Many Meds

I've only seen a couple of Med Gulls so far this summer, despite excellent numbers of Black-headed Gulls about. So I was pleased to seen ten on Black Hole Marsh this morning; five juvs, single first and second-summers and three adults...

Two adults flanked by two juveniles

Adult

Colour-ringed first-summer

A gorgeous juvenile

Same juvenile back on, they are subtly beautiful

And now for a quiz pic. How many Meds? And what ages are they...

I know many don't find gulls interesting or attractive, but I don't think there's many birds smarter than an adult summer Med Gull.

Also on Black Hole today was my first Shoveler of the 'autumn', three Teal and waders included 12 Blackwits, 9 Common Sands, 6 Dunlin (my first juv) and a Green Sand.

Yesterday I had a rather nice and spectacular surprise during a mist netting session. Although I've been a C ringer for four years, this was the first time one of these have flown into my nets (and stayed there until extracted, big birds often 'bounce' straight out of mist nets)...

Sparrowhawk

What fierce eyes! They really have nailed the 'death stare' to perfection.  This bird was a '5 male', which means it's a male that was born in the previous calender year (2014).  It showed a remarkable moult with a seemingly random mix of first-year (brown) and adult (blue-grey) feathers...

The fact the adult feathers are blueish say its a male, as did its small wing size

I say the moult looked random, but clearly it isn't and this is obviously how Sparrowhawks do it so that they remain in good enough condition to continue to hunt.  It still looked very 'juvenile' on its front...

So glad James M was with me at this time, enabling me to get these photos.

Also of note was this juvenile Whitethroat, notable because they don't breed on site so it has clearly travelled some distance - although probably not that far...

Whitethroat age code 3

Juv Yellow-legged Gull, Insects And An Anniversary

There's a bit of everything in this blog post, so I hope you see something that interests you!

I'll start with not everyones favourite, but one of mine - my first juvenile Yellow-legged Gull of the year.  Large gull numbers have been low so far this July on the Axe, with the Exe having had Yellow-legs since the 1st of the month.  I had my first juvenile large gulls on the Estuary on Saturday, but frustratingly they were both Herring Gulls. Yesterday though I had a feeling the damp and dreary conditions would produce the goods, and it did...

What a beaut!  As you can see it was distant (425 metres to be precise!), but it was such a strikingly pale bird that this really didn't matter when it came to the identification.  I'd say this is probably as pale as they come and many are darker (see THIS BIRD Tim Worfolk had yesterday on the Exe), but I really love the ones like this, they are almost Great Black-backed like. In early July juv Herring Gulls are at their darkest, so a bird this pale needs closer inspection.  But it's not just the paleness that makes this a Yellow-legged, notice the dark eye mask, hefty size, long wings, plain dark tertials with white tips and the overall dark chocolate brown colour to the mantle/scapular feathers (usually more grey-brown or grey in Herring). This latter feature isn't often spoken about but I find it very useful, although juvenile Lesser Black-backed Gulls can be the same colour so beware!

In other bird news I bumped into some more Crossbills last Thursday with Richard Phillips, a nice flock of ten at Trinity Hill.  And this morning I gave Black Hole Marsh a quick look over, plenty of birds but nothing special; 450+ Black-headed Gull, 34 Little Egret, nine Lapwing, six Common Sandpiper, three Dunlin, three Kingfisher and two Teal.

Now for insects, and I had an excellent catch of 244 moths of 54 species last Friday. There was a lovely variety, and some excellent numbers including an impressive 33 Elephant Hawkmoths!  Only one immigrant though, but it was quite a rare one...

Clancy's Rustic - my fourth here but all the previous have been during the month of October.

 Some of the other notables included...

Scallop Shell

Brown-tail

L-album Wainscot

Privet Hawkmoth - don't catch many of these here.

With my wedding ring on full show in the above photo, I must just mention that unbelievably it is already our one year wedding anniversary! Can't believe how quick that's gone, I do hope life slows down a bit so I can savour it some more. I mean crikey I'm 30 later this year...

Back to insects, and here's a couple more pics to complete this post...

Mating Large Red Damselflies

One of five Glow Worms Bun managed to track down on patch last week, I saw this one on Friday night.

A New Moth For The Garden

Sadly it is not a very exciting one though! In fact its a very common and rather drab moth, and I have no idea how I haven't managed to catch one here before now. The Common Lutestring was one of 76 moths of 35 species in the trap on Monday night...

Some of the smarter moths included...

