YLG and Balearics

Juv/Fw Yellow-legged Gull - Exmouth cricket pitch. Not a particularly obvious one but note the large number of newly-acquired first-winter scaps (click on photo to enlarge).

 

Another one to add to a catalogue of disappointing sea-watches, but I just can't tear myself away from my beloved Exmouth. I made a series of brief trips up to Orcombe between cups of tea, slices of toast and the Sunday papers. Totals included 1+ Arctic Skua, 2 Mediterranean Gulls, 3 Whimbrel, 2/3+ Common Tern, 5 Common Scoter, 11+ Fulmar, 3 Manx Shearwater, 1 Great Skua, 4 Balearic Shearwater, 1 shearwater sp (either Manx or Balearic), a probable juvenile Arctic Tern and reasonable numbers of Kittiwake (inc several juvs) and Gannets.

Somehow I managed to miss 4 'large shearwater' sp that flew past the Warren but I'm getting used to that feeling of missing out - such is the state of sea-watching in Exmouth!

Juvenile Linnet - part of a flock of c50+ birds now feeding in the fields at the top of Gore Lane.

Spotted Flycatcher - one of several seen at a site on the Exmouth boundary this afternoon. Very difficult to say exactly how many but I think it's safe to say they've had a very successful breeding season.

Two Short Sea-watches

Grey Dagger caterpillar - Orcombe Point

 

I managed to get out a couple times this afternoon. The first time I got wet and the visibility was terrible, and the second time was later when the rain had cleared. At least 5 Skuas were lingering off Orcombe Point, mostly sat on the water distantly and hard to identify. One, more mobile bird, was definitely a lovely dark Arctic Skua and one was probably a 'Kittiwake-chasing' young Pomarine Skua. I'm pretty sure there were at least two more Poms but it's probably better to leave them as Skua sp.

Little else was moving but a single Balearic Shearwater went through with 4 Manx Shearwater, and a fifth Manxie was followed by three nice close Balearic Shearwaters going through together at around 530pm.

Otherwise I only logged a couple Fulmar, 9 Common Scoter and a handful of Kittiwakes, Sandwich Terns and Gannets.

Black Tern

A juvenile Black Tern was feeding close in off Orcombe Point this morning. Otherwise just a handful of Sandwich and Common Terns. A quick sea-watch was disappointing but a steady trickle of Kittiwakes headed out into the bay and a couple of Balearic Shearwaters flew distantly south. Also noted were 5 Common Scoter and two or three Mediterranean Gulls.

This Little Egret was resting on the beach close to the Lifeboat Station.

Autumn's First Wheatear and Ruddy Darter

Orcombe was very quiet this morning but 2+ Willow Warbler, 2 Sand Martin, small numbers of Swallow and my first Wheatear (a juvenile) of the autumn, on the dung heap, were recorded.

 

 

Small Copper - Orcombe Point

 

 

Common Darter - Bruckland Ponds. I paid my first visit to this site this afternoon, and what a great place. Once you get past the surprise of the recorded message you're in a tranquil world, heaving with dragonflies. My target was Ruddy Darter (thanks to Steve Waite's blog) but I had to look at numerous Common Darter before I set eyes on one.

 

 

Common Darter

 

Ruddy Darter - a male. Note the coral red abdomen which is really pinched in the middle. I don't think I've seen this species before but I've seen Red-veined and Scarlet Darter. I've stuck all my 'Odonata' photos on a page which can be accessed from the menu bar at the top of this blog. Hope I've got 'em all right.

 

 

As I was leaving I spotted this Emperor Dragonfly. It presented a macabre image as it chomped its way through a Banded Demoiselle!

Third Time Lucky!

Six-belted Clearwing - at last! I had to withstand stifling midday heat and countless odd looks from passing cyclists, but it was worth it, finally netting this long-awaited little 'wasp-mimic' moth.

 

An early morning look at Maer Rocks produced several Common Terns, a number of Sandwich Terns, 2 Little Terns and two probable Black terns that remained frustratingly distant off Dawlish. Also noted were 2 Dunlin, 1 Sanderling, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Common Sandpipers, 7 Canada Geese and a few Mediterranean Gulls.

I popped up to Orcombe and recorded my first couple of autumn Tree Pipts and a lone Yellow Wagtail. Only 1 juvenile Willow Warbler was noted but I only covered a small area at the top of Gore Lane.

 

 

Not a rare species but rarely seen without a pheromone lure. My tactic was to spend hours staring at Bird's-foot Trefoil, which wasn't as unpleasant as it might sound, with a colony of c20+ Common Blue butterflies to look at whilst waiting. I netted and potted this species so that I could photograph it at home. It was released a short while later in the same spot that I caught it, whilst Lu, Maisie and I were walking the dog.

Six-belted Clearwing, WWs and YLG

Painted Lady - Orcombe Point - looking at home in desert-like conditions.

 

Two Six-belted Clearwings in two days but no photo. To say I'm frustrated is a massive understatement! I found them in a big Bird's Foot Trefoil patch, alongside the cycle path, about 7 or 800 metres up from Mudbank, not far from West Lodge. I was trying to count the small Common Blue colony in the same area, when I first found one yesterday. That was at about 2pm, and I found another at roughly the same time, in the same area, today. Despite having the butterfly net with me I was too slow to react before it vanished. If I can't photograph one this summer I'll buy the pheromone lure in the winter. They were out of stock when I purchased my Yellow-legged/Orange-tailed lure a few weeks ago. Having said that, if anyone reading this blog has the pheromone in their freezer, would you be interested in loaning it to me? I'd happily come and pick it up!

I did my first Orcombe trip early this morning, but it was very quiet with just 4+ Willow Warbler and a Grey Wagtail on the migrant front.

On Maer Rocks there were singles of Dunlin and Turnstone, plus two juvenile Mediterranean Gulls. Offshore were 30+ Sandwich Tern and at least 10 Common Tern.

I had a quick look at Bull Hill, from the Quay, and noted a dozen Mediterranean Gulls, c100 Sandwich Terns, 2 Dunlin, 6 Sanderling and 2 Canada Geese. A small number of Common Terns was also resting on the sand.

Yesterday I counted at least 130 Sandwich Tern and 12+ Common Tern on Bull Hill, and at least 20 Whimbrel were off Mudbank where the Mallard count has risen to 56+

Willow Warbler - juvenile - one of at least 4 birds on Orcombe this morning.

Blackcap - one of two in elders on Orcombe this morning - presumably local birds.

Sandwich Tern - Maer Rocks

A fabulous juvenile Yellow-legged Gull off Mudbank. They're still trickling through but I must be missing loads, as I'm not spending a lot of time looking.

 

Med and YLG

A photogenic first-summer Mediterranean Gull on the beach this morning, and a not so obliging juvenile Yellow-legged Gull off Mudbank. Otherwise a single Turnstone, 2 Bar-tailed Godwits and 7 Whimbrel off Mudbank, but only a few minutes spent looking today.

I haven't set the moth trap for a few nights but today I've noticed several day-flying Oak Eggar moths.

 

Juvenile Yellow-legged Gull - Mudbank.