Making the most of my lunch hour

I never forget how lucky I am to live and work in this part of the world. So much natural beauty so close to home, enough to completely immerse yourself in.  

Just take today for example, when I actually managed to get a full lunch hour at work. I spent it alongside the River Axe just below the A3052 road bridge...

Not somewhere I visit often

The whole time I was there, despite the fact it was 1pm, there was a constant chorus of singing Reed and Sedge Warblers, Blackcap and Lesser Whitethroat - the latter presumably the apparent unpaired male that is popping up all over the river valley. Part way through my wander a Hobby zipped through low north west, causing mad panic among the lingering 30+ Sand Martins.

I spent most of the time looking down though, thanks to the several hundred White-legged Damselflies on view.  This species distribution is fascinating, they seem to be so site faithful - hundreds in one spot, a rarity just a few hundred meters downstream. For example, Lower Bruckland Ponds is less than 1km away from where I was today, with a small stream linking the two sites, and is by far our best Dragonfly site - yet I've never seen one here.  Among the hundreds of White-legs I saw today there were just five Common Blue Damselflies present.

White-legged Damselfly male

Same as above!

White-legged Damselfly female

Great to see four male Scarce Chasers on territory here too, my highest count away from Lower Bruckland Ponds. This species really is on the up, with numbers increasing here every year - just amazing to think they weren't here at all in the early 00's!

Scarce Chaser male

Scarce Chaser - a different view!

As to be expected, there were plenty of Banded Demoiselle about...

Male Banded Demoiselle

Then I went back to work...  And that's how you do a lunch hour! 

Wood Sandpiper and Lesser Emperor

It's been good to spend a bit more time out today, and I'll start with the birds.  A mid morning visit to Black Hole Marsh was timed exceedingly well, as Ian Mc had just found a Wood Sand...

Wood Sand and two Dunlin

Not just any old Wood Sand - a breeding plumaged adult!

Remained distant so was a good test for the P900

I've had a look back through my blog and notes, and am pretty sure this is my first every June Wood Sand on the Axe.  We don't usually see the first returning autumn ones until mid July at the earliest, and all spring birds have been in April and May.  Not only is it the earliest, but it's the least worn adult I've seen too - still in pretty much full breeding plumage. So so different to the pale brown juvs we see in August, nice.

Also on Black Hole Marsh were numerous Black-tailed Godwit and Redshank (one juvenile), two Dunlin, three Teal and a Green Sandpiper. A little later Sue Smith also had a Little Ringed Plover and a Greenshank - autumn seems to be starting early this year.  Although saying that, many of the Black-tailed Godwits and Redshank never actually left us!

A Black-tailed Godwit looking like this can surely only be an adult, so why not even bother going north?

A little later an enjoyable tram ride showed additions in the form of a Greylag Goose on the Estuary and a Lesser Whitethroat singing at the north end of Colyford Common.

I also found time for some dragonflying this afternoon, which was nice because during the last month weather and work has not allowed for much of this.  I spent an hour and a half at Lower Bruckland Ponds dreaming of finding a Vagrant Emperor (been an influx of these to the east coast), so when I spotted a mostly brown Emperor with blue restricted to segment two I thought I'd only gone and done it....but not quite!  I soon realised it was a male Lesser Emperor, still a cracking insect and a really exciting find, but I can't help by feeling just a little short-changed!

Male Lesser Emperor Lower Bruckland Ponds

This is the fourth male Lesser Emperor I've found here (16th July 2006, 10th Aug 2012 and 19th June 2017) but easily the most enjoyable, because it was actually showing well. Hence why for the first time I actually managed to get photographs!  The other three were all brief flybys with Emperors in hot pursuit, but this one seemed to have found its own territory and spent the half-hour I was there patrolling - I even watched it fly up and pluck a Common Blue out of the air before feasting on it.  Amazing!  

Male Lesser Emperor again - showing blue on side of seg 2 (unlike Vagrant Emperor)

Out of focus but still so recognisable!

