31 Mar 20

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Rufus Castle, Bumpers Lane and Lower Horse Paddock.

Still that bitter cold wind coming off the sea and a lot cloudier today, though when the sun did come out, it was pleasantly warm especially in sheltered spots.

Highlights today were 2 Chiffchaffs at the cove, where there were also pairs of Peregrine, Kestrel and Common Buzzard all hunting along the slopes.

Also about were a few Meadow Pipits passing through and I found a pair of Stock Doves in Bumpers Lane Quarry, the first I have seen in this quarry.

There were a few Peacock butterflies about and a Large Tortoiseshell put in an appearance, all at the cove.
There seemed to be fewer bees about and I only found one hoverfly a Syrphus sp. There was definitely a lack of flying insects, which wasn't surprising considering the maximum temperature today only reached 9.0°C. Add in the wind-chill factor and it was freezing. There were just a handful of Buff-tailed Bumblebees, Honey Bees and a single male Hairy-footed Flower Bee. The latter in Penns Wood on the Comfrey.

Here are a few images and videos from today:

There were quite a few raptors over Church Ope Cove today...............

...................including a pair of Peregrine Falcons.

This is the much smaller male heading up the island.

Not an easy bird to video. At times both the Peregrines were holding themselves in the wind. I was just a bit unfortunate that this bird decided to move around a bit more.

In the Blackthorn at the cove, this Chiffchaff and another close-by were searching for insects.

This Robin was in good voice...........

...............and kept looking back at another Robin singing a few yards away.

The other Robin stopped singing, but now there are a pair of Buzzards passing overhead.

A pair of Stock Doves in Bumpers Lane Quarry.

Or maybe not. Must have been something he said!!

Very pleased, that the House Sparrows displaced by the groundwork, which destroyed their favourite bushes for an Eco Bungalow in Wakeham Wood, have now found sanctuary in the Lower Horse Paddock brambles. This is an adult male and strangely enough there were at least 9 other males in the brambles and not a female to be seen. Nesting maybe!!

Just one Wall Lizard in the grounds of St Andrew's Church.

Forgot to post some Ted photos yesterday.

So making up for it here with a couple and a..............

.......video of Ted checking out Penn's Weare from the top of the cliff. He's a right Mountain Dog.

Birds Recorded: 2 Buzzard, 2 Peregrine Falcon, 2 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, 2 Stock Dove, Wood Pigeon, 3 Meadow Pipit, 1 Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 2 Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 1 Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch

Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Butterflies Recorded: 1 Large Tortoiseshell and 3 Peacock

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and 1 Hairy-footed Flower Bee (Anthophora plumipes)

Hoverflies Recorded: 1 Syrphus sp.

Flies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Muscid Fly (Phaonia subventa)

Ships Today


This is the British Tug "MTS Taktow" towing what looks like.......


..........a crane on a barge. Whatever it is it is on its way from Brixham to Blyth. More on this vessel Here.

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On this day..........

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

30 Mar 20

Wakeham

Back in the garden today and I'm glad I did as a Yellow Wagtail flew over the new Bumpers Lane Housing Estate and headed towards the Lower Horse Paddock. So not only was this a first for the year but a good garden tick as I self-isolate. It wasn't however the only garden tick today, as two Greenfinches flew over the garden, as did a pair of Blackbirds, bringing my garden total to 27

Looking back at the last two years I saw my first Yellow Wagtail on this very day 30 Mar 19 and in 2018 on 14 Apr.

The temperature today didn't get much higher than 8.0°C and with that chilly easterly still blowing, it felt very cold in the back garden. However when the sun came out for any length of time, it was good to see a few bees along the flower beds and a Tapered Dronefly.

Regular sightings now are Sun-jumper spiders and the Common Green Shieldbug, which appears not to have moved for days. A new fly for the garden was a Moth Fly and I also found the handy-work of a leaf-miner on a Bramble leaf.

Here are a few images from today:

When the sun eventually stayed out longer than 5 minutes, there was an increase in flying insects including............

............this Tapered Dronefly, which incredibly let me get right up close, not only for this photo but.......

...........for a video as well.

This is a worker Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris).

Until someone tells me any different I'm still going.................

...........for Andrena scotica, Mining Bee and........

............ for this one a Bronze Furrow Bee........

........(Halictus tumulorum)

One of the many Sun-jumper spiders in the garden.

Love those yellow "fangs", which are in fact called chelicerae and are actually the spider's jaws

This was a nice surprise a Moth Fly which hung around long...........

...........enough to be videoed. 

The Common Green Shieldbug which is pretty dormant at the moment. Not surprising really as it was pretty chilly outside.

This is a Girdled Snail, Hygromia cinctella. More on this snail Here.

This is an interesting snail,because it is a common species around the Mediterranean region, and a relatively recent addition to the British fauna, having been first found at Paignton in 1950. It remained around that area of Devon for quite a long time before gradually spreading further in the south-west, and in more recent years rapidly northwards. Now in several areas of Yorkshire.

