Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church Grounds, Church Ope Cove, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle, The Cuttings Quarry and Mermaid Track
So today's storm was Storm Francis and to say it was windy would be an understatement. It would be interesting to see what the highest gust reached as the average wind speed was around the 35mph.
On the bird front the best I could with land based birds were 7 species including a lone Swallow over the Mermaid Track. Whilst at sea there were several Herring Gulls and a single Cormorant heading down the coast.
In a few sheltered spots I came across a Red Admiral, a single Gatekeeper and several Large Whites and Small Whites. In Penns Wood and The Mermaid Track were a couple of Speckled Woods and in the church grounds and The Cuttings Quarry were both Common and Chalk Hill Blues.
Just the one moth, the spectacular Hummingbird Hawk-moth which on 3 occasions was seen warming up in the grounds of St Andrew's Church
Other things of interest were an Emperor Dragonfly and a stubby-tailed Wall Lizard, both seen in the Church Grounds.
Here are a few images and videos from today:
So today's storm was Storm Francis and to say it was windy would be an understatement. It would be interesting to see what the highest gust reached as the average wind speed was around the 35mph.
On the bird front the best I could with land based birds were 7 species including a lone Swallow over the Mermaid Track. Whilst at sea there were several Herring Gulls and a single Cormorant heading down the coast.
In a few sheltered spots I came across a Red Admiral, a single Gatekeeper and several Large Whites and Small Whites. In Penns Wood and The Mermaid Track were a couple of Speckled Woods and in the church grounds and The Cuttings Quarry were both Common and Chalk Hill Blues.
Just the one moth, the spectacular Hummingbird Hawk-moth which on 3 occasions was seen warming up in the grounds of St Andrew's Church
Other things of interest were an Emperor Dragonfly and a stubby-tailed Wall Lizard, both seen in the Church Grounds.
Here are a few images and videos from today:
The grounds of St Andrew's Church, where it was fairly sheltered from Storm Francis.
Just the one Wall Lizard seen in the grounds. Looks like it's recovering from a mis-hap with its original tail.
A Speckled Wood
I least got a close-up of it and a............
.......side-view.
A Dead Head Hoverfly
Who else but Ted doing a bit of mountaineering.
A very stormy beach with some.............
.............pretty high waves.
I think you get a good feel to how strong the wind was today. Even Ted had enough.
The Cuttings Quarry where there was a fair bit of shelter and a few.........
.........Chalk Hill Blues. This is a very worn male which was seen a few seconds later mating with a female.
Ted's pit stop
And a chance of a paddle. I have no idea why he does that!!!
Good Lad.
Birds Recorded: Cormorant, Kestrel, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, 1 Swallow, Great Tit, Wren, Magpie and Carrion Crow
Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)
Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded: Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator)
Butterflies Recorded: Large White, Small White, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Common Blue and Chalk Hill Blue
Moths Recorded: 1 Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) and White-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
Wasps Recorded: Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) and Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)
Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded: Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator)
Butterflies Recorded: Large White, Small White, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Common Blue and Chalk Hill Blue
Moths Recorded: 1 Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) and White-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
Wasps Recorded: Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea) and Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
Ships Today
On the horizon is one of the passenger ships leaving Weymouth Bay during Storm Francis.
It is the Maltese Passenger Ship "Marella Explorer". More on this vessel Here.
Note: And as a follow up to my disappointment in seeing destruction of parts of Wakeham Meadow and Old Quarry Lane, I was sent a link which just about sums up what many a naturalist has had to endure over the years. Click Here for a link to a very interesting reflection on lost habitat narrated by Helen MacDonald.