1 Jun 18

The Bill

For the first time in 3 days the rain stopped, the fog cleared and the sun came out as myself, two of my daughters and granddaughters had a lovely walk around the The Bill.

So many things to see and great to have so many eyes to help me find them. Needless to say there are lots of photos today, including many new species for me on Portland such as Cream-spot Tiger Moth (Arctia villica), Diamond-back Moths (Plutella xylostella), Yellow-barred Long-horn Moth (Nemophora degeerella), a False blister beetle (Ischnomera cyanea), Azure Damselflies (Coenagrion puella), plus a Tortricidae moth which at first looked like either Acleris Notana or ferrugana, but is now thought to be a female Epiphyas postvittana (Light Brown Apple Moth). And there I was thinking that both female and male LBA's looked  the same.

Just off the Obelisk this Great Black-backed Gull was taking off and then.......

............diving into the water, time after time.

Eventually after a few goes it came up to the surface with what looks like......

..........a Spider Crab.

Once safely in its its beak it flew off with its prize.

Four Guillemots heading back to the West Cliffs on Portland.

Lots of these about........

........caterpillars of the Lackey Moth.

Cheating really but this is a Cream-spot Tiger, Arctia villica which was in the moth trap at Portland Bird Observatory. Thank you to Martin Cade (Head Warden) for showing me and the girls.

There were hundreds of these moths about along the coastal edges........

..........Diamond-back Moths (Plutella xylostella).........

...........extraordinary as it sounds (especially for a such a migratory moth) these are the first Diamond-back Moths I have seen on Portland.

This is a Twin-barred Knot-horn (Homoeosoma sinuella)

This one I know a Silver-Y moth.

All the Long-horn moths I've seen on the island have been Green-longhorn Moths (Adela reaumurella). Today I came across my first Yellow-barred Long-horn Moth (Nemophora degeerella). Unfortunately it's slightly out of focus as I only had one opportunity to take a photo of it before it flew off.

This tortrix moth I have been informed could be either Acleris Notana or ferrugana and can only be reliably separated by dissection of the genitalia. However after further investigation it turns out this is a female Epiphyas postvittana (Light Brown Apple Moth).

A Common Blue

And another.

A Large White. I can't believe I managed to photograph it with a grass bisecting it.

A Small White.

A Small Heath........

..........my first this year.

Large Skipper.........

.........a male.

A Dagger Fly. Lots of these still about.

A Soldier Beetle, Cantharis rustica

A pair of Azure Damselflies (Coenagrion puella) mating.........

.......Thank you to Edmund Mackrill for ID'ing these two as Azures. Even though the U-shape mark on segment 2 isn't that clear you can see the two lines on the side of the thorax, which is another way of separating Azures from Common Blue Damselflies (Enallagma cyathigerum). Another first for me on Portland. More on Damselflies Here

This shiny turquoise-coloured beetle is a False blister beetle, Ischnomera cyanea

A Common Carder Bee.