Moor Hours, Moor Birds

This Sunday - after losing the previous day to my head [argh] - I was determined to get some kilometres under my feet.

T'Moor awaited, and I defied the iffy forecast and actual rain to go for a proper yomp.

Aside from assorted DofEs, I almost had the place to myself, which was great. I covered a fair whack of ground and got to new bits for the year, I even refound - and used - an old crossing point I'd last used while still working at the merry 'vox..!! Better yet, I only got rained on once! Result.

My legs were unamused by all this use, though, and the creaking when I got home was a terrible thing to behold, but it was worth it.

 

And not just for being Up again, oh no.

 

The birds, my dears, the birds!! 

You may be wondering why I've not actually used any names, any places, so far. This is entirely deliberate, as when I said 'the birds', I meant it!

😁 

Part-way through - way out 'somewhere' - I came across an interesting feather on the path. Look Over There and tell me what you think? 😏

I knew what I thought and was extra on guard - despite being in what I did not think of as an area for the species - though I still managed to be surprised when I flushed two-no three! RED GROUSE, which went zooming off low, as is their wont.

 

You might want to hit that link, as I hit one well enough for you to see what it was [just about].

 

Zoggin' 'eck!!!

I've heard them this year, more than once in fact, but not seen any since that time I was 'somewhere on Dartmoor' and came across a female with train of utterly adorable chicks, up very close and personal. There are pics, you may have seen them if you've been reading this for long enough. ::Whistles::

 

Thus the lack of location detail; Red Grouse are very rare and very protected and you do not give locations in the breeding season [or any other time, if you're me].

 

 

Not very long after at all, an adult Hobby came zooming past. I was again surprised and again got a photo. Score. As it is still breeding season [well, just] and Hobby are also very sensitive breeders [Maybe. They're that sensitive. I think they do somewhere in the county but nobody is telling. {And that's very right and proper, too}], I couldn't tell you where I was even if I hadn't met the grouse. Ah well.

 

 

Elsewhere there were Wheatears, including a very confiding juvenile, and my first Black Darter of the year [latter much lower down and soggier location that the former].

In something of a re-balancing, I again got no soaring birds that weren't Ravens despite quite a bit of skywatching.

Ah, I love being up on t'Moor.

Be Seeing You...

I Got Rained On And Everything!

The forecasters lie.

This is known.

But I dragged up early on Sunday [not this Sunday, the one before. Backward Time, this is, in the way-before.] anyway, and even though it looked far too sunny, there was wind, it was in the SE [so even the shipping forecast was wrong.!! {Yes, really, it had just said 'SW to W..' 😮}], and there were some clouds... 

Well, there was also a lot of sunshine and awful glare and generally bad light, but - as you may have guessed from the title - it did get better, with the odd frisky squallish shower coming through.

Most of all, there were some birds!!

Wooooooooooooooooooo

Ahem.

The Teacher arrived a bit after I did, and stationed himself out at the TSWS. Seawatching being what it is - and lone sets of eyes from different heights and angles being what they are - we got slightly different results. As did Berry Head, where the Great and the Good were assembled, and scored an awful lot of Balearics, among other things.

 

But I get ahead of myself. 

Glonk Corner, three hours;

Gannet              43/1

Kittiwake          45/1

Manx               572/3

Balearic             27  

Cory's               1-3  [0709, 0748, 0859 *]

Sooty                 1   [0659]

prob. Stormy     1  [0657]

Fulmar               4 

C Scoter            0/4

Guillemot          32

Razorbill            1

Med Gull          3/1

BHG                  4

Sarnie                2

Swift                  1

Hourlies;

Gannet         9/17/17

Kitt              20/4/21

Manx        323/208/41

Balearic       17/7/3

Fulmar          2/2/0

Guille           30/2/0

* Three sightings of a bird no closer than the Big Shear Line, that never semed to head off, and wasn't seen to come in from very far north, added to none past Berry Head, implies to me one circulating bird doing a loop out into Lyme Bay.

The Teacher had Common Dolphins which didn't get down to me, which may add to this theory.

I would dearly have liked to be there at first light [ho ho], as there were three figures of Balearics past BH, and I suspect they went past the Nose very early on, or were circulating themselves in the northern Bay / near Lyme Bay until the Sun came up. 

Another watch of IFs, but enough quality, despite the almost universally ghastly light conditions [which is - as I kept reminding myself - good practice] to be a decent one.

When will the weather allow another?

The WiSPs are out there. This is known. 

