Wolves Wild

Starlings gathering on the roofs of Topsham by the Exe estuary at sunset. Every so often a group of them would take off and form a mini-murmuration. Later they headed off to spend the night on the nearby reed beds.

Three or four rabbits in a field, snacking on grass in the morning sunlight.

Web of a nursery web spider. I didn’t get close enough to see if the infant spiders were still in the protective web.

Not all moths are dowdy grey or brown coloured and night-flying. Scarlet tiger moths definitely don’t fit that stereotype, with their richly-patterned bright colouring and habit of flying when it’s light, especially in the afternoon and evening. This one was on vegetation behind Porthmear Beach, St Ives.

Great black-backed gulls are big, even in comparison with other gulls. When they have been accustomed to expect chips as a right, as they have in St Ives, their demands become scary. The result, from their point of view, is birds which are well-fed and healthy looking.

Views over the Exe estuary at Topsham as sunset approached. Upstream, the busy M5 is reduced to a silhouette behind the fleet of small boats. Downstream, Exmouth faces Dawlish Warren where the river meets the sea. Across the river the high ground of Haldon Forest blocks any views of the higher ground of Dartmoor.