Penns Wood, St Andrew'as Church, Penns Copse, Rufus Castle, Cuttings Quarry and Mermaid Track
What a glorious sunny day and around The Bill early this morning there was another Golden Oriole plus one maybe 2 Nightjar's recorded. However my walk today was just my local patch as yet again more work being done on the Cottage, this time to repair a hole above the Bathroom Roof. When will it ever end.
Warblers along my walk are beginning to fall silent, with male birds no doubt helping the females feed their respective youngsters. Today there were just 2 singing male Blackcaps, one at the back of the cove and another in Penns Wood where there was also a Chiffchaff. Along Penns Weare there was a Common Whitethroat and another just north of the Mermaid Track.
Just a handful of Wall Lizards about, but not one seen. All were "scurriers" disappearing into the undergrowth along my walk. Well I'm presuming they were Wall Lizards and not Adders!!
Several butterflies about with 4 Common Blues, 2 Large Whites, 1 Peacock and 6 Dingy Skippers. The latter were 3 pairs mating in the Cuttings Quarry. Also seen a Speckled Wood along the Mermaid Track and another in Penns Wood.
Also about were several moths with at least 8 Carnation Tortrix seen between Penns Weare and the Cuttings Quarry. There was also a a very yellow moth, which flew off before I could ID it and then I came across a possible Large Long-horn (Nematopogon swammerdamella). Apparently it will need measuring before it can be properly ID'd. Lets hope I can find it tomorrow then.
Very few hoverflies about and the ones I did see were mainly Epistrophe eligans in the grounds of St Andrew's Church.
Likewise with bees just a couple of Buff-tailed Bumblebees seen.
Note
Just for my Blog I've named the quarry Here, The Cuttings Quarry, only because A. It doesn't have a name and its easier to say that I've seen something at this location and B. "Cuttings Quarry" because it sits on the other side of where The Cuttings used to be Here,before most of it got filled in.
Here are a few images from this morning
Church Ope Cove as seen from Penns Weare this morning.
One of 4 Common Blue butterflies seen this morning. This one was at Penns Copse.
Cuttings Quarry and a great place for butterflies.
Also in the quarry was this Longhorn moth which could possibly be a........
..............Large Long-horn (Nematopogon swammerdamella).
And finally on my way home I came across this Copper Underwing Moth caterpillar, with a couple of hitchhikers.
Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 2 Common Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.
Reptiles Recorded: Probably Wall Lizards
Butterflies Recorded: 4 Common Blue, 2 Speckled Wood, 6 Dingy Skippers, 1 Peacock and 2 Large White
Moths Recorded: 8 Carnation Tortrix (Cacoecimorpha pronubana), Possible Large Long-horn (Nematopogon swammerdamella) and a Copper Underwing Moth caterpillar
Bees Recorded: 2 Buff-tailed Bumblebees
Hoverflies Recorded: 5+ Epistrophe eligans
Flies Recorded: 1 Celery Fly and a Scorpion Fly sp.
Avalanche Road and Thumb Lane
I managed to see one of the two Golden Orioles here at Avalanche Road late this morning. The singing bird (presumed young male) was singing a sort of sub-song, and not quite hitting those spectacular "oriole oriole" calls that adult males make. Another bird, an adult male, was in Thumb Lane copse but moved into the adjacent quarry and wasn't seen again.
Also here were probably around 8 or so Spotted Flycatchers feeding in amongst the Sycamores to the north of Avalanche Copse.
Overhead were scores of Swifts some very low and some very high and I also manged to see a Turtle Dove, over the copse heading towards Southwell. Perhaps this is the "Southwell" bird which has been seen on and off over the past couple of weeks.
Also in this area a few singing Common Whitethroats and Blackcaps.
Thumb Lane copse
Avalanche Road copse
Also in the copse were around 8 Spotted Flycatchers.
Birds Recorded: 1 Peregrine Falcon, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Turtle Dove, 40+ Swift, Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, 8+ Spotted Flycatcher, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, 1 Golden Oriole, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch and Greenfinch.
This is the British Tanker "Stolt Greenshank" on its way from Barry, Wales to Antwerp, Belgium. More on this Vessel Here.
Ships Today
This is the Cargo Vessel "Mobile Pearl" flying the flag of the Bahamas. It is on its way from Glensanda, Scotland to Vlissingen, Holland. More on this Vessel Here.
This is the Cargo Ship "Christos Theo" flying the flag of the Marshall Islands. It is on its way from Liverpool to Southampton. More on this Vessel Here.
