[Matt Prince]

In an attempt to keep my mileage within acceptable limits I'm constraining the bulk of my listing to Devon this year (though the other half will no doubt insist on the odd x county sortee for various rare orchids..).

To keep a bit (!) of diversity in it, I'll be trying to list a bit of everything, which could get interesting with the flora - as I haven't got a clue!

My first step is to work out what lists! The following are a bit random!
Birds for sure.
Mammals
Butterflies
Moths
Dragonflies
Other Insects
Spiders
Flora (gulp)
Fish
Funghi
Anything else (Sea and Shore - crabs/anemones etc..)

Think I might draw the line at lichens and mosses, bacterium etc!

Am I mad? Quite probably...

[Matt Prince]

A slow start, and my main concentration has been on the birds (quelle surprise)!

By Sunday 3rd a rather leisurely total of 93 species of bird apeice for myself and the wife (with one difference each, she Little Grebe, me Jay).

Highlights were :-
A firecrest at broadsands that the wife found and I didn't get onto immediately, that I then spent one and a half cold hours hunting for before its angry little mug popped up in the bins.
The spotted sandpiper which was distant one day, but gave excellent views the next.
Bramblings amongst a large linnet and chaffinch flock at Powderham.
Picking out the distant avocet flock whilst twitching the cattle egret.
Cracking velvet scoter close in at Dawlish Warren (surf scoter typically distant)
Long tailed duck picked out by Mark Bailey whilst we were birding mud bank lane.

The mammal list is deeply unimpressive with two species, grey squirrel and (controversial?) homo sapiens!

Flowers - wow, I never fully appreciated how complex this would be, I expected to take things slowly on this front at this time of year, because not much is flowering and most trees don't have their leaves, but I'd understimated the difficulty of determining if something was native, do I tick naturalised stuff? How long does something have to be before its considered native? Also the complexity of things I expected to be simple was an eye opener - three species of gorse? Doh!
Anyway the flora was at a paltry 11 species with easy to identify in winter stuff and a lot of help from the missus:-
Oak (pedunculate!), Silver Birch, Rock Samphire, Sea Beet, Holly, (Common) Gorse, Ivy, Hart's tongue fern, Common Reed, Navelwort and Traveller's Joy.

[Matt Prince]

Yesterday a jaunt to Yarner for a mammal tick (voles are often seen underneath the feeders in winter) fell a bit flat, first off the lane to the car park was closed, so we had to park at Trendblebere and walk down, second the feeders were all but empty and there was no sign of anything furry, just a lot of frustrated birds.
Still lesser redpoll, siskin, treecreeper, nuthatch and marsh tit all added to the avian list, whilst Sessile Oak, Honeysuckle and Alder added to the (pitiful) flora list.

Later on knot at mud bank lane, was the first one I counted as tickable (they had been present previously but a bit distant for my liking).

[Matt Prince]

Today was another concentrating on the birds (once I'd managed to haul my sorry self out and defrost the car). Star bird(s) were the smew pair from Exton station (thanks Martin), though the Black Redstart at Manor Gardens Exmout ran them a close second (thanks Terry). More mundane but pushing me over the 100 marker were Mistle Thrush, Ruff and Skylark. Whilst on the flora front Wild Teasel and Alexandars were the only additions.

Thats takes me to:-
Birds 103; Mammals 2; Flora 16; Everything else yet to get out of the starting blocks.

Nicola is currently one up on the bird front with little grebe!

[Matt Prince]

16th January
Still concentrating on the birds, the twitch to Penhill for common crane failed in terms of the target bird, but it did produce a couple of bird and flora ticks. The walk along the tarka trail also kicked off the funghi list when Nicola spotted the bright red of a tiny Scarlet Elf Cup. From Fremington Quay a distant Spoonbill, Sanderling and, claw black!, a Little Grebe.
The Flora is hard work, the trees don't have leaves, and the flowers aren't out, add to that the problem of what is and isn't native!
After a quick bite to eat we headed across country to the Axe as the pager reported the Bewick's swan was still present with a Whooper we had seen earlier. Another Spoonbill was fast asleep, Nicola snuck a Kingfisher in, whilst I shared a Green Sandpiper, but the swans were distant and we had to scope them from a layby on the main road to see the two 'proper' ones.

