Well my walk started off with wall to wall cloud, but by the time I had reached halfway, the sun was out and there was hardly a cloud to be seen.
The only migrants seen on my walk were Meadow Pipits, with a slow trickle heading north. In fact even this afternoon, that trickle continued.
Elsewhere it looks like the Long-tailed Tits have finished building their nest at the cove, and now it will be a long wait until the youngsters hopefully hatch.
There were a lot more invertebrates out today and unsurprisingly there were quiet a few Wall Lizards and even a couple of Common Lizards out as well. The latter seen on Penn's Weare.
Just two species of butterfly seen, a Small White in the church grounds, 2 Peacocks at the cove and 3 more Peacocks along the Mermaid Track.
With the Blackthorn now flowering there is definite rise in bee numbers. A majority on my walk were Honey Bees, but there were also a few Buff-tailed Bumblebees, White-tailed Bumblebees, Early Bumblebee and if I have this correct a Grey-patched Mining Bee. The latter my first for the year
Just 4 species of hoverfly seen. There were several Common Droneflies, Marmalade Hoverflies, Spotted Meliscaeva and a Syrphus torvus.
Another first for the year was a "miniature" Dark-edged Bee-fly, on the track along the the south facing cliff at the cove.
Here are a few images and a video from today:
One of the local Sparrowhawks over Penn's Weare.
And as the sun came out, so did several.........
...........Wall Lizards.
The two above were in the church grounds and this one by Rufus Castle
A Honey Bee
One of many Buff-tailed Bumblebees out now.
And the hoverfly Eristalis tenax (Common Dronefly)
Another hoverfly, this time a Spotted Meliscaeva (Meliscaeva auricollis)
Nice calm waters at the cove and Ted seems to be enjoying himself.
However he nearly got caught out.
Birds Recorded: 1 Cormorant, 1 Sparrowhawk, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Wood Pigeon, Meadow Pipit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, 1 Raven, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch
Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard and Common Lizard
Butterflies Recorded: 1 Small White, 5 Peacock
Butterflies Recorded: 1 Small White, 5 Peacock
Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) and Grey-patched Mining Bee (Andrena nitida)
Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax), Spotted Meliscaeva (Meliscaeva auricollis) and a Syrphus torvus
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Kelp Fly (Coelopa frigida) and a Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major)
Having picked up this ship through my binoculars, I was half expecting to see a Royal Fleet Auxiliary Vessel, instead I got the British Aircraft Carrier "HMS Prince of Wales". According Marine Traffic it is moored up in Portsmouth Harbour. More on this vessel Here.
There were also 2 aircraft overhead. I'm now wondering whether they were part of "HMS Prince of Wales" manoeuvres.
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Kelp Fly (Coelopa frigida) and a Dark-edged Bee-fly (Bombylius major)
Ships Today
This is the British Offshore Supply Ship "Ocean Osprey" out on Fishery Patrol. More on this vessel Here.
NB: Thank you to my good friend Ed Wilson who informed me that the aircraft I saw, are from a dozen or so Falcon 10s operated by now what is called Draken Leasing, which is the new name for what used to be Cobham Leasing, before that FR Aviation and before that Flight Refuelling all operating out of Hurn. All are fitted with various electronic gadgetry to cooperate on military training by jamming and / or as 'threats'