A lovely surprise this afternoon as I walked out to the car, with Steve and Terri Covey pulling up outside the cottage. Steve is a wonderful entomologist from Swindon, along with excellent botany skills and was down here for a few days. It would have been exceedingly rude not to have taken the two of them on a "short" walk around Church Ope Cove, and having shown them both around the cottage and garden, it was off down to Church Ope Cove via Penn's Wood and the grounds of St Andrew's Church.
Before we left, Steve had spotted a Mottled Grasshopper (Myrmeloetettix maculatus), Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus), a Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) and an Ichneumon wasp sp. in the back garden. I really do need to be a bit more vigilant when I'm in the back garden. So many "bugs" and I'm overlooking them.
St Andrew's Church was certainly the place to be as the sun really warmed up this little oasis. When the wind is from the west, the grounds here can be a real sun trap. And so it proved to be with lots of Wall Lizards, including many youngsters ranging from 2 - 4 inches in length.
On the Ivy flowers there were dozens of Red Admirals and both here and on the brambles up to 5 Commas.
I've not paid much attention to the bees in the past and had always assumed that all the bees other than the bumblebees were Honey Bees. How wrong was I when within a few minutes Steve had spotted a couple of Ivy Bees (Colletes hederae). This bee was first seen in the British Isles in Dorset in 2001, having arrived from continental Europe.
Why I've never spotted them I know not why. Smaller than its cousin the Honey Bee it is certainly more distinctive with its stripey "black and yellow" abdomen. What a lovey bee and thank you to Steve to pointing it out.
Here are a few images from our walk:
Common Field Grasshopper
Common Field Grasshopper
Mottled Grasshopper
Mottled Grasshopper
Hairy Shieldbug
Hairy Shieldbug
Ichneumon wasp sp.
Ichneumon wasp sp.
Ichneumon wasp sp.
Wall Lizards
A nice pose.
And another
And another one
Okay another
And junior.
Here another hatchling has lost its tail. Fortunately it will grow back.
A Kestrel in hover mode.
Amazing that though the body moves and head remains motionless.
Prey in sight.......
.....a dive to the right....
....and then back up for another look.
Red Admirals galore and a few Commas about as well
An Ivy bee......
......and another.
Slightly smaller than its cousin here the Honey Bee
Possibly a Wainscot sp. which was in the grounds of St Andrews Church.
And the Border Force out and about again today.
Birds Recorded: 1 Shag, 1 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Raven, Chaffinch, Linnet and Goldfinch.
Butterflies Recorded: 50+ Red Admiral, Large White, 5 Commas and a Holly Blue (almost likely to have been a 3rd brood).
Mammals and Reptiles: 1 Bunny and 10+ Wall Lizards
Also recorded: Common Droneflies, Honey Bees, several Ivy Bees and possibly a Wainscot sp.
Butterflies Recorded: 50+ Red Admiral, Large White, 5 Commas and a Holly Blue (almost likely to have been a 3rd brood).
Mammals and Reptiles: 1 Bunny and 10+ Wall Lizards
Also recorded: Common Droneflies, Honey Bees, several Ivy Bees and possibly a Wainscot sp.