Be Seeing You...

Pushing Metaphors Beyond Sense.

I'm not going there with the title of this one.

To get on with it;

At least the forecast of vaguely useful weather had me to the Nose early doors two days in a row, though reality having other ideas meant I only watched for one and two hours respectively...

1hr, Glonk Corner;

 

8/2 Manx

10 Gannet

3 Kittiwake

1 Fulmar 

1 Stormie

1 Little Grebe  [Nose Tick!!!]

2hrs, Glonk Corner;

 

121/13 Manx

1 Balearic

22 Gannet

10 Kittiwake

1 Fulmar 

65 Common Scoter [incl. flock of 56!]

1 Med Gull [+ another post-watch]

Nothing spectacular, but gems amongst the gravel.

That scoter flock was caught on camera, which is how I got a sure count.

That weekend I also took a meander about the lanes the other side of the Haldon Hills, but nothing of note was found, aside from a male Broad-thighed Beetle, which stowed away in my car and so was transported to a whole new area [there's lots at the Nose, so he wasn't totally doomed, btw]

The weather got hotter and hotter, and with seawatching off the table, all that remained was bug-hunting.

 

So at it! 

I'd long meant to get to Oreston Drive nr Plimoth, where White-letter Hairstreaks could be 'seen at eye level and there's loads'.

 

Well, it was worth a try.

 

I found one, plus at least four Purple Hairstreaks, but the views were more or less eye level [usually looking down at 'em, really!] and certainly the best I'd had of WLH, with photos even being taken ::faints:: 

Being Over There, I had a choice to make, but as it was rather windy, I decided to try the site with at least some shelter.

 

It was actually a lot windier at the theoretically more sheltered Slapton, and while there were Norfolk Hawkers flying about, they weren't stopping in view, the jade-eyed fiends...

 

 

I gave it a long while, but the best thing I saw was a massive - 46!!! - flock of mixed adult and juvenile Long-tailed Tits streaming over. As I was limping off [yep. again.], I tried the little bit by the bridge for one last time..

 

Oh hello.  

Pics Over There, worth a look.

 

I stayed to have a look at the sea [you never know, there might have been terns]. There weren't.

Another weekend, and again only on one day was it cool enough to even think about going out bug hunting.

 

The wind was blowing the other way and less vigourously, so I went after Southern Damselfly. I was off up North, and it got verrrrry hot - 30°!! - but I saw a host of the teeny blue darlings. In one 10m stretch of runnel [just one of several at the site; which I will not publicise as they're protected] there were 8 pairs in assorted tandems and seven more single males searching hopefully. That's by far the highest density I've ever seen there or indeed anywhere else.

To celebrate - and get out of the heat - I relocated to t'Moor, where I got all reminiscencey about Spain as I climbed up a handy tor, before spending two hours not seeing soaring anything...

 

But the views were wonderful, and an A400M burned by at eye level; weaving through the wind turbine obstacle course the countryside is these days. 

Eventually, a juvie Wheatear turned up, so that was all ok.

I would have stayed longer, but my car was in the Sun and I feared it might melt, so I called it a 'day I was so glad to have aircon in this one!' and went my way homewards.

There will be more, and there will be seawatching.

Be Seeing You...

Hotter Stuff. Possibly.

Being Part 2 of the long due Update stuff.

So I'd just been off up norf after naughty butterflies and come away with a score draw.

 

 

It still being all sunny - though a bit windier than I'd have liked - I went after more butterflies, this time a double-header after frits and ads.

Aish Tor had again far too mobile fritillaries, and getting photos - let alone decent photos - proved very dificult. 10+ High Brown and 2+ Dark Green [that's the set! 😁] Fritillary were seen but not shot. Then a lovely Silver-washed Fritillary came down from the treeline and sat and posed for me. Wings shut but I took it! [See BlueSky, it's on there somewhere!]. A large number of Brown Silver-lines Moths had emerged, too.

 

Then I took a small detour on my way home to try Great Plantation, where the wind was even friskier, despite being down in the Bovey basin. Ah well. 

I found a sunny sheltered spot with actual flowers and waited. White Admiral and Silver-washed Fritillary duly appeared after a not entirely short wait and hardly any Horseflies. I even got photos, as Over There has shown 😎  Golden-ringed Dragonflies were out in numbers but not stopping in view, and the Beautiful Demoiselles were posing just out of a good view, the fiends, but a nice Comma - my first of the year - did pose, showing off said comma, even.

