A drenched worn Clifden Nonpareil added to trip moth list.

Thursday 7th October 2021.

A foggy start to the day in East Prawle. For some reason or another, I was finding moths on the lawn!

It is our penultimate day here in East Prawle and I have to say that I have not found any rare birds (so far) here, the moths have given me a good showing and this morning, yet another quality moth has dropped in near my moth box. This morning, I awoke to a real ‘pea-souper’ here in East Prawle, with visibility down to around 50 yards, but there was a good number of moths not only in the moth box, but also found a lot of bedraggled moths on the lawn! 

The bedraggled Clifden Nonpareil. It was on closer inspection of the upper wing pattern that I could agree with a fellow 'moth-er' that this was indeed a Clifden. Hopefully, it will dry out and become a little more obvious; but a lovely surprise nonetheless.

I was actually making my way back inside the Cottage when I stumbled across a very large moth sitting very wet on the lawn and I quickly got my largest pot out to check it out. It was still alive (thankfully) and on first guess, I was sure it was a Convolvulus Hawk-moth and decided to put a photos on the Migrant Lepidoptera Facebook page and was quickly corrected by a chap on there, who suggested a Clifden Nonpareil (Blue Underwing). On closer inspection, I can actually see the wing pattern on the upper wing, but the moth was too wet to check the under-wing. I consequently, put the moth inside my moth box to hopefully dry out and I shall have a closer inspection later today and then release it. The Clifden, then this would be only my 3rd ever. What a way to end the week here!

Another soaked moth found on the front garden lawn - an Angle Shades.

Not forgetting the other moths present, I found a Snout moth by the box last night and a Common Marbled Carpet was fluttering nearby. This morning, there was a variety of moths including a Double-striped Pug, Delicate and at least 3 Beaded Chestnuts. The full list for this morning is as follows: 

• 1 Clifden Nonpareil
• 2 Large Yellow Underwing
• 2 Black Rustic
• 3 Beaded Chestnut
• 4 Feathered Ranunculus
• 2 Large Ranunculus
• 6 Lunar Underwing
• 2 Setaceous Hebrew Character
• 1 Double-striped Pug
• 1 Snout
• 2 Angle Shades
• 1 Garden Carpet

Top photo, a selection of the moths caught this morning in and around the moth box. Middle photo, one of three Beaded Chestnuts. They do vary in colour a lot. Bottom photo, my second Delicate moth of the trip.

Despite the thick fog, I still could hear a few birds calling near the garden including a Chiffchaff, Meadow Pipit and Pied Wagtail; though I don't know how long this fog will persist here this morning. We shall see. Like the moths, there could be a grounded rarity just around the corner?

Another good garden watch and a trip to Prawle Point.

Wednesday 6th October 2021.

A pair of Blackcaps popped into the garden early this morning and enjoyed a few berries, including this male bird. 

It was a much calmer morning when the sun arose from the east, with hardly any wind and yet another stunning sunrise over the sea, viewed from the window from our Cottage. Quite amazing. I had the moth box on overnight, but to be honest, I was a little disappointed at the low turnout of moths present. A couple of Dark Sword-grass were the only immigrant moths present among the following: 

• 2 Black Rustic
• 6 Lunar Underwing
• 2 Dark Sword-grass
• 4 Feathered Ranunculus
• 1 Common Marbled Carpet
• 1 Setaceous Hebrew Character

From top to bottom, one of the Dark Sword-grass moths; a selection of the moths present this morning and a superb sunrise again over the sea.

After grabbing a cup of coffee, I went downstairs to view the back garden and the birds passing overhead. As expected, good numbers of Meadow Pipits flew through plus a few Skylarks. The garden got a lot more interesting when a pair of Blackcaps were seen enjoying the garden berries and a few Chiffchaffs dropped in also. One individual was singing somewhere nearby. The Grey Wagtail landed on a nearby rooftop and it was most unusual to see a Great Spotted Woodpecker perched on a television aerial! I am not sure if I have ever seen one do this before.

