Saturday 25 July 2015

Dipping Pectoral Sandpiper

Yesterday there was a report of a Pectoral Sandpiper that was seen on Bowling Green Marsh and this morning I got a message telling me that it was seen again this morning , so I got there as fast as I could only to be told that that the bird had flown off 5 minutes before I got there , I spent quite a while there in hope that it would return but it was in vain as it never came back in and was only seen by the one birder today , but seen today on the marsh was 6 Common Greenshank , a Spotted Redshank , 2 Whimbrel , 2 adult Mediterranean Gull`s & a Common Kingfisher .
Also seen was a Jersey Tiger Moth and this Painted Lady Butterfly .
I then had a look at the Clyst Estuary and saw 6 Bar-Tailed Godwit , 4 superb looking summer plumaged Red Knot and a Grey Plover .

Painted Lady ( Cynthia cardui ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Tuesday 21 July 2015

Brown Argus

A trip down to Dawlish Warren this morning in hope of seeing the Brown Argus Butterfly , on the way there I stopped at Cockwood and saw the long staying Slavonian Grebe on the Exe Estuary , at the Warren I managed to see the following Butterflies , 10 Brown Argus , 6 Common Blue , 4 Small Copper and a few Meadow Brown & Gatekeeper .
I then had a look at the sea and saw 15 Sandwich Tern , 2 Arctic Skua and 2 Great Northern Divers that I lost from view near Orcombe Point at Exmouth .

Sandwich Tern ( Sterna sandvicensis ) ( Adult & Juvenile ) . Dawlish Warren . Devon



Brown Argus ( A . agestis ) . Dawlish Warren . Devon




Sunday 19 July 2015

Aylesbeare Common

A look around Aylesbeare Common this morning didn't get me a lot of birds with only European Green Woodpecker , Common Chiffchaff , Dartford Warbler and Yellowhammer seen , but I did better with the Butterflies as I saw 4 Grayling , 2 Large Skipper , a few Gatekeeper and singles of Small Heath , Meadow Brown , Peacock , Red Admiral and Large White .
I then had a look at the pools and saw Emperor Dragonfly , Golden-Ringed Dragonfly and some smart looking Emerald Damselfly ( a new one on the photographed list )

Grayling ( Hipparchia semele ) . Aylesbeare Common . Devon


Emerald Damselfly ( Lestes sponsa ) . Aylesbeare Common . Devon



Golden-Ringed Dragonfly ( Cordulegaster boltonii ) . Ayesbeare Common . Devon


Thursday 16 July 2015

Butterflies

I had a call today telling me that there was a Purple Hairstreak showing well in Corks Drove on the Exminster Marshes , so I went over to have a look at it ! it showed very well but did not open its wings at all so I was unable to say what sex it was ! but if anyone can help that would be great .
Also seen were these other Butterflies , Peacock , Meadow Brown , Gatekeeper and Green-Veined White .

Purple Hairstreak ( Quercusia quercus ) . The Exminster Marshes . Devon



Tuesday 14 July 2015

Gull`s

A look this morning at the River Exe at the recreation ground in Topsham got me 200+ Black-Headed Gull`s with quite a few juvenile birds on show , also seen was adult and juvenile Mediterranean Gull , a 1st summer Little Gull , 20+ Herring Gull and a single Lesser Black-Backed Gull .
Away from the gulls 2 Common Sandpiper and 2 Goldcrest were also seen !!!

Mediterranean Gull ( Larus melanocephalus ) . The Recreation Ground . Topsham . Devon


Monday 13 July 2015

Gull-Billed Tern

Today I saw my second Gull-Billed Tern of the year on the River Teign at the Passage House Inn , the bird was showing extremely well flying up and down the river , the other one that I saw was on Bowling Green Marsh but was a lot more distant than this bird , later in the afternoon a look at Bowling Green Marsh got me  12 Whimbrel , 8 Common Greenshank , the Spotted Redshank that has been with us for a while now and is now in heavy moult & 6 Bar-Tailed Godwit .

Gull-Billed Tern ( Gelochelidon nilotica ) . The Passage House Inn . The River Teign . Devon




Sunday 12 July 2015

Yellow-Legged Gull

A call from my neighbour Tim Warfolk this morning telling me that he had a juvenile Yellow-Legged Gull at the recreation ground in Topsham early this morning had me going down for a look in hope that it would still be there and my luck was in and I grabbed this shot of it ( the bird in the foreground ) , not a lot else to see but the 1st summer Little Gull , 3 Lesser Black-Backed Gull and 2 Great Black-Backed Gull added to the day ... Thanks Tim for your help on this bird !

Yellow-Legged Gull ( Juvenile ) ( Larus michahellis ) . The Recreation Ground . Topsham . Devon


Friday 10 July 2015

Stock Dove`s

I had a look at the Recreation Ground in Topsham this morning and saw the 1st summer Little Gull and 2 Common Sandpiper , next stop was a look at Bowling Green Marsh around high tide but for some strange reason not a lot came in with the best being a 1st summer Mediterranean Gull and 6 Stock Dove that dropped in to get a drink , just before I headed for home I had a quick look at Goosemoor where I saw 10 Little Egret , a Common Greenshank and another Stock Dove .

Common Wood Pigeon ( Columba palumbus ) & Stock Dove ( Columba oenas ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Thursday 9th July

This afternoon Ken Montandon and Myself had a look around the Shapwick Heath / Ham Wall area the sun was shining and we got some good birding in as we saw 12 Little Egret , 6 Great White Egret , 3 Great Bittern , 5 Western Marsh Harrier , 2 Little Grebe , 1 Arctic Tern , 2 Garden Warbler and 5 Water Rail were heard on call .
Also seen were Hairy Dragonfly and Broad-Bodied Chaser .

Sunday 5 July 2015

Bowling Green Marsh

Another look at Bowling Green Marsh this morning as I had a call telling me that there was a possible Arctic Tern there but by the time that I got there it had already been flushed  by a crow out towards the Exe Estuary , but I did see a few Mediterranean Gull`s with a nice adult , a 1st summer and my first juvenile bird of the year , also showing was the summer plumaged Spotted Redshank , 10 Common Greenshank , 6 Bar-Tailed Godwit , 15 Whimbrel , 1 Red Knot and a single Dunlin , also seen were these nice Common Poppies .

Common Poppy ( Papaver rhoeas ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Saturday 4 July 2015

Spotted Redshank

I had a look around my local patch Bowling Green Marsh this afternoon and saw European Reed Warbler , Sedge Warbler , Common Chiffchaff and Blackcap but the best bird of the day was seen on the Clyst Estuary being a superb summer plumaged Spotted Redshank ! also seen on the estuary were Common Greenshank and Whimbrel .
I also saw a few Butterflies with some newly hatched Comma and my first Gatekeeper of the year along with Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown .

Spotted Redshank ( Tringa erythropus ) . The Clyst Estuary . Devon



Friday 3 July 2015

Ashclyst Forest

A morning look around the Ashclyst Forest for butterflies turned out not bad at all as I managed to see the two main ones that I was looking for White Admiral and Silver-Washed Fritillary , also seen today were Ringlet , Meadow Brown , Small Skipper , Red Admiral and Marbled White ! other things of note was 5 Beautiful Demoiselle , a Golden-Ringed Dragonfly , a European Hornet and 4 Common Raven and 2 Stock Dove were also seen .

White Admiral ( L . camilla ) . The Ashclyst Forest . Devon


Silver-Washed Fritillary ( Argynnis paphia ) . The Ashclyst Forest . Devon



Beautiful Demoiselle ( Calopteryx virgo ) . The Ashclyst Forest . Devon