This is the work of a leaf-miner and most likely by the caterpillar of the Golden Pygmy moth (Stigmella aurella) which "mines" bramble leaves. More on this moth Here

Garden Birds Recorded since 24 Mar are: Kestrel, Pheasant, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Willow Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet, Goldfinch and Greenfinch

Bees Recorded: Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Bronze Furrow Bee (Halictus tumulorum) and Mining Bee (Andrena scotica)

Hoverflies Recorded: Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax)

Flies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Moth Fly (Tonnoiriella pulchra)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)

Slugs and Snails Recorded: Girdled Snail (Hygromia cinctella)

Spiders Recorded: Sun-jumpers (Heliophanus sp.)

Note - Moth Flies

There are are 99 British species in the Psychodidae family and they are all very similar looking. However the Moth Fly does look like Tonnoiriella pulchra. Common names also given to this family are Owl Midge, Owl Fly and Drain Fly. The latter so called because the larvae frequent drains. More Here on this family.

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On this day..........

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

29 Mar 20

Wakeham Wood, Perryfields Quarry Butterfly Reserve, Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Church Ope Cove Wood, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle, Bumpers Lane and Lower Horse Paddocks.

It was absolutely bitter out there this afternoon. The wind was gusting to around 30mph and coming straight off the sea from a ENE direction.

Highlights on my exercise walk were a Chiffchaff and 2 Greenfinches close to Perryfields. Very few birds seen or heard in the wind and not too many insects about either.

Just 1 Peacock butterfly seen at the cove and along the tracks there were a couple of Bloody-nosed Beetles.

The only bees I came across were Buff-tailed Bumblebees and a few Mining Bees.

The caterpillars I came across a few days ago are definitely those of the Brown-tail Moth, which have hairs which are an irritant to human skin. More on this Moth Here.

I did come across an interesting looking fly on the south facing slopes at the cove. It had a blue/grey thorax and orangey abdomen. Apparently it is a member of the Heleomyzid family of which several have this blue-grey thorax and orange abdomen.

Here are a few images and videos from today:

There are very few Greenfinches on Portland, by the sounds of it there are at least two birds in the Buddleia close to Perryfield Quarry butterfly Reserve.

Just 2 Wall Lizards seen this afternoon.

Now that they have grown in size.........

..........they can be easily identified as the caterpillars of the Brown-tail Moth.

Lots of movement with their "tent"

A Bloody-nosed Beetle on his travels.

A very short video of the second Bloody-nosed Beetle I came across this afternoon.

This is a female Tapered Dronefly, Eristalis pertinax 

And this is a male Tapered Dronefly. A distinguishing feature in identifying E pertinax from E. tenax (Common Dronefly), is that the front and mid feet are pale/orange with E. pertinax

My mystery fly.........

............which apparently is a member of the Heleomyzid family of which several have this blue-grey thorax and orange abdomen. The two photos here really dont do it justice as the thorax was very blue.

It is so easy to get Ted to pose. Just say the word cat and he stands absolutely still in the hope of seeing it.

Mammals Recorded: 4 Bunnies

Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Chiffchaff, Great Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch

Reptiles Recorded: 2 Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Butterflies Recorded: 1 Peacock

Bees Recorded: Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and Mining Bees sp.

Hoverflies Recorded: Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) and Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)

Flies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Heleomyzid Fly sp.

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 2 Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)

Caterpillars Recorded: Brown-tail Moth

Aircraft Today

Earlier today this Merlin helicopter came over Wakeham.........

.........and pretty low as well.

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On this day..........

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

28 Mar 20

Wakeham

Another day spent in the back garden and a Pheasant, in neighbouring gardens, was a new species to add to my ever growing list of birds recorded since 24 March. The total so far is 24, with a full list below.

Just a Peacock Butterfly seen today. It landed by the pond briefly, before taking off.

There are still good numbers of Mining Bees in the flower beds and with them a couple of Furrow Bees. Every now and then Buff-tailed Bumblebees were taking shortcuts across the garden to other gardens close by.

My first wasp seen today, presumably a Common Wasp. Unfortunately I couldn't get close to it to see the face markings.

Lots of tiny spiders running around the flower beds which are apparently from the family of Salticidae. The ones in the garden are Sun-jumpers (Heliophanus sp.)
Here are a few images and videos from today:

This very tiny bee I believe is a Bronze Furrow Bee...........

 ..........and not a Southern Bronze Furrow Bee as I first thought.

And another Bronze Furrow Bee.

I'm still pretty sure these are Andrena scotica, Mining Bees.

Another image and below a couple of videos.

A really small spider and extremely fast.

At least it stayed in one spot for a..........

...........couple more photos.

And a different individual. In fact there were several running about in flower beds.Apparently they are Sun-jumpers.

A Common Green Shieldbug

And a White-lipped Banded Snail

Ted and not forgetting........

...........Benji, enjoying the sun in the back garden

Birds Recorded since 24 Mar are: Kestrel, Pheasant, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Dunnock, Robin, Willow Warbler, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Raven, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet and Goldfinch

Today's Garden Wildlife

Butterflies Recorded: Peacock

Bees Recorded: Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Bronze Furrow Bee (Halictus tumulorum) and Mining Bee (Andrena scotica)

Wasps Recorded: Possible Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 1 Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)

Slugs and Snails Recorded: White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Spiders Recorded: Sun-jumper (Heliophanus sp.)

Woodlice Crustaceans Recorded: Woodlouse sp.
 

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On this day..........

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.