Other Odonta on show included my first couple of Small Red-eyed Damselflies of the year, at least 16 Scarce Chaser (one female), eight Four-spotted Chasers and excellent numbers of the other usual species.  This is such a great dragonfly site.

Now I know I have posted plenty of Scarce Chaser photos on this blog before, but as they are one of my favourites I just can't help but post a few more...

Scarce Chaser male

Scarce Chaser male from underneath

Scarce Chaser mating pair

What a top late summer day! 

A rare tern to the left of me, another to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with Moths...

...but not really stuck at all, because it was an absolute joy to dust off one my moth traps a couple of nights ago.  I have Fran to thank for that, whose interest in learning what moths were/are using her garden was all the encouragement I needed!

One Skinner trap was run all night on the evening of 25th/26th,  and although I was distinctly rusty it was great going through the egg boxes again.  I didn't have time to give the micros, pugs and minors a proper look, but the rest of the macros were made up of 184 moths of 32 species.  A very respectable catch and a credit to Frans back garden!  

My highlight was the Lime Hawkmoth, I've only caught a couple of these in Seaton in the past...

Lime Hawkmoth

And an L-album Wainscot was nice to see, a south coast special... 

L-album Wainscot

Was great just seeing some of the common ones again too...

Elephant Hawkmoth and Scalloped Hook-tip

Moths aren't the only insects causing me recent glee... the huge invasion of Painted Ladies is just incredible!  Not seen numbers like this for years...

Painted Lady upper view

Painted Lady underside

I have been birding quite a bit lately, with the main aim of finding a patch Quail.  Not had any luck yet but I did stumble upon a churring Nightjar at a new site a couple of night's ago which is great news, and the fields between Axmouth and Rousdon seem to be home to more Yellowhammers than ever!

Male Yellowhammer

I will not give up with the Quail hunt though, this year has to be our year!

Glossy Ibis

Whilst with the family in Lyme Regis this afternoon I was surprised to get a message from (no longer) 'Midland's Mike' telling me of a Glossy Ibis on the Estuary from Tower Hide.  It was first found by visiting birders mid afternoon.  A surprise turn up in June, most new Glossy's tend to appear in mid-late autumn on the Axe.

I didn't see it until late this evening, and wasn't able to get round to the Tower Hide so my views looked a lot like this...

Would have been point-blank from the hide!

Although this is my 29th Glossy Ibis on patch - frustratingly I am yet to find one!  I was nowhere near finding this one as my birding levels have been woefully low this spring, but hopefully one day I'll pick one up dropping in somewhere. I presume enough years down the line they won't be rare at all, so am sure it's just a matter of time...

Nightjars

Enjoyed a wonderful evening with the local Nightjars last night.  They weren't especially vocal but offered amazing views along the main track from 21:40.  I saw two males and one female, which is pretty much the norm for this relatively new site...

Such great birds to watch in flight

A male coming in to land on the track

The exposure settings on the camera makes this photo look like it was taken in daylight - but the light levels were the same as they are in the above two shots.  With such a slow shutter speed I'm surprised how steady my hands were!

Hope the nights warm up for them soon! 

Dartmoor Double Dose

Thrilled to have spent a couple of days on Dartmoor within the last week. Reaffirming my feelings that this magical place is one of my favourite places on earth...

So picturesque

Last Wednesday was a very special day, as I took Dad up to the Moor for the first time since he suffered a stroke last October.  Thanks to the time I spent working on Moor Than Meets The Eye I feel like I know the Moor pretty well now, but I have to be honest and say I was really scratching my head thinking about where to find accessible birds. By accessible I mean birds easily viewable from a road or by a level and smooth path/track...there really isn't much of Dartmoor that can be described as being level and smooth! I soon learnt there was very little information online about where we could go, so hopefully this blog post will provide others in need with the relevant information.

