Aside from the increased numbers of fledged birds a quiet day for birding with another neap tide. Records included eight Whimbrel, six Sanderling, five Dunlin, the five Eider and two Sandwich Tern in the estuary, with single Great Northern Diver and Common Scoter offshore.
Other Wildlife: A Wall Brown was again along the Dune Ridge with a single Red Admiral, three Broad-bodied Chaser and an Azure Damselfly also on the wing.
Seawatching early morning saw a Great Skua SW at 6am, along with 84 Kittiwake, 66 Gannet, 25 Common Scoter, 13 Great Northern and six Red-throated Diver, nine Manx Shearwater, nine Fulmar and a ♂ Tufted Duck in 2hr.45m. Also offshore, three Sandwich Tern and a dark phase Arctic Skua chasing Kittiwake.
On a neap tide just four Dunlin and a Grey Plover roosted in The Bight, the missing plovers perhaps sitting out the high tide elsewhere. Also in the estuary 11 Whimbrel and the five Eider with 26 Sanderling on the beach.
Other Wildlife: In the overcast weather, most insects were resting up out of the wind, with several beetles below the geotubes.
The second transatlantic rarity in a week was again a brief staying highlight, this time a first summer American Golden Plover in with a small flock of Grey Plover. It was discovered roosting over the high tide, eventually moving to The Bight and then offsite on the dropping tide. Only the second site record after one in October 2010.
Also in the estuary, counts included 19 Sanderling, 16 Dunlin, 14 Grey and four Ringed Plover, six Sandwich Tern, five Eider, back on Finger Point after yesterday's storm, four Bar-tailed Godwit, four Turnstone, three Whimbrel and a Great Crested Grebe.
Seawatching was productive during the morning with five Pomarine and a Great Skua, 130+ Kittiwake, 100+ Manx Shearwater, 11 Great Northern and a Red-throated Diver mostly heading SW, with three Great Northern Diver on the sea.
Elsewhere a Hobby flew W at 10am and a Lesser Whitethroat was along the Back Path.
Year list addition:
151. American Golden Plover
Other Wildlife: A Broad-banded Fleckwing Dasysyrphus venustus was one of the more striking insects on the wing with other flies noted including the cranefly Nephrotoma quadrifaria and the rust fly Psila firmetaria.
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Broad-banded Fleckwing Dasysyrphus venustus - Alan Keatley
Also, flying in sheltered areas were several Short-fringed and Sandpit Mining Bee, a Broad-bodied Chaser and the soldier beetle Cantharis cryptica.
A wet day with rain from 8.30am, offshore an immature Pomarine Skua flew SW at 9:40 ahead of the arrival of heavier rain. Also offshore 37 Gannet, 31 Kittiwake, 25 Manx Shearwater, six Great Northern Diver, four Sandwich Tern and three Common Scoter.
The immature Peregrine was again disturbing waders around The Bight where counts included 18 Whimbrel, 15 Dunlin, 10 Grey and nine Ringed Plover, seven Bar-tailed Godwit and single Knot, Sanderling and Turnstone.
Elsewhere the rain dropped in a Yellow Wagtail to the 7th fairway, a scarce grounded migrant on site and the few Swallow at the Main Pond got agitated when a Hobby headed west around 8am.
Another day of high pressure and clear skies saw low numbers but some continuing signs of movement, with at least 11 Whitethroat on site and a new colour-ringed Dunlin in The Bight.
Counts from the estuary included 19 Dunlin, 18 Sanderling, 15 Curlew, 14 Bar-tailed Godwit, 11 Grey and four Ringed Plover, nine Whimbrel, the regular five Eider and a Turnstone.
Elsewhere a summer-plumaged Great Northern Diver flew high SW offshore where there were two Sandwich Tern and a pale phase Arctic Skua chasing a Kittiwake.
Other Wildlife: A Grey Seal was off Langstone Rock and six species of butterfly were on the wing including Large and Small White, with 'lots' of Silver Y showing increasing insect migration.
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| Jackdaw - Alan Keatley Formerly only a migrant this species has switched to foraging on the reserve as previous feeding areas have been developed. |
Reduced numbers in the estuary as birds take opportunity of the fine weather to continue migration and perhaps avoid the attention of a marauding Peregrine. Counts included 29 Sanderling, 17 Whimbrel, 14 Dunlin, 13 Ringed Plover, nine Bar-tailed Godwit, the five Eider and two Grey Plover.
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| Peregrine - Lee Collins |
Elsewhere six Sandwich Tern and three Great Northern Diver were offshore and there was a light NE passage of 24 Swallow and 12 House Martin.
Other Wildlife: The first Broad-bodied Chaser of the year was in the Back Meadow, with a Wall Brown and a Sand Lizard along the Dune Ridge.
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| Sand Lizard - Lee Collins |
A ♀ Surf Scoter was a brief unexpected highlight, the 14th site record but the first since Nov 2014. It was sat distantly offshore, usually asleep, and continued to drift out with tide. Despite flat calm sea and good viewing conditions it was not seen after 10.30am.
