Long may this lovely dry and sunny weather remain, though looking at the 5 day weather forecast, it does look like its going to get extremely cold with snow mid-week onwards. Hopefully the snow won't reach us, but what it might bring is a "fall" of Summer migrants along the South Coast until the weather improves further inland. We shall wait and see.
Today's highlight was a Chiffchaff singing in Penn's Copse and a Harris Hawk which I believe was released by its owner on Portland and is now a daily sight to Portlanders.
A few firsts for the year were a Speckled Wood of the year in Penns Wood and a Slow-worm under one of the metal sheets along my walk,
Birds Recorded:
Harris Hawk (released bird)
Buzzard
Kestrel
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Meadow Pipit
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Chiffchaff (singing)
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
3 Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Here are a few images and videos of the Harris Hawk
A Harris Hawk being mobbed over East Weare's
And here it is again over Rufus Castle
More on Harris Hawks Here and Here
A Common Buzzard which flew by and had a.........
..........look at the Harris Hawk.
And also in the same "air-space" of the Harris Hawk and Buzzard was this Kestrel.
Reptiles Recorded:
Wall Lizard
Slow-worm
It was a good day for Wall Lizards.
They were everywhere, including........
...........a few juveniles.
And my first Slow-worm of the year under one of the metal sheets along my walk.
Butterflies Recorded:
1 Speckled Wood
4 Peacock
1 Comma
Another first for the year, a Speckled Wood in Penns Wood.
Still no sign of any Large Tortoiseshells, but ...........
.........there were quite a few Peacocks about.
Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
Hairy-footed Flower Bee (Anthophora plumipes)
A Honey Bee on an Alexanders.
A Common Carder Bee coming into land on a Russian Comfrey.
And here it is again off to another flower.
Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Just this one Common Wasp seen this afternoon.
Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
Plain-faced Dronefly (Eristalis arbustorum)
Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
Hairy-eyed Flower Fly (Syrphus torvus)
A Common Dronefly
And Dead Head Hoverfly
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Kelp Fly (Coelopa frigida)
fly sp.
I'm not sure which species this is.
But it certainly caught my eye. One to ID later, hopefully.
Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)
Just the one 7-Spot ladybird seen today.
Ants Recorded:
Small Black Ant (Lasius niger)
Plants:
Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x Uplandicum). It is a cross or hybrid of Common Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) and Rough Comfrey (Symphytum asperum)
Pennsylvania Castle Wood with thousands of Russian Comfrey covering the ground
Ted:
Having just seen the Harris Hawk, Ted takes cover.