5 Jun 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

A very breezy day, but with a bit more sunshine than yesterday. No real highlights and in fact it has gone very quiet on the bird front. I guess both they are all busy feeding youngsters.

Here are my sightings, a few images and videos from today:

In Penns Wood there was a bit of shelter from the stiff westerly and quite a few bees and butterflies about.....

This is a male Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum). There is an excellent recognition guide by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust Here, which is extremely helpful in sorting out the similar looking species and whether they are Queens, Workers or Males.

Not so easy to identify, other than this is one of the Nomad Bee species. With around 33 species, I really needed more photos from different angles.

In the wood today there must have been an emergence of Speckled Wood butterflies.

Some of the individuals, like this one, were very dark and in pristine condition.

I think there must have been some bragging rights going on in the wood as well. Not only were there many Speckled Woods, but a few Meadow Browns, jostling for the sunniest spots.

From the wood it is down to the grounds of the Church ruins, where it was even more sheltered and a magnet for a variety of invertebrates like..........

.............this Bee-mimic Hoverfly called a Narcissus Bulb Fly

Also here was another hoverfly, though...........

.......despite a photo and a video it will remain just a Cheilosia sp.

I like the easy ones. This is a male Blue-tailed Damselfly. There was an Azure Damselfly here as well a few days ago, but not seen today.

The only thing I can say about this fly is that not only can't I identify it, I can't even pin it down to a particular family. I'm definitely going to need help with this one.

Church Ope Cove and behind the huts on the left was this...........

............male Common Blue and......

................a Yellow-legged Mining-bee. This is the first Andrena bee I have seen in long while.

Along the path that bisects the south facing slope at the cove I came across this Thick-headed Fly (Sicus ferrugineus). My favourite "ugly" fly. Annoyingly it wouldn't turn around to face me and when I tried getting the other side it flew off. Of course it did!!

Halfway up the slope, the flowers on the Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis), I found a few days ago, are slowly beginning to open.

This is the first time I have seen two Rose Chafers together and they appeared oblivious to me photographing them and........

..........videoing them.

And the last bug I found on the slope was this Hairy-footed Shieldbug.

Just as I was leaving the "slope" track I came across this moth, unfortunately the only way of finding out which species it is, is by dissection. So it will remain an Endothenia sp.

Above the slope is Penn's Weare and just below the cliff face to the right is Penn's Copse where  I came across..........

............a black and yellow hoverfly, which was very similar looking to the Xanthogramma pedissequum I saw yesterday, in the meadow in Wakeham. This however is a Wasp-mimic Hoverfly (Chrysotoxum cautum)

Also here was this Common Green Grasshopper. There is a very good guide to British Grasshoppers and Crickets Here.

It wasn't just the grasshoppers about, but also Dark Bush-crickets, which are getting larger now. Last week they were just nymphs, but today they are certainly bigger.

From the copse I headed up the steps towards Rufus Castle and stopped off at the nettle patch where 2 days ago this 7-spot Ladybird was in the pupae to the right. I have never seen a Ladybird emerge before, so I'm guessing its pale colouration will eventually turn bright orange

To the left of the track is The Cuttings Quarry, where sadly I didn't find anything of note. The track is interesting though, in that up to the mid-60's the original South-west Coast path, at the summit you can see, use to cross over a footbridge. The Cutting on the other side has long been filled in now and the path just continues along the top of the cliff.

In this area of the quarry there are two Bee-Orchids. Last year and only a feet away there was a single one. I wonder how many there will be next year!!

And finally the last leg of my walk was along the Mermaid Track. No butterflies but plenty........

..........of Swollen-thighed Beetles.

And of course Ted, who was waiting patiently for me to hurry up.

Birds Recorded: Cormorant, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Chaffinch and Goldfinch

Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded: Blue-tailed Damselfly

Butterflies Recorded: Large White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown and Common Blue

Moths Recorded: Endothenia sp.

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius), Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum), Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), Yellow-legged Mining-bee (Andrena flavipes) and a Nomad Bee sp.

Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta), Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea), Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris), Wasp-mimic Hoverfly (Chrysotoxum cautum) and a Cheilosia sp.

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Thick-headed Fly (Sicus ferrugineus)

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded: Dark Bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera) and Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum), Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), 2 Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata)

Ships Today

This is the Portuguese Container Ship "Independent Vision" on its way from Southampton to Cork. More on this vessel Here

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

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

2017
Today' Sightings Here.