Torbay Wildlife

Invertebrates Paington Zoo Area - Large + Small Whites Wheatlands Rd, Paignton - 1 Wall Brown, 2 Large White, 1 Small White, 1 Common Blue S Paignton - Carder Bumblebee, 2 Square-spot Rustic, Small Dusty Wave, The Snout, & Willow Beauty. Vicarage Hill, Paignton - Dusky Thorn, Bright-line Brown-eye, Common Wainscot, Light Brown Apple Moth, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Pale Mottled Willow, Large Yellow Underwing, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Frosted Orange, Orange Swift, & Square-spot Rustic. Oyster Cove, Paignton - Turnip Tigress Roundham Gardens, Paignton - Small White Wellswood - Coastal Pearl St Marychurch - 25 Common Rough Woodlouse, 2 Southern Pill Woodlouse. Wall’s Hill - a very large passage of white butterflies over the last couple days, estimate of probably 100-300 butterflies in 2 days. Most of this congregation was made up by Large Whites and Small Whites, but also joined by Green-veined Whites. Plus c3 Meadow Browns, 15+ Vespula wasps, 22-spot Ladybird ...

Invertebrates South Paignton - Brown House Moth & Canestrini’s Harvestman Fleet Street, Torquay - Hornet Mimic Hoverfly Hope’s Nose - Painted Lady Barton - Eyed Hawkmoth caterpillar Coffinswell - Small Copper W Brixham - Common Blue Wellswood - Dull Four-spined Legionnaire Haytor Avenue, Paignton - Orange Swift Lots of Red Admirals and Small Whites around Torquay. Vertebrates Yesterday morning - the 27th, I did a small seawatch from Wall’s Hill, which was always going to be difficult as all seabirds pushed up by the southwesterlies get pushed past Hope’s Nose and then go out more distantly into Lyme Bay, so for me to see shearwaters from Wall’s Hill I had to scope over a mile down to Hope’s Nose. In the end a small total of 1+ Manx Shearwater and c5 Balearic Shearwater was the best I could manage. These were joined on the sea by 10+ Kittiwake, 100+ Gannet, 2 Mediterranean Gull (1 adult + 1 juvenile), 3 Lesser Black-backed Gull, & an egret flying far out. Plus overhead were 3 ...

Invertebrates St Marychurch - 1 Thick-legged Hoverfly, furrow bee species, 3 Common Dronefly, 4 Honey Bee, 2+ Buff-tailed Bumblebee, masked bee species, 2 Carder Bumblebee, 10+ Common Rough Woodlouse, Garden Snails, 1 Common Green Capsid, 1 White-shouldered House Moth, 1 Cream-streaked Ladybird, 2 Red Admiral, & 5+ Small White. The Willows Retail Park - Syrphus sp , 2 Carder Bumblebee, 1 7-spot Ladybird, 6+ Small White & 1 Holly Blue Torquay train station - 1 Clouded Yellow  this morning + Small Whites & Red Admirals South Paignton - Common Grass-veneer Paignton Zoo area - Elephant Hawkmoth (caterpillar), & 1 Speckled Wood Brixham - Meadow Grasshopper & Giant House Spider Berry Head - Wall Brown, Painted Lady, &  Chrysotoxum sp Vertebrates Paignton Zoo - 1 Grey Heron Berry Head - 1 Kestrel Torquay Seafront - 1 Coal Tit, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 3 Black-headed Gull, 25+ Herring Gull, & 2 Cormorant St Marychurch - a small vismig watch from 6-8 AM p...

Invertebrates St Marychurch - Common Grass-veneer & Small Dusty Wave Ilsham Rd - Garden Snail Vertebrates Clear highlight of the day was a scarce migrant  Wryneck found at Hope’s Nose by Paul (@shiphaybirder on BlueSky) at 10:25 AM which showed a couple more times in the morning. It then wasn’t seen from 11:05 until about 1:30 PM when it was refound in flight far away, and then flew in pretty close to myself, Paul and the two other birders with us. https://bsky.app/profile/wildweevils.bsky.social/post/3lwr5wrpuis2t Other migrants at Hope’s Nose included 3 Willow Warbler, 1 Chiffchaff, 2 Whitethroat, & 2 Blackcap. Plus 4 Oystercatcher and singles of Great Black-backed Gull, Shag, Raven, Buzzard, Song Thrush, & Greenfinch. Ilsham Marine Drive - Blue Tit & Great Spotted Woodpecker ———————————————————————— Notable sightings near Torbay Black Terns at Seaton, Dawlish Warren & Exmouth White Stork still at Matford Marsh Osprey still over Exe Estuary Quite a bit fur...