Also offshore at least 10 Great Northern and two Red-throated Diver, just two of the former close in but both in breeding plumage, 20 Common Scoter and a single Sandwich Tern.
Other new arrivals included a Spotted Flycatcher in the Entrance Bushes and four sub-singing Reed Warbler including birds in Greenland Lake and on top of Langstone Rock!
Overhead single Sand Martin and Yellow Wagtail, a Wheatear flew across estuary, a pair of Tufted Duck W over The Bight before heading high north and a Red Kite SW mid-morning.
Elsewhere counts from the estuary included 40 Sanderling, 37 Whimbrel, 33 Dunlin, 13 Ringed and a Grey Plover, nine Turnstone, six Bar-tailed Godwit and five Eider.
Year list addition:
150. Surf Scoter
Other Wildlife: The warm sunny weather saw an increase in flying invertebrates with the first Wall Brown of the year one of eight butterfly species on the wing. These also included Holly Blue, Small Copper and Speckled Wood.
Day-flying moths included Common and Garden Carpet, but the best was a Small Yellow Underwing in the Skipper Meadow, only the second site record and the first since the late 1990s.
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| Small Yellow Underwing - Alan Keatley |
Also recorded today two Harbour Porpoise offshore, a single Blue-tailed Damselfly and a Bordered Shieldbug, new for the Recording Area.
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| Bordered Shieldbug - Kevin Rylands |
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| Agrypnus murinus - Alan Keatley |
A quieter day in the mist, with the Garganey and some of the waders having moved on overnight. Counts from the estuary included c30 Whimbrel, 27 Dunlin, 17 Sanderling, 10 Ringed Plover, four Bar-tailed Godwit, four Turnstone and a Knot.
The usual five Eider were also in the estuary with five Sandwich Tern, a Red-throated and a Great Northern Diver offshore. Elsewhere three Wheatear were on site and a Swift was overhead.
A drake Garganey that dropped in behind the Golf Course late evening was the highlight, beating out a 2cy Little Gull that flew in off over The Bight, before continued N up estuary at 9am, and the eighth Red Kite of the year which flew WSW low over The Bight at 09:45.
There was no sign of the Curlew Sandpiper with waders continuing to move through, counts included 59 Dunlin, 41 Whimbrel, 37 Sanderling, 18 Ringed and three Grey Plover, eight Bar and Black-tailed Godwit, three Turnstone and a Redshank, with the five Eider also in the estuary.
Elsewhere two Great Northern and a Red-throated Diver, six Common Scoter and two Sandwich Tern were offshore, three Wheatear were on site and three Rook and two Sand Martin were overhead.
Other Wildlife: No Dune Wolf noted today but ground-watching again revealed some interesting invertebrates including a couple of tiny blood bees, likely Geoffroy's Blood Bee Sphecodes geoffrellus, a cleptoparasite of Green Furrow Bee.
Also, in the same place was a nymph Grey Bush-cricket being stalked by a male Xysticus cristatus crab spider.
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| Xysticus cristatus - Alan Keatley |
To add to the variety were the first Blue-tailed Damselfly of the year, two Silver Y, several Common Carpet and a Sandy Longhorn Nematopogon schwarziellus.
A summer-plumaged Curlew Sandpiper was the highlight, arriving with small waders in The Bight on evening tide. The flock included 69 Dunlin, 18 Ringed Plover and nine Sanderling, there had been 42 of the latter over the morning tide.
Also in the estuary single Common and Little Tern, 45 Whimbrel, 10 Bar and two Black-tailed Godwit, five Eider, three Knot and a Grey Plover.
Elsewhere six Great Northern and three Red-throated Diver were offshore; five Swift, three Sand Martin, two Little Egret and a Rook flew NE and two migrant Reed Warbler, singing in the Entrance Bushes and Buffer Zone.
Year list addition:
149. Curlew Sandpiper
Other Wildlife: A second Hairy Dragonfly of the year was on the Golf Course but other discoveries were largely at ground level.
A brief search (twitch) revealed the third Dune Wolf of the week in the same area, although it is presumably more widespread on site. The same small area of barely vegetated ground was also being stalked by the ground spider Micaria pulicaria, the first record for 35 years, Hairy Shieldbug and the zebra-like caterpillar of Orange Crest Helcystogramma rufescens.
Elsewhere Small Adder's-tongue were picked out from their larger relative in Greenland Lake and Common Star-of-Bethlehem was in flower behind the Visitor Centre.
Early morning seven Great Northern Diver flew south with five diver sp. and four Red-throated Diver but little else was moving. Also offshore 36 Common Scoter, four Great Northern Diver, three summer-plumaged adult and an immature, a summer-plumaged Red-throated Diver, six Sandwich Tern and a 2cy Mediterranean Gull.
Signs of increased wader migration over both high tides with peak counts of 177 Dunlin, 46 Whimbrel, 37 Sanderling, 15 Bar-tailed Godwit, 15 Ringed Plover, seven Turnstone, two Grey Plover and a Knot. Also in the estuary five Eider and a Little Tern roosted on Finger Point.
Elsewhere migration was limited to a Yellow Wagtail overhead.