Both the male (below) and the female Blackcap (above) posed nicely for me in the back garden.

As well as all the usual birds, a small flock of Siskins flew over as did several Linnets and the Raven was seen yet again flying over the fields to the east. As it was such a nice morning, after breakfast, I then made my way with Scruff down to Prawle Point for a nice leisurely walk along the coastline.

Above, the Great Spotted Woodpecker posing on a television aerial and below, another Chiffchaff enjoying searching for insects among the Ivy plants.

I flushed a Common Buzzard from a fence post as I was driving down to the car park at Prawle Point, though only having a split second to see the bird while I negotiated this tricky bit of road. The car park was alive with bird calls including a Blackcap, several Linnets and Skylarks high overhead as I made my way to the coastline path. A quick look over the sea produced a good stream of Gannets heading west and I could also see several Shearwaters passing through, though quite distant and seeing I was not packing my scope, I can only assume they were Balearics. I think I wasted a possible Bonxie sighting too, but the bird was really too distant to be totally sure.

Above and below, Cirl Buntings down at Prawle Point this morning.  

The whole area was alive with birds including good numbers of Cirl Buntings throughout my walk. At least two birds were heard singing, though near impossible to find in all that vegetation, but I did see many others along the way. Yellowhammers were also in good supply and stood out well in the morning sunshine. Another numerous species were the Stonechats. Easily double figures were obtained of this species either on the footpath or in the neighbouring fields. The Cows were in the fields by the footpath, but they did not give Scruff and I any trouble, but I assume the electric fence would probably deter them anyway.

Above, one of hundreds of Meadow Pipits seen this morning and below, this female Kestrel rested briefly to the north of the footpath until moving off west.

Overhead, the air was alive with Hirundines with Swallows, House and Sand Martins literally everywhere, whether it be over the fields hawking for insects or low over the rocky shore doing exactly the same thing. Large flocks of both Meadow Pipit and Linnet were enjoying the field's rich insect bounty, but I could not find anything scarcer than these two species among them. Down on the rocks, a few Rock Pipits were joined by Pied Wagtails around the rock pools, but no sign of any Wheatears in the area.

From top to bottom: the eye-catching structure of the rocks below the Weather Station; one of many House Martins feeding over the fields and a large flock of Linnets also in the same field.  

A pair of Kestrels were hunting along the rocky area, but the local Crows did not let them settle as they soon drifted off west. A pair of Ravens soon followed, showing reasonably close as I was making my way back to the car park. Another pair of Siskins flew through and though there seemed to be a lot of Blackbirds around the rocky area to the north, there was no sign of any other thrush species. Surely, both Redwing and Ring Ouzel should be making their way through now? I have to say that I really enjoyed watching the Hirundines flying just feet away from me by the footpath, close enough that you could see all their tiny details of their plumage.

Top photo, the male Stonechat and below, the female. Good numbers of this species were present.

Nearing the car park, I joined a couple of birders checking out the slopes for interesting passerines. More Blackcaps were noted and a few Chiffchaffs too among them, but little else to get the pulse racing. Four species of butterfly seen here this morning were abundant, including Red Admiral, Large White, Small White and Speckled Wood; while a lone Small Tortoiseshell fluttered across a field and landed right next to me but suddenly disappeared into the grass never to be seen again!

Top photo, Gannets streamed through across the sea heading west throughout the morning. Below, one of the pair of Ravens flying west past the rocky outcrop.

A cracking morning walk with Scruff and fingers crossed, I hope to give it another go before we head off home on Friday. Another Stonechat was seen as I was driving back to the Village, while more Hirundines flew low over the hedgerows. Tonight's weather looks to be a bit unsettled, but very little wind as well, so I shall put the moth box out again tonight. Below, a flock of Gannets heading west off Prawle Point. Such underappreciated seabirds and in my opinion, always worth watching.  

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.