Thursday 23rd July

Counts from the estuary included 230 Sandwich Tern, including 73 juveniles, 159 Redshank, 30 Sanderling, 28 Dunlin, 26 Mediterranean Gull, 24 Ringed Plover and a Bar-tailed Godwit.

Elsewhere at least one Green Woodpecker was on the Golf Course and a Kingfisher was at the Main Pond, where the Coot remains settled. 

Coot - James Marshall

Other Wildlife: A new species for the Recording Area was on the Dune Ridge, a thread-legged assassin bug Empicoris vagabundus, the most widespread of the three UK species.

Empicoris vagabundus - Alan Keatley

The nationally scarce Golden-haired Longhorn Leptura aurulenta was excavating in a tree stump by the pond dipping platform, the second year of confirmed breeding. Another nationally scarce species was found amongst at least twenty Bee-wolf on Fennel around the car park, a female Heath Potter Wasp Eumenes coarctatus. 

Golden-haired Longhorn Leptura aurulenta - Alan Keatley

Heath Potter Wasp Eumenes coarctatus - Alan Keatley

In a poor season so far for hoverflies, the summer generation of Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax and Batman Hoverfly Myathropa florea were on the wing with White-clubbed Glasswing Scaeva pyrastri and several Compost Hoverfly Syritta pipiens. 

Batman Hoverfly Myathropa florea - Alan Keatley

Also recorded at least 10 Clouded Yellow and five Painted Lady, a Sand Lizard on the Dune Ridge and two Grey Seal on Bull Hill.

Painted Lady - Alan Keatley

Wednesday 22nd July

A Roseate Tern was a new arrival joining at least 190 Sandwich Tern (62 juveniles), 160 Black-headed and 11 Mediterranean Gull in The Bight at high tide.

Roseate Tern - Lee Collins

Great Black-backed Gull - Jim Summers

Waders counts included 165 Redshank, 24 Dunlin, 20 Ringed and two Grey Plover, eight Greenshank, four Turnstone, a Bar and a Black-tailed Godwit. 

Elsewhere four Great Crested Grebe were offshore.

Ringing News: The Roseate Tern had been ringed on Coquet Island, Northumberland with a juvenile Sandwich Tern from Scolt Head Island, Norfolk.

Other Wildlife: A Grey Seal was on Bull Hill with five Painted Lady and a Clouded Yellow on the Golf Course.

Tuesday 21st July

Counts from the estuary included 160 Sandwich Tern, 36 Sanderling, 20 Dunlin, 18 Ringed Plover, seven Knot, five Mediterranean and a juvenile Yellow-legged Gull.

Elsewhere the female Eider was at Langstone Rock, the Coot was on the Main Pond and a Green Woodpecker on the Golf Course.

Other Wildlife: A selection of insects included the second record of the Rhopalid bug Liorhyssus hyalinus, found in the Entrance Bushes, Tawny Cockroach, Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis and the weevil Sibinia arenariae at Langstone Rock, the Anthomyiidae fly Hydrophoria lancifer in Dead Dolphin Wood, half a dozen Clouded Yellow and plenty of Bee-wolf on Fennel in the Car Park.

Liorhyssus hyalinus - Alan Keatley

Bee-wolf - Alan Keatley

Hydrophoria lancifer - Alan Keatley

Moths included a site first, White-barred Groundling Recurvaria leucatella on Hawthorn by the Car Park, a Mullein Wave roosting by a security light, Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata and Six-spot Burnet in Greenland Lake and Sycamore Piercer Pammene aurita, also by the Car Park. 

White-barred Groundling Recurvaria leucatella - Kevin Rylands

Mint Moth Pyrausta aurata - Alan Keatley

Leaf miners included Three-spot Dot Stigmella trimaculella and Poplar Maze-miner Phyllocnistis unipunctella on Lombardy Poplar, Beautiful Sycamore Dot Stigmella speciosa and Dogwood Cutter Antispila petryi. 

Three-spot Dot Stigmella trimaculella - Kevin Rylands

Poplar Maze-miner Phyllocnistis unipunctella - Kevin Rylands

Beautiful Sycamore Dot Stigmella speciosa - Kevin Rylands

Dogwood Cutter Antispila petryi - Kevin Rylands

Monday 20th July

Counts from the estuary at high tide included 323 Oystercatcher, 215 Sandwich Tern with at least 58 juveniles, 169 Redshank, 31 Dunlin, 12 Mediterranean Gull, 10 Greenshank, eight Ringed and two Grey Plover, four Common Tern, four Turnstone and three Bar-tailed Godwit.

Other Wildlife: Migrant insects included Clouded Yellow, Painted Lady and the hoverfly White-clubbed Glasswing Scaeva pyrastri.

Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirtipes - Kevin Rylands

Musk Mallow - Kevin Rylands

Sunday 19th July

Counts from the estuary included 135 Sandwich Tern, 34 Dunlin, 28 Whimbrel, 11 Greenshank, eight Mediterranean Gull, seven Ringed Plover, four Turnstone and a Knot. 

Other Wildlife: Despite the drought three notable Warren plants were recorded in flower, the first site record of Scented Mayweed, the second record of Twiggy Mullein and the first Trailing St John's-wort for 20 years.

Scented Mayweed - Kevin Rylands

Twiggy Mullein - Kevin Rylands

Trailing St John's-wort  - Kevin Rylands

Saturday 18th July

Another increase in Sandwich Tern with at least 210 in The Bight on the dropping tide, conversely just three Mediterranean Gull in the estuary today. Other counts included 129 Redshank, 30 Whimbrel, 15 Dunlin, nine Greenshank, four Sanderling, two Bar-tailed Godwit and two Grey Plover. 

Elsewhere the Coot remains at the Main Pond. 

Other Wildlife: The highlight was a Purple Marbled Tortrix Pammene gallicana, found at Langstone Rock on Wild Carrot, its food plant. A nationally scarce species with scattered records, mainly coastal, but just the fifth Devon record of this day flying moth.

Purple Marbled Tortrix Pammene gallicana - both Alan Keatley

Also nectaring on various flowers, Noble Cuckoo Wasp Hedychrum nobile, a Common Purple and Gold Pyrausta purpuralis, the plant bug Phytocoris varipes, several Episyron rufipes and the hoverflies White-clubbed Glasswing Scaeva pyrastri and Common Weeny Paragus haemorrhous.

Noble Cuckoo Wasp Hedychrum nobile - Alan Keatley

Common Purple and Gold Pyrausta purpuralis - Alan Keatley

Phytocoris varipes - Alan Keatley

Episyron rufipes - Alan Keatley

At ground level, a coastal lesser spiny-winged fly Trixoscelis obscurella. As with recent days good numbers of Clouded Yellow at least eight, were on site, including a pale helice colour form.

Trixoscelis obscurella - Alan Keatley

Friday 17th July

Records from the estuary included the first juvenile Yellow-legged Gull of the year along with counts of 170+ Sandwich and one Common Tern, 117 Redshank, 38 Dunlin, 18 Sanderling, 15 Whimbrel, nine Greenshank, just single figures of Mediterranean Gull, five Ringed and two Grey Plover, two Black-tailed Godwit and a Turnstone.

Sandwich Tern - Lee Collins

Elsewhere a juvenile Green Woodpecker was in the car park before flying down site to the Back Meadow. Despite two pairs frequently heard yaffling from the mainland in spring, this is the first of of the year actually on the Warren. Other records included the Coot at the Main Pond, two Stock Dove in the saltmarsh and Cirl Bunting still carrying food to the nest. 

Year List addition:

157. Green Woodpecker

Other Wildlife: Fifteen species of butterfly were on the wing including at least five Red Admiral, three Clouded Yellow and a Painted Lady. At the Main Pond there were six species of Odonata including both Red-eyed and Small Red-eyed Damselfly.

Speckled Wood - Kevin Rylands 

Thursday 16th July

Counts from the estuary included 150+ Sandwich Tern with a minimum of 34 juveniles, 100+ Mediterranean Gull, 117 Redshank, 39 Dunlin, 19 Sanderling, five Greenshank, two Grey and a Ringed Plover, two Common Tern and a Turnstone.

Sandwich Tern - Jim Summers

Common Tern  - Jim Summers

Elsewhere the Red-legged Partridge was around The Bight, the Eider was offshore and the Coot and Kingfisher were at the Main Pond. 

Coot - Dean Hall

Ringing News: Amongst the mix of ringed Mediterranean Gull and Sandwich Tern, a Lithuanian ringed Black-headed Gull was the stand out recovery. 

Black-headed Gull - Jim Summers

Other Wildlife: The flower meadows held a varied selection of insects, with at least four Clouded Yellow amongst the various butterflies and day flying moths included a Hummingbird Hawkmoth and a Jersey Tiger. 

Clouded Yellow - Alan Keatley

Jersey Tiger - Dean Hall

Nectaring in the flower meadows a Small Beegrabber Thecophora atra and it's host, Green Furrow Bee Lasioglossum morio, many Bare-saddled Colletes C. similis, a Pantaloon Bee Dasypoda hirtipes, Large Shield Wasp Crabro cribrarius and several Common Yellow-faced Bee Hylaeus communis.

Small Beegrabber Thecophora atra - Alan Keatley

Large Shield Wasp Crabro cribrarius - Alan Keatley

Hoverflies were represented by Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis and Many-tufted Sedgesitter Platycheirus scutatus as well as several migrant Compost Hoverfly Syritta pipiens. On vegetation a mating pair of Brassica Shieldbug Eurydema oleracea, two Grey Seal were on Bull Hill and a Compass Jellyfish stranded on the beach.

Brassica Shieldbug Eurydema oleracea - Alan Keatley

Dark-winged Wrinklehead Chrysogaster solstitialis - Alan Keatley

Compass Jellyfish - James Marshall

Wednesday 15th July

Counts from the estuary included 120+ Sandwich and two Common Tern, 100+ Mediterranean Gull, 42 Dunlin, 16 Sanderling, three Ringed and two Grey Plover.

Ringing News: The first ringed juvenile Sandwich Tern arrived today from a colony in the Netherlands, with an adult from Poland.

Tuesday 14th July

Counts from the estuary included 135 Sandwich and two Common Tern, 75 Dunlin, 

50 Mediterranean Gull, 28 Sanderling, nine Greenshank, four Bar-tailed Godwit, three Ringed and two Grey Plover and two Turnstone.

 Common Tern - Jim Summers

Dunlin - Jim Summers

Elsewhere the Coot and a Kingfisher were at the Main Pond, the Eider was off the beach, the Red-legged Partridge was around The Bight and eight Sand and two House Martin were overhead.

Kingfisher - Jim Summers

Ringing News: New Sandwich Tern recoveries included another bird from Dyfi Estuary mid Wales, now recorded for the 11th successive autumn and a bird from Church Norton, Sussex for its second autumn. 

Other Wildlife: A variety of insects still finding nectar sources in the increasing parched vegetation, including Common Mini-miner Andrena minutula, Sandpit Blood Bee Sphecodes pellucidus and Large Shield Wasp Crabro cribrarius. Also on the wing a couple of Jersey Tiger and Six-spot Burnet, a Clouded Yellow on the Golf Course was one of twelve butterfly species and five Odonata included a Southern Hawker.

Large Shield Wasp Crabro cribrarius - Alan Keatley

Sandpit Blood Bee Sphecodes pellucidus - Alan Keatley

Common Mini-miner Andrena minutula - Alan Keatley

Also recorded, two Birch Shieldbug Elasmostethus interstinctus instars on their foodplant, a Tansy gall caused by the midge Rhopalomyia tanaceticola and the Grey Seal was in The Bight.

Rhopalomyia tanaceticola gall on Tansy - Alan Keatley

Birch Shieldbug Elasmostethus interstinctus instar - Alan Keatley