Saturday 1 May 2021

Dawlish Warren

Small Adder's-tongue - a big thank you to Kev for pointing this out. 

Great to do some botanising with Kev this afternoon. Thank you Kev! Dawlish Warren is home to some rare and beautiful plants but if you're new to plants, like I am, they can be almost impossible to find. Luckily Kev has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Warren's flora, so my life was made very easy!
I had brief views of the singing Lesser Whitethroat, along the back path, and a couple Swifts flew over Greenland Lake, but I never made it to the hide.
On Orcombe, first thing this morning - my first Spotted Flycatcher and Sedge Warbler (a singing bird in cliff-top scrub) of the year, plus 2 Willow Warblers, 4 Wheatears, 10 Whitethroats, 4 Blackcaps and a Red-legged Partridge.
Off Mudbank - 28 Whimbrel and 2 Dark-bellied Brent Geese.



Adder's-tongue.


Blinks


Bird's-foot. I've been longing to see this gorgeous and tiny flower. Without Kev's help I think the chances of me finding it were close to nil. There's plenty of it at the Warren but you need to get down low to see it.



Subterranean Clover - the species I was hoping to see. It took some searching but this beautiful species was eventually discovered in the Crocus Compound.



 Lesser Trefoil

Burr Chervil

Very much a record shot of a brief and distant Spotted Flycatcher. It soon flew off inland.

2 comments:

  1. Some great plants there Matt. Must get back to Dawlish Warren some time. I've seen the Ophioglossum on Scilly. Love Bird's-foot- we do get this on acid soils in London but a while since I saw it. On Scilly (but not St. Mary's) is the equally fine Orange Bird's-foot which doesn't occur on the mainland. Think it's also on Jersey.

    No flycatchers for me yet, but it's such a slow spring with so much cold weather & winds largely from poor directions. At least yesterday had 2 Cuckoo, Nightingale in full song, 3 Lesser Whitethroats & a pair of Hobbies on my local patch.

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  2. Hi Neil - you've done a lot better than I have. Nightingale is now a real rarity in Devon and I've only ever seen 3 Cuckoos in Exmouth! Lesser Whitethroat is becoming really difficult too. This spring has been atrocious with just 1 Redstart, 1 Yellow Wagtail and a handful of Wheatears and Willow Warblers. Historically May is much quieter than April!
    Have just googled Orange Bird's-foot - how I wish it wasn't confined to Scilly. All the best. Matt

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