Saturday 30 June 2018

Pied Crow

This morning Ken , Andy and myself made the journey up to Clevedon in Somerset to look for a  Pied Crow that has been showing there for a few days , there was a few birders already there when we arrived and we were told that the bird wasn`t there but that it would soon come back and after a short while it did come back and showed well . I don't know if it will ever be  accepted on to the British list but it was good to get views of it anyway .
I have seen these birds abroad before , in Western Sahara at the Café Chtoukan in 2010 and in Gambia at Kololi in 2016 .

Pied Crow ( Corvus albus ) . Cleavdon . Somerset




Wednesday 27 June 2018

Wednesday 27th June

An early morning look around Bowling Green Marsh this morning got me 5 Whimbrel , 2 Bar-Tailed Godwit , and a Common Greenshank so it seems that the return migration has just begun at last .
I also saw 2 Great Spotted Woodpecker , a Eurasian Nuthatch , 4 Blackcap , 2 European Reed Warbler , 2 Common Chiffchaff and a smart looking male Eurasian Bullfinch .
Later in the day I got a call telling me that there was a summer plumaged Spotted Redshank on the Clyst Estuary , so I went down to look for it , but by the time I got there it had flown off but it turned up again on Goosemoor and I was able to get views of it but it always stayed a bit distant and as I was looking at it a Eurasian Hobby flew over my head , I then had another look at Bowling Green Marsh where the only thing different from this morning was a Stock Dove that dropped in for a drink .

Great Spotted Woodpecker ( Dendrocopos major ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Spotted Redshank ( Tringa erythropus ) . Goosemoor . Topsham . Devon


Stock Dove ( Columba oenas ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Tuesday 26 June 2018

Out and About

Today started off on Bowling Green Marsh where I saw around 10 European Reed Warbler , 2 Common Chiffchaff , 2 Blackcap and a Eurasian Nuthatch , there was also quite a few Ringlet showing today . A look at the Clyst Estuary from the viewing platform got me 5 Little Egret , a Common Greenshank and a Common Kingfisher .
I then met up with my mate Andy and we went out to Dartmoor for a look around . And we saw quite a few Northern Wheatear , a Spotted Flycatcher , numerous Common House Martin , 5 Willow Warbler , a Garden Warbler , a male Whinchat and 2 Mistle Thrush also seen were the following moths , Pearl Veneer and Common Carpet...both new for me .
We finished the day off at Aish Tor where we saw a few Silver-Washed Fritillary and High Brown Fritillary .

Common House Martin ( Delichon urbicum ) . Challacombe Farm . Dartmoor . Devon


High Brown Fritillary ( Argynnis adippe ) . Aish Tor . Dartmoor . Devon


Silver-Washed Fritillary ( Argynnis paphia ) . Aish Tor . Dartmoor . Devon


Common Carpet ( Epirrhoe alternata alternata ) . Challacombe Farm . Dartmoor . Devon


Pearl Veneer ( Catoptria straminella ) . Dartmoor . Devon


Sunday 24 June 2018

Saturday 23rd June

Early this morning I went to my mate Matt`s house in Exmouth to watch him open his moth trap as I am just getting into Mothing and I am loving it .
As you can see I have posted a few pictures of some of them but I was lucky enough to see many more , hope you enjoy them as much as I did .

Many Thanks again Matt

Barred Yellow ( Cidaria fulvata ) . Exmouth . Devon


Beautiful Hook-Tip ( Laspeyria flexula ) . Exmouth . Devon


Clouded Border ( Lomaspilis marginata ) . Exmouth . Devon


Common Emerald ( Hemithea aestivaria ) . Exmouth . Devon


Peach Blossom ( Thyatria batis ) . Exmouth . Devon


Purple Bar ( Cosmorhoe ocellata ) . Exmouth . Devon


Shark ( Cucullia umbratica ) . Exmouth . Devon


Light Emerald ( Campaea margaritata ) . Exmouth . Devon


Fan-Foot ( Zanclognatha tarsipennalis ) . Exmouth . Devon


Friday 22 June 2018

Bowling Green Marsh

A morning look around Bowling Green Marsh didn`t get me a lot , with 20+ Black-Tailed Godwit , a few Common House Martin , a Stock Dove , 4 European Reed Warbler , a Sedge Warbler , a singing male Blackcap and a Common Chiffchaff .
Also seen were a male and female Broad-Bodied Chaser and quite a few Soldier Flies .

European Reed Warbler ( Acrocephalus scirpaceus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon



Thursday 21st June

This afternoon I had a Cattle Egret that flew across Bridge Road in Topsham and then flew up the Clyst Marshes , I then met up with Andy Bond and we went to see if the American Royal Tern would come back to the Portland area in the evening and on the way there we had a Red Kite over the A30 just outside of Honiton .
Alas there was no sign of the American Royal Tern but we did see 30+ Common Tern , a single Sandwich Tern and nice views of a Roseate Tern .

Tuesday 19 June 2018

The East Devon Commons

My first stop today was at Bystock Common . Where I saw my first Marbled White Butterfly of the year along with plenty of Meadow Brown , a few Small Heath , a Large Skipper and a Common Blue . I also saw the following moths , Common Grass-Veneer & Garden Grass-Veneer both new for me , Straw Dot , Common Marble and a few Six-Spot Burnet .
I then went to the East Devon Common and I saw 4 male and 2 female Silver-Studded Blue Butterflies , another Large Skipper and 2 Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary .

Marbled White ( Melanargia galathea ) . Bystock Common . Devon



Silver-Studded Blue ( Plebejus argus ) ( Female ) . The East Devon Commons . Devon


Large Skipper ( Ochlodes venatus ) . The East Devon Commons . Devon


Common Grass-Veneer ( Agriphila tristella ) . Bystock Common . Devon


Garden Grass-Veneer ( Chrysoteuchia culmella ) . Bystock Common . Devon


Friday 15 June 2018

Bowling Green Marsh

This morning we had a very good meeting to see if there is any way of making the reserve even better than it already is . Many thanks to Peter and Becky and the other local birders that turned up to see if we can all help in any way . This has been my local patch for over 30 years and it will be good to see it progress .

Hairy Dragonfly ( Brachytron pratense ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon


Wednesday 13 June 2018

The East Devon Commons

I went up to the East Devon Commons this morning to look for a couple of Butterflies , the two were Silver-Studded Blue and Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary and I managed to see both of them in small numbers . I also had a look for moths and again I did quite well with numerous Brown Silver-Line , a few Cinnabar , 2 July Belle and a nice Four-Dotted Footman .
Also of note was a daytime calling European Nightjar .

Silver-Studded Blue ( Plebejus argus ) . The East Devon Commons . Devon