Stuart's Wildlife Diary

Sunday, 12 July 2020

Wembury Shearwaters and Dartmoor Butterflies

I had planned to put the moth box out in the back yard on the night of July 7th/8th but with rain forecast for the early hours I decided to give it a miss. On waking up on the morning of July 8th it was indeed wet, misty and mizzley but I did find a Endotricha flammealis on the kitchen ceiling that had flown in through the open window overnight, my 53rd House/Garden moth of 2020.

Endotricha flammealis

With the grotty weather I decided to have a quiet day at home but I was feeling quite antsy and unsettled and so decided to don my wet weather gear and head out to Wembury for a walk. There has been a lot of Shearwater action along the South Devon/Cornwall coast of late and so at the last minute I packed my big telescope, the first time I have taken it out birding with me since the Ross's Gulll on the River Plym in March. Wembury is not well placed for sea watching but I have seen Manx Shearwater from the coast path in the past when conditions were right and so I had my fingers crossed for seeing something offshore today.

On arriving at the main beach at Wembury it was dank and misty and I couldn't even see The Mewstone but by the time I had walked along the coast path to the gate opposite The Mewstone it was beginning to clear. I set up my 'scope and started scanning across the waves and quickly picked up Gannets and Fulmars flying around and 2 Guillemot flying east. Further scanning and I picked up a steady trickle of Manx Shearwaters flying low over the waves just out past The Mewstone and in the hour I was watching around 200 birds were noted, the majority heading west in small groups. Even better was a Balearic Shearwater, a Wembury tick for me, which I picked up amongst them, and I had good views of it before it disappeared behind The Mewstone and again as it came back into view on the other side. A further 2 probable birds were also seen but briefer, more distant views in mistier periods precluded confirmation.

The mist eventually cleared completely and the Shearwater movement ceased with birds possibly still moving further out but I did see more Guillemots moving both east and west and there were a few Razorbill amongst them.

A small flock of Gulls were roosting along the beach as the tide began to recede - Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Black-headed Gull including 1 juvenile and 5 Mediterranean Gull (3 adult, 1 2nd summer and a juvenile) - and along with them were Oystercatcher, a Little Egret and a Curlew.

Adult Mediterranean Gull

Juvenile Mediterranean Gull

Around 10 juvenile Stonechats were feeding along the beach on the rotting seaweed with more seen along the cliff tops, it looks like having been a good breeding year for them this year. Cirl Buntings and Whitethroats were seen and heard and a Blackcap was in full song despite the weather as it appeared to be in a bit of a sing off with an equally enthusiastic singing Song Thrush nearby.

Juvenile Stonechat

I did see 2 butterflies on my walk despite the cloudy and wet conditions - a Meadow Brown and a very nice Wall. 2 Common Lizards were also a surprise resting on the fencing despite the gloom and a lethargic Bloody-nose Beetle was moved off the path into the safety of nearby vegetation.

Meadow Brown

Wall

The cafe was closed so no Chunk pasty for lunch but the food stealing Carrion Crow was loafing around the main beach with its white winged fledgling.

Carrion Crows

A nice walk despite the weather, I didn't get too wet or muddy and I found my first Manx Shearwaters of the year along with a Balearic Shearwater, a Wembury tick - a good morning out.

Sunday 12th July was warm and sunny with a gentle breeze and despite feeling tired and groggy after working 2 night shifts I headed up to Roborough Down for a butterfly walk. I had originally planned to do my usual River Plym/Saltram walk but after seeing an Internet report of Grayling at Roborough Down and having received some info on Purple Hairstreak at Clearbrook I decided to switch plans.

I arrived on the Down at 09:30 and it was already quite warm in the sunshine. Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral and Ringlet were flitting about and Yellowhammer and Blackcap were heard singing. A Dartford Warbler was singing away from the top of a Hawthorn Bush before flying off over the gorse, I assume it is the same bird I have seen before although it was in a different area than the one seen previously. Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler were also seen and heard and Whitethroat and Stonechat were seen with good numbers of juvenile Stonechat again being noticeable. Redpoll were songflighting overhead and I watched Swallow fledglings being fed by their parents mid air.

Ringlet

I arrived at the cycle track above The Skylark pub at Clearbrook at around 10:30 and quickly found a Purple Hairstreak down in the hedgerow by the path before it flew off out of sight. I scanned the tops of the oak trees for more but couldn't find any, presumably the wrong time of day for them to be active in the tree tops.

Purple Hairstreak

Silver-washed Fritillary were flitting about but rarely settled for long. A Peacock, a Comma, a Large Skipper, Small White, a Brimstone, a Green-veined White, Holly Blue, Large White and a Speckled Wood were also seen and eventually I managed to find at least 4 Grayling although they were mobile and flitty across the heath.

