The weather has taken a turn for the better with some hot and sunny conditions arriving at last and this has resulted in a noticeable increase in butterflies although numbers are still much lower than usual.
I saw my first Marbled White of the year on Saturday 22nd June on a quick look about at Ford Park Cemetery where a few Meadow Brown and a Holly Blue were also on the wing.
I had a quick look about at Drakes Reservoir on the walk home, a Small Red-eyed Damselfly was seen resting on the lily pads with Blue-tailed and Common Blue versions present too but my attention was drawn to an adult Great Black-backed Gull attacking an adult Herring Gull out on the water before flying off and leaving the Herring Gull paddling around and looking the worse for wear.
We headed up to Somerset for our nephew Lukes wedding on Sunday 23rd June, a lavish affair involving a 2 night stay at a big country estate near Frome. With it being a very rural setting I had hoped to find a few butterflies and also some moths during my stay but it was very quiet with just a Ringlet, a few Meadow Brown and zero moths seen!
We headed over to Cawsands for a beach day on Wednesday 26th June, it was very hot and sunny and we spent most of our time in the shade under the trees at the top of the beach but it was a very enjoyable day out. More importantly there were butterflies about! - a Red Admiral, Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns, Ringlets and my first Gatekeepers of the year were seen but again numbers were lower than usual.
Thursday 27th June was a cooler day after a cold front passed through overnight and cleared away the hot and humid conditions. It was noticeably fresher and cloudier but still warm in the sunny spells especially when out of the wind and so I headed up to Dartmoor yet again to look for Fritillaries.
On arriving off the bus I headed up to my usual place but there was not a butterfly to be seen. On my recent visits I had been doing a bit of exploring around the area and so I headed up to a different spot that had looked a bit more promising for butterflies and within a few minutes of arriving there I found a High Brown Fritillary perched up on the vegetation by the side of the path.
The sunny spells became more frequent and eventually I found at least 4 large Fritillaries dashing about, the most I ever saw in the air together were 4 but more were probably present. They occassionally landed for short periods to bask in the sun or to feed on Bramble and Thistles and I was able to ID single High Brown Fritillary and Dark Green Fritillary. The only other butterflies seen were a male Brimstone, a Large Skipper and around 10 Meadow Brown.
A few birds were seen too including a Green Woodpecker and 2 Marsh Tit while the usual Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Blackcap and Siskin were in song.
Saturday 29th June was hot and sunny as I headed off to Wembury on the 9am bus for a walk. There were a few more butterflies on the wing than on my previous visits and I managed to find a Red Admiral, a Small Copper, a male Common Blue, a Small Skipper and 2 Marbled White along with Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Large Skippers.
An Emperor Dragonfly, 3 Beautiful Demoiselle (1 female) and a Bee-wolf were also seen along with various Bees, Wasps and Flies and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth.
It was quiet birdwise with the highlights being a Little Egret, 8 Mallard (4 female) and 35 Oystercatcher along the beach on the high tide, singing Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Whitethroat and Cirl Buntings, a Swift over the village, a songflighting Dartford Warbler, 2 fledgling Goldcrest and a Coal Tit at The Point and a Buzzard and a Kestrel overhead.
It was hot and sunny again on Sunday 30th June so I headed out to Oreston for another look at the White-letter Hairstreaks. As soon as I arrived I found one basking on the Ivy on the wall before it flitted off to engage in aerial skirmishes around the Elm tree with at least another 3 individuals. Also present were at least 3 Purple Hairstreaks which mostly sat motionless on the leaves for long periods but also ended up skirmishing with the White-letter Hairstreaks at times.
After watching their anctics for around an hour I walked over to The Plym for a look about, admiring the Pyramidal Orchids still in flower along the way. I also stopped off for a quick look at the Elm tree by The Range and found a White-letter Hairstreak flitting about in the top branches, only the second time I've seen one here.
It was high tide along The Plym and a Shag was resting on one of the mooring buoys out in the river. A Whitethroat was seen along The Ride, a Swallow, 2 Swifts and House Martins were seen overhead and a Chiffchaff and a Blackcap were heard singing.
There were good numbers of Meadow Browns and Marbled Whites flitting about on Chelson Meadow along with a few Large Skipper, Common Blue, Small Heath, Ringlet and Small Skipper.
Even better was finding at least 2 White-letter Hairstreaks flitting about in the top of a hedgerow containing a few spindly Elms, my first sighting for The Plym.
