12 Oct 21

Old Quarry Lane and Wakeham Meadow

It was just a quick walk today as I had to be in Weymouth by lunchtime. The weather is still pretty good, with plenty of sunshine, though there is a noticeable drop in the temperature.

Highlights today, were along the lane again with 4 Blackcap and 8 Chiffchaff following a small flock of Long-tailed Tits. However there were no Goldcrests or Siskins seen or heard.

There was also no show of any Red Admirals, but at least there were a few Speckled Woods about and a lone Small Copper.

On the Ivy were plenty of Ivy Bees, Common Droneflies and quite a few other hoverflies which need ID'ing.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
4 Blackcap
8 Chiffchaff
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Greenfinch

Still quite a few Chiffchaffs in the Sycamore trees along Old Quarry Lane.

Not a brilliant photo I know, it was more about showing that the Chiffchaffs are feeding well.

If you find a flock of Long-tailed Tits, there will most likely be other birds tagging along.

A Greenfinch possibly a female or a juvenile.

Butterflies Recorded:
Large White
Small White
Speckled Wood
Small Copper

A Speckled Wood

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae)

My first thought was that this was a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, until it turned around.

I'm pretty sure this is a Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum), a bee I haven't seen for quite awhile.

And of course my favourite bee, the Ivy Bee

Here is another Ivy Bee having a "brush up" before flying off to collect more pollen.

Wasps Recorded:
wasp sp

A wasp sp.

Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)
Thick-legged hoverfly (Syritta pipiens)
hoverflies sp.

Marmalade Hoverfly

Common Dronefly

Hornet Plumehorn

Thick-legged hoverfly

hoverfly sp.

hoverfly sp.

hoverfly sp.

hoverfly sp.

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Muscid fly sp

Muscid fly sp

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)
Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)

bug sp.

Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis, form - succinea). More on Harlequins Here.

Common Green Shieldbug

Initially I thought this was a fly, up until I started to edit the photo and realised it looks more like a Miridae or something similar.

Ted:

He's there somewhere.

And by the looks of it he's non to happy that today's walk was a short one. He's certainly going to be disappointed tomorrow, as he has a visit to the Dentist for most of the day.