Local Wildlife Extravaganza

Work continues to piss me off, not helped by the current shit stirring and shit flinging going on following the very sad and tragic suicide of a lovely young woman from our team, and after working Long Day shifts on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th May and then Monday 1st June in baking heat and in PPE my plan for Tuesday 2nd June was to have a quiet chill out day. However with the good weather due to break on Wednesday 3rd I decided to get out wildlife watching instead to ease my weary soul and despite being absolutely knackered.

And so the first stop on Tuesday 2nd June was the south edge of Dartmoor to look for butterflies following a Twitter Tweet regarding a sighting of 4 fritillary species there (Silver-washed, Dark Green, High Brown and Small Pearl-bordered). I didn't get an early start as originally planned but I was on site by 09:45hrs and it was amazingly hot in the sun for the time of day.

I wandered around the area keeping my eyes open as I wasn't exactly sure where to actually look for the fritillaries but I did find a few Beautiful Demoiselles perched on vegetation, a Small Tortoiseshell, a Large Skipper, Meadow Brown, a brief flybe White Sp. (probably Large on size) and a male Brimstone.

Small Tortoiseshell

Large Skipper

Large Skipper 

Brimstone

I also soon found a few Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary flitting around but they never settled. Most were dull and tatty and worn but a few were smart looking and brightly coloured. Eventually I found a few nectaring on Blackberry flowers and managed some good views.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary 

It was good to hear Garden Warblers singing, at least 3 birds, but I couldn't catch a sight of them as they sang in deep cover. 2 Marsh Tit showed well as they foraged in an oak tree and 2 Grey Wagtail fed along a small stream. A Great spotted Woodpecker chipped away in the trees  and Willow Warbler were heard singing their meloudiously sad song.

Eventually I found a large Fritillary perched on the bracken, I expected it to be a Dark Green but was very pleased to find it was a High Brown and a very smart looking one too! It was very flitty and mobile and difficult to photograph, seeming always to land in a spot obscured by vegetation, and eventually it dashed off out of sight. I then continued to see single large fritillaries flying fast over the bracken and the ones that settled were all High Brown too. I did see 2 flying together at one point but neither settled before they dashed off in pursuit of each other.

High Brown Fritillary 

High Brown Fritillary 

High Brown Fritillary 

High Brown Fritillary 

High Brown Fritillary 

High Brown Fritillary 

High Brown Fritillary 

Brown Silver Line moths were everywhere amongst the bracken and I had a brief view of a Golden-ringed Dragonfly and a blue/green Dragonfly species but I had much better views of a male Broad-bodied Chaser patrolling back and forth along a small stream and occassionally perching on vegetation nearby.

Broad-bodied Chaser

Less pleasant to find was the mass of rubbish left by day trippers in the car park despite the No Litter signs, showing the general level of Common Sense and Social Responsibilty of the Great British Public - if you bring it out with you, take it home with you!

Clear and Concise

Obviously Not!

The weather remained hot and sunny all day with little breeze and so in the evening I headed up to Cann Woods for some Nightjar watching. It was a lovely evening only marred by the constant attentions of midges (I forgot the insect repellant) and after a long and hot walk I arrived on site at around 20:00 hrs. It has been a while since I have looked for Nightjars here (the last time was in 2015) and I have to say it turned out to be the best Nightjar session I have ever had anywhere.

There were other birders present, a total of 12 of us in the end, and we had a great time. Brief churring began at 21:05hrs with occasional churrs continuing until 21:30 hrs. It then all began properly and the action was still going strong when I left at 22:10hrs.

There was plenty of churring, wing clapping and "guicking" going on and I managed some good views of single birds flying around and occassionally two birds chasing each other with the white tail and wing markings of the males being easily seen. One bird even perched up on a fence post by the footpath to churr and I had a decent view of it despite the very poor light.

Nightjar Churring

A Green Woodpecker, a Tawny Owl, Willow Warblers, a Tree Pipit and Blackcaps were also heard and 2 Garden Warblers were having a sun down sing off and I managed a decent view of one of them in the area where I saw one back in April.

A Roe Deer buck sauntered nonchalantly across the path and a Common Spotted Orchid was found in flower in a hedgerow.

Roe Deer

Common Spotted Orchid

Common Spotted Orchid

The walk home was as spooky as ever through the dark woodland but with clear skies and an almost full moon it was quite well lit and I arrived back home safe and sound, having had an amazing wildlife day.

Moon

With the clear skies and warm temperature I had the moth box out in the back yard that night but I had to set the alarm clock for the morning as rain was forecasted from 06:00hrs. I managed to get the moth box sorted and packed away before the rain arrived despite the attentions of the Herring Gulls nesting on our chimney stack again this year who presumably now have a hatched chick or chicks in the nest as they squawked and dive bombed me before eventually giving up. The sight of a very large Brown Rat digging in the soil of one of the planters was also unwelcome before it disappeared into the shrubs.

The moth box had a good haul inside with the highlight being a very smart Broad-barred White, a new moth for me. Mullein Wave, Dwarf Cream Wave, Heart and Club, Peppered Moth, Ingrailed Clay and Bright-line Brown-eye were nice finds too and there were around 20 Heart and Dart also present.

Broad-barred White

Mullein Wave

Peppered Moth

Heart and Club

Ingrailed Clay

To finish my wildlife extravaganza we walked down to the allotment later that morning in between the rain showers and I found 4 Bee Orchids in flower nearby, looking very good despite the recent lack of rain.

Bee Orchids

Bee Orchids

Squacco Heron, Beesands Ley

Saturday 16th May and we decided to head off to Dartmeet on Dartmoor for a cream tea on what was a sunny but breezey day. However on the drive there we changed our minds and headed off to another site on Dartmoor instead.

I still had a cream tea and on the walk I heard 2 pied flycatchers and saw a few grey wagtails along the river. With the sunshine a few butterflys were on the wing - a painted lady, a small copper, speckled woods, green veined whites and at least 2 heath fritillary along with 2 speckled yellow moths.

Painted Lady



Speckled Yellow



Heath Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

Heath Fritillary

That evening we went to Cann Woods to look for nightjars. The National Trust are not running their nightjar nights at Plymbridge Woods this year and so I had to go solo - David stayed in the car reading the paper while I wandered around the Woods on my own. I heard a cuckoo calling briefly and saw at least 3 fallow deer and a tawny owl on my wanderings to the area where I usually visit on the National Trust walk. Within a few minutes of arriving at the usual watching place a nightjar started churring away - result! It churred half heartedly while a second bird started churring nearby. In the fading light and after hearing some wing clapping and "guiccing" I managed to see a male bird with white wing patches flying around with a female bird while a male bird churred nearby before it all went quiet. I decided not to wait around for more and headed back to the car as darkness descended and it was quite a spooky walk through the dark and quiet woods.

A squacco heron had been reported at Beesands Ley and so we headed off there on Sunday 17th to have a look for it. Walking along the beach from Torcross to Beesands and 5 adult kittiwakes were feeding close to the shore, flying back and forth and plunging into the sea to snatch at fish. 3 Sandwich terns were further out with 1 bird attempting to rest on a fishing buoy before giving up.

Arriving at the Ley and I immediately found the squacco heron feeding along the reed edge at the back of the Ley - a British life tick! I watched it for a few minutes before it took off showing its bright white wings, it flew across the Ley doing a massive poop along the way before disappearing in the reeds - at least it must have been finding enough food! We had some food ourselves at The Britannia Cafe in Beesands before I headed back to the Ley where I had some more nice views of the bird as it hunted along the reed edges and flew around the Ley, doing another massive poop in flight again.

Distant Squacco Heron, Beesands Ley



Squacco Heron



Squacco Heron in flight showing startling white wings



Heading back to Plymouth and we stopped off at Blackdown Rings, another Iron Age fort near Loddiswell which is smaller again than Badbury Rings but with amazing views of Dartmoor and the coast. There were no cowslips or orchids to be seen, presumably the soil is not condusive to their growth here, but I did see another painted lady flying around amongst the copious bluebells in flower.

And so my weeks leave was over, back to work on Monday and I was not looking forward to it at all after such an amazing week of wildlife.

Nightjars and Cuckoos

A sunny day on May 27th and so we headed off to the caravan at Bude to see the Outlaws. The water levels were still high at nearby Maer Lake but I did see a very nice summer plumaged black tailed godwit, 2 shelduck, male and female mallards with various sized ducklings and a flyover whimbrel heard calling. A look at the sea from the nearby clifftops and there was nothing of note in the calm conditions. The toilet block held a small magpie, an unknown faded moth and a smaller unknown moth which flew away before I could catch it!

? Moth species



That evening I headed off to Plymbridge Woods for my annual National Trust Nightjar Night Walk in ideal weather conditions - warm, clear and still. A very noisy tawny owl was calling in trees by the footpath while we waited for the nightjars to start churring but I couldn't locate it in the fading light. The nightjars began to churr as dusk fell, only 1 bird was heard churring at any one time but churring was heard in 3 different areas. We did get good views of 2 birds though - a churring male in silhouette in a tree with a second bird seen resting on the footpath and occasionally flying up to presumably chase a moth or beetle.

The following day and I headed up to Dartmoor for my annual Dartmoor Day with Mavis and Mike. The weather had changed and it was misty, drizzly and showery but we managed to see some good birds, starting with 2 cuckoos flying by the car near Bellever on the drive to Warren House.

At Warren House we had good views of 2 noisy and mobile cuckoos, 2 male whinchats with 1 singing, a flyover redpoll cha-cha-cha-ing, a (silent) flying green woodpecker, songflighting tree pipits, a flyover stock dove and a male reed bunting. Heath spotted orchids were beginning to flower but there was no sign of any sundews. We also found a very nice (and big) drinker moth caterpillar (ideal cuckoo food!) and a large oak eggar moth caterpillar, a new caterpillar for me and ID'd by Tony Johns.

 Oak Eggar Caterpillar

Oak Eggar Caterpillar



We walked to Challacombe Farm where we had good views of a spotted flycatcher and a male redstart along with a flyover and silent cuckoo, 2 stock doves, a male reed bunting and some wheatears. The hillsides were covered in a fragrant swath of bluebells which looked absolutely stunning as the wind rippled across the vegetation.

Bluebell covered hillside at Challacombe Farm



After lunch at the Warren House Inn we headed off to Cuckoo Rock where we had a wonderful walk although I was beginning to suffer a bit with a coldy bug thing that had been lurking around for a few days. We did hear a cuckoo calling but didn't see it but redstarts where very much in evidence with a male seen carrying food and a female seen carrying nesting material amongst others seen and heard. A tree pipit was seen singing from a tree top and also seen were a few wheatears, willow warblers, a male sparrowhawk and a pair of grey wagtail.

Male Redstart



And so it had been a busy but very enjoyable few days wildlife watching and my year list now stands at 173.