Monday 30 July 2018

Yellow-Legged Gull

A trip down to Exmouth this morning for a possible Caspian Gull that in the end turned into a 2nd summer Yellow-Legged Gull a bird that we don't see enough of anyway .
Later in the evening I had a look at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham where there was a small movement of birds with 4 juvenile Little Ringed Plover , 20+ Dunlin and 2 Green Sandpiper .

Out of the Moths that I caught last night the stand out ones were Black Arches , Ruby Tiger and a Pale-Streak Water-Veneer .

Yellow-Legged Gull ( Larus michahellis ) . Exmouth Cricket Club . Devon



Black Arches ( Lymantria monacha ) ( Male & Female ) . Topsham . Devon



Ruby Tiger ( Phragmatobia fuliginosa ) . Topsham . Devon



Pale-Streak Grass-Veneer ( Agriphila selasella ) . Topsham . Devon


Saturday 28 July 2018

Lime-Speck Pug

An early morning look at Bowling Green Marsh didn`t turn out to bad at all as I saw numerous Eurasian Curlew and 30+ Whimbrel , numerous Black-Tailed Godwit but only one Bar-Tailed Godwit , 2 Green Sandpiper , a Common Sandpiper , a Ruff in partial summer plumage that I managed to get a couple of shots of , but its a bit of a job to get anything worth looking at in the early morning glare on the marsh , 2 juvenile Mediterranean Gull`s and a few Barn Swallow .
The moths that I caught overnight included a Lime-Speck Pug... another new one for me , also seen was this smart looking Birch Shieldbug another new specie for me .

Ruff ( Philomachus pugnax ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon



Lime-Speck Pug ( Eupithecia centaureata ) . Topsham . Devon



Common Plume ( Emmelina monodactyla ) . Topsham . Devon


Birch Shieldbug ( Elasmostethus interstinctus ) . Topsham . Devon


Thursday 26 July 2018

Ohhh So Slow !

This morning I had my first European Green Woodpecker for quite a while in the cemetery grounds at Topsham , I then went down the Clyst Marshes where a Snow Goose of very dubious origin was in with about 20 Canada Geese .
A look at Bowling Green Marsh then got me 2 Green Sandpiper , 4 Northern Lapwing , a Stock Dove and a Eurasian Jay . Out of the moths that I caught last night there was one new one for me... a very nice Lesser Wax Moth .

Snow Goose ( Anser caerulescens ) . The Clyst Marshes . Topsham . Devon


Green Sandpiper ( Tringa ochropus ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham


Lesser Wax Moth ( Achroia grisella ) . Topsham . Devon


Tuesday 24 July 2018

Osprey

The Osprey that has been around the Exe Estuary for a few days now was again sat on its favourite  post out in the middle of the estuary , and after a while it flew off with the fish it had caught towards the Turf Hotel , I fired off this shot and was amazed to get anything on it at all due to the distance it was at , ( nice when it turns out like that ) . I had also caught a few moths overnight with the best one being a Marbled Conch .

Osprey ( Pandion haliaetus ) . The Exe Estuary . Devon


Marbled Conch ( Eupoecilia angustana ) . Topsham . Devon



Dingy Dowd ( Blastobasis adustella ) . Topsham . Devon


Thursday 19 July 2018

Glosy Ibis

This morning I had a look at the moths that I caught last night and there was a very smart looking July Highflyer , also seen was a Dark Fruit-Tree Tortix , a Small Grey and a Barred Marble .
A bit later I went up to the Matford Marshes that are on the edge of Exeter where I saw my 1st Glossy Ibis in Devon this year , also seen were a few Stock Dove .
I then had a look at Bowling Green Marsh where I saw 3 Little Grebe , 3 Green Sandpiper , 10 Whimbrel , 4 Dunlin showing off in their smart summer plumage and 2 Bar-Tailed Godwit .

Glossy Ibis ( Plegadis falcinellus ) . The Matford Marshes . Exeter . Devon



Dark Fruit-Tree Tortrix ( Pandemis heparana ) . Topsham . Devon


July Highflyer ( Hydriomena furcata ) . Topsham . Devon


Monday 16 July 2018

Eurasian Spoonbill

A look at Bowling Green Marsh in Topsham this morning got me a juvenile European Spoonbill , 5 Little Egret , 2 Grey Heron , 2 adult and 4 juvenile Little Grebe , 2 Green Sandpiper , 20+ Whimbrel , 2 Bat-Tailed Godwit and an adult and a juvenile Mediterranean Gull .
Later in the day I went down to my mate Matts house in Exmouth as he had a few moths to show me and I ended up with Ruby Tiger , Nut-Tree Tussock , September Thorn , Swallow Prominent , Clay and Marbled Piercer . Cheer Matt 

Eurasian Spoonbill ( Platalea leucorodia ) . Bowling Green Marsh . Topsham . Devon