Tawny Owl

Vocal juvenile Tawny Owls are doing a bad job of staying undetected on the Bystock reserve at the moment.

I counted 11 Silver-studded Blues on a stroll round Withycombe Raleigh Common after work this afternoon. Nearby - 5 male Tufted Ducks on Squabmoor reservoir and 45 Common Spotted Orchids below the dam.

 Stonechat and Honeysuckle.

Bystock

Ringlet.

A very pleasant couple hours spent in Bystock DWT reserve this afternoon. Plenty of butterflies seen including several Ringlet and Marbled White alongside Small Skippers and a Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. I also spent some time looking at the numerous Common Spotted Orchids that are quite widely distributed across the meadow.

Small Skipper.

Good to find five Broad-leaved Helleborines along Wright's Lane following last years disastrous showing. Another week or two before they flower I should think.

Silver-studded Blues

Silver-studded Blue - Bicton Common. Was really starting to think these had gone from the usual local sites so a relief to find a couple this afternoon.

Mudbank on this morning's rising tide - 7+ Mediterranean Gulls, 8 Sandwich Terns, 10 Curlew, 1 Whimbrel, 6 Turnstones, 9 Mute Swans and 2 Great Crested Grebes. A feeding flock of gulls, distantly off the seafront, held at least 15 Mediterranean Gulls and a Cirl Bunting was in song some way away from the usual breeding spot on Orcombe Point.

12/6 - a twenty minute look off the lifeboat station produced a pale phase Arctic Skua, adult summer Mediterranean Gull, 3 Black-headed Gulls and 3 Manx Shearwaters. Off the Imperial rec - 7 Sanderling, 2 Sandwich Terns and 7 Black-headed Gulls.

11/6 - Orcombe Point early on - 2 Great Northern Divers over, a juvenile Stonechat, the singing male Cirl Bunting, 5+ Swifts, 3 Coal Tits and 20+ Common Scoters past. A look off the lifeboat station after work revealed 1 Common Tern and 7 Sandwich Terns.

Heath Spotted Orchid.

An Exmouth Pyramidal Orchid.

Little Tern

A Little Tern was fishing off the lifeboat station this evening. Also at least 7 Sandwich Terns and 4 Common Terns, the latter my first for the year which is both worrying and baffling in equal measure.

Off the Imperial recreation ground - 125+ Black-headed Gulls and a first-summer Mediterrnean Gull.

Miscellany

First-summer Mediterranean Gull - Duckpond.

A Great Northern Diver, 5 Sandwich Terns and 1 Black-headed Gull off the seafront this morning.

Yesterday off there - 2 Sandwich Terns, 3 Shelducks, 1 Black-headed Gull, 5+ Manx Shearwaters, 1 adult Mediterranen Gull and c12+ Common Scoters. Off Mudbank - a flock of c50 small waders consisted of at least 11 Sanderling and c30+ Dunlin. Also - 4 Grey Plovers, 1 Knot, 10 Sandwich Terns, 12 Canada Geese, 3 Mallard, 20+ Black-headed Gulls, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, 1 first-summer Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Great Crested Grebes, 2 Shelduck and 14+ Swallows.

Brown Rat - Imperial rec.

Pitcher Plant - Woodbury Common.

Some variation in Heath Spotted Orchid markings...

Almost trod on this Adder today.

Lots of Grass Waves on the wing today.

I spent some time looking at the Bystock Common Spotted Orchids today. Quite a few found but all pretty small after the prolonged dry spell.

Large Skipper.

Emperor Dragonfly.

Dartford Warbler.

Banded Pine Carpet

Nick trapped this pristine and very rare Banded Pine Carpet in Budleigh last night and kindly invited me over to see it this morning. It's only the second record for Devon and there have only been  handful of records nationally - mainly in the south-east.

A quick look off the seafront this morning produced 2 Sandwich Terns, 1 Mediterranean Gull, 1 Great Northern Diver and 33 Canada Geese towards the river. A further 11 Canada Geese flew past Orcombe Point along with three Mute Swans. On Orcombe itself - at least 7 Swifts and a singing male Cirl Bunting. Otherwise today - Barn Owl Yettington and Cuckoo on Bicton Common.

Dartford Warblers have been showing well on the Pebbled Heaths...

Painted Lady.

I've always hoped to find the caterpillar of Beautiful Yellow Underwing but it's so well camouflaged that the idea seemed a bit fanciful. I somehow locked eyes on this beauty this afternoon having photographed the adult moth just yesterday. See below.

Beautiful Yellow Underwing.

Keeled Skimmer.

Small Heath.

Small Grass Emerald.

Common Heath.

The Cuckoo is still singing on Bicton Common.

Black-tailed Skimmer.

Green Hairstreak.

Green Tiger Beetle.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

Clouded Buff.