This afternoon I did my daily walk and took in Church Ope Cove for a change. No real highlights, though there does seem to be an increase in the number of Red Admirals with at least 10 seen along my walk.
There were at least 3 Chiffchaffs along the Mermaid Track and another by Rufus Castle, where there was also a Blackcap calling. Overhead a few Meadow Pipits passed by and there was a small trickle of Swallows on passage.
Here are a few images from this afternoon:
Ivy Bees
And take off.
A Common Carder Bee
Hornet Mimic Hoverfly (Volucella zonaria)
A tatty Red Admiral
And another not so tatty one.
Dark Bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera).
A very vocal Common Buzzard.....
.....and a bit of a tatty one at that with quite a few feathers missing.
A few photos of Church Ope Cove
And another.
Rufus Castle from Church Ope Cove
The grounds of St Andrew's Church
Penn's Wood
Portland Bird Observatory and Quarry
News was out this morning that the Monarch butterfly had reappeared in the Obs garden, which was great, as at least it confirmed that it was indeed a Monarch that was seen yesterday evening. Unfortunately by the time I got down there to see it (2 hours later), it had long gone. A bit like the Large Tortoiseshell, it took me 3 days to nail that one, so maybe I'll get lucky.
There was certainly a lot of interest, with the car park almost full with butterfly twitchers all hoping to see it. No Monarch but plenty of other butterflies with Large, Small, Green-veined Whites, Red Admirals and Speckled Woods all on show,
Bird-wise fairly quiet with a Spotted Flycatcher on the wires, Blackcaps and Chiff/Will calling and a Blackbird singing at the bottom of the Obs garden.
Overhead a few Swallows passed over, with the main bulk most likely passing over early this morning at around 8:45am, when there must have been 400+ over Fortuneswell all feeding up before heading down to the Bill and then out to sea.
Hmm a camera shy Spotted Flycatcher
Ships Today
This is a traditional rig sailing vessel "Noah".............
