Autumn Waders

Sunday 1st September and I decided to stay local and headed off to the River Plym for the high tide roost at Blaxton Meadow, spurred on by a report of a flyover wood sandpiper over the Plym that morning. Unfortunately there was no sign of the wood sandpiper on the meadow but there were 8 greenshank, 34 curlew, a dunlin, 3 common sandpipers and redshanks on show with little egrets, Canada geese and gulls plus a flypast kingfisher and flyover raven, ring necked parakeet and stock dove.

 Curlew, Blaxton Meadow

Curlew

I walked downriver to Laira Bridge through Saltram Park and noted a comma, a speckled wood, a red admiral, small whites, meadow browns and a clouded yellow flitting about while swallow and house martins hawked overhead. A toad sheltering under a large piece of plastic was a surprise.

 Toad

Toad

At Laira Bridge 4 turnstone were feeding on the seaweed covered rocks as the tide receded and on nearby Blagdon Meadow a few common blues were flying around and there was a good showing of Autumn Lady's Tresses.

 Autumn Lady's Tresses, Blagdon Meadow

 Autumn Lady's Tresses 

 Autumn Lady's Tresses 

Autumn Lady's Tresses 

Tuesday 3rd September and I headed off on the train to the River Exe for the day but faced the usual dilemma - Bowling Green Marsh or Dawlish Warren for the high tide wader roost? I plumped for Dawlish Warren which turned out to be the right choice for a change and the day started well with 40+ Ring-necked parakeets noisily leaving their roost at Plymouth railway station as I waited for my train.

The train journey was hassle free and I arrived at Dawlish Warren on time at around 9am, heading straight to The Bight as the high tide approached. On arriving at The Bight there were small waders roosting along the edge and so I gave the hide a miss and stayed by the waters edge to scan around. Dunlin, ringed plover, turnstone and sanderling were all noted but viewing was difficult as the birds were active and mobile and flighty or hunkered down amongst the rocks and vegetation or obscured by fencing.

 Dunlin, The Bight

Sanderling, The Bight

Eventually I picked up my target bird, a very smart curlew sandpiper which flew along the waters edge flashing its white square rump before landing amongst the assembled waders and beginning to feed in the soft sand. It gave some nice views at times but was very flighty and often disappeared from view but it was great to see it after a blank year last year.

Other waders seen were curlew, bar-tailed godwit and redshank roosting distantly on the salt marsh by the railway line, a grey plover in front of the hide and 4 Knot with the oystercatchers on The Spit.

A wheatear was also feeding along the beach in The Bight along with 2 very noisy ravens and a very scruffy looking pair of carrion crows while offshore a few Gannets were seen with 2 distant common scoter flying towards Berry Head also noted. Sandwich Terns were fishing in the estuary and offshore too and regularly flew over the dunes between the 2 areas calling noisily.

A small copper was seen in Greenland Lake with common blues, meadow browns and small whites and a speckled wood along the dune ridge was a surprise. Painted lady and a red admiral were also seen along with a few large dragonfly whizzing by and a long winged cone head. Autumn Lady's Tresses were showing well too.

 Small Copper, Greenland Lake

Autumn Lady's Tresses, Greenland Lake

Buzzard, Kestrel and Sparrowhawk were all seen overhead but there was no sign of any ospreys although one was reported mid river around midday which I failed to see. And on the train journey home along the River Teign the gulls and waders were all up in the air on the low tide and on checking the Internet sightings that evening an osprey was reported here at the time I was passing by - never mind.

Wednesday 4th September and it was time for our annual autumn trip to Perranporth. It was mostly sunny but with a strong and cold onshore wind which covered my glasses with sand and sea spray although it didn't spoil the enjoyment of the day.

Gannets were very obvious offshore with a few diving for fish quite close to the beach and a few fulmars and distant Manx shearwaters were noted too while a juvenile peregrine dashed across the beach and made a few unsuccessful stoops at an adult Mediterranean gull before moving off. There was no sign of the recently reported brown booby though.

The stream held the usual brown trout and a red admiral was seen feeding on an ornamental buddleia in the formal gardens. I did keep an eye out for choughs without any luck but you can't have it all.

Chough Poster, Perranporth

And so summer is coming to a close and autumn is definently on its way- who knows what it will bring?

Autumnal Wildlife

Autumn continues to arrive with birding now becoming the main focus of my activities instead of butterflying but with Mum and nephew Jack arriving for a few days stay at relatively short notice, work and the usual ongoing family issues I've not had much time to get out and about.

Mum and Jack arrived on August 19th and the following day we headed off to Hope Cove for a wander around and some lunch. It was very busy on a warm and sunny day but Jack and myself managed to get away for a quick walk along the clifftops to South Huish Marsh for a brief look around. With a wood sandpiper reported on the marsh the previous day I had a good scan around but only managed to find a ringed plover hunkered down at the waters edge and the only other birds of note were a sand martin hawking over the marsh with swallows and house martins and a flyover raven and kestrel.

Wednesday 21st August and it was off to Bude for the day despite the cool breeze and mostly cloudy skies. We had a great day there and I managed a brief look at Maer Lake too where 2 spotted redshanks and 4 flyover yellow wagtails were the highlights along with 10 black-tailed godwits, a small tortoishell and a peacock butterfly.

Spotted Redshank, Maer Lake

Spotted Redshank

Spotted Redshank 

Spotted Redshank 

Spotted Redshank

Friday 23rd August and with Mum and Jack having departed for home we caught the ferry across to Mount Batten for a walk where the highlights were painted lady butterflies and a Volucella zonaria hoverfly which looked very large and very orangey/yellow amongst the other hoverflies and bees feeding on the ivy flowers.

Painted Lady, Mount Batten

Volucella zonaria

Volucella zonaria

After working all of the August Bank Holiday weekend I headed off to Wembury on the bus on Tuesday 27th August for a walk on a warm and mostly sunny morning. From the bus I saw autumn ladies tresses flowering in the grass verges by Laira Bridge and on arriving at Wembury there was a very autumnal feel in the air and I had a very enjoyable walk.

There were 3 rusty dot pearl moths on the outside window of the toilet block and  2 oak bush crickets inside (1 unfortunately squashed on the floor and the other caught and released outside) and along the walk I also found a Jersey tiger, a hummingbird hawkmoth and a faded Pyrausta despicata.

Oak Bush Cricket, Wembury

 Hummingbird Hawkmoth

 Hummingbird Hawkmoth

 Pyrausta despicata

Pyrausta despicata

Waders were on the move and amongst the oystercatchers along the beach I found a short billed whimbrel, 2 curlew, 2 dunlin, 2 redshank and a good count of 7 turnstone. 3 little egret, a grey heron and a pair of mallard were also seen while offshore in flat calm conditions I picked up a couple of adult gannets and a fulmar.

Redshank

There were many chiffchaffs flitting about in the bushes and trees with a few birds heard singing, always sounding mournful in the autumn, and there were also good numbers of whitethroats and 2 male blackcaps seen. 3 wheatears were feeding in the horse field with Alba wagtails and linnets while stonechats were very noticeable along the walk especially at The Point. The usual nervous and flighty cirl buntings were also seen flitting about in the now harvested wheatfield and surrounding hedges.

White Wagtail

Small whites were very noticeable along the walk and I also found 2 small coppers, a red admiral, a meadow brown, 2 speckled wood, 2 painted lady, male common blues and a small tortoiseshell. The highlight though were 2 clouded yellows, an all too brief flight view of one dashing past and a slightly less brief view of an hellice form female flying past being chased by an amorous small white.

 Small Copper

 Painted Lady

Meadow Grasshopper

I had a good search for wryneck and yellow wagtail along my walk but with no luck before David and mother-in-law duly arrived to pick me up for lunch at the nearby Otter Garden Centre, a nice end to a pleasant late August walk.