Port and Wey: 25 Jun 17

Wakeham
Well today's weather turned out to be a lot better than forecast and for most of the day it was wall to wall sunshine. This afternoon I went for a walk along the cliff tops behind the cottage and found some new trails for future walks.

However I now realise that Benji is not liking his walks here and after 40 minutes or so he decided he'd had enough and was on his way back home. Not that I knew that at the time and for 10 minutes or so it was a manic search in case he'd decided to do a bit of hand gliding over the cliff. It didn't help that two children walking with their parents made a quick dash to the cliff edge and all sorts of things were going through my head.

Fortunately Benji is a very head strong Bichon and as I headed back home there he was by the back gate. All's well that ends well, but the main thing is he know's where his home is.

Before this mini crisis started it was only a short walk behind the cottage and though there was still a howling gale blowing, there were plenty of insects about.

The predominate butterfly on Portland has to go to the Meadow Brown, they are everywhere. Other butterflies seen today were Marbled White, Peacock, Large White, 2 Ringlets, 1 Small Heath and a Lulworth Skipper.

Other insects about were Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva), White Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) and Red-tailed Bumblebees.

Birds recorded were: 1 Common Buzzard, 1 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Common Whitethroat, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch and Greenfinch.

Here are a few images from this afternoon:

The writing was on the wall (Benji dead centre)..........

.........Benji reluctantly follows........

.........but 40 minutes later he is off with Ted sort of following. This was the last I saw of Benji before he headed off home. Amazing instincts though, as we've only done this walk a couple of time before.

A Lulworth Skipper on a buddleia...........

......with wings open. The Lulworth Skipper was first discovered in 1832 on a stretch of coast around the village of Lulworth and can now be found on the Isle of Portland

A Ringlet, a few starting to show now.

A White Crab Spider, Misumena vatia. Yep I know this is yellow but Crab Spiders adapt to their surroundings preferring white and yellow flowers. Judging by its prey, I'm guessing this one has just found this white flower to his liking. And i guess if he stays long enough he will change to white!