A good walk around the Village and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth!

Tuesday 5th October 2021.

This stunning sunrise this morning grabbed my attention at 7.15am as I looked out the kitchen window! 

Because of the heavy rain last night, i didn't put the moth box on overnight, but today, I was blessed with sightings of both Hummingbird Hawk-moth in the garden and a Common Marbled Carpet while walking the dog through the Village this morning here in East Prawle; so therefore, I got my moth ‘fix’ today!

Top photo, the Common Marbled Carpet seen on a Cottage within the village and bottom photo, the gorgeous Hummingbird Hawk-moth basking in the morning sunshine.

Though there were a few rogue heavy showers today, it was much drier than yesterday by a long shot, though the blustery north-westerly wind persisted all day long, which in turn kept the temperature cool at times. It was lovely when the wind dropped now and then, but it didn't last long. So with no moth box on first thing to check, before breakfast, I then did some birding from the back garden and in two hours, I picked up quite an impressive list of birds.

Top photo, the male Stonechat I saw along the lane near Welles House and below, this male Common Darter was found basking in the sunshine by the Village Pond.

My first Grey Wagtails of the trip here were seen as well as a distant Raven flying over the fields to the east. A Great Spotted Woodpecker showed several times throughout the day (also seen in the afternoon when we had coffee and nibbles in the back garden!) and a flock of 5 Jays flew low over the rooftops heading north. Swallows, Meadow Pipits and a lot of finch species flew over the garden in very good numbers and even a flock of 13 Skylarks passed over. Meanwhile, in the garden itself, a Wren (down to about 3 feet!) two Robins and the local House Sparrows entertained when it went briefly quiet. A Siskin was heard twice, but I failed to see the bird. The list of birds and numbers are as follows:

• 4 Grey Wagtail
• 3 Pied Wagtail
• 31+ Swallow
• 7 Greenfinch
• 1 Pheasant (in fields to the east)
• 50+ Meadow Pipit
• 5 Jay
• 14 Goldfinch (although seen flying over,  most were preening in a nearby conifer)
• 5 ‘alba’ Wagtail
• 3 Linnet
• 1 Great Spotted Woodpecker
• 16 Skylark
• 11 Long-tailed Tit
• 8 House Martin
• 1 Chaffinch
• 1 Raven (over fields to the east)

This Starling was singing in the sunshine near the Cottage.

Incredibly and totally unexpected, a Hummingbird Hawk-moth came into the garden and was looking for somewhere to settle on the back wall of the Cottage. After several tries in finding somewhere to roost, it eventually chose an area close to where I was standing and I managed to grab a few nice photos of it with my main camera.

Speckled Wood butterflies were seen along the small bridle-path near Welles House.

After breakfast, I took Scruff for a long walk around the village, kicking off with another walk along the lane by Welles House. I was photographing one of the many Drone Flies that was nectaring on the Ivy plants on one of the stone walls when a chap came up to me curious in what I was photographing. He then told me about the rare Cuckoo Bees breeding in the soft clay down at Prawle Point. I shall keep an eye on them should I take a walk down there tomorrow morning. 

Drone Flies were abundant on the flowering Ivy plants.  

It was fairly quiet down the lane and the usual large mixed flock of large Gulls were in the same field as yesterday, including at least one Lesser Black-backed Gull. Both Skylark and Meadow Pipits were abundant, but there was no sign of the Wheatear from yesterday. On the outskirts of one of the sheep fields, a male and female Stonechat were seen along with several Meadow Pipits nearby. At the end of the lane, I saw a Common Buzzard soaring over the fields, while in the small enclosed pathway, a Chiffchaff was seen briefly and both Speckled Wood and Red Admiral butterflies were basking in the sunshine. 

Common Buzzards have been scarce on this trip here so far, so one drifting over the fields was a nice surprise. 

Walking back, I passed the small pond slowly as i could hear a few Chiffchaffs calling in here, of which at least one or possibly two, i actually saw. This time last year, I had a Yellow-browed Warbler in exactly the same spot, but sadly, nothing that exotic here today. A Small White and Red Admiral butterfly was noted and on the bench, enjoying the sunshine, was a male Common Darter dragonfly sharing the bench with a Noon Fly. A Frog was briefly seen sinking back into the water as I made my way out of the Pond area and back up the road, until doing a right into Town Lane. 

