7 Apr 22

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Church Ope Cove Wood, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle and Bumpers Lane

It was another blustery but sunny day and as the wind was blowing in from the west, it was off to Church Ope Cove for a bit of shelter.

Main highlights were 2 Chiffchaffs both at the back of the cove. And that was it for Spring migrants.

Other highlights were a few butterflies seen, after an absence of several days. Today I saw 3 Small Whites and a Comma.

There were however plenty of bees and hoverflies about including a Fabricius' Nomad Bee.


Birds Recorded:
1 Buzzard
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
2 Chiffchaff
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

A Common Buzzard over Pennsylvania Castle Wood.

There are some very sociable Robins along my walk.

The one above was in the grounds of St Andrew's Church and this one at the back of the cove.

And this Magpie was just a few metres above my head at Rufus Castle. At first glance it looks as if its holding a twig.

Reptiles Recorded:
Wall Lizard
Common Lizard

A very colourful male Wall Lizard.

A female Wall Lizard just inches away from my lens.

Butterflies Recorded:
3 Small White
1 Comma

A Comma at the back of the cove.

And another shot of it.

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)
Fabricius' Nomad Bee (Nomada fabriciana)

A Honey Bee

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee 

A Common Carder Bumblebee

An Early Bumblebee

And another Early Bumblebee photo-bombing my shot of a Common Carder Bumblebee on a flowering Borage.

And my first Fabricius' Nomad Bee of the year.

Here is a close-up of it on Portland Spurge (Euphorbia portlandica)

Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

A Common Dronefly

And another Common Dronefly

And my first Tapered Dronefly of the year

A Dead Head Hoverfly

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
Muscid Fly (Phaonia subventa)

There were many flies about today, including quite a few Phaonia subventa (Muscid Flies)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)
Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)

Just the one Bloody-nosed Beetle seen today.

This is a Common Green Shieldbug and first one I can recall actually flying about. This individual was in Pennsylvania Castle Wood, it landed on the path, walked along