At long last some decent weather, with some good spells of sunshine, though that westerly wind was still blowing a hooley.
In the sheltered spots especially along the Old Quarry Lane, there was a real abundance of butterflies, especially Meadow Browns, Ringlets and Gatekeepers. In the meadows were several Marble Whites, Meadow Browns and a few Ringlets. Also here were 4 Small Blues, 2 Gatekeepers, 5 Large Whites and a Small White.
There were a few moths about, mainly Garden Grass-veneers, but I also came across a couple of others a Crescent Plume (Marasmarcha lunaedactyla) which is quite common on Portland and a Yellow-spot Tortrix (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana), which is a new one for my Portland Moth List.
Here are a few images from today:
The Old Quarry Lane..........
Fortunately the right-hand side appears to be safe from development and along here were quite a few Ringlets.......
................ and Gatekeepers. As well as Meadow Browns and.........
............this Crescent Plume Moth. A very common species of plume moth on Portland.
A Honey Bee on an umbellifer, plus quite a few species of fly.
In the hedgerow I also came across this..........
..................Ichneumon wasp sp. One to ID later.
A Sawfly of which there are quite a few similar looking species.
Still only singles of Common Red Soldier Beetles. Odd!!
The Meadow or "Wakeham Meadow" as I have called it. Not so many Knapweed this year, but still enough to...........
................attract several Marbled Whites.
A female Small Blue. This is the first one I have seen in the meadow this Summer.
And a Meadow Brown
Lots of these Common Green Grasshoppers hopping about
A male Swollen-thighed Beetle crawls out of a Bindweed flower and a below a small bee in amongst the anthers and stigma.
An insects view of the meadow. The yellow flowers are Lady's Bedstraw, Galium verum
Today the Six-spot Burnet moth is now a chrysalis............
...........this is it as a caterpillar on 25 Jun.
And a new moth for my Portland Moth List. This is a Yellow-spot Tortrix (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana), which I managed to catch and then with the help of UKMothIdentification on Twitter @MothIDUK was able to identify it.
Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Common Whitethroat, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 3 Raven, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch
Butterflies Recorded: Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Marbled White, Red Admiral and Small Blue
Moths Recorded: Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella), Crescent Plume (Marasmarcha lunaedactyla) and a Yellow-spot Tortrix (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana)
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: Ichneumon sp.
Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta), Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) and The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: 1 Thick-headed Fly (Sicus ferrugineus) and many unidentified flies
Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded: Common Green Grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), Miridae sp. and Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva)
Butterflies Recorded: Large Skipper, Large White, Small White, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Marbled White, Red Admiral and Small Blue
Moths Recorded: Garden Grass-veneers (Chrysoteuchia culmella), Crescent Plume (Marasmarcha lunaedactyla) and a Yellow-spot Tortrix (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana)
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Ichneumon Wasps Recorded: Ichneumon sp.
Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta), Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) and The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: 1 Thick-headed Fly (Sicus ferrugineus) and many unidentified flies
Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded: Common Green Grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), Miridae sp. and Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva)