Devonshire Delights Part One

Part One:

Four days away in the rolling moors, valleys and woodlands of Dartmoor were hopefully meant to comprise some of our usual south west stop offs along with some opportunities for me to explore some areas for interesting insects, churring Nightjars and hopefully and a visit to the beach. 

The weather had other ideas and thwarted my efforts at every turn with various combinations of wind, murk, low cloud and drizzle and a nice steady precipitation to accompany the entire journey home on Tuesday. Was I a frustrated, grumpy bastard? Umm... yes

The Shepherds hut at Michelcombe was in a secluded valley at the end of a bridlepath and would best be described as ‘quirky’ with a touch of ‘what I found on the skip last week’.  The fridge was nowhere to be seen and was in fact round the corner in a barn and I did have to use a chair, a wooden spatula and some elephant tape to seal a gap in the conservatory roof where a panel had slid down.  At least there was a toilet unlike the poor buggers in the lower field in the tents and poor man’s huts who would had to crossed a wet field and then ford a stream before climbing up the path to the toilet block – I would not have fancied this in the dark!

Anyway all of that aside it was warm and comfortable and I actually had my most productive spells ambling up the lanes and paths beyond the farm. Bullfinches flicked away from me with family parties flashing white bums and beady eyed brown headed youngsters while tits flocks were roving the lush hedges and Siskins sang from the Larches. Nuthatches were vocal and common but it was the volume of Song Thrushes in both senses that shone through with their strident melodies ringing out loud and proud above all else especially as the evening drew in.

My Darkling Thrush

Foraging Chiffchaff

Spotted Flycatchers were feeding invisible young from a large garden oak and a new barn conversion roof with a flappy tarpaulin kept the local Swallows on their toes sending them into mad raptor alert dreads every time it caught the wind to a chorus of fervent twittering.

Spotted Flycatcher

Greenfinch above it in the same Oak

Numerous streams tumbled through the area, some culverted to follow the lanes, others randomly entering a garden to pop out the other side and although there were no Dippers, there was a pair of Grey Wagtails on every one and thus some harmony returned to my world.

 

Young Grey Wagtail

Florally, the lanes were amazing and as I was looking for Hoverflies and such like I also spent quite an amount of my attention trying to sort out the various umbilifers and other plants. The ferns alone were prolific and I picked out at least five or six species in the hedge banks.

Male or Female fern - not sure which

 

Hart's Tongue fern

Lords & Ladies

Black Bryony - not related to White Bryony in any way!

Burbage - Torilis japonica

Common Valerian - Valeriana officinalis

Common Valerian - Valeriana officinalis - the leaves

Enchanter's Nightshade - Circaea alpina

Fool's Watercress - Apium nodiflorum

Water Forget-me-not - Myosotis scorpioides

Germander Speedwell - Veronica chamaedrys

Foxglove - Digitalis purpurea

Hedge Woundwort - Stachys sylvatica

Wood Avens - Geum urbanum

An amazing flower spike of Wall Pennywort - Umbilicus rupestris It was over two foot high!

Herb Robert - Geranium robertianum

Tutsan - Hypericum androsaemum 

Honeysuckle

Marsh Thistle - Cirsium palustre

Monkey Flower - Mimulus guttatus

Hazel and the Fly

 

Not to shoddy a stream through a garden...

Fly wise it was disappointing with several commoner species of hover including Eristalis tenax, Episyrphus balteatus, Myathropa florea, Cheilosia illustrata and Syrphus ribesii but I did find a rather fine Volucella bombylans warming itself in sheltered spot one morning and a Chrysogaster solstitialis on some White Clover and Hogweed.

Chrysogaster solstitialis

 

Eristalis tenax

 

Cheilosia illustrata 

 

Volucella bombylans

Volucella bombylans

 

Bombus hypnorum

Anthomyiidae sp

Red Admiral - almost the only butterfly

I did find two chunky heavy horses – not sure of the breed – in one of the top fields. 

 

They were both youngish lads and trotted over to say hello when I called. They were popular with the Clegs and Stable Flies but looked in fine fettle.

I expected Tawny owls to keep me awake but the nights were silent and to be honest I had the best three night’s sleep I have had in a long time.