After yesterdays impressive "visual migration" it was back down to earth with a bump. Where I had 600+ Meadow Pipits, today I was lucky to see 6. Swallow numbers were the same with just 5 seen and warbler numbers were also down.
Here are the locations and birds seen this morning:
Wakeham Wood: 4 Chiffchaff and 3 Blackcap
Bottom Combe Quarry: 1 Chiffchaff
Perryfield: 3 Chiffchaff
Penns Wood: 3 Chiffchaff
St Andrew's Church: 2 Chiffchaff (1 singing)
Church Ope Cove: 8 Rock Pipits
Church Ope Woods:1 Chiffchaff singing and 1 Goldcrest
Penns Copse: 1 Chiffchaff
Portland Museum: 1 Goldcrest
It wasn't just the bird numbers down but also the butterflies with just 3 Red Admirals and 2 Large Whites seen.
Just one moth seen a Carnation Tortrix at the back of Church Ope Cove.
Bees, Wasps and Hoverfly numbers well down and Ivy Bees were just into into double figures.
Also seen were dozens of Black Slugs, Garden Snails and White-lipped Banded Snails. Behind the huts at Church Ope Cove were 3 Dock Bugs, whilst in Penns Wood I could only find 1 Harlequin Ladybird form succinea.
Also a day of oddities with a bug, a micro moth and a fly to ID.
Not a moth, but whatever this transparent insect is, there were several of them flying around at the back of the cove.
Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, 5 Swallow, 6 Meadow Pipit, 8 Rock Pipit, 1 Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 3 Blackcap, 15 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow and Chaffinch.
Butterflies Recorded: 2 Large White and 3 Red Admiral
Moths Recorded: 1 Carnation Tortrix (Cacoecimorpha pronubana).
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) and Ivy Bees (Colletes hederae)
Wasps Recorded: German Wasp (Vespula germanica) and Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: 1 Amblyteles armatorius
Hoverflies Recorded: Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea), Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax), Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax) and a Stripe-backed Dasysyrphus (Dasysyrphus albostriatus)
Flies Recorded: Flesh Fly (Coelopa frigida) and a fly sp.
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 3 Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus) and Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis, form - succinea)
Slugs and Snails Recorded: Black Slug (Arion ater), White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis) and Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)
Harvestmen Recorded: Dicranopalpus ramosus
Here are a few images from this morning:
Church Ope Cove and the sea............
............here is still churning up masses of Kelp.
And don't the Rock Pipits know it.
Though sometimes it's a bit difficult to choose a fly when there are so many buzzing around your head!!
A Harvestman which I think this is a Dicranopalpus ramosus
A token effort on my part, a very poor shot of an Ivy Bee
I haven't the foggiest what this is and doubt I will ever find know. Some sort of froghopper maybe.
A bit easier to ID. This is a Dock Bug.
And two more. More on these squashbugs Here.
A Dead Head Hoverfly
A male Stripe-backed Dasysyrphus (Dasysyrphus albostriatus). Not sure what the fly is though.
This is a Harlequin Ladybird form succinea. I have no idea what the little creature is next to it.
A Garden Snail on its travels
Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, 5 Swallow, 6 Meadow Pipit, 8 Rock Pipit, 1 Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Song Thrush, 3 Blackcap, 15 Chiffchaff, 2 Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow and Chaffinch.
Butterflies Recorded: 2 Large White and 3 Red Admiral
Moths Recorded: 1 Carnation Tortrix (Cacoecimorpha pronubana).
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) and Ivy Bees (Colletes hederae)
Wasps Recorded: German Wasp (Vespula germanica) and Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: 1 Amblyteles armatorius
Hoverflies Recorded: Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea), Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax), Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax) and a Stripe-backed Dasysyrphus (Dasysyrphus albostriatus)
Flies Recorded: Flesh Fly (Coelopa frigida) and a fly sp.
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 3 Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus) and Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis, form - succinea)
Slugs and Snails Recorded: Black Slug (Arion ater), White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis) and Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)
Harvestmen Recorded: Dicranopalpus ramosus
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------