Wakeham Wood and Meadow
A quick visit this morning to the meadow and track alongside the wood. Main highlights were 5 Meadow Brown butterflies and a Common Blue in the meadow, and a Speckled Wood along the track close to the Sycamores.
There were a few moths about and I had 2 Garden Grass-veneers and 2 Hook-streak Grass-veneer in the meadow.
Along the track in the brambles were several Common Green Shieldbugs, with 3 pairs mating. Also here an Amblyteles armatorius Ichneumon wasp and one I have yet to ID.
There were quite a few Marmalade Hoverflies today, all hovering around the Sycamores.
Here are a few images from this morning:
The meadow with Wakeham Wood in the background.
There were at least 5 Meadow Browns here in the meadow.
A Common Blue
The track leading back to Wakeham.
In the brambles were several Common Green Shieldbugs......
......with 3 pairs mating.
A Harlequin Ladybird.
Also in the brambles a few Dark Bush-crickets nymphs
This the Ichneumon Wasp Amblyteles armatorius. At long last one has stopped long enough to be photographed.
This looks like a Ichneumon sarcitorius.........
........but with so many similar species I'm going to have to check this one out. If indeed that is at all possible.
This large slab of warm rock was the centre of attention to all these flies.
A Speckled Wood
And one of the many Marmalade hoverflies out today.
Birds Recorded: Buzzard, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, 2 Swift, Dunnock, Robin, Song Thrush, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow and Chaffinch.
Butterflies Recorded: 5 Meadow Brown, 1 Speckled Wood and 1 Common Blue
Moths Recorded: 2 Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella) and 2 Hook-streak Grass-veneer (Crambus lathoniellus)
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees and Common Carder
Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: 1 Amblyteles armatorius and a Ichneumon sp.
Hoverflies Recorded: 1 Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax) and several Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetle (Ischnomera cyanea), Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), 1 Harlequin Ladybird and 7 Common Green Shieldbugs (Palomena prasina)
Flies Recorded: Cluster flies (Pollenia sp.)
Moths Recorded: 2 Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella) and 2 Hook-streak Grass-veneer (Crambus lathoniellus)
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees and Common Carder
Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: 1 Amblyteles armatorius and a Ichneumon sp.
Hoverflies Recorded: 1 Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax) and several Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetle (Ischnomera cyanea), Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), 1 Harlequin Ladybird and 7 Common Green Shieldbugs (Palomena prasina)
Flies Recorded: Cluster flies (Pollenia sp.)
Grasshoppers and Crickets Recorded: Dark Bush-cricket nymphs (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)
Caterpillars Recorded: Brown-tail Moth
Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay
This afternoon we went out on Star for a bit of sea fishing and christened the boat with 3 Mackerel.
There were quite few Barrel Jellyfish drifting past. I guess we saw around 10 in the end, plus a very small jellyfish.
Birds noted were 2 Shelduck, a Mallard, 6 Oystercatchers, Rock Pipits and my first Common Tern of the year.
A few scraps of bait thrown in and its a frenzy of Herring Gulls and a Great Black-backed Gull.
A Barrel Jellyfish. One of many seen drifting by.
And another
A "Joey" Mackerel, which was safely returned to fight another day.
Ships Today
This is the Tanker "CPO Sweden", flying the flag of the Marshall Islands.............
............and is bearing down on us.
Fortunately it dropped anchor in Weymouth Bay, before it got to close to us. More on this vessel Here.
