Back to my morning walks and it was another warm sunny start to the day. Main highlight was my first Large Skipper of the year in the cuttings. Also here were several Small Blues, 2 Meadow Browns, 1 Speckled Wood, 2 Dingy Skippers and a Green-veined White.
The stone walls along the cuttings are great nesting sites for both Great Tits and Blue Tits, and very recently both families left their respective nests and all you could here were both sets of juveniles calling in the surrounding hedges and trees.
It appears that this Spring has been pretty good for Common Whitethroats on Portland and certainly around the cuttings, The windmills and Bottom Combe Quarry there have been singing males almost daily. Today a male was on one of the trees close to the cuttings and in good voice.
The meadows close to Wakeham Wood are alive with insects and though I didn't find many moths today there were a pair of Common Blues and a Meadow Brown.
In the hedgerow between the meadow and the woods I came across a few hoverflies, mostly Syrphus sp., but there was a Narcissus Bulb Fly, Merodon equestris form narcissi. In the brambles, especially at one location I found 4 Common Green Shieldbugs. I'm sure if I looked harder I would have found many more. And I also came across my 4th Meadow Brown here today as well.
Here are a few images from this morning:
The old Easton Railway Cuttings where the...........
Here is a juvenile Blue Tit which has just left one of those nests in the wall.
And here's another begging for food.
A juvenile Blue Tit calling for food.
Not one of the juvenile Blue Tits but a very yellow juvenile Great Tit.
Not one of the tits but a.........
.........but a male Common Whitethroat singing close to the cuttings.
Looking south up the old railway track.
Its not just the birds you will find in the cuttings but also Speckled Woods and......
..............Meadow Browns
Another butterfly species you can find here is this Dingy Skipper and its cousin........
..........the Large Skipper. This individual is my first one recorded this year.
Wakeham Meadows and an area full of insects. and butterflies like this...........
........Meadow Brown. This is how you normally see them with their wings folded.
In the brambles close by were this Narcissus Bulb Fly and......
.........a Common Drone Fly.
Another patch of Brambles and home it appears for not...........
.........two.......
.........three......
.......but 4 Common Green Shieldbugs. I'm sure there were many more hidden away here.
Birds Recorded: 1 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, 2 House Martin, Dunnock, Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 2 Common Whitethroat, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet and Goldfinch.
Butterflies Recorded: Several Small Blue, 2 Common Blue, 1 Speckled Wood, 4 Meadow Brown, 1 Large Skipper and 2 Dingy Skippers
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees, Common Carder and Red-tailed Bumblebees
Hoverflies Recorded: 1 Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax), Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris form narcissi) and many Syrphus sp.
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetle (Ischnomera cyanea) and Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
Slugs and Snails Recorded: White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis) and a snail sp.
Caterpillars Recorded: Brown-tail Moth