Sunday 3rd October 2021.
A gorgeous pastel coloured sunset rounded off a very wet Saturday, but plenty of wildlife seen today.
Yesterday’s rain finally fizzled out around 4pm and so I took Scruff for a walk down the lane again, though it was certainly a lot cooler of late. There was a nice sunset too over the English Channel and though I scanned the sea for distant seabirds, all I could find were the expected Gannets drifting low over a dark grey sea. A large flock of Herring Gulls were resting on the rocks on the foreshore with a few Oystercatchers flying over, though nothing out of the ordinary among them.
Beside the roadside, I could hear a few Chiffchaffs calling deep within the vegetation and the occasional Meadow Pipit and Linnet flock flew over the fields in front of me. There was no sign of any moths at the last Cottage front entrance as I slowly made my way up the steep incline, back up the road, checking out the vivid yellow flowers of the Dark Mullein and the purple Verbena growing there as I passed. We stayed in yesterday evening, relaxing in front of the telly with my moth box on and thankfully, the transformer was still dry after all that rain. Before we ‘hit the sack’, a quick check of the moth box revealed a few moths had already arrived. These included a Bloxworth Snout, 2 Common Marbled Carpet, Rusty-dot Pearl and a Lunar Underwing, however, I was in for a big surprise the following day!
Two new 'lifers' for me. Top photo, the Radford's Flame Shoulder and below, Dark Chestnut. Both moths have been 'potted' and will be released when it gets dark tonight. I was glad to chat to some of the 'moth-ers' who trap here over the years and to be congratulated by them on Facebook.
I had a rather nice lay-in this morning as the light streamed through the bedroom window plus it was also dry and sunny outside. Grabbing my ‘moth pots’, I was pleased to find a lot of moths outside the box and on the two chairs I was using for my white sheet. Both Feathered Ranunculus and Lunar Underwing moths were easily he most numerous moth species this morning. A couple of Large Ranunculus were also present, looking distinctly larger than the Feathered variety. Then I found what I thought was a Radford’s Flame Shoulder, a rare immigrant moth from the Continent. I quickly ‘potted’ the moth and got it confirmed later on Facebook that it was indeed my first ever of this species.
Photos from top to bottom, Brindled Green (with an upside down Lunar Underwing!), Rosy Rustic (top) and Square-spot Rustic and finally, a Large Ranunculus.
Other moths new for the year included Rosy Rustic, Beaded Chestnut, Brindled Green and what I believe is my first ever Dark Chestnut! That was some stunning catch from last night and the scoreboard clearly shows:
- 1 Radford’s Flame Shoulder
- 10 Feathered Ranunculus
- 2 Large Ranunculus
- 8 Lunar Underwing
- 1 Black Rustic
- 2 Square-spot Rustic
- 2 Common Marbled Carpet
- 1 Delicate
- 1 Beaded Chestnut
- 1 Brindled Green
- 1 Dark Chestnut
- 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character
- 1 Rosy Rustic
- 1 Rusty-dot Pearl
- 1 Eudonia angustea
Well, that was most certainly one of the best Autumn hauls of moths I have ever had and yet, it was only Sunday! Though today started brightly, it looks as though it's going to be a bit of a mixed bag of weather again this afternoon as it is hammering down with rain as I write this blog up this afternoon. So I shall check the weather forecast for tonight and with a bit of luck, it might be clear.
Photos from top to bottom: Delicate moth; Black Rustic and a real mixture of some of the moths that were in the moth box and nearby. Truly, an amazing catch by my standards.
After a superb cooked breakfast by my lovely wife, she sent me packing to go off to Prawle Point to do a bit of sea-watching, though things didn't go totally according to plan. I had left my camera memory card back at the Cottage, therefore no photos! F***! So all my photos had to be done via my mobile phone! Sorry! Becky is convinced I have Alzheimer's, but on a positive note, I did notch up 3 ‘year-ticks’ during my three hours there.
Welcome to Prawle Point. Once you have negotiated a nerve-wracking drive down the single track lane, one is then greeted with a tight turn into the spacious car park (on quiet days!). There is a row of Cottages nearby, so spare a thought for them driving up this road day in, day out!
