It was a scorcher of a day, and thank goodness there was north-westerly breeze, just to cool things down a bit.
Main highlight was the sheer numbers of Marmalade Hoverflies. There must be millions of them on Portland and most likely along the South Coast. If they weren't on the umbellifers they were on the Ox-eye Daisies, Buddleia or any other flower they could find. On Social Media people were saying there hundreds of "flies" flying about. Now we know what they are!!
Mammals Recorded:
Bunny
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
3 Swift
Pied Wagtail
Dunnock
Blackbird
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
A male Linnet on the butterfly reserve
Butterflies Recorded:
Small Skipper
Large White
Ringlet
Meadow Brown
Marbled White
There are still plenty of Marbled White butterflies on the wing.
Moths Recorded:
1 - Two Silver Y (Autographa gamma)
2 - A worn Downland Conch (Aethes tesserana)
1 - A Silver Y (Autographa gamma)
2 - A worn Downland Conch (Aethes tesserana)
2 - As above
Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Pied Hoverfly (Scaeva pyrastri)
Syrphus sp.
4 Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) and a Syrphus sp.
5 Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), a Pied Hoverfly (Scaeva pyrastri) and a fly sp.
Flies sp.
A few unidentified flies and a Marmalade Hoverfly
Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva)
Plants:
Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)
Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)
Common Centaury (Centaurium erythraea)
Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)
I think Ted wants me to get a shift on. It was pretty warm out there.
Ships Today:
