Tit For Tat - 04/06/2012

After working at Hay On Wye Festival this weekend I drove down to Exeter to Jess’s parents to see her. On Bank Holiday Monday we took a trip up onto Aylesbeare Common to try and find Dartfords, but were unsuccessful on that front. We did manage to see a pair of Stonechat, a Yellowhammer calling form the top of a tree, a male Linnet in fine breeding plumage, and also a Wall Brown that landed briefly on the path ahead.

We then went down to Exminster Marsh to try and see the Glossy and Spoonbill that had been reported on the Devon Bird news forum, and found that they were no longer around so we went down for food at Turf Lock, and noticed some Swallows nesting in the tires on the lock. From the lagoons we could see a male Godwit in summer plumage, and we also aided a large Drinker Moth caterpillar across the path on the way back by the canal -

Jess had discovered that the bird box I had bought her parents Christmas time had Blue Tit’s nesting in it on the Sunday, and after keeping an eye out the kitchen window we realised there were some fledgling Blue Tits in the garden being fed by some adults on the feeders! We couldn’t figure out if they were fledglings from the box or if from nearby, as the adults still seemed to be going into the box with food.