17 Mar 20

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Church Ope Cove Wood, Penn's Weare, The Cuttings and Rufus Castle

A much cloudier day than yesterday and a lot cooler as well. The sun did come out briefly mid-afternoon, and then it was back with the cloud cover. The difference wasn't just the weather, but I didn't see a single butterfly or migratory bird, other than a solitary Chiffchaff in Penns Wood.

Other birds noted were 2 Firecrests in Penns Wood and another at the back of the cove, and a few Rock Pipits feeding on the slopes along Penn's Weare.

At least when the sun was out there were a few bees, hoverflies and flies, plus 3 Bloody-nosed Beetles, 2 Common Green Shieldbugs and a Harlequin Ladybird. The latter two species both in Penns Wood.

Here are a few images and videos from today:

This Blue Tit was busy preening in Penns Wood. Very meticulous.

This Rock Pipit was.............

...........busy feeding on the slopes on Penn's Weare.

These Wall Lizards don't need any prompting to get out into sun, once it appears

Those claws are definitely designed for scaling walls.

Quite a few Buff-tailed Bumblebees out today. This one was warming up on a tree trunk.

This one was resting on a Japanese Spindle

Mining Bee - Andrena scotica

And possibly an Early Mining Bee - Andrena haemorrhoa

A Common Green Shieldbug

And another with a slight colour difference.

A Bloody-nosed Beetle.................


...................one of three seen today along Penn's Weare

Rufus Castle. Apparently it has 5 sides, which is pretty unusual for a castle.

No rain coat for Ted today just his woolly jacket.

Birds Recorded: Fulmar, 1 Shag, 1 Sparrowhawk, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Rock Pipit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Chiffchaff, 3 Firecrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chaffinch and Goldfinch

Reptiles Recorded: 4 Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Early Mining Bee (Andrena haemorrhoa), Mining Bee (Andrena scotica) and a Nomad bee sp.

Hoverflies Recorded: Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax) and Syrphus sp.

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

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 1 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis, form - succinea), 2 Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina) and 3 Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)

Ships Today

This is British Aircraft Carrier "Prince of Wales" carrying out manoeuvres in Weymouth Bay. More on this vessel Here.

And it wasn't alone, with it were these British Warships mid-afternoon.:

HMS Kent (F78) Here

HMS Mersey (P283) Here

HMS Sutherland (F81) Here

HMS Montrose (D36) Here

HMS Ramsey (M110) Here

Unknown British Warship. Here

This is the British Tug "Kingston" on its way out of Portland to an unknown destination. It is towing...............

..........this vessel which unfortunately isn't showing up on Marine Traffic.

I did try to enlarge the image but still difficult to see what the tug is towing.  More on the Tug Here.

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

2019
Today's Sightings Here.


2018
Today's Sightings Here.