Crescent Dart - a local speciality

Phoenix

Blood-vein

Burnished Brass

There's a few more birds turning up locally now, with a few waders on Black Hole Marsh and Black-headed Gull numbers increasing by the day (including my first juvs a few days ago).  I keep bumping into Crossbills locally too, with at least two this morning feeding high up in conifers at Bovey Down amongst a large mixed flock of birds.

Hare Today Gone Tomorrow

Took the dog for a walk on the eastern edge of our patch this morning, through some lovely farmland. It was wonderful listening to singing Skylarks, Yellowhammers, Linnets and Whitethroats galore.  Most of the land was clearly for dairy farming, and I often find these farms still quite good for wildlife with hedges left to flourish, as apposed to the intense arable farming of this day and age.

The highlight though was this lovely adult Brown Hare.  This is the first Hare I've seen in this area for over two years, my last sighting was of a small group of leverets not all the far from where I saw today's animal...

Scarce Chasers

Having failed to see Scarce Chaser on the Estuary the other day, I went to Lower Bruckland Ponds yesterday and had much better success. There were at least five males on three different ponds, the most mature males I have ever seen here...

There are three different individuals pictured above, the male in the upper two photos complete with mating scars. As usual there were plenty of other dragonflies and damselflies on show but nothing out of the ordinary.

I also had the good fortune to walk around the corner right into this gorgeous fox cub...

Understandably it scarpered the second it noticed me, so it's a good job I was quick with the camera...

Migrant Moths

I've seen a few migrant moths this week, presumably thanks to the warmer weather and the death of that horrible northerly wind.

First up was at work, with a Silver Y resting on a metal shipping container earlier this week...

Then came this Bordered Straw in the moth trap at Mum and Dad's on Wednesday morning. Usually quite an irregular migrant, but there seems to be an influx of them going on at the moment...

In the same moth trap was a much finer moth though, a first for the garden and a much rarer migrant species. This stunning Striped Hawkmoth...

I trapped again last night, and amazingly caught a second Striped Hawkmoth!  And how do I know it wasn't the same one? Well I gave the first to Karen who released it in Sidmouth, and it had some wear to the tips of its wings having spent a day in a pot. So two in two nights...

The eighth species of Hawkmoth for the garden, I just love 'em!

Both nights of trapping produced decent hauls of moths, with 104 moths of 35 species on Tuesday night and 118 moths of 42 species on Wednesday night.  As well as a couple more Silver Y's, I've mentioned the migrant species, but it was nice to see some of the locals again too...

Eyed Hawkmoth

Scorched Wing

Green Silver-lines

Figure of Eighty - so well named!

L-album Wainscot - a local speciality

Ruddy Carpet - another local speciality

Purple Bar

Alder Moth

Whilst on the insect theme, I had a look along the upper reaches of the Axe Estuary mid week.  Couldn't find any Scarce Chasers, but it was nice to see plenty of White-legged Damelflies...

And Banded Demoiselles...

Previous Post Plus Photos

I keep going back to our new open heathland-type habitat, it's proving such a diverse site! It's clear the removal of the trees has greatly increased the variety of birds here. On the last couple of visits I've taken my camera too...

The Tree Pipit wasn't very obliging this morning, and I've still not seen more than one bird. Last year there were three (two males and a presumed female)...

The Stonechat family were still present, along with a couple of Willow Warblers, a Spotted Flycatcher, several Siskins including at least five juvs and a pair of Kestrel that I really hope are breeding nearby...

And back in some of the remaining thicker conifers, it was good to see one baby Tawny Owl still along with a brief adult...

And it's not just birds.  Am yet to note any different butterflies here, but a couple of Painted Ladies were good to see this morning...

Heathland Habitat At Home

In the last couple of years we've been blessed with Nightjars on patch, thanks to the clearance of a load of larch near Morganhayes Wood. Usually I advocate leaving trees and woodlands as they are, but this has proved such a positive bit of habitat restoration - even though this wasn't the intention! 

Not only have Nightjars moved in, but for the second year there's singing male Tree Pipit here (haven't seen a pair yet unlike last year but she could be sitting), and this year a family of Stonechat.  There were also a few Willow Warblers singing yesterday and they certainly wouldn't have been there if it was still a larch plantation. The surronding conifers still hold several Siskins, and yesterday I was surprised to see a flock of eight Crossbill fly over before landing near where I had parked my car.  Seeing as they were so scarce last autumn and during the winter I don't think they have bred here, but more likely my first autumn migrants.... (yes that's me wishing this cold and windy summer away already!).

It was nice to see two baby Tawny Owls as well making a right racket and looking pretty clumsy. Typically I didn't have my camera with me though...