Rufus Castle
A lovely walk down to the castle and back to the cottage this evening. En route a
Gannet was seen heading north just off the beach and on the track Dawn and I came across a very large brown hairy caterpillar which I believe is that of an
Oak Eggar moth.
A good 3 inches long.......
.........this very hairy caterpillar was on a mission as it moved at speed up the trail we were on. If I'm right this is the larvae of an Oak Eggar moth, which despite its name doesn't feed on Oaks, but was given the name because of the acorn shaped cocoons it makes. It can be found in open, uncultivated countryside such as moorland, meadows, downland and coastal grassland, feeding on plants such as Heather, Bilberry, Bramble, Sallows, Broom, Sloe, Hawthorn, Hazel and Sea-buckthorn.
Weymouth
In the inner harbour this afternoon, lots of
Grey Mullet milling around.
Grey Mullet
Wakeham
A breezy but sunny start to the day here on Portland. On the nasturtiums in the back garden a hoverfly,
Eupeodes luniger (
Moon-marked Field-hoverfly)
The hoverfly, Eupeodes luniger.............
.......In the UK this hoverfly doesn't have a vernacular name, but in Denmark and Germany it is known as the Moon-marked Field-hoverfly, whilst in Holland it's known as the Large Comma-mark Hoverfly and Sweden the Moon Field-flowerfly.
