Oh dear, I almost convinced myself that I had come across an unusual bird in one of the hedges surrounding the Meadow. What I heard at the time was a repertoire of bird calls ranging from Linnet, Great Tit and Wren. Turns out I was right I did hear a Great Tit and a Wren as both appeared at the end of the hedge and flew across the path.
At the time and for a good 10 minutes, I had convinced myself that there was just the one bird, as something was causing "it" concern in the hedge. That concern, appears to have been Rats in the hedge and that one bird was both the Great Tit and Wren joining forces to move it on.
Well at least I solved the mystery as I know full well it would have played on my mind if it had remained so.
As standing by the hedge took up some considerable time, I didn't manage to complete my walk, but I still managed to see a fair bit on my short walk. With the sun out, there were plenty of butterflies on the wing, with Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns, Ringlets, Gatekeepers, Large Whites, Green-veined Whites and a Common Blue all recorded.
A few Six-Spot Burnets were in the meadows and 2 Emperor Dragonflies made a brief appearance.
Here are a few images from this morning:
A Common Blue
The same Common Blue as above but settled on a Common Hawkweed
A rather worn Ringlet.
As above.
Common Drone Fly - Eristalis tenax
Hardy Monument and Blackdown
A trip to Hardy Monument this afternoon, with two types of habitat to explore, the first was the woodland followed by a wander across the heath.
Quite a few birds present in the woods, with Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Spotted Flycatcher, Green Woodpecker and Common Buzzard all recorded.
Along all the tracks were dozens of butterflies, with Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Green-veined White, Speckled Wood, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Marbled White, Red Admiral and Peacock.
A few beetles seen with Common Red Soldier Beetles and several Spotted Longhorn (Rutpela maculata) on the brambles.
Hoverflies were quite numerous with Marmalades, Dead Head Fly and several Pellucid Hoverflies.
The one annoying thing on my walk were the number of Horse Flies. I lost count of the number of times good old Notch-horned Cleg-fly (Haematopota pluvialis) landed on my arms and legs. I was lucky just the one bite, but nothing too serious. More on Notch here.
Sadly not a lot on the heath around Hardys Monument but lovely to hear a few Yellowhammers.
Here are a few images from this afternoon:
My two walks this afternoon. (Aerial photography courtesy of Google Earth)
The first walk was in the wood at Blackdown.
From the path Hardy Monument in the distance.
A Chiffchaff with food.
And here is the hungry youngster.
Another adult on the...........
........lookout for more insects.
I was hoping for maybe a Pine Ladybird but had to......
...........settle for this Harlequin instead.
A Dead Head Fly, not a fly but a hoverfly
A Spotted Longhorn and...........
..........another one. In fact throughout the wood there were several seen.
A Common Buzzard sits quietly in a fir tree.
My effort in trying to capture a Pellucid Hoverfly in flight.
Even at 2000th of a second it was still difficult to freeze those wings.
From the wood I crossed over the road and took in the view south with Portland on the horizon.
To my left a ridgeway. One to walk in the future maybe.
Hardy Monument.
And another view of Portland from the base of the monument.
Another view of the monument
Birds Recorded: Buzzard, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Green Woodpecker, Swallow, Dunnock, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, 1 Spotted Flycatcher, Long-tailed Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Treecreeper, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch and Yellowhammer
Butterflies Recorded: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Green-veined White, Speckled Wood, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Marbled White, Red Admiral and Peacock
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) and Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Dead Head Fly (Myathropa florea) and Pellucid Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens)
Flies Recorded: Notch-horned Cleg-fly (Haematopota pluvialis)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva) and Spotted Longhorn (Rutpela maculata)
Grasshoppers and Crickets Recorded: Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) and Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)