In August, as in a few previous years, we had the privilege of staying in Brixham, Devon. An opportunity for physical, emotional and spiritual refreshment. To connect with ourselves, each other, the Divine, and Nature – the latter, of course, being the focus here.
Hummingbird hawkmoths, those miraculous migrants from mainland Europe, have become an increasingly frequent sight in England – possibly as a result of global warming. Whatever the reason, they are such welcome visitors. Last year (2022) was a bumper year for them in Southern England. One day we had FOUR(!) on the buddleia in our back garden (in Hastings) at the same time.
And yet, every time I see one, they still mesmerise me and I reach for the camera. This photo, taken in Berry Head Country Park, which borders Brixham, is one of my favourites – and quite an unusual one for me: I normally see them feeding on flowers like buddleia or verbena, but this moth was scouring the undergrowth – possibly looking for a suitable larval foodplant to lay eggs on.
Another privilege we enjoyed was seeing dolphins on a couple of occasions, including these from quite a distance – hence, not a brilliant photo – from the top of Berry Head.
Sticking with the Berry Head theme, these next few images were taken on a boat trip we took as a family with the expectation of seeing dolphins and other sea life. We didn’t actually see any dolphins on that occasion but, on the gorgeous day we had, with the picturesque views, the excursion was still utterly worthwhile.
Back on dry land.. the light trap turned up a few interesting and handsome moth species, including this rather dashing Lackey:
…this Ruby Tiger:
…and this Four-dotted Footman:
Other local invertebrates that drew my attention during the week included this Garden Spider:
…and this Hornet Mimic Hoverfly:
There was also some more urban wildlife…
such as this gull that had its eye on my daughter’s scampi and chips through the restaurant window:
…and this seal in Brixham Harbour:
Ironically, what might be my best picture of the week was taken with my basic phone camera one evening when (sod’s law) I’d decided not to bring my ‘proper’ camera out with me.
A low, rolling sea-mist had turned Fishcombe Cove into a quite ethereal seascape – so breathtakingly unusual, I guess it would have been hard to take a bad photo!
Hope you’ve enjoyed this tiny taste of Devon’s riches.
Spirit of Nature 