Creatures Galore!

It was another gorgeous day when I caught the bus from Chudleigh to Stover. I started walking through the woods to the sound of a singing Goldcrest, then arrived at the lake to the sound of a singing Willow Warbler. The grebes were asleep and neither were anywhere near my islands - two of which seemed to have been commandeered by Herring Gulls! I made a visit to the feeder with the hope of seeing the Bullfinches on a day that I actually had a camera with me. Sadly they did not show, but I did manage to get one or two shots of the Nuthatch.

The main purpose of my visit was to try and get two year ticks and a lifer - Dormouse, Large Red and Adder respectively. I had found some exuvae on the garden pond but not seen any adult damselflies yet - and I had not heard of any Dormice yet. I came earlier in the day with the hope of finding some morning Adders basking in the sun, so I headed over to the crossroads to check the refugia. Saturday's Slowworm was still under one (had it moved at all?) and I disturbed a few Common Lizards as I walked. I found another Slowworm under the pylon, but no sign of Adders. While walking round checking the ground for reptiles I came across a hoard of Common (or Green) Tiger Beetles Cicindela campestris on the open ground, but as always they refused to be easy to photograph! I had to zoom in from a standing position - as soon as I bent down, they flew off several metres and vanished! While walking I disturbed up to 15 beetles. This was a nice surprise and possibly made up for me still no seeing an Adder!

I met Anne by the picnic site, overlooking the ponds in the marsh where I spotted my first few Large Reds Pyrrhosoma nymphula (YAY!) and we collected a couple of exuvae. We only saw three, but it was a relief to finally tick them off - and was a nice start to my much-anticipated Dragonfly season in Devon!

We headed back to the centre for a quick lunch, then started the long trek around the park in search of all the hidden Dormouse tubes and boxes. Rob found the first in a tube which I watched him weigh and sex (big boy!) and the second was in a box asleep (little girl!). They were the first found this year - it's nice to know they're up and about, I hope to see plenty more about his season.

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So, two out of three found for the day... I shall have to continue my hunt for the elusive Adder...

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