 

 

Next day and I got dragged into action by a text from The Teacher; "Woodchat Shrike at Dawlish Warren!"

 

I miss shrikes [anything smaller than them will disagree], and the lovely Great Grey from earlier in the year had if anything sharpened my desire for them. 

But it was a sunny day, Dawlish Warren in the sun in Summer.. Grockles...Hordes of Grockles...::Shudder:: but SHRIKE.

 

I went for it.

 

It was blowing a hoolie, but there was a twitch and after a wait there was the bird. 

 

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

 

Only my third Woodchat, but I got some pics and it was Glorious.

 

 

 

And then it was the Solstice. 

🌞

The nigh-inevitable clouds didn't quite extend to the horizon, so I was gifted a half-Sun sunrise, before it clouded up even more. The wind was blowing a bit, and I may have brought the Big Scope along, so I had a look at the sea. As you do. 

I only gave it an hour, as it wasn't exactly ideal for seawatching, and was rewarded with a handful of Manxies, a couple of Med Gulls, and Little Egret - passing by as you do - which was ok. Not dire, by any means. Worth a look, certainly.

 

A re-kitting later and I was up onto t'Moor to have a nice leisurely lunch looking out for soaring raptors, what with assorted Red Kites being seen around and about. I figured the Great Mis Tor would give me an excellent vantage point, with the bonus of not being too far off - in terms of transit or yomp - for me to relocate if things didn't work out. [It's the Solstice, rain is always possible!]

It started very well indeed with not one but THREE Red Kites passing low over the main road at Holming Beam. I skidded [entirely safely and legally, officer] into a handy layby and went for my camera. One kite tarried over a field to the south of the road and I got pics! Woo! 

 

There would be more from the Tor, yes?

No. No less than 17 Herring Gulls of assorted mankiness flew down the Walkham valley, but no kites that I could see.. Oh well.

But there were lots of Wheatears, including extra-cute fledgies, so I was quite content.

On my way home.. Two more Red Kites!!! First by Dunnabridge Pound evaded me, despite a very quick stop, but then at Cold East Cross I was able to get into the car park in time to get more pics. Different missing feathers proved they were all different birds, btw, and all were heading SE.

Another day and what to do? Too sunny and wrong wind for the Nose, too windy for land birds [if you can find any] of insects... Ah, of course!

 

I went to Prawle. 

5 hours from the Point gave a Manxie a minute, a Balearic an hour, a flock of 7 Puffins 😮, and 4 Risso's Dolphins.

[[There was more, but I'm weeks behind as it is..]]  

I stopped off at Slapton on my way home, but the Norfolk Hawkers weren't showing in the er, 'fresh' breeze.!

There we end my summer hollyday, and I am less than a month behind.

I will - no really - I will be catching up the rest, with some seawatching [just a little bit, alas] and tarting about after scarce insects to come. This won't be so hard as a) I'm back to work, so less happy time, b) I slightly pinged something [again...], and now c) it's been too fecking hot to do much. 

Oh, woe is me, what is a Backward Birder to do?

Watch all the cute juvies at Home, mostly.

😄

Blue and Great Tits, Dunnock, Blackbird, Greenfinch, GSW, Tawny Owl, and Swift! all seen [ok, TO only heard, but VERY vocal], with Coal Tit, Wren, Firecrest hoped to be imminent. 

Oh, and be very grateful I can't unleash moths on you here any more...

😇

Anyways, I shall

Be Seeing You... 

Hot Stuff. Maybe?

Updated at last, etc. etc.

Part 1, anyway..

[What? Something better than nothing!] 

 

So, where were we? 

Ah yes, I'd gone hunting for Silver-studded Blues and in a shocking development, actually seen quite a few.

😄

 

 

After an interval of work and so on, I decided to carry on with this and go after some more. News of fritillaries had me going to the Usual Place in hope of the High Brown Fritillary, and maybe the Dark Green, too.

The Sun was shining and it was good and warm, but the wind was also quite fresh, more so than forecast [oh, what a shock]. I used the cunning tactics of finding somewhere sheltered from the wind, with nice sunny Brambles in flower. High Brown Frits duly turned up and I even got some pics; see Bluesky. My first Large Skipper of the year also appeared, so it was quite good.

