As I was up at the north end of the island this afternoon and having seen a report of a good number of Grayling about, it seemed a shame not to have a look for some in Tout Quarry. And it proved successful with 3 seen. The real highlight though was finding a Speckled Yellow. Not a butterfly but a dayflying moth.
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Robin, Common Whitethroat, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Raven, Linnet and Goldfinch
Butterflies Recorded:
Small Skipper, Large Skipper, Large White, Small Heath, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Marbled White, Grayling and Silver-studded Blue.
Small Skipper
A Large Skipper
And my first Small Heath of the year
A Meadow Brown
Marbled White
And my first Grayling of the year
I was going through all the British "blue" butterflies to ID this one and then realised it is a female Silver-studded Blue.
And here is the male
As above but a different angle.
And here he is again in slow-motion
Moths Recorded:
Speckled Yellow (Pseudopanthera macularia), Wavy-barred Sable (Pyrausta nigrata), 2 Six-spot Burnet Moths (Zygaena filipendulae) and a Meadow Grey (Scoparia pyralella)
Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) and Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva), Miridae
Plants:
Scenic Shot:
Ships Today:
A Speckled Yellow. First impression was that it was......
.......a weird looking butterfly. But it is definitely a moth and my first ever.
I hope I've got this right as a Wavy-barred Sable (Pyrausta nigrata)
Meadow Grey (Scoparia pyralella)
Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum) and Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum) and Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
A male Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) and Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva), Miridae
Plants:
Common Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria). Also known as Church Steeples or Sticklewort
Photo of Chesil Beach taken from above West Weare's
Ted:
What's that coming over the hill. Sounds like the lyrics to a well-known song released in 2005. But Ted's no monster.
Ships Today:
I'm not 100% sure but I think this is the British yacht "Cheeky Monkey" on its way from Portland to an unknown destination: More on this vessel Here.