30 Apr 20

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle and Portland Museum

I nearly made it back home before another heavy shower hit the island. The showers were pretty heavy today and I guess if I had waited until the afternoon, I might have enjoyed more prolonged spells of sunshine on my exercise walk. Well I didn't and me and Ted got a bit wet.

Not too many birds about and the only migrants I came across were 3 Chiffchaffs, in and around Penns Wood. A Rock Pipit was on the beach and was the first I've seen here for quite sometime.

In the windy damp conditions there weren't too many insects about either. I came across singles of Buff-tailed Bumblebee and Red-tailed Bumblebee, plus a Chequered Hoverfly.

And firsts for the year were a Dark Bush-cricket nymph and a Green-longhorn Moth. Both seen at the back of the cove.

And when I got home there was a Noble False Widow Spider (Steatoda nobilis) in the conservatory.

Here are a few images and a video from today:

A very lush looking Penns Wood. Just 3 Chiffchaffs here today.

Church Ope Cove with heavy showers out to sea.

Quite rough as well.

My first Green-longhorn Moth of the year. Normally you would find dozens of these flitting about on the Sycamores. This one was on an Alexanders and quite a distance from any trees.

A Chequered Hoverfly

And the only other hoverfly seen was this Dead Head Hoverfly

This is the nymph of the Dark Bush-cricket

And probably the commonest shieldbug on Portland, a Common Green Shieldbug

Wherever there is Ivy running across the ground, there is always a good chance to find this parasitic plant called an Ivy Broomrape, Orobanche hederae.

Oh dear, Ted doesn't look too happy, as we tried to take refuge from a heavy shower in Penns Copse.

And when I got home and was hanging up my soaking wet jacket, I came across this mini spider in the conservatory, which apparently is a juvenile Noble False Widow Spider (Steatoda nobilis)

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

Bees Recorded: 1 Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and a Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

Moths Recorded: 1 Green-longhorn Moth (Adela reaumurella)

Hoverflies Recorded: 1 Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare) and a Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Muscid Fly sp. 

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 3 Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded: 1 Dark Bush-cricket nymph (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)

Spiders Recorded: Noble False Widow Spider (Steatoda nobilis)

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

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.