from the estuary as the tide came in and I added ringed plover, dunlin, a bar tailed godwit, 3 knot, curlew and a calling whimbrel to the wader list.

I eventually found the bird I had come to see, a very smart wood sandpiper which had been around for a few days. At first it was tucked away to the left of the hide but eventually flew in right in front of the hide giving some great views, the best I have had of this species and sandpiper number 3 for the day.

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Wood Sandpiper

Later a green sandpiper also flew in to the channel in front of the hide but quickly flew off again back towards Goosemoor, sandpiper number 4. Birds were coming and going and the spotted redshank was still feeding in the water, the spoonbill was still asleep at the back of the marsh and presumably the 2 curlew sandpipers from the viewing platform were busily feeding away along the muddy shoreline. Lots to watch but there was no sign of the osprey that had been reported over the previous few days.

Slightly Awake Spoonbill

It started to rain as I headed home on the train but I managed to see the resident Slavonian grebe on the River Exe at Cockwood from the train on the journey back to Plymouth.

Duchess of Sutherland at Plymouth Station on my return

Monday 29th August and a hot and sunny Bank Holiday Monday for a change and so we headed off to Wembury for a walk. I was hoping to see some yellow wagtails and wasn't disappointed with 3 found feeding around the feet of the cattle in the field by the footpath. However they were very skittish and soon flew off inland but on the walk back I found a single bird in the field which gave some nice views before flying off inland also.

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Yellow Wagtail

Also seen were a noisy adult and even noisier juvenile Sandwich tern flying along the shoreline, a male whitethroat at Wembury Point,, stonechats, chiffchaffs, swallows and a female sparrowhawk flying low over the stubble field spooking the roosting gulls which included an adult lesser black backed.

Common blue, speckled wood, large white, meadow brown, small tortoiseshell, red admiral  and holly blue were on the wing but there were no moths again in the toilet block.

We enjoyed a coffee and a pasty for lunch from the cafe on the beach before heading off home to cool down and prepare for dreaded night shifts, bringing to an end some excellent days of wildlife watching with 2 lifers added to my British list.

Moths, Waders and Butterflies

I wasn't expecting to see much in the way of wildlife with my Mum and cousin coming down to stay for a few days but on our days out I actually managed to find some good stuff.

Before they arrived I had the mothbox out in the back yard overnight and on checking through the catch on August 16th I had my first old lady of the year along with my first yellow barred brindle and Jersey tiger for the garden this year. I had hoped for some marbled greens but I was out of luck - I haven't had the mothbox out much this year due to work shifts and the often poor overnight weather and I guess I may have probably missed my chances of seeing what is one of my favourite moths this year.

Old Lady

 



August 17th and a late start meant our plans for a day out to the caravan at Bude went out of the window. Instead we headed off to Hope Cove for a walk on a bright and warm day. Walking along the clifftop from Hope Cove to South Huish Marsh and the scenery was stunning with a kestrel and a raven flying overhead. Arriving at South Huish Marsh and a black tailed godwit was showing well. A quick scan revealed a ruff skulking in the reeds which eventually showed well as it fed along the waters edge. A wheatear was feeding in the fields amongst the pied wagtails and eventually I managed a brief glimpse of the bird I had hoped to see - a very smart wood sandpiper. It kept disappearing behind the vegetation but eventually showed very well feeding out in the open.

Longhorn Beetle Sp.

 



Wood Sandpiper, South Huish Marsh

 

Wood Sandpiper 

After some lunch back at Hope Cove we had a walk out to Bolt Tail, seeing a whitethroat, a wheatear and a stonechat along the way. From the cliffs the sea was flat calm and bright silver in the strong sunlight and I wasn't expecting to see much but a quick scan revealed a few gannets, shags and gulls. Further scanning and I found a smart juvenile kittiwake and 2 Sandwich terns. There was also a steady trickle of small shearwaters flying east low over the water - most were a little distant and were difficult to get any detail on in the bright light but the few that were closer in were Manxies. Two distant harbour porpoises briefly surfacing were a bonus, easily seen in the bright conditions with the sea so flat.

August 18th and we headed off to Rosemoor, an RHS garden near Great Torrington in North Devon. Mum is an RHS member so had free admission to the garden along with 1 guest (me!) and hasn't visited the garden before although I have back in May 2013. The gardens were stunning in the sunshine, much more so than they were on a cold and cloudy May day in 2013, and we had a nice wander around. The highlight for me were the butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies whizzing around in the warm conditions - meadow brown, gatekeeper, red admiral, peacock, small tortoiseshell, small white, large white, comma, brimstone and holly blue; common darter, and hawkers too fast to properly ID; and blue tailed- and azure damselflys.

Rosemoor Gardens

 



Peacock

Common Darter

 



Common Darter

 



Blue Tailed Damselfly

 



Azure Damselfly

 



Best of all were at least 8 silver washed fritillary - most were a little tatty and worse for wear but a few were fairly decent looking. A worn female was seen egg laying and 2 pairs were seen in amorous displays.

Silver Washed Fritillary

 



Silver Washed Fritillary

 



Silver Washed Fritillary

 



And so not a bad range of wildlife sightings, most of which was unexpected, and with some decent weather too.