28 Aug 18

Mermaid Track, Rufus Castle, St Andrews Church and Pennsylvania Castle Wood

A much warmer day and certainly an increase in the number of Common Blues along the Mermaid Track, which took a dislike to the Small Heath which was here again. Every time it landed it was chased off by one of the male Common Blues.

Also lots of Tapered Drone Flies about and the odd looking Sicus ferrugineus fly.

The warm weather brought out the Wall Lizards and there were a few in the grounds of St Andrew's Church and on Penns Weare.

On the way back up Wakeham there were a dozen or more hirundines, mainly Swallows feeding over the Sycamores and then resting up on the neighbours aerial.

Here are few images from this afternoon:

A Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax) on the Mermaid Track.

Also here a male Common Blue and a Sicus ferrugineus fly.

A different angle.

And its posterior.

The same/different Small Heath along the track.

Plenty of Lizards about, this one was on the wall in the grounds of St Andrews Church overlooking Church Ope Cove.

And another in amongst the ruins.

Meadow Brown

Another Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax).

And another Wall Lizard.

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

A 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)........

......and its cousin the Harlequin Ladybird.

Another variant of the  Harlequin Ladybird

And this is the nymph of a  Harlequin Ladybird

On the way back up Wakeham a Swallow perched on the neighbours aerial.

Here are more Swallows and another hirundine in amongst them. Any ideas! Answer at the bottom of the page.

Another Swallow joins them.

Wakeham

Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina) in the vegetable patch this morning. Never seen one with a pink belly before.

A Common Green Shieldbug makes its way across the garden..........

........and then up a stick. I never knew they were pink underneath!

Note: The addition to the Swallows was a House Martin at the bottom of the aerial.