I asked a few friends for their thoughts, and spoke to some land owners requesting a bit of extra access - and am delighted to say they were all super helpful and very obliging.  Basically it was only for permission to drive down a couple of private drives, but that increased level of access certainly helped make the day the success it was.

Looking down Headland Warren Valley to Challacombe Farm

We started the day by driving slowly down the valley of Headland Warren where Dad's first Wheatear of the year were easy, there were several pairs showing close to the road...

Male Wheatear

A different male Wheatear, this pair were clearly busy feeding young

 And right on cue, Dad spotted this right next to the car. Talk about 'easy' birding...

Cracking male Whinchat

I was a bit surprised that this proved our only Whinchat of the day, considering how densely packed in they are on the east facing slopes just across the valley from the road. The moderate and fairly cold easterly wind probably wasn't encouraging birds to sit out though, despite the blue skies.

At the base of the valley we arrived at Challacombe Farm, a site that always delivers. A good hour and a half here gave us two Cuckoo, three singing male Redstart, a couple of Lesser Redpoll, Reed Bunting, Whitethroat, Marsh Tits nesting in a wall and just plenty of birds. It's never a bad thing seeing lots of birds whatever the species, especially in this day and age.

Male Redstart

Same male Redstart

And again

A quick look in the Sousson's area gave us another singing Redstart and slightly more showy Cuckoo, along with a couple of Tree Pipits...

Distant singing Tree Pipit

After a quick stop in Postbridge and a check of the pines around the Bellever Forest car park (just a few Siskins here) we dropped down to Yarner Wood, our final destination of the day.  

First came lunch, then I managed to get Dad along the small track that runs from the top end of the car park along the back of the wet area in front of the hide.  We were told by a very helpful warden we were in the right place, and after some patience we saw two pairs of Pied Flies.  One of the males in particular showing especially well...

First-year male Pied Fly

And again

And again - what a poser!

Last one I promise! He was just so photogenic...

So there you go.  Accessible birding is possible on Dartmoor, it just needs a bit of forward thinking and planning. A truly memorable day for me, in so many ways.

A few days on, now Saturday, and despite the cloudy skies it was a day on Dartmoor with Jess and Harry - another amazing day. Although the sun wasn't shining it was still bright and there was not a breathe of wind which is unusual. Our first stop was to Holwell Lawn near Hound Tor, a staggeringly beautiful spot especially at this time of year - and an ideal spot to snap your loved ones in...

Literally my favourite photo ever

Here there were singles of singing Garden Warbler and Cuckoo, along with a noisy recently fledged family of Stonechats.  After lunch in Widecombe we came back up the hill for my first ever visit to Emsworthy Mire, another beautiful spot...

Love the barn!

Not only was the view nice, but the soundscape matched it too.  A male Redstart was singing continuously in the trees pictured above, along with Wheatears, two Cuckoos and the amazing sound of two bubbling Curlews.

Stunning, and am already looking forward to my next visit.

Spring 2019 - Blink And You Missed It

This month (well this year) is going by so quickly!  I cannot believe it is already mid-May, and dare I say it, that spring 2019 is already pretty much over!?

I do though have a few snippets of interest to mention since my last blog post on 5th. As is to be expected with the month of May, this includes some Red Kites! On 6th as I was driving along Cownhayne Lane, Colyford, the sight of a Red Kite flying extremely low overhead caused me to stop dead and leap out of the car. After enjoying some excellent views of this bird, I had a quick scan around and soon picked up another five circling a long way off the east.  Sadly I couldn't stick around though to see if this was the start of a major movement. 

The following morning Axe Cliff gave me my first Lesser Whitethroats of the year, an invisible singing male plus a very much visible pair calling to each other right in front of me. Excellent views.  Still plenty of Common Whitethroats too, I counted 13.  Seems to be more Yellowhammers around this year too which is great considering their general decline.  