Ringing News: The day's highlight was the welcome sight of D63 amongst the Whimbrel. recorded here annually (except 2018) on spring migration since the first record on 18th April 2016. A day later than last year and its latest arrival.
The Little Tern was also colour-ringed, from a colony in Co. Wicklow, Ireland but too far away to read the individual code.
Other Wildlife: A Grey Seal was off Langstone Rock.
The first Sedge Warbler of the year was singing at the Main Pond early morning with a Garden Warbler in Dead Dolphin Wood also a new arrival. Other passerine migrants where however limited to a single Wheatear in The Bight and overhead two Siskin, a Chaffinch and a Yellow Wagtail.
More arrivals in the estuary with counts including 68 Whimbrel, 17 Bar and a Black-tailed Godwit, 14 Sanderling, six Turnstone, six Dunlin, three Knot and three Ringed Plover with the five Eider on Finger Point.
Elsewhere 12 Common Scoter and two Sandwich Tern distantly offshore.
Year list addition:
148. Sedge Warbler
Other Wildlife: Although prints are seen daily, the first Fox sightings of the year were an adult by the Main Pond and a cub on Warren Point. The first Small Tortoiseshell was also seen one of five butterfly species again on the wing.
Otherwise spiders were the theme of the day with another Dune Wolf Xerolycosa miniata, amazingly the second record in a week having gone unnoticed for many years. The nationally scarce dune spider Alopecosa cuneata was also a good find, only the second Warren record.
It has, so far, been a disappointing spring for mining bees. Just a few today with Orange-tailed and a Short-fringed on Hawthorn and a few Sandpit Mining Bee on the sandy paths. Searching out their nests was its cleptoparasite Sandpit Blood Bee Sphecodes pellucidus.
Hoverflies are faring better with many recently emerged Smudge-veined Clubtail Neoascia podagrica nectaring on remaining Alexanders flowers.
The first Spotted Flycatcher of the year was in the Entrance Bushes but other migrants were limited with single Sand Martin, Wheatear and Yellow Wagtail overhead. The site was however busy with breeding activity included the first fledged brood of Stonechat.
Offshore two Little Tern flew into the bay, with 52 Kittiwake, 11 Great Northern Diver, five Common Scoter and two Sandwich Tern during an hour seawatch, with seven Eider (two adult ♂ (new birds), two imm ♂, three ♀) and two summer plumaged Grey Plover on Pole Sands.
In the estuary a ♂ Shoveler on Bull Hill and a Black-tailed Godwit were new in and wader counts included 64 Whimbrel, 33 Sanderling, 22 Ringed Plover, 10 Dunlin and a Greenshank.
Year list addition:
147. Spotted Flycatcher
Other Wildlife: The year's first Hairy Dragonfly was on the Golf Course with five butterfly species including the next brood of Speckled Wood.
A quieter day with two Wheatear by the Visitor Centre the only grounded migrants with a few Swallow passing overhead, with local birds feeding over the Main Pond. Also now on territory five Whitethroat and at two of the ponds, three singing Reed Warbler.
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| Whitethroat - Dean Hall |
The low high tide moved hardly anything in The Bight, bar the usual Oystercatcher and four of the lingering Eider. Other waders included at least 15 Whimbrel, mainly on the beach, some moving to the estuary as the tide came in, and just a couple of Sanderling, also on the beach.
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| Whimbrel - Dean Hall |
Sandwich Tern numbers were also low with only six offshore along with a single Great Crested Grebe.
Other Wildlife: A good selection of invertebrates encountered today including the excellently camouflaged Dune Wolf Xerolycosa miniata. A nationally scarce dune specialist, only a slight movement gave it location away, perhaps why this is the first record here, the only south Devon site, for over 25 years!
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| Dune Wolf - Alan Keatley |
Also out on Warren Point the first Cinnabar of the year, three Small Copper and a Burdock feeding picture-winged fly Tephritis bardanae.
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| Cinnabar - Alan Keatley |
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| Small Copper - Dean Hall |
Seawatching for 1 hr 45 min early morning saw c200 Guillemot, 120+ Manx Shearwater, 104 Gannet and 85+ Kittiwake flew SW with 16 Common Scoter, nine Red-throated and four Great Northern Diver. Also offshore a pale phase Arctic Skua flew into the bay, 10 Sandwich and a Little Tern were foraging and a ♀ Eider was off the seawall.
Counts from the estuary included 46 Whimbrel, 25 Dunlin, 22 Bar-tailed Godwit, five Eider, four Knot, two Sanderling and single Greenshank and Redshank. Elsewhere other migrants were limited to eight Wheatear on site and two Rook and a Sand Martin overhead.
Other Wildlife: Too windy for most flying insects with just a few hoverflies keeping low to the ground, including the first Common Snout Rhingia campestris of the year. Also keeping out of the wind was a Cricket Bat Spider Mangora acalypha tucked away in a Nettle leaf.
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Two beetles no doubt dislodged from higher branches were the longhorn Common Grammoptera G. ruficornis and an Alder Leaf Beetle Agelastica alni. A third species, the ground dwelling pill beetle Cytilus sericeus was new for the Recording Area.