Sites: Fremington Quay, Penhill, Colyford Common
Birds: Spoonbill, Bewick's Swan Gadwall, Shoveler, Sanderling, Green Sandpiper, Kingfisher (Nicola Only)
Flora: Field Maple, Elder, Dandelion, Lords and Ladies, Hawthorn
Funghi: Scarlet Elf Cup

Birds 111; Mammals 2; Flora 21
Nicola's grips : Kingfisher

[Andrew]

North Devon to the Axe Estuary in the same day, you got my respect!

Hope your holistic listing will bring you to the canal, plenty to add there with all the guide books in your backpack!

[Matt Prince]

"North Devon to the Axe Estuary in the same day, you got my respect!"

Andrew, I'm afraid am using a TDI not shanks pony, and I guess old twitching habits die hard... :)

However if the ever burgeoning travelling library doesn't slow me down, the sheer nightmare that is grasses and seges may well have the desired effect, I came close to giving up in horror when I tried to identify some common greenery on dartmoor..

I'm sure there is enough on the canal to quadruple my paltry flora list - if only I could identify any of it :(

Posts are running a bit behind so here goes...

[Matt Prince]

Saturday 17th January

Started rather late, but still attempted Hawfinch at their old haunts near Ide and along the Perrington Estate. No Hawfinch. Instead I got stock dove, and a nice fox sunning itself, as scant consolation for getting seriously gripped off by the missus. We'd both walked past a small brook, which I checked quickly for kingfisher (idiot), and then I started to scope away from the brook at distant treetops whilst Nicola walked away up the lane. A short while later she returned and just as she passed me.. a whirr of wings from behind and she gets point blank view of a woodcock exploding from cover. I turn fast enough to get whiplash, but not fast enough to get the bird as its already the other side of the trees. Doh!
A trip to Dartmoor secures the hoped for Dipper, and Goosander as a bonus, plus a pair of hardy goldcrest. A brief attempt at Sedge identification is abandoned, whereas the funghis found are a masterclass of interaction. Yellow brain funghus parasitising Rosy Crust funghus on Gorse. Fungus of the day however has to be 'hairy curtain crust', well it made me laugh anyway.
Later this day I go around to visit friends, who show me video of a woodcock in their garden. Cheers :(

Sites Visited: Ide, Bellever
Birds: Stock Dove, Goldcrest, Goosander, Dipper
Flora: Foxglove, Devil's bit Scabious
Mammals : Fox, Rabbit
Fungi : Yellow Brain, Rosy Crust, Hairy Curtain Crust, Yellow Stags Horn, Common Earthball

Birds : 114; Mammals 4; Flora 23; Fungi 6
Nicolas grips : Kingfisher, Woodcock

[Matt Prince]

Saturday 23
A quick visit to the site of last weekends woodcock debacle, was predictably, devoid of both woodcock and hawfinch. The open area of Bellever Tor provided the target Great Grey Shrike, thanks to Nicola spotting it against the skyline. Grasses, Sedges and Ferns drove me to despair as I tried to identify what are obviously common species. Common heather, Bilberry, Hard Fern and Maidenhair Spleenwort were easier additions, as were a Green Woodpecker and Roe Deer.
A jaunt to Slapton failed on the black-necked grebe front, but Scaup, Pochard, Water Rail and Kittiwake were all year ticks. The water rail were the noisiest things at the bridge over the ley end - usually the loudest thing there is cetti's, but not this time.
Bird of the day however was a wierd male tufty with a punk red hairdo. ?Pochard/RC Pochard hybrid?

Other additions : Butchers Broom, Jew's Ear Fungus

Birds 120; Mammals 5'; Flora 28; Fungi 7
Nicolas Grips : Kingfisher, Woodcock.

[Ppedro]

Hello Matt,
sounds like you saw Woody, usually at Beesands Ley and thought to be a Red-crested Pochard X Tufted Duck.

[Matt Prince]

- excellent name.

Yep! thats the fella.

[Matt Prince]

Another late post from last Sunday..

Sunday 24th January

The two slavonian grebes were showing well on flat calm sees at Cockwood, whereas Dawlish Warren, despite having a calm sea seemed almost devoid of seabirdlife, plenty of marram grass, so still something to feed the inner lister with. A Kingfisher at Exton station was a very pleasant 'ungrip' even if the hoped for water pipit wasn't present, though a rock pipit with a pronounced super was.. hmm litoralis?.
Totally messed up the timing at Budliegh and missed the bittern by minutes.. twice.. Cracking adult winter med gull though.