Invertebrates Berry Head - 6+ Common Blue St Marychurch - Common Plume, Large White, Meadow Brown Torquay train station - Straw Underwing, & Red Admiral Torquay Harbourside - Black Mining Bee, Snakelocks Anemone, & Lime-speck Pug Torre Abbey Sands - washed up Compass Jelly Fleet Street, Torquay - Double-striped Pug St Luke’s Road, Torquay - Painted Lady Wellswood - Beautiful Plume South Paignton - Silver Y Brixham - Garden Pebble, Garden Spider, & Giant House Spider Vertebrates Torquay Harbour - Grey Seal, 1 Cormorant, 15+ Herring Gull, 5 Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 1 Black-headed Gull, & 1 Raven Babbacombe - Sparrowhawk St Marychurch - 8 Feral Pigeon, 7 Woodpigeon, 5 Swift, 17 Herring Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull,  1 Sparrowhawk, 6 Magpie, 4 Carrion Crow, 1 Wren, 1 Blackbird, 5 Long-tailed Tit, 1 Goldcrest, 1 Swallow, & 4 Goldfinch Brixham - Common Wall Lizard Berry Head -  300+ Kittiwake, 1 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 13 Mediterr...

Unfortunately had lowered motivation to keep up the blog recently, not that there has been too much of note in Torbay recently. Invertebrates East Brixham - Harlequin Ladybird Clennon Gorge - Carder Bumblebee & Common Blue Clennon Valley Lakes - Lesser Emperor Kents Cavern - Old Lady moth in the caves  Torquay Seafront - Yellow-barred Brindle, 1 Common Rough Woodlouse Torre Abbey Sands - 10+ Shore Crabs (1 decent size), plenty of Purple Topshells, Lined Topshells, Common Periwinkles, & Atlantic Beadlet Anemones Fleet Walk, Torquay - Bathroom Moth Fly Central Paignton - Common Darter St Marychurch - Small White, Speckled Wood, & Garden Snail Combe Pafford - Painted Lady Vertebrates Berry Head - 6 Fulmar, 2 Guillemot, 2 probable Artic Skua , 1 probable Puffin , 2 European Storm Petrel , 1 Manx Shearwater , 8 Balearic Shearwater , 1 Sooty Shearwater , 3 Sandwich Tern, 1 Yellow-legged Gull , 2 Mediterranean Gull, 25 Kittiwake, 7 Shag, 14 Gannet, Turnstone, 5 Cirl Bunting, 2...

Invertebrates Greenway, River Dart - Lesser Hornet Hoverfly Wellswood - probable wasp Therion circumflexum plus a couple common hoverflies Marldon - Gatekeeper, Mullein Wave, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Mint Moth, Large Yellow Underwing, Dingy Footman, & Lime-speck Pug Vertebrates Sparrowhawk feather in Wellswood and a Cormorant photographed in Brixham Harbour, other than that nothing reported and no coverage from myself ———————————————————————— Notable sightings near Torbay A couple Arctic Skuas and a Great Northern Diver off of Dawlish Warren Glossy Ibis has been at Fremington Quay for a few days now, since Thursday

Quick update - I’m going to be changing the blog to Torbay wildlife, as I will probably be spending just as much time over the autumn looking for wildlife in the Brixham area as Torquay. Invertebrates Torquay Seafront - Common Drone Fly, Common/German Wasp, and a couple Honey Bees feeding on the Rock Samphire on the seafront wall Oldway Park, Paignton - 1 Jersey Tiger Moth South Paignton - some moth trapping with Rosy Footman, Toadflax Pug, Double-striped Pug, Small White Wave, Mullein Wave, Large Grey, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing, Common Drill, Common Grass-veneer, Bright-line Brown-eye, Small Fan-footed Wave, The Spectacle, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Vine’s Rustic, Common Marble, Light Brown Apple Moth, Dun-bar, Cloaked Minor, Common Rustic, Pearl Veneer, Common Pug, Sharp-angled Peacock Moth, Magpie Moth, Peach Blossom Moth, Jasmine Moth, Black Arches, Mother of Pearl, Dusky Thorn, Dingy Footman, & Jersey Tiger. In the same location Opilio saxatilis , Smoky-winged Wo...

Invertebrates A couple observations from Cockington today include the galls of Oak Artichoke Gall Wasp and 3 Knopper Gall Wasp, plus a White-lipped Snail. Ellacombe - Common Spitting Spider St Marychurch - Brown House Moth, moth of the genus Oegoconia, the ubiquitous Long-bodied Cellar Spider, Silver-sided Sector Spider, & a small halictus/lasioglossum bee species. Torquay Harbour & Beacon Cove area - 15+ Shore Crabs in buckets & a Common Sea Slater Vertebrates 150 Balearic Shearwaters & 3 European Storm Petrels flew past Hope’s Nose this morning between 7:30 and 10:15 2 Canada Geese flew over Plainmoor in the morning A walk from St Marychurch to the harbourside counted; 8 Woodpigeon, 26 Feral Pigeon, 63 Herring Gull (5 juveniles), 2 Great Black-backed Gull, 1 Black-headed Gull, 4 Blackbird, 1 Blue Tit, 1 Great Tit, 3 Long-tailed Tit, 2 Jay, 5 Cormorant & a Shag, plus a Swift in St Marychurch in the evening ———————————————————————— Notable sightings near Torquay I...