Silver-washed Fritillary

Brimstone

Green-veined White

Grayling

And so another interesting walk on Roborough Down and another 2 butterflies for my year list bringing my total now to 30.

Tuesday, 7 July 2020

Wembury, Burrator Reservoir and Central Park Walks

Birdy 2020 may be no more but the nesting Herring Gulls on the chimney stack across the road from us have 2 chicks this year. One has jumped off the chimney stack and is now residing on a small flat roof below the main roof but the other is still residing on the actual stack. They are noisy and fun to watch but it's not the same as having our own Birdy.

The weather has been a bit hit and miss lately but with a dry night forecast for July 1st/July 2nd I had the moth box out in the back yard. It was a cool and breezy night though and there were only a few moths in the trap the next morning but I did find my first Cabbage Moth of the year, my 52nd garden moth species of 2020.

Cabbage Moth

We took a walk out at Wembury later that morning and very luckily had around 45 minutes of broken sunshine as we walked along the coast path before the clouds rolled in properly. I found my first Gatekeeper of the year, a very smart looking individual and quite approachable in the cool conditions - my 28th butterfly species of 2020. Small White, Red Admiral and Meadow Brown were also seen.

Gatekeeper

An Oag Eggar caterpillar basking in the sun was moved to safety off the footpath, a very large and hairy caterpillar and feeling quite warm when held in my hand, it must be ready to pupate soon. A Common Lizard was also making the most of the brief sunny spells as it basked on a wooden fence by the footpath.

Common Lizard

Cirl Buntings were seen and heard and the only other birds of note were Stonechats, a Little Egret and Whitethroats.

We had a Chunk pasty and a coffee for lunch from the beach cafe which we enjoyed while watching the antics of Carrion Crows which were stealing food from the unattended bags of beach going picnickers and feeding the food to a noisy fledgling with distinctive white markings in its wings.

Carrion Crow

Carrion Crows

Monday 6th July and after working night shifts over the weekend we headed up to Burrator Reservoir for a walk. It was breezy with occasional sunny spells and out of the wind it was pleasently warm in the sunshine. There were a few butterflies on the wing with Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Red Admiral, Small Skipper and Small White all seen along with a Silver-washed Fritillary which unfortunately did not settle for more than a few seconds at a time.

A newly emerged Keeled Skimmer was a nice find as it struggled to get airborne, only managing to fly a few metres before crash landing into the grass. A Double Line moth was a very nice find, a smart looking moth that at first I thought was a Large Yellow Underwing and a new moth for me. Bog Asphodel was in flower in the boggy areas by the roadside but there was no sign of any Sundews. Some very handsome looking Long Horn Cows were quietly chewing the cud under the trees by the roadside and were not bothered by the attentions of people (including me) taking their photos.

Keeled Skimmer

Double Line

Bog Asphodel

Long Horn Cow

Chiffchaff, Blackcap and Green Woodpecker were heard and Jay, Swallow, House Martin and Siskin were seen but the highlight were around 10 Crossbills feeding in the pine trees. They were noisy and flighty amongst the tree tops before moving off, at least 2 red coloured males were seen amongst the green plumaged and yellow rumped females/juveniles.

Crossbill

Tuesday 7th July and I decided to take a walk over to Central Park to look again for the White-letter Hairstreaks. It was warm and humid with occasional sunny spells but with a strong breeze. The elm trees were busily swaying but on the lee side out of the wind I did manage to see at least 3 Hairstreaks flitting about and chasing each other. I was hoping they would come down to feed on the nearby thistles or the few remaining blooms on the cottoneaster bush but they stayed in the treetops.

White-letter Hairstreak

I checked out a nearby cottoneaster bush which still had a lot of fresh flowers on it and was pleased to find 3 Hairstreaks dashing about in the top of the elm tree nearby, a tree I haven't seen them in before, and eventually 2 did come down briefly to feed on the blooms although they stayed right at the top of the bush - cue some poor record shots!

White-letter Hairstreak

Also seen were Comma, Large White, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown, Small Tortoiseshell and a possible brief flyby Painted Lady along with a Southern Hawker and various Bees.

Comma

Southern Hawker

Buff-tailed Bumblebee

Red-tailed Bumblebee

I also had a look around nearby Ford Park Cemetery where Marbled White, Meadow Brown, Small White and Ringlet were seen along with 6-Spot Burnet moths, Cinnabar moth caterpillars and a Pyrausta despicata.

Marbled White

6-Spot Burnet

Cinnabar Moth Caterpillar

Pyrausta despicata

Red Clover