Indian Summer

Giant Puffball - £2 coin for size

Dock Shieldbugs

According to my researches, an Indian Summer, which is an American expression, is used to describe a period of unseasonably good weather coming at the end of Fall, or as we would say autumn.

This last week has been a most welcome period of really warms, settled weather following a very mediocre period that should have been summer.  A real Indian Summer.

Small Copper

Yesterday was warm and dry with a cooling easterly breeze just the right weather for a good walk. We decided to walk out to our cliffs then north along the South West Coast path to the Bush Inn for lunch before returning home.

We were rewarded by a surprising number of species.  We started with a group of Giant Puffballs near to Stanbury cliff followed by a growing number of butterflies on the wing – eight different species in all at the end of September. 

Other invertebrates were about too, innumerable Silver Y moths, a Common Darter and two species of Shieldbug, Dock and Gorse.

Flocks of Linnets were seen, a large group of Herring Gulls, a couple of Kestrels and Oystercatchers too.  Masses of white butterflies were seen many too distant for specific identification and there was a definite migratory movement of Red Admirals heading south.

Red Admiral feeding on Ivy

One memorable sight was of eleven Red Admirals seen feasting on the newly opened tiny flowers of Ivy.  This is a good reminder to keep your Ivy until after these flowers have formed the hard bright black berries.  The flowers are magnets for flying  invertebrates of all sorts and the berries are a staple in the diet of Blackbirds and Thrushes.

Riverfly - Riverflow

Torridge in flood - note the line of
vegetation showing the submerged bank

Today was our last attempt at the August Riverfly survey.  A friend and I volunteer to survey 8 species of invertebrates in the River Torridge near Bradford Mill.  This takes place once a month between April and September.  We usually plan to survey mid-month so as to allow us an alternative date, if the weather is too bad, later in the month.

Last week the it rained heavily all of the day we had planned to survey so we postponed until our alternative on the 26th August.  I drove across the Tamar to get to the site and noted flooded fields either side of the border on the Holsworthy road which did not bode well.

Surveying on the lower river bank

Nonetheless, Barrie and I set out to our survey site which is half an hour walk from where we park the car at Bradford Church. It was wet and heavy going towards the last field where the river flows.  Going through the final wet and muddy gateway we could see what is usually a strip of Juncus in a damp hollow had become a deep tributary to the Torridge. This was too deep to pass, so we walked parallel with it to where it flowed into the main river.

What a deep raging torrent! We could see the tips of Himalayan Balsam that group on top of the river bank just breaking the flood. Our survey site was under 2 meters of fast flowing turbid water carrying large branches along with the flood.

Small Copper 

Discretion took over, a couple of pictures and we trudged back home. No chance of the waters subsiding before the end of the month meant a nil return for August. It will be interested to see how quickly the invertebrates re-colonise the river after this flood event.

The silver lining to this cloud was an early return home to find my wife excited by a new species of butterfly in the garden.  A beautifully marked Small Copper adds to our species total making it 11 for our garden this year.

My Beautiful Butterfly Square

Painted Lady

Gorse Shieldbug Instar

I managed to fit in my WCBS http://www.ukbms.org/wcbs.aspxfirst survey of the year between all the gales and rain. It has to be less than Beaufort 5, no more than 60% cloud and above 14C to stand any chance of seeing butterflies. My square is always a bit difficult. With it being on the Atlantic Coast as any slight breeze blows in from Labrador!

Nonetheless, today conditions matched the minimum and I was rewarded by a Peacock as my first sighting in my BTO BBS square near Stowe Barton the former home of Sir Richard Greville of the Armada.

Gatekeeper

I did try to record nothing but butterflies, but could not fail to notice the hovering Kestrel only yards away and the charm of 19 Goldfinches chattering and fluttering over the square. One section was particularly barren of butterflies; the NE wind on the cliff top was quite bracing but as I threaded my way through the occasional gorse bushes, I could not help but look for Gorse Shield Bugs.

Small Copper

And what a sight, a few adults were there, but there were 10s of early instars showing a thriving population on almost every bush of Gorse – Ulex europaeus. None found on Western Gorse Ulex gallii even though U. europaeus is lost most of its flowers and U. gallii is beginning to flower.

All in all a most successful survey albeit mainly of Meadow Brown and Gatekeepers, but also Peacock, Painted Lady and Small Copper in my beautiful bird and butterfly square.  

Orchids and Tortoises

Bee Orchid

Southern Marsh Orchid

Every year we count Bee Orchids Ophrys apifera in an unimproved meadow in Bude.  The field is mowed once a year but despite becoming overgrown with rank grasses, it continues to be quite species rich and diverse.

We counted over 30 Bee Orchids and there were also over 80 Southern Marsh Orchids as well as Yellow Rattle, Vetches, Fleabane, Bird’s-foot Trefoil and many other flowering plants.

5-spot Burnet moth

I was supposed to be concentrating on Orchids but could not fail to notice the Sedge Warbler singing for the whole time of the survey.