One of the male House Sparrows enjoying feeding on the berries in the garden while being buffeted by the wind this morning.

I walked past one of our most stayed in Cottages, Skippers, and was a bit disappointed to see that it was now being used privately rather than rented out. I was tempted to walk the bridle path to the east for anything like a rarity hiding along there, but seeing all the mud and puddles before me, I quickly changed my mind and walked down the hill and back to the Cottage.  The scent of the flowering Ivy Plants was strong down here and out of the wind, it attracted good numbers of both Hoverflies and Bumblebees, including a Tree Bumblebee enjoying the plants. Sadly, just before I got back into the Cottage, I found a dead Frog missing its head on the side of the road! A casualty of a Cat perhaps?

This Noon Fly was also basking in the sunshine on the same bench as the Common Darter. 

Becky was itching to get out and so we took a drive down to the small village of Torcross, parking up in the large car park by Slapton Ley. Almost immediately, I saw a Sandwich Tern flying along the shoreline over a very calm sea. I had a quick scan over the beach for any Wheatears, but there were none, however, there was a good gathering of House Martins hawking over the beachfront houses, including one adult feeding its youngster on the wing. We had a nice coffee in one of the local Cafe’s then took a drenching from a passing shower on the way back to the car. Before the rain came in, Becky had to feed the ducks and while she did that, I picked out a Chiffchaff and a Migrant Hawker dragonfly by bushes close by. then the rain came and we raced back to the car. 

From top to bottom: Slapton Ley; a juvenile Moorhen among some 'colourful' Mallards and Becky enjoying feeding the ducks! 

We popped into the Farmshop on the way back to the Cottage to pick up something for tonight's tea and then drove back to our Cottage. We spent a nice hour having coffee and nibbles in the back garden, with a very tame Robin coming down to feed close to where we sat as I picked out the birds flying over including the Woodpecker again and the Grey Wagtails and also making plans on where abroad we would like to go in the near future. Precious time with my precious Becky.

 

Wheatear showing well in a sheep field.

Monday 4th October 2021.

A room with a superb view! This is the view I have while updating my blog in the kitchen.

After the moths, I took to staring out of the back window overlooking the garden and the neighbouring fields, for flocks of Meadow Pipits and finches were swarming overhead along with a good number of Swallows, some flying very close to the window I was watching from. The garden was certainly attracting a lot of birds because the sun was shining brightly and though the wind was still blustery, the Cottage protected the garden from the worst of the wind.

Top photo, a Chiffchaff was exploring the garden thoroughly for insects by the garden wall. Bottom photo, a few Goldfinches came into the garden.  

There was a nice variety of birds within the garden which included Robin, a pair of Pied Wagtails, Dunnock, Goldfinch, House Sparrow and best of all, a Chiffchaff which was searching for food among the Ivy plants. A pair of Jays were seen flying over the fields to the west of our Cottage. A few Red Admiral butterflies were also attracted to the flowering Ivy, but did not take too kindly from the close attention of the birds. After breakfast, I decided to take Scruff for a walk and this time, I walked down the lane where we stayed here last year, by Welle House and checked out the neighbouring fields for anything of note.

Top photo: a couple of Pied Wagtails explored the back garden, including this male bird. Bottom photo: the juvenile Wheatear was a nice surprise in one of the sheep fields and relatively close too, which was a bonus. 

The corner field I came across first held Sheep and close to the roadside, I found a juvenile Wheatear, which was just yards from where I stood. The bird looked a bit tired and did not move around all that much and was still present on my return journey back to the Cottage. More and more Meadow Pipits flew over as did several Skylarks, but unlike this time last year, the variety of birds flying over have been limited. One of the fields held a large roosting flock of Herring Gulls, though among them, there were a few Lesser & Great Black-backed Gulls. 

A large number of Herring Gulls were joined by a few Lesser & Great Black-backed Gulls in one of the roadside fields.