Invertebrates  Willows Retail Park - 2 Harlequin Ladybird, 1 Green Shield Bug, 1 Red-tailed Bumblebee, 1 Marmalade Hoverfly, 1 Batman Hoverfly, 1 Common Globetail, & 1 Brimstone Moth, + Red Admiral, Small White, & Holly Blue St Marychurch - 1 Light Brown Apple Moth Vertebrates Willows Retail Park - 1 Buzzard, 14 Herring Gull, 2 Swallow,  1 Jay, 8 Feral Pigeon, 6 Woodpigeon, 2 Magpie & 1 Carrion Crow ———————————————————————- Notable sightings near Torquay 300 Balearic Shearwaters , 2 Common Scoter, 2 Common Tern, & 400 Kittiwakes   past Berry Head Brimstone Moth

Invertebrates St Marychurch - Red-tailed Bumblebee, Batman Hoverfly, Holly Blue, 10+ Common Rough Woodlouse, Southern Pill Woodlouse, 3 Rounded Snail, & a ground bug of the genus Scolopostethus , possibly S affinis. Vertebrates St Marychurch - Just the usual birds - herring gulls, woodpigeon, wren etc, ———————————————————————— Notable sightings near Torquay Glossy Ibis still at Bowling Green Marsh with Spotted Redshank, although the ibis relocated to Powderham in the evening 36 Balearic Shearwaters past Berry Head in the evening, plus Manx Shearwaters , 3 Arctic Skuas & a Puffin 29 Balearic Shearwaters past Dawlish Warren in the morning

Invertebrates Little coverage today so the only invertebrates to report are the usual Common Rough Woodlice, 2 Garden Snails, & 1 Small White in St Marychurch area, plus a House Jumping Spider in private residence. Vertebrates Clear highlight of the day was a report from Hope’s Nose of 548 Balearic Shearwaters and a European Storm Petrel passaging between 7:30 and 10:30 AM! Very good numbers for Torquay due to fantastic passaging conditions with strong south-westerly winds. Torquay Seafront - 1 Kestrel, 20 Herring Gull, 2 Great Black-backed Gull, 5 Black-headed Gull, & 3 Cormorant Willows Retail Park - 5 Carrion Crow, 3 Feral Pigeon, 2 Woodpigeon, & 1 Swallow ————————————————————————- Notable sightings near Torquay White Stork still hanging around the Topsham area Glossy Ibis at Bowling Green Marsh this evening A bit further afield but Start Point south of Brixham had 502 Balearic Shearwater , 42 European Storm Petrel , & 1 Wilson’s Storm Petrel . Additionally yeste...

Invertebrates Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Coffinswell A one hour search in the evening of a meadow in St Marychurch off of St Marychurch road provided a few insects, with the rarest according to iNaturalist observations (not that accurate) being a leafhopper of the genus Euscelis and a springtail species called Entomobrya nicoleti . Session counts; 1 Garden Snail 8+ Flea beetles ( Alticini ) 2 Strawberry Seed Beetle 1 Mecinus pascuorum 5 7-spot Ladybird 2 Common Froghopper 2 Euscelis hoppers 1 Javesella hopper 3+ Notostira bugs  1 Nabis bug 5+ Long-legged Plant Bug 1 Bishop’s Mitre Shield Bug 1 Green Shield Bug 1 Meadow Grasshopper 1 Long-winged Conehead 2+ Red-spotted Parasite Fly 1 prob. Striped Fern-Sawfly 1 Turnip Tigress 1 Rush Veneer 1 Chrysoperla carnea larva 6+ Entomobrya nicoleti 4+ Xysticus crab spider Other inverts of the day St Marychurch - Small White, 7-spot Ladybird Torquay Seafront - Vapourer Moth caterpillar Vapourer Vertebrates Torquay train station - 2 Goldcre...

Invertebrates Not much coverage today so only a couple of invertebrates to report. Hornet Mimic Hoverfly & Gatekeeper at Higher Warberry Road Common Field Grasshopper in Barton ———————————————————————— Notable sightings near Torquay 4 Balearic Shearwaters at Berry Head this morning

  Invertebrates Buff-tailed Bumblebee & a couple Common Rough Woodlice in the St Marychurch area Petitor Point - Red Admiral, Green Shield Bug, Carder Bumblebee, dead Bloody-nosed Beetle, Common Dumble Dor, Common Limpet, & Black-footed Limpet Vertebrates St Marychurch and Torquay Harbourside - 1 Grey Squirrel, 2 Great Tit, 1 Greenfinch, 1 Pied Wagtail, 4 Wren, 7 Woodpigeon, 16 Feral Pigeon, 4 Magpie, 11 Carrion Crow, 70+ Herring Gull, 1 Great Black-backed Gull, & 8 House Martin (over Grand Hotel) Petitor Point - Chiffchaff & House Sparrow sound recorded Hope’s Nose - 36 Balearic Shearwaters flew past between 7:45 and 8:45 Plants & Fungi Petitor Point - Common Gromwell, Rock Sea-lavender, Sea Thrift, Wood Sage, & Marsh Thistle ———————————————————————— Notable sightings near Torquay White Stork at Powderham lake throughout the morning and flew towards Powderham shop at around 11AM 70 Balearic Shearwaters feeding south of Berry Head