22 May 20

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church Grounds, Church Ope Cove, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle, The Cuttings Quarry and Mermaid Track

Not as warm as yesterday, which was hardly surprising as today we endured a strong southwesterly wind blowing straight over the island. However if you could find shelter it was fairly pleasant.

Two highlights today my first ever Little Grass-veneer moth (Platytes cerussella) and a Small Skipper which was my first for the year.

Non highlight of the walk was the silence of the male Lesser Whitethroat at the cove. The ever optimist, I'm sure it's because he is feeding youngsters. Well you've got to be positive about things.

Here are today's sighting, images and videos:

Today I started my walk off in Penns Wood and made my way down to the grounds of St Andrew's Church. In the glades were many flying insects and........

.........Speckled Woods.

On the left hand slope behind the Japonica's, the male Blackcap is still singing away. Also here was a family of Long-tailed Tits.

A slightly different view of the ruins of St Andrew's Church looking towards the grounds of  Pennsylvania Castle.

In the shelter of the grounds there were quite a few insects, including this Common Green Shieldbug.........

.........this Vetch Piercer moth and..........

..............this Cheilosia hoverfly, though as to which one I'm not sure. There was also a Blue-tailed Damselfly flying about.

And of course wherever there was a bit of shade, then Ted was making the most of it, plus he was making sure I hadn't wandered off without him. As if!!

Church Ope Cove. A bit quieter today in all respects apart from the wind.

This looks good for Northern Blue Flag (Iris versicolor) and according to this article Here, is more likely to be found along shorelines than in gardens. This plant was on the steps leading down to the beach.

In this patch of grass around the beach huts, apart from Ted that is, there were 3 Common Blue Butterflies and my...........

...........first Small Skipper of the year.

This track leading up from the beach on the south facing slope is another little hotspot for wildlife where I came across this........

..............Nursery Web Spider, waiting for its next meal I suspect and........

......what pretty sure is a Gastrolepta anthracina, which is a member of the Tachinidae family of flies.

And of course there are always a few lizards about.

On one of the beach huts I came across my second moth of the day a................

..................Little Grass-veneer. A new moth to add to my Portland Moth List.

From the cove I made my way up the steps via Penn's Copse and Rufus Castle towards The Cuttings Quarry, where there were 2 Common Blues, a Dingy Skipper, plus these...........

 ................False Blister Beetles which could be confused to the............

.............very similar to Swollen-thighed Beetles. However these are a lot smaller and go by the scientific name of Ischnomera cyanea

Birds Recorded: 1 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 2 Blackcap, 1 Chiffchaff, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch

Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded: Blue-tailed Damselfly

Butterflies Recorded: 1 Dingy Skipper, 1 Small Skipper, Orange-tip, Large White, 3 Speckled Wood, 6 Common Blue

Moths Recorded: Vetch Piercer (Grapholita jungiella) and a Little Grass-veneer (Platytes cerussella)

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and a Nomad Bee sp.

Wasps Recorded: 1 Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) and Epistrophe eligans

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Possibly Gastrolepta anthracina

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

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 1 Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina) and 3 False Blister Beetles (Ischnomera cyanea)

Spiders Recorded: Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

Ships Today

This is the British Fishing boat "Hannah Beth II" which is either returning to Portland Harbour or Weymouth. It didn't show up Marine Traffic and the only info I could find was this Here. Note the Great Black-backed hitching a ride at the stern.

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

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.