Wakeham
Highlights seen today were a few Swifts and Swallows passing through, a Buzzard which was being mobbed by a hoard of Herring Gulls, plus another Willow Warbler in the garden.
Only 4 butterfly species in the garden, with singles of Gatekeeper and Red Admiral. However there were many Large & Small Whites.
On the moth front I came across two Light Brown Apple-moths and a also several micro moths flitting about.
When the sun came out there were good numbers of Honey Bees on the lavender, plus a few White-tailed Bumblebees and a male Early Bumblebee. Elsewhere in the garden there was a Lathbury's Nomad Bee (Nomad lathburiana) and if I have this right, my first ever Hairy Legged Mining Bee (Dasypoda hirtipes)
There weren't too many bugs about, but I did come across singles of Swollen-thighed Beetle, Hairy Shieldbug and a new miridae for my Portland List called a Heterotoma planicornis.
And finally lots of small flies. Mostly green in colour and of different species. Two which I managed to ID were Green Gem (Microchrysa flavicornis) and Black-horned Gem (Microchrysa polita). The former if I have ID'd it correctly a first for me on Portland.
Here are a few images and videos from today:
This Gatekeeper was in the garden all day long. It was either resting up on the Fig Tree or....
.......sat on the pond plants. Very briefly a Semaphore Fly puts in an appearance.
A worn male Small White
Red Admiral
A Light Brown Apple-moth and......
............another one with a slight variation in colour and pattern.
Honey Bee
White-tailed Bumblebee
Early Bumblebee
My first ever Hairy Legged Mining Bee. It flew into the garden, landed on this leaf for one photo and was gone.
A nomad bee to be ID'd later.
This is the hoverfly The Footballer and below it a Hairy Shieldbug.
And a new species of miridae for my Portland List. This a Heterotoma planicornis and doesn't have a common name.
A male Swollen-thighed Beetle on a Scabious
This a Soldier fly is a Black-horned Gem (Microchrysa polita)
And this is another Soldier Fly, this time a Green Gem (Microchrysa flavicornis).
And finally our two remaining Khaki Ducks.
Sadly the third one we had died a few days ago.
And here the two boys are enjoying life on the pond.
And trust Ted to find the kale left by the ducks.
Butterflies Recorded: Large White, Small White, Gatekeeper and Red Admiral,
Moths Recorded: 2 Light Brown Apple-moths (Epiphyas postvittana)
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), White-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum), Early Mining Bee (Andrena haemorrhoa), Hairy Legged Mining Bee (Dasypoda hirtipes) and a Lathbury's Nomad Bee (Nomad lathburiana)
Hoverflies Recorded: Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta), Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) and The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Semaphore Fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus), a Black-horned Gem (Microchrysa polita) and a Green Gem (Microchrysa flavicornis)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) and a miridae (Heterotoma planicornis)