Negotiating the long single track road (with a few passing places, thankfully) to the car park at Prawle Point, is always tricky, but I made it without a hitch as I parked in the near empty car park. A female Bullfinch greeted me briefly as I got out of the car and a Chiffchaff was briefly seen flitting about in a nearby bramble. Swallows skimmed low over the trees as Robins ‘ticked’ deep within the vegetation. This car park has held some almighty rare birds in the past, but nothing of that note of that flavour here today.
As I left my camera memory card back at the Cottage (doh!), the next lot of photos are going to be some scenic photos of Prawle Point taken by my mobile camera.
My target species here were both the Cirl Buntings and the Balearic Shearwaters and fortunately for me, the ‘Birding Gods’ were smiling down. It was very blustery by the coast, with a strong westerly buffeting me as I walked down to the old Air Raid Shelter. It was too windy to stand on this and so I climbed down and got behind it to view the sea. What made things worse was the glare of the sun on the sea and my hopes sank briefly. However, a thick band of cloud came in and all was good again as I got stuck into some serious sea-watching.
Gannets were easily the most numerous seabirds passing through west, but I was really enjoying the juveniles going through with their smart brown and white plumage. Just a shame about the camera! A few Kittiwakes went through (2 adults and a juvenile) and the occasional flock of Guillemots belted low across the sea. It was around 30 minutes after my arrival when I caught sight of my first Shearwater of the morning. Quickly grabbing the scope, I zoomed up the magnification and I was in no doubt that I was looking at my first Balearic Shearwater of the year. The bird was seen very well through the scope and a second bird drifted into view as well. Later that morning, a third bird was seen passing west low over the waves. Quite a few went past nearby Slapton Sands yesterday and therefore I was fairly confident that at least one might show this morning.
In all the years I have been coming here and standing on this mound to sea-watch, I never knew that you can stand inside the mound, which is concrete by the way, and keep out of the rain should it become heavy! Yes, a bit dirty and muddy inside, but its better than getting soaked to the skin as it did rain a few times while I was there this morning. Even Dark Bush Crickets were calling beside me!
Apart from the usual Shags and common Gulls by the shoreline, all was pretty quiet and so I took a walk along the footpath to Langerstone Point to see what I could find. It didn’t take long to find my first Cirl Buntings as at least four birds shot up off the neighbouring field and perched up in nearby bushes. Grabbing the scope, I was looking at my first male bird of the trip, which was joined by at least three female/juvenile birds. A few more were seen later, but the unwary birder must make sure they know what they are looking at as I found a flock of around 10 Yellowhammers nearby. The Cirl Bunting was my second ‘year-tick’ of the trip (although the bird I saw down the lane back in the Village was probably an individual too) and then my third ‘year-tick’ quickly homed into view - a superb female Merlin (my 192nd species of the year). Though the sighting was brief, the bright sunshine clearly lit up the bird's plumage as it sailed over the tall rocks behind me and then quickly disappeared into the countryside fields behind.
Possibly one of the most photographed views of Prawle Point and though very windy here today, it was simply breathtaking. Another reason why I love coming here year after year.
There was not that much visible migration going on though a large flock of Linnets took flight as they headed off low over the fields. A few Meadow Pipits, ‘alba’ Wagtails and Skylarks flew overhead, while at least two Stonechat were seen (male & female). A pair of Ravens quietly flew past majestically, heading in the direction of the car park and a few Rock Pipits were flying about on the rocks below on the shoreline. I regularly scanned the sea for any more possible Shearwaters, but apart from the one single bird mentioned earlier, all was quiet apart from streams of Gannets going through.
This Rusty-dot Pearl was found last night by my moth box, though gone by the morning.
I picked up a few butterfly species here including a Large White, Red Admiral and a Speckled Wood and a few Bees and Hoverflies were attracted to the flowering Ivy and on the few remaining flowers present. My first trip here turned into a good one and hopefully, I shall be back for more.
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