 

Scores; High Brown Fritillary 6+ male, 1+ female; Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary 2+ male, 1 female; Green Hairstreak 4+; Large Skipper 1; Small Heath 1; Meadow Brown 6+; Brown Silver-lines Moth 17+. [Purple Hairstreak reported by others]

11 days later I had another go and in more heat and less wind got very little on camera, but there were 10+ High Brown, 2+ Dark Green, and 1 Silver-washed Fritillary, with 5 Meadow Brown and singles of Large Skipper, Small and Large White. [Green Hairstreak reported by others].

 

I followed this visit with a trip to Heathfield, where 2+ White Admiral, 1+ Silver-washed Fritillary, 1 Large Skipper, 1 Comma, 2 Meadow Brown were present, with 5 Golden-ringed Dragonfly, 1 Emperor Dragonfly, and 2+ Beautiful Demoiselle. It was sunny and everything was bombing around and not posing, but I eventually got a couple of pics [again, see BLUESKY {no butterfly emoji on here, wonder why? pathetic from gaggle}]

Ahem.

Time for a yomp up on t'Moor!

 

I went up to see The Man*, after a wild letterbox chase that took me to a new bit of the Moor, which in turn came after finally re-finding the Conies Down Stone Row [first seen many years ago on a wander with the Folks slightly by accident, and a couple of looks in recent years failed to find it, despite looking all over the right hillside...], that itself came after 'trying to photo stuff while fighting off Horseflies' at Holming Beam. 

::Deep breath::

 

Skylarks aside, the high Moor was enjoyably quiet. Ok, as you may have surmised, there were a few Horseflies about, too [yikes], but not up on the tops. I did find some juvie Wheatears, which was great.

Time for more butterfly-hunting!

In order to see all 8 species of fritillary in one year, you have to go looking for the harder ones. Perhaps hardest of all is the Heath. There is a site in Devon, but you're not supposed to go there, so I went to Zumerzet, where there are sites you can access. Theoretically, anyway.

I turned up somewhere new - to me for Heaths, anyways - to find I was not alone. A half-dozen seekers were soon joined by twice that from the local BC group.! The Heaths were having none of it, though, and in the five hours I was on site I had three sightings, each of an in-flight butterfly only.

 

Feck. 

There were a whole lot of other insects to look at - and a lot of Horseflies looking at us...!! - and Tree Pipits up high and a Spot Fly messing about the treeline to keep me distracted, at least.

 

I went elsewhere and found a site where I'd seen them before was now totally overgrown with me-high Bracken. CENSORED!!!! So that colony's dead. Well done National Trust [their land, their fault], as ever missing the real problems.

I did get Fritillary No7 the same day, though, with the very distinctive form of a Silver-washed flitting over the Exe-side road as I was heading back.

Silver [washed] linings and so on! 

Now, as to No.8, and indeed all the other things I've been up to [before hot and muggy weather - oh and work 😔 - almost stopped play], I shall be getting to that. It has taken me so long to get this far, though, that it's 'better something now', so here we go;

 

 

I will, honest,

 

 

 

Be Seeing You... 

[[*The Beardown Man, that is. But he is the manliest Man on the Moor - or possibly anywhere else - as you will learn if you go and see him from th South.! 😉]]

Actual Birding News

Steady now...

 

 

With the overnight weather looking interesting, and coming off a Night, I hit the Nose as early as I could this morning to see if anything was doing.

 

The sea got an hour before it got too sunny and in a shock development, I was actually rewarded.!

 

Glonk Corner:

[All S{/N}] 

Manx               8/2

Gannet             10

Kittiwake          3

Fulmar              1

Storm Petrel     1

Little Grebe!!   1 

Wowser! I've seen Little Grebe at the Blackball roost [once] and in the Outer Harbour every now and again, but I am pretty sure never ever at the Nose. So seeing one zipping past south [in a train with two Guillemots?!?] was quite the non-sequitur, I can tell you.

Speaking of auks, the colony on the Ore Stone is busy, and today I counted 11 Razorbill among the - or rather, over from - the Guillemots, including one making repeated display flights; very mechanical, stiff-winged, and Nightjar-like. Not seen that in real life before. 😀

Despite the 'fresh' breeze, at least 3 Small Copper and 4 Marbled White were on the wing; trying very hard to patrol.

At Home, my first juvenile Greenfinches were in this week, though not able to get a count on them.

And yes, my latest long update is still a work in progress.

Be Seeing You...

 

Note

I am writing another post, but as I've been up to stuff it's taking a while.

But I am getting on with it.

Pictures minus context [sometimes] here;

PrettyButterflies 

I shall indeed

Be Seeing You...

[Honest]