Finally some poor book-keeping previously meant I was down on my totals! Todays final tally should be accurate.

Sites : cockwood, dawlish w, exton, budliegh s
Birds: Slavonian Grebe, Kingfisher(Me), Med Gull, Whimbrel
Flora: marram grass, stinging nettle, wild madder, broom


Birds 125; Mammals 5; Flora 32; Funghi 7
Nicolas Grips : Woodcock

[Matt Prince]

Saturday 30th January

Return to Budliegh to hunt for the Bittern started with a predictably cold and fruitless couple of hours staking out 'the field'. A friend (David Land) turned up with camera and joined in the wait.. Whereupon a family approached us along the path with the line 'excuse me you look like you know more about birds than we do, we've seen this strange bird walking aross the field over there' and sure enough they had seen the bittern a couple of fields further from the road. When we got there it looked like it had gone, but was in fact motionless in low grass. It then proceeded to skulk along, sometimes so low to the grass tufts that it disappeared.
We then went on to look at a black poplar near otterton, only for me to read up that it's not native, looks like it was planted a couple of centuries ago. At this point I had decided to omit the tree from the list as an obvious introduction, but I've since reneged, whilst I wouldn't want to list ornamental trees planted in a park, it seems pointless to reject an organism that has existed for at least a hundred years before I was born and is its own habitat out in the wild. So it made the list. Wild cherry trees nearby were another potential problem, as though they are a native species, they may well have been planted in this conspicuous place long the footpath. A few other common plants were identified primarily by applying a botanist (the wife) repeatedly to anything green I didn't recognise (i.e. everything).

A quick peek down at Ladram Bay was inconclusive as far as scoping barnacles goes, and caution lead to a single Beadlet Anemone kickstarting the 'marine' list. Fulmar and razorbill were offshore, whilst a black redstart was not new for the list, but always a welcome sight. Sea Thrift and Bindweed were also noted

Since I've been out I've been seeing bramble everwhere, today I made the pragmatic decision to record it as rubus fruticosus sp (i.e a macrospecies) rather than even attempt to identify one of the 200+ microspecies..

Hard shield fern seems to be the most noticeable big fern around at the moment, a fruiting leaf was used to confirm identification at home by looking at the spores through a 30x nikon 'hand lens'.

Yet another tree presented the native/planted conundrum, being a mountain ash or rowan, on the edge of our own car park. Decided that this had to be planted, so therefore it didn't make the list!

Sites : Budleigh Salterton, Otterton, Ladram Bay
Birds: Bittern, Fulmar, Razorbill
Flora: Black Poplar, Bramble, Hard Shield Fern, Lesser Celandine, Sea Bindweed, Thrift, Wild Cherry
Marine: Beadlet Anemone

Birds 128; Mammals 5; Flora 39; Funghi 7; Marine 1
Total : 180
Nicolas Grips : Woodcock

[Matt Prince]

Sunday 31st January

Life impacted on the list this morning, a lot of the time the list functions very efficiently as a means of keeping the less important aspects of life (bills, charity mailshots etc.) at bay, but sometimes they just can't be avoided. So today was a quick afternoon sorty only.

Yesterdays single beadlet anemone was an intolerable start to a marine list for such a maritime county, so the idea was to get down to Goodrington and bump it up a bit with some low tide rockpooling. A couple of distant black necked grebes were an immediate bonus just after parking up, then it was immediately down to the shoreline as huge clouds (possibly snow clouds) were rolling in, and the return journey across Haldon was looking increasingly hazardous. As it was, we had to juggle camera and guide book, in sleet, as we struggled with wracks, barnacles, snails and winkles. Great, child like, fun though. We both love rockpooling. At this point I am going to have to admit, whilst I'm trying not to be over optimistic in identification, I am bound to make some huge blunders along the way, feel free to shout out if it sounds out of place. Anyway, a dozen or so common species were identified with varying degrees of confidence, mostly from the digital photographs after the event (the orange sponge seems to be two different species according to two different books). Too my horror one of the barnacles found might be a new zealand introduction which is now apparently common around the countries shore (need to revisit the photographs, but many of the barnacles would appear to have just four plates, a characteristic unique to this invader on our shores, but the plate divisions are not always easy to see, so its difficult to be sure, especially in the chaos of a dense barnacle profusion).

