On the way back from Easton I cut through the old Easton Railway Cuttings and through to the meadows at Wakeham. Main highlights on another warm sunny day was a Large Tortoiseshell and a male Clouded Yellow in the Cuttings.
Annoyingly the Large Tortoiseshell was on a Buddleia, but having spotted me, flew off and into Bottom Combe Quarry. As I watched it disappear over the horizon a pristine male Clouded Yellow came into view and also headed off to the quarry.
Also in the Cuttings several Marbled Whites, Speckled Woods, Small Skippers and Large Skippers.
Moving onto the meadows, even more Marbled Whites and Meadow Browns just about everywhere. A couple of Common Blues were here and also a 2 Emperor Dragonflies hawking the meadows.
Not too many moths about but a Scarlet Tiger Moth was a lovely surprise, especially when it took off in the meadows. What a striking red moth when in flight. Also noted were 2 Six-Spot Burnets and 1 Garden Grass-veneer.
A new plant for my Portland list a Common Restharrow (Ononis repens).
Here are a few images from this morning:
The old Easton Railway Cuttings with Bottom Combe Quarry on the right.
A Meadow Brown with the............
A Large Skipper comes into land on a...........
.........Valerian.
A Speckled Wood
Honey Bee
When this female Blackbird landed on the post I thought she had food.
Turns out its nesting material.
The meadows at Wakeham
A Small Skipper
And the underwings.
A Six-Spot Burnet Moth and those shimmering gold wings.
A slightly different camera position and those wings are actually black.
A Dock Bug and something you don't...........
..........often see and that is the wing casings open to reveal an orange abdomen
Ichneumon Wasp - Amblyteles armatorius
Swollen-thighed Beetle
Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Common Whitethroat, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch.
Butterflies Recorded: Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Clouded Yellow, 5 Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Painted Lady, 1 Large Tortoiseshell and 2 Common Blue
Moths Recorded: 1 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella), 2 Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae) and a Scarlet Tiger Moth (Callimorpha dominula)
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees, Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum) and Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: 1 Amblyteles armatorius
Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded: 2 Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), a Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus) and Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva)
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On this day..........
2018Today's Sightings Here.
2017