Just a brief summary of my trip back from the SW on Sunday - bit light on photos, but never mind.
First stop was back at Colliford Res, where the duck showed considerably better, though still poorly in the grand scheme of things. Had a long chat to a birder from York about European birding destinations we'd either been to or wanted to visit, exchanged a few tips and ideas.
As the heat haze gradually worsened, I made a move down to the coast again, this time looking for Cirl Buntings. Although I'm a big fan of Prawle Point, it felt like a long trek and would've probably been rammed with people on a sunny Sunday. Instead, I went to Wembury, near Plymouth.... which was a shorter trek, but still rammed with people. Park in the village to avoid the £4 extortion racket that is run in the NT carpark, and then walk down to the beach and west along the coastpath near some horse paddocks. Within half a mile I'd found a handsome singing male Cirl and his other half - enjoyed watching these for a while in the sunshine.
Heading east again, my final stop was near Colyford in Devon. Lower Bruckland Ponds (click for map) had been recommended to me by a fellow Large Blue watcher the previous day, and I'd recommend it to anyone into dragon- and damselflies. Apparently the owner is happy for people to wander round for a look, though a donation to the site's upkeep is suggested.
Although all the photos are Common Blue Damselflies, there was a decent range of species including 1 Red-veined Darter, 1 Emperor, several Black-tailed Skimmer, and many Blue-tailed Damsels. The site has also got 'form' for Lesser Emperor and Small Red-eyed Damsels, amongst other things, and I was told about Scarce Chasers on the River Axe just west of here.
The rest of the trip home was a tedious combination of avoiding traffic jams on the A303 and M3, and failing to avoid the traffic jam on the west side of the M25... not so good!
Tuesday 16 June 2009
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