25 Apr 19

Broadcroft Quarry Butterfly Reserve (BQBR), Bumpers Lane, Mermaid Track, Penns Copse, St Andrew's Church and Penns Wood.

Another breezy day with the wind coming straight up the island. Finding shelter along my walk this morning was hard to come by until I reached St Andrew's Church. Here the warm sun was much appreciated not only by me but a few Wall Lizards, hoverflies and bees.

On the bird front the best I could find today was 2 male Common Whitethroats singing in Broadcroft Quarry Butterfly Reserve (BQBR), a Lesser Whitethroat, a Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaffs along the Mermaid Track, a Blackcap in Penns Wood and a Chiffchaff in Wakeham Wood.

Despite the windy conditions I came across a pair of Wall Brown butterflies attempting to mate in Penns Copse. I say attempt, as the wind was really blowing them around and if they did mate then I feel it was more luck than judgement.

In the BQBR there were 3 Speckled Woods and a Peacock. And elsewhere there were Orange-tips by Rufus Castle and another in Penns Wood.

Plenty of bees about and my first Flavous Nomad Bee this year in the BQBR. Also here Ashy Mining Bee and a Grey-patched Mining Bee. In the grounds of St Andrew's Church and Penns Wood dozens of Gooden's Nomad Bees.

Also in the BQBR I came across 2 Common Green Shieldbugs and lots of St Mark's Flies on the wing. Whilst in Penns Wood my first Mimic Bee Hoverfly of the year.

And lastly, and after an absence of a few days, I finally found 5 Celery Flies. No photos I'm afraid but great to see a male "dancing" on a leaf to attract a mate. I know I have said this before, but they are my favourite fly. One of these days I will try to video one of the courtship displays.

Here are a few images from today:

Broadcroft Quarry Butterfly Reserve

The HMS Prison Portland from the reserve. More on the prison Here

Some of the paths are quite tight to pass through, but are full of  butterflies and insects including........

..........Speckled Woods.........

.............Flavous Nomad Bee.......

.........and also Gooden's Nomad Bees, which appears to be the most numerous of Nomad Bees on Portland.

The Butterfly Reserve isn't just about butterflies as you can see. I even found a Grey-patched Mining Bee, which I first recorded two weeks ago along Penns Weare.

Also along these tracks there were Common Shieldbugs..........

.........Nursery Web Spiders.........

This is a Gymnocheta viridis and is one of the Tachinids Flies. It has no common name but never-the-less my first on Portland.

Not to be outdone this is my first Eupeodes corollae hoverfly on Portland as well. Always nice to find new insects. The common name for this hoverfly is a Vagrant Hoverfly is one of our commoner species. I'm surprised I've not come across it before!

An easy one a 7-spot Ladybird. 3 spots on each wing case and a single one behind the head.

Sadly a dead Bloody-nosed Beetle.

Moving on from the Reserve I headed south along the South west Coast Path. The view here is from the old railway track just south of The Cuttings.

A bit further on and Rufus Castle between the trees.

Church Ope Cove.

A pair of Wall Browns, which were trying to mate. It was so windy I'm not sure whether they actually succeeded. These were just east of Penns Copse.

One of the Wall Browns takes refuge from the wind.

A Dead Head Fly in Penns Copse.

The grounds of St Andrew's Church were probably the most sheltered spot on the island. And with the sun beating down, it was no surprise to see a few Wall Lizards out sunbathing.

A close-up

Looking up the leafy glade of Penns Wood.

And in the wood my first Mimic Bee Hoverfly, Volucella plumata

Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, 2 Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 2 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 3 Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Linnet.

Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizards

Butterflies Recorded: 2 Wall Brown, 2 Orange-tip, 3 Speckled Wood and 1 Peacock

Bees Recorded: Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Ashy or Grey Mining Bee (Andrena cineraria), Early Mining Bee (Andrena haemorrhoa), Grey-patched Mining Bee (Andrena nitida), Gooden's Nomad Bee (Nomada goodeniana), and a Flavous Nomad Bee (Nomada flava)

Hoverflies Recorded: 2 Dead Head Flies (Myathropa florea), Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax), Epistrophe eligans, Eristalis arbustorum, Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare), Mimic Bee Hoverfly (Volucella plumata), 1 Vagrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae) and Syrphus sps.

Also Recorded: 2 Common Green Shieldbugs (Palomena prasina), St Mark's Fly (Bibio marci), a 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), Celery Fly (Euleia heraclei) and a Gymnocheta viridis fly.

Note: Just as a footnote the species I have ID'd are correct to the best of my knowledge.

Ships Today

This is the British Oil Tanker "Whitchampion" on its way from Fawley to Plymouth. More on this vessel Here.

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On this day..........

2018
Today's Sightings Here.