Walking head down with notebook, pencil and camera in hand I also recorded all the invertebrates that I kept seeing.  This included butterflies and moths – Common Blue, Meadow Brown, 6-spot Burnet and Silver Y Moths.  The Burnet was particularly well represented with adult, larva (caterpillar) and many cocoons on the stems of long grasses.

Fleabane Tortoise Beetle

The best sighting was of something totally new to me; a strange orange and black-spotted beetle that looked like a tiny armoured vehicle.  Within half and hour of posting the image on an insect group in Facebook, I had an identification.  It was something that until then I was unaware of as there are no pictures in my insect book – the aptly named Fleabane Tortoise Beetle Cassida murraea

Hare Walk

Sand Martins at their nests

Sand Martin nest colony

On 21^st May, Bude Marsh and Valleys enjoyed their annual walk around Whalesborough. 

Seven people started from the Weir and walked via the Hare Walk to Widemouth Bay before heading north along the South West Coastal Footpath then headed west via Whalesborough Farm to the starting point.

It is an easy walk mainly on agricultural land although some has been planted with mixed woodland, and the beautiful north Cornish coast.

It was a very warm day tempered by an onshore breeze nearer the coast. Many birds were proclaiming their territories and the spring flowers were abundant and varied.

Southern Marsh Orchid

We were especially pleased to see many groups of Southern Marsh Orchids along the developing but damp mixed woodland.  Another eye-catching plant was the Dog Rose on the cliffs being attacked by a bright yellow smut.  The gorse continues to be spectacular.

The highlight of the birds we saw must go to the flock of 50 or so Sand Martins busily entering and exiting their burrows on the low sandy cliffs behind the Beach House on Widemouth Bay.

Bloody-nosed Beetle larva

Insects were plentiful too.  I was particularly pleased to look for and show Gorse Shieldbugs as well as a Hawthorn Shieldbug and the larva of a Bloody-nosed Beetle.  Butterflies were present, but not plentiful; we saw one or two each of Green-veined White, Orange Tip, Peacock and Speckled Wood.

An excellent walk with a total of 66 species recorded and submitted to ORKS (http://www.orks.org.uk/) database comprising 28 birds, 24 plants, 12 insects a millipede and a reptile.

Spring surprise

Wall butterfly sunning

We took advantage of the forecast of good weather on this May Day Bank Holiday to walk our Cornish cliffs from Stanbury to Sharpnose Point. And what a good decision it was. The range of spring species was both surprising and rewarding.

Sea Campion, Thrift,
Kidney Vetch and Gorse,

Our first reward was to see our first Wall butterflies of the year, followed by mass flowering of Early Purple Orchids, always a confirmation that spring has really arrived. Swallows were planing over the cliff tops with the song of Whitethroats close at hand – again the first of the year and an abundance of coastal spring flowers – Thrift, Kidney Vetch, Sea Campion, Violets and Bird's foot Trefoil.

Stonechats, Linnets and Skylarks were about and I found our first local Gorse Shield Bugs on the abundantly flowering Gorse. Another first of the year was a Small Copper and Spring Squill.

Gorse Shield Bugs in spring colous

The sighting of the morning must go to a mammal though.

We are used to our Long-haired Jack Russell bitch pouncing on grass verges as she images she has found some creature. So, we let her snuffle and root about in the springy cliff-top grass unconcernedly. Until, that is, she flushed out a fox cub. No bigger than a kitten, it fell over its own feet before disappearing into a well used run that vanished into a mass of bramble and gorse.

Spring Squill and
 attendant invertebrates

A pity it was quicker than me and my camera, so no picture this time.

Morwenstow Guided Walks

On Wednesday 1st April, a friend and I walked a 3 mile circular route from Morwenstow Church via wooded valleys, agricultural pasture and the Atlantic cliffs.  We are planning to offer this as a guided walk this year.

Parish church of
St Morwenna and St John

Hawker's Hut

The two and a half hour long, fairly strenuous route takes in spectacular cliffs, Cornish wet woodland habitat with views of the Atlantic ancient manor houses and of course the Reverend Stephen Hawker.

The start of the walk follows a "church path" over stone stiles that connect the Norman and Saxon church with the 14th Century Rectory Farm, the Bush Inn - reputedly 13th Century, Tonacombe Grade I listed early 16th Century and Grade II* listed late 16th Century Stanbury Manor.  It takes in the Hawker's Hut constructed from the timbers of the Alonzo in the 1840s and incidentally Landmark Trust's smallest property with his Vicarage and the Church.

Sharpnose Point

Most of the walk is on level ground with a couple of exceptions.  The Tidna valley near its head and mouth descends almost 100m in height and climbs it again!  But the views are spectacular.  The mile stretch of South West Coast Path gives a view from Trevose Head in the south to Lundy to the North - a panorama of            80km of view in good visibility.

Wood Sorrell

The wooded valleys are full of birds and butterflies in season with floral gems - on this visit a Slime Mould and Wood Sorrell, masses of Saxifrage, Primroses, Celandine and promise of Ramsons. 

Slime Mould - Lycogala sp.

The guided walkers are in for a treat which will be well earned although a shorter totally flat route to the cliffs, Hawker's Hut and Church will be offered for those less capable of such a strenuous walk.