21 Jul 19

Wakeham

Another lovely day and a quick visit to the meadows. Still plenty of butterflies about, mainly Gatekeepers, but still a few Marbled Whites, Meadow Browns and Ringlets. Two Common Blues were along the track.

Lots of Six-Spot Burnet moths in the meadows and a few Garden Grass-veneers here as well. Along the hedgerows there was a Carnation Tortrix and a Riband Wave. And when I got home there was a Marbled Green on the washing line.

A Pimpla spuria, Ichneumon Wasp was the first one I have seen since September last year and I'm pretty sure I found a Harvestman (Opilio parietinus).

The oddest thing I saw today though was a Chiffchaff with two "black" eyes. I can only surmise it was going through some sort of moult. Photos below.
Here are a few images:

The footpath between the two meadows and at the end a Sycamore which......

.......had this really odd looking Chiffchaff feeding in amongst the leaves. Not apparent in this photo but.........

........that is some eye patch!!

Still a few Marbled Whites about, but numbers dropping off.

Still plenty of Ringlets and also picking up in numbers are.........

..........Green-veined Whites.This is a male Summer Brood. More info Here.

A Riband Wave was new for the year.

I'm pretty sure this is a worn Garden Grass-veneer

A very worn Six-Spot Burnet Moth.

And another attempt to capture one in flight. Its going to take time.

A Red-tailed Bumblebee, busy collecting pollen from a Knapweed.

A very large Ichneumon Wasp, which looks pretty much like Pimpla spuria

A male Swollen-thighed Beetle.

Two Common Red Soldier Beetles

One of the many Meadow Grasshoppers in the meadows.

This is a Harvestman and one of the species of Phalangiidae, of which there are two very similar species Opilio parietinus and Opilio canestrinii. The latter is an invasive species and tends to be redder in colour than O. parietinus, which I suspect is what this is.

Knapweed a very popular plant in the meadow for so many insects.

Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, House Martin, Dunnock, 1 Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow and Chaffinch.

Butterflies Recorded: Large White, Green-veined White, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Marbled White and 2 Common Blue

Moths Recorded: Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella), Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae), Carnation Tortrix (Cacoecimorpha pronubana), Riband Wave (Idaea aversata) and a Marbled Green (Nyctobrya muralis)

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum) and Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: Pimpla spuria

Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) and Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) and Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva)

Grasshoppers and Crickets Recorded: Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus) and Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)

Harvestmen Recorded: Opilio parietinus

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On this day..........
2018
Today's Sightings Here.


2017
Today's Sightings Here.