Haldon was a worry on the way back, though we passed telegraph hill without incident. The temperature was hovering just above zero, with the majority of the salt washed away by the rain.

A quick visit to Topsham was tacked on, in the vain hope of locating the water pipit, with an eye out for the spotted as well, but no joy on either front, no pipits seen, and the only sandpiper seen here was obviously (long tailed) common.

Sites : Goodrington, Topsham Rec
Birds: Black Necked Grebe
Marine: Sea lettuce, toothed wrack, horned wrack, pepper dulse, orange sponge, barnacles (balanus perforatus, semibalanus balanoides), common mussel, common whelk, periwinkles (common, rough and flat littorina obtusata)
Species of the day - balanus perforatus which should be called 'volcano barnacle' due to its distinctive shape.

Birds 129; Mammals 5; Flora 39; Funghi 7; Marine 13
Total : 193
Nicolas Grips : Woodcock

[Matt Prince]

Saturday 6th February

My arm was twisted to take a short hop out the county today, still managed to make an early start at Exton, as I'd heard during the week that there was indeed both littoralis rock pipit AND water pipit being seen in the damp fields alongside the station car park. Sure enough not only was last weekends scandanavian rock pipit present, so was the genuine water pipit, white outer tail feathers flashing in flight, speckling confined to breast, browner back and an even stronger superciliam.

The out of county was a jaunt to Dorset with 13 med gulls in radipole car park, bearded tit in the car park, and a relatively small dent in the bank balance at Portland Obs. book shop..

A return journey deviated via Axmouth to check the gulls (another med) and then found Sea Purslane for the plant list (ignoring the estuarine grass and frustrated by a wrack that I can't identify). Then a final wander around Aylsebeare, producing all three common heathers (bell and cross leaved being new for the list) and finally a Dartford Warbler popped up.

Sites : Exton Station, Axmouth Estuary
Additions: Water Pipit, Dartford Warbler, Sea Purslane, Bell Heather, Cross Leaved Heather

Birds 131; Mammals 5; Flora 42; Funghi 7; Marine 13
Total : 198
Nicolas Grips : Woodcock, Red Legged Partridge

[Matt Prince]

Sunday 7th February

Quite a dreary day.

Started early at Steps Bridge to look for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. Initially very little disturbance, and a couple of groups of tit flocks raised expectations but to no avail. Soon the inevitable dog walkers arrived, disturbing the tranquility and topping up the doggy surprises that litter every public place in the county.. Still at least we positively id'd the abundant male fern, emerging wild daffodil, primrose and a small rare holly leaf fungus marasmius hudsonia

Yarner was no better for lesser spot, and a terrible shame to find that the feeders at the hide were once again bare, no chance of voles, only a few hungry titmice hanging around expectantly.

The high moor was foggy as heck, so no point in trying any sort of raptor or shorty stakeout, and it transpired I'd gone and left the 'scope at home so we returned to pick it up, suffer the Exeter traffic and pop out to Bowling Green. First visit there this year, yet another downer, looking at the hacked up area that used to be foliage for warblers and the like. Now its slated for 'tidying up' and possibly a picnic spot for screaming kids. Add to that high water levels in the marsh and a low high tide. Fortunately the godwits were out in force in the next field along and a small assortmen of waders were visible from the Riversmeet platform, but nothing new for the list apart from some Velvet Shank growing on an old dead tree trunk

Finally Nicola pointed out that a holistic list isn't very holistic if I don't include lichens, so reluctantly two common lichens whose names I've temporarily mipslaced, make the list (I'll be surprised if the lichen list makes it to double figures by the end of the year though)

Sites : Steps Bridge, Yarner, Bowling Green
Additions: Male Fern, Primrose, Wild Daffodil, holly fungus, Velvet Shank,

Birds 131; Mammals 5; Flora 45; Funghi 9; Lichens 2; Marine 13
Total : 205sp
Nicolas Grips : Woodcock, RL Partridge

[Matt Prince]

Weekend 13th/14th February was a bit light on the Devon list front.. An early start on Saturday was yet another NDCD (North Devon Crane Dip) with a flock of Golden Plover as minor compensation (though they were calling sweetly as they flew over), then it was out of the country, indeed the country to keep the Biologist/Bryologist sweet for a determined onslaught next weekend...

Birds 132 : Total 206 Species.