I was hoping for an interesting Warbler or Shrike perched on the many hedgerows this morning, but all was pretty quiet until a noisy flock of 6 Canada Geese flew low over my head and landed in the neighbouring field! I didn’t expect that. Along the roadside verge, Red Campion flowers were still in flower as was Creeping Thistle, while the stone walls held Maidenhair Ferns sprouting out of them. I did get caught in a heavy rain shower and so stood my ground, protected by my thick waterproof coat, till the rain eased up. 

Red Campion plants were still in flower along the roadside verges.

Not a great deal else was seen along the journey back to the Cottage apart from quite a few Pied Wagtails on the rooftops. There is a large Starling flock in the Village which I have seen several times and I shall be keeping an eye on them. A few years back, a juvenile Rosy Starling was present one Autumn here among the Starlings. 

This toadstool species was growing down the lane by our Cottage. It is known as Suede Bolete.

Another photo of the juvenile Wheatear near the Village this morning.  

Becky and I decided to take a trip to Salcombe for a walk round and a bite to eat, but it turned into a big mistake. There was heavy rain again on the way there and though we managed to get to the town car park, it was totally full and another car park we have used in the past was closed! To make matters worse, we had to go down the one way system through the town and then got stuck behind a Bin Lorry for about 20 minutes! We eventually ended up having a nice lunch at the Winking Prawn restaurant by North Sands and sitting in the front garden overlooking the sea, though cold, it was pleasant enough. I even saw my first Common Buzzard of the trip drifting high over the inlet until flying back to the nearby woodland.

One of several Skylarks flying over the fields near Welle House this morning.

The female Pied Wagtail in our back garden this morning.

After chilling out in the afternoon, I took Scruff for another walk down the lane to the last Cottage and even walked down the slippery footpath to the track adjacent to the fields below. I was most surprised to see two Roe Deer grazing in one of the fields, for I do not think I have ever seen Deer here before. As I was taking photos of them, one of them soon saw me and they both headed off into cover and out of view. A scan over the sea produced a few distant Gannets and below by the rocks, both Grey Heron and Little Egret were seen flying, but apart from the many Carrion Crows and Herring Gulls, little else of note apart from the obligatory Meadow Pipits!

A couple of Roe Deer grazing in a field down the bottom of the lane was unexpected.

I am not putting the moth box on tonight for it's supposed to be heavy rain and strong winds for most of the night, though tomorrow is meant to be a lot drier, but windy. We shall see. Back in Hampshire today, I read this tonight that around midday, a Semipalmated Sandpiper was found roosting with Dunlins at Normandy Marshes, Keyhaven, but did not linger and flew off. 

Monday 4th October 2021.

Dawn over East Prawle this morning. I wonder what goodies lay in store for us today. 

A bright morning kicked off another day on my week long break here in East Prawle, though the wind is still blustery. There is going to be more rain showers again today, but first thing this morning, I checked out the moth box in search of more goodies! I woke early this morning (4am in fact!) and simply could not fall back to sleep, so I went on my blog and updated some of the recent entries. I am no author/novel writer and so I have to re-read sometimes what I have written so it makes sense!

Top photo, a collection of some of the moths present in and around my moth box today. Bottom photo, my first Rush Veneer of the year.

Again, there was a nice sprinkling of moths to entertain this morning, though the only moths new for the year was a Rush Veneer, a common immigrant moth that does fluctuate in numbers every year. Still, a welcome addition to my year list. A Silver Y was present on the white sheet and there were again, good numbers of both Feathered Ranunculus and Lunar Underwings. The following moths were present this morning:

• 10 Feathered Ranunculus
• 6 Lunar Underwing
• 1 Beaded Chestnut
• 1 Silver Y
• 1 Black Rustic
• 1 Brindled Green
• 1 Large Ranunculus
• 1 Angle Shades
• 2 Light Brown Apple Moth

Angle Shades.

Beaded Chestnut

 There was a lot of visible migration going on outside the Cottage as streams of Meadow Pipits, Pied Wagtails and Swallows were flying through and as I write this up, I am looking out of the kitchen window watching lots of birds flying over the Cottage. I shall be taking Scruff out for a walk after breakfast and hopefully grab some bird photos this time!  

Some stunning moths & a visit to Prawle Point.

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. 

Photos from top to bottom: the Herring Gulls resting on the rocks on the shoreline; Dark Mullein plant  growing by the side of the road and the small road leading to the Cottages and the viewpoint.

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.