Some suitable sea watching weather on 8th produced nothing but disappointment.  Well, there were three each of Manx Shearwater and Kittiwake, nine auk sp. and a flock of 13 Dunlin - but considering the conditions this was pityful.  And probably the last chance of any decent spring sea watching this year. :-(

On Monday just gone a nice pulse of waders dropped in on the Axe. Sadly I missed Ian Mc's three Grey Plovers, but did see the cracking summer plumage Bar-tailed Godwit and one of the two Knot that were around. I had another Lesser Whitethroat too, this one singing at the far north end of Colyford Common.  There's been a few more waders since but I've not had chance to get among them...

I have though had chance to go up to Dartmoor for a day! And to make up for this lousy photo-less post, I look forward to blogging all about mine and Dad's Dartmoor day. I have lots of pics of nice birds to go with it too...

Whinchats and Wood Warbler

I wasn't on patch for most of yesterday, but a last ditch mooch around was enough to bump into my first Whinchat of the year - three of them in fact.  They were showing really well in a small sheep paddock between Axmouth and Rousdon, such stunning and charismatic little birds...

Male number one

The other male and a female

Same two but head on

Today I have also not been around for most of it, due to work.  Thankfully though the Wood Warbler that was found along the road near Lower Bruckland Ponds mid morning remained in situ, and at 7:30pm was still trilling away. This represents my third for the patch, with previous records being Beer Head 8th August 2006 and Private woodland near Colyton on 29th April 2013 - so a proper good local scarce.  The light wasn't great when I got to see it, but that didn't stop me trying...

Such clean white underparts - and yellow like no other yellow!

Seems to be an unusually good spring for migrant Wood Warblers on the south coast this year, despite their vast reduction in numbers on their breeding grounds. 

Axe Cliff and Surprise Crossbills

Yesterday morning, although it was clearer than I was hoping, I went up to Axe Cliff soon after dawn. After a short while I realised I was actually grateful the sun was shining, it was a real pleasure to be out with the fine weather ensuring the local breeders were showing and singing well...

Male Yellowhammer with a back drop of Lyme Bay and Beer Head

I was staggered by the numbers of Common Whitethroats around.  In recent years there's normally about six singing males in the area of Axe Cliff that I cover.  Yesterday however I noted 13 singing/displaying males, along with a 14th non-singing bird. They were all behaving like they were local breeders too - so is it simply going to prove a good summer for the species? Has anyone else noted good numbers of Whitethroats this year?  On the other side of the coin though, I usually come across one or two singing Lesser Whitethroats here, but none during this visit.

The Whitethroats were all sat out proudly and partaking in frequent song-flights

This one on a more natural perch

A lovely highlight was a Hobby that flew low east across the fields soon after I arrived, with the only definite 'grounded migrant' being my first Spotted Flycatcher of the year.  Not that it stayed grounded for long - it soon continued west along the cliff edge.

This morning during a family outing I was surprised to hear Crossbills calling from Bovey Down, then about half an hour later watched two flying around above me calling at nearby Blackbury Camp.  Presumably the date indicates local breeding?  Mid summer is usually our best time to see (or more often just hear!) Crossbills, when family groups are dispersing from their breeding grounds.  Anyone with more experience of the Crossbill breeding cycle have any thoughts on this? Could they actually be breeding here!?

Short-changed by a Shortie

I forgot to mention this in yesterday's blog post...

On Saturday evening a friend of mine WhatsApped me a photo with the caption "what's this?".  As a birder, and am sure like most birders out there, I frequently get ID requests from my non-birder mates.  And almost all the time they relate to common species, so I was a bit surprised when attached to this particular request was this photo...

Well look at that! A stunning Short-eared Owl which he snapped sat on a fence post beside the A3052 just east of Rousdon.  Ok, so they're not exactly rare but just check out that photo! We all know how terrible phone cameras are when it comes to wildlife photography - the mind boggles at how close it must have been!  He even managed an arty 'in habitat' shot too...

Sickeningly good! Both photos (c) Lee Taylor.