[Matt Prince]

Weekend 20/21 February

Far too much time dipping birds this weekend with attempts on the Plym iceland gull, Hembury lesser spots and various woodlark sites coming to no avail.

At least at the Plym I got a nice view of the successional seaweeds, channel and bladder wrack, and finally on Sunday morning, the bad luck on the bird front eased as a stunning adult male goshawk circled up in full view at an (obviously) undisclosed site. Its white vent was so splayed it looked like a second wing! The bird slowly circled gained height, giving good views before we were distracted by a hare running across the shoulder of the field. When we looked back up for the goshawk was gone.

A few plants were added to the list, including black spleenwort (now I've looked for this I've found it almost everywhere in a bewildering array of sizes), flowering wild strawberry, a fantastic array of honeysuckle in Hembury including a four foot length blindly hopelessly groping outwards into a fifty foot clearing, and what is possibly the oldest tree in devon - a 1500+ year old yew in a churchyard at Kenn. It may have been introduced, but that was some time before 500AD...

Finally another book-keeping error - missed out little owl from the 17th January at Ide..

Sites : Plym, Hembury, Coldeaze Cross, Kenn, undisclosed.
Additions: Goshawk, (Little Owl - 17th Jan), Hare, Bladder and Channel Wrack, Honeysuckle, Strawberry, Betony, Black Spleenwort, Wall Rue, Yew, Common Tamarisk Moss.

Birds 134; Mammals 6; Flora 51; Funghi 9; Lichens&Mosses 3; Marine 15
Total : 218sp
Nicolas Grips : Woodcock, RL Partridge - and now !&!*!* Barn Owl!

[Matt Prince]

Weekend 27/28 February

The weather was not looking good for birds this weekend, so I didn't expect much, and wasn't disappointed at Steps bridge with (yet) another dip on Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. It probably didn't help that I spent half the time looking at the deck, at the start of what would prove to be a 'fern frenzy' weekend.
My initial joy at discovering a new fern - scaly male fern - was replaced with hubris when I realised this was the same fern I'd mis-identified as standard 'male-fern' previously! Tiny black spots at the joints and untoothed leaf edges being the give-away. Nicola spotted a plethora of lichens and mosses - one that looked like it had writing on it was the only one we managed to ID to a species though. The fern fest continued with a visit to a site renowned for its huge carpets of 'tunbridge filmy fern'. After searching fruitlessly on the bank where this tiny fern is meant to be abundant we gave up and headed to the the other side where another twenty minutes finally resulted in me discovering a small but dense cushion of the stuff on a wet boulder. Two more colonies followed shortly as we got our eye in. If anything this fern looks more like a miniature wrack seaweed - perhaps parallel adaptation to the fluctuating water levels of its environment. Bouyed up by this we went in search of Wilson's filmy fern, a much harder task as its small colonies are secreted away in crevices on the higher tors. We chose Leather Tor, as we thought it was the most accesible of site (wrong we walked straight past Sharpitor..). Hours of poking heads in holes, twisting ankles in clitter fields etc and we sit down for a drink before heading back to the car - and lo and behold Nicola spots a clump of filmy fern - only trouble is - we aren't sure if it's Tunbridge or Wilson's! The two both occur at this site and the books disagree on the best means of identification. Shape seemed to be that of Wilsons, whereas the sori (spore capsules) seemed to be slightly toothed and not obviously ovate... Doh! Leave that one till later. On the way down a small flock of golden plover had flown in to roost. We checked out Bennet's for hen harrier roost - but only got a large adult peregrine hammering low level across the moor and then a large deer quietly crossed the road behind us - presumably a young red deer buck - a large deep chested animal with tiny antlers.

Sunday morning was supposedly a time for doing something useful - rather waylaid by 'zombie infectator' - eventually got out after lunch with the target the rarest fern in Devon - forked spleenwort. This wasn't an easy task, even finding somewhere to park within walking distance of the site was a problem, then there was a steep ascent along a muddy path, strewn with hidden rocks and frequently blocked with trees. Then a bit of navigation to find the hidden rocks, which turned out to be horribly steep and jagged in places, damp and slippery in others and covered in fragile lichens and moss for the rest! Nicola stayed up top whilst I scrabbled down the wet wood to see if I could find a view onto the lower rocks that matched the picture of the site Nicola had been given. I was literally stunned when a compact rusty coloured game bird exploded from the damp woodland and whirred away on obviously rounded wings, Woodcock! I carried on down along old deer tracks until I found away onto the side of the rocks - it roughly matched our picture - but was much steeper than anticipated and slightly more overgrown. Finding a way down that didn't involve trashing the lichens or falling over the edge I eventually located a patch of lanceolated spleenwort from the picture, and from that a tiny tuft of forked spleenwort, much reduced from the original photograph. After that there was the small matter of helping the other half get into position for a photo and out again without broken bones or swathes of uprooted lichen. Then it was back to the car past vast arrays of bueatiful Soft Shield Fern - the common link for all ferns at this site... base rock loving.

Sites : Various dartmoor and teign valley
Additions: Woodcock, Red Deer, Tutsan, Wood Sorrel, Dog's Mercury, Tunbridge Filmy Fern, Lanceolated Spleenwort, Forked Spleenwort, Soft Shield Fern, Candle Tuft Fungus, Graphis Scripta, King Alfreds Cakes

Birds 135; Mammals 7; Flora 58; Funghi 11; Lichens&Mosses 4; Marine 15
Total : 230sp
Nicolas Grips : Barn Owl, RL Partridge

[Matt Prince]

Weekend 6/7 March

A typical dip (woodlark) started Saturday morning, but things gradually improved, a cluster of garden snails hibernating at Bowling Green, then a rather poor view of a barn owl from the hide at Colyford common, followed by a chance meeting where we discovered the LRP on the Otter hadn't flown off as expected , but was still showing well - so we hopped over to the Otter and sure enough the little guy was showing very well in a flooded field. At this point we received news of the American Herring Gull and hammered down to Combe cellars. Not sure quite what to say about this - a lesson in taking things at face value I guess - we met a birder who pointed out the bird from the Combe cellars car-park. Yep, brown looking, pale headed, could just make out the dark tail, but couldn't see the rump. Decided to 'shallow tick it', rather than get better views, and head off for the RN duck before night fell. Oh foolish twitcher. Got to roadford in time to be mildly gripped off by someone who had just had good views of a barn owl, but at least we got here in time to see the cracking drake ring necked duck 'tarting about' with a pochard drake. At this point sour news that the AHG had just been re-identified as a LBBG ! You always wonder under these circumstances whether there were two different birds, but personally I didn't have a leg to stand on, as I hadn't properly looked at it (a much more serious crime than mis-id). Musing on such matters we spent a brief and cold twenty minutes in the cutting wind scoping for otters with the expected result – i.e. none.

Sunday started relatively slowly, so it was no surprise to find (from John Walters) that we had already missed a couple of lesser spot sightings this morning @ Hembury, but he gave some good pointers, and we tried 'zoning in' on calling males - we heard two, but it was actually a feeding female at the very top of the trees that we saw in the end, her tapping on the tree almost inaudible aganst the background of creaking in the wind. That one finally in the bag we we headed down to Prawle. We stopped at a farmyward where yellowhammer commonly feed and sure enough a couple of males were hanging around. Then down to the car-park and initial disappointment to find the bunker was 'fenced off' due to vandalism. Still managed to see peacock, small tortoiseshell and the hoped for Herald Moth, plus the added bonus of an evil looking cave spider... Outside the wind was running high, and big waves meant getting down low on the shoreline wasn't practical - still we managed to scope some Sea Spleenwort, and then after hiking past the coastguard watchpoint and down the other side I managed to find some that was (just) within reach of a digital camera. Also present were several hardy lichens - including one with an English name - Sea Ivory. Other ticks in the area included Pellitory of the Wall, Buckshorn Plantain, Fox Moth (caterpillar) and 7 spot ladybird. We then headed off to the Plym for my third dip of the Iceland Gull, and then back across the Moor, where we swarmed all over Sharpitor, finding lots of filmy fern - alas all looked like tunbridge rather than the hoped for Wilsons.

Sites : Bowling Green, Colyford Common, Otter, Teign, Roadford, Hembury, Prawle, Plym, Sharpitor
Additions: Barn Owl, LRP, RN Duck, Lesser Spot, Yellowhammer, Hazel Woodwart, Garden Snail, 7 Spoty Ladybird, Fox Moth, Herald Moth, Small Tort, Peacock, Cave Spider (meta menardi), Sea Spleenwort, Buckshorn Plantain, Sweet Violet, Pellitory of the Wall, Anaptychia Fusca, Xanthorina Parietina, Ramaline Siliquose (Sea Ivory).

Birds 140 ; Mammals 7; Flora 62; Funghi 12; L&M 7; Marine 15; Moths 1; Butterflies 2; Spiders 1; Beetles 1
Total : 248 sp
Nicolas Grips : RL Partridge

[Matt Prince]

been busy chasing pussy cats in Spain...

Only addition for last two weekends...

Swallow !

Birds 141 sp.
Total 249 sp.

[Matt Prince]

Saturday was a cracking day, starting with an Osprey near Bowling Green, viewed from Riversmeet House, a sweet set of rusty backed ferns along goat walk. Then a singing willow warbler and several plants as we hurried back to the car. A sprint over to Seaton and we didn't have to wait too long for the alpine swift to reappear over Lower Brucklands, my fourth for Devon, and my fourth from this site! A quick cuppa and a slice of cake and we shifted over to Budleigh Salterton, parked at Whites Bridge and began a stake out for the Garganey. Several hours passed without sign, then on the way back to the car, I spotted the pair sat in a ditch in plain view. Finally on the way back to the car, a cetti's calling alongside the path popped into view. Nice.

Sunday was a bit quieter, we went hoping for a spotted redshank at Bowling Green, but without any luck, so having heard that Otter were seen on Saturday from Seaton Marshes we tried an afternoon stake out. No otters but huge numbers of oil beetles on the access to the hide, a single common groundhopper and a number of small lycosidae wolf spiders - though I failed to identify the latter.

Sites: Bowling Green/Riversmeet, Lower Brucklands, Budleigh Salterton

New Species: meloe probascus (coastal oil beetle), alpine swift, cetti's, garganey, osprey, willow warbler, butterbur, crack and goat willow, ivy leaved speedwell, red dead nettle, rusty backed fern, scale insect, opposite leaved saxifrage, blackthorn, common groundhopper

Totals: Birds 146; Butters 2; Flora 71; Funghi 12; Mammals 6; Marine 15; Misc 2; Moss&Lichens 6; Moths 2; Spiders 1; Beetles 2; Groppers 1
Grand Total 266

[Matt Prince]

Easter Weekend 2nd/3rd/4th/5th April 2010

Friday started the long weekend well with an excellent organised rockpool ramble down at Wembury. As well as being good fun, it was a chance to ask awkward questions about seaweed and the like. Thanks to Kat the warden and the volunteers, for answering all the 'whats this' questions we threw at them. Notable species included a stunning spiny starfish, shore rockling, worm pipefish, several crabs, and a cracking strawberry anemone.
On the way back from Wembury, Cowslip and Wild Garlic. Then checking for Toothwort at Chudleigh we found the plant just starting to emerge on a dogmuck ridden footpath.
Last thing for the day we popped into bowling green to check out the hirundine flock, a few sand martins amongst the swallows.

Saturday, Marsh Marigold @ Countess Wear then we returned to Wembury for yet another rock pool ramble. Less new species but still some good stuff. 5 bearded rockling, cornish clingfish, arctic cowrie for example. A lively velvet swimming crab wasn't new, but did distinguish itself by falling for my finger as bait. Finally I got to put names to the the bright green seaweed that was everywhere, predictably, two different species for two different points on the shore, Sea Lettuce and Gutweed.

Sunday was a trip to Seaton Marshes, again no luck with the otter. Mini beasts found included a red weevil, and a couple of spiders. Then a quick tour of Northleigh where Nicola got me a few plants, Coltsfoot, Moschatel and Wood Anenome.
We popped into the warren but not sign of the crocus yet, and we saw very little, apart from a sedge in flower - dwarf sedge? One for the yet-to-be-identified list.
Later we headed out to Buckfastleigh, seeing plenty of Dog Violet as we waited with the bat detector. As it was just getting dark a large bat flew past, straight up the small path between Nicola and I. We waited quietly on a bench and there were many more, some almost touching us. The detector picked up the distinctive warble of horeshoe bats, and we had had a good number of greater horsehoes pass us, and a couple of lessers.

Monday started with a 2 spot ladybird, drone fly and hairy bittercress all within yards of the front door. A trip to Exmouth and foxholes lane produced Sandwich Tern and then a brief walk out to Orcombe point produced some Common Chickweed and Common Storksbill and a lone Green Winged Orchid, there will soon be hundreds showing. Some mini beasts incuded a housefly, a little hoverfly and a little ichnueumon that endoparasitises hover-flies. A large beetle was perplexing in that it looked like a ground beetle but had the wrong number of segments on the tarsi - bloody nosed beetle perhaps? Even more frustrating, and sad, was finding a shrew twitching on the footpath, it was still alive and feisty enough to try and bite, but not running around like it should be, Nicola photographed it and put it under a hedge out of the immediate reach of passing dogs. Subsequent examination of the photographs suggest a young common shrew.

Sites: Wembury, Chudliegh, Bowling Green, Countess Wear, Northleigh, Orcombe Point

New Species: Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, 2 Spot Ladybird, Apion frumentarium (weevil), Cowslip, Toothwort, Wild Garlic, Dog Violet, Coltsfoot, Wood Anemone, Moschatel, Hairy Bittercress, Common Storksbill, Common Chickweed, Shepherds Purse, Green Alkanet. Greater and Lesser Horshoe Bat, Common Shrew, Orange Sponge, Irish Moss, Cushion Starfish, Spiny Starfish, Green Shore Clab, Broad-Clawed Porcelain Crab, Edible Crab, Velvet Swimming Crab, Wireweed, phtomatolithon purpureum, worm pipefish, coral weed, star ascidian, egg wrack, dog whelk, strawberry anemone, polysiphonia lanosa, rock goby, shore rockling, tonicella rubra (chiton), 5 bearded rockling, cornish clingfish, long spined porcupinefish, netted dogwhelk (eggs), arctic cowrie, painted topshell, grey topshell, common sea slug, sea lemon, sea lettuce, gutweed, drone fly, helina reversio (house fly), diplazon laetatorius (ichneumon), melanostoma scalare (hover-fly), pardosa proxima (wolf-spider), nursery web spider.

Unidentified/Pending : Small sedge, large beetle, ants, mottlegill and inkcap funghi

Totals: Birds 148; Butters 2; Flora 85; Funghi 12; Grasshoppers 1; Mammals 10; Marine 45; Misc 5; Moss&Lichens 6; Moths 2; Spiders 3; Beetles 4
Grand Total 323

A note on id - some of the insect identifications are optimistic, and should be taken as most likely candidate from multiple species within a genera. In many cases full specific identification is only possible with microscopic examination of genitalia or some such (pardosa species for example).

[Matt Prince]

Just been checking out beetle images on google.. Beetle is a bloody nosed beetle, quite distinctive tarsi and a brute of a mini beast :)

Beetles 5, Total 324.

[Matt Prince]

10th April 2010

Errata - flora, 4 missing from 1st Jan added onto list

Another failed attempt for Sand Crocus at Dawlish Warren, so we headed off for Berry Head instead where Nicola managed to locate some special flowers of the site, including a single spotted rock rose and an emerging early purple orchid. With a stunning flat calm sea, grey seals could be seen watching kayakers down below. In a field nearby a single northern wheatear was the only obvious migrant. We returned to riversmeet near bowling green for the high tide roost and located the spotted redshank, it was initially distant and backlit but courteously waded a bit closer. Finally we popped out to the lanes above Exminster, where we picked up a few common hedgerow plants.

The mini-beasts are getting to be a problem! So far the technique is to photo them and ask questions later..

Sites: Dawlish Warren, Berry Head, Bowling Green, Exminster area

New Species : Speckled Wood, Comma, Wheatear, Spotted Redshank, Grey Seal, White Rock Rose, Hairy Violet, Portland Spurge, Common Groundsel, Greater Stitchwort, Shining Cranesbill, Early Purple Orchid, bombus lapidarius (bumble bee), lob worm, turkeytail, dasypoda altercator (bee), syrphus ribesii (hover fly), pardosa nigriceps (wolf spider), alopecosa pulverulenta (wolf spider), cryptops hortensis (centipede), arion hortensis (garden slug), common shiny woodlice, polymerius fasciatus (bug), sepsis fulgens (fly)

Totals: Birds 150; Butters 2; Flora 96; Funghi 13; Grasshoppers 1; Mammals 10; Marine 45; Misc 14; Moss&Lichens 6; Moths 2; Spiders 5; Beetles 5
Grand Total 350

Nicolas grips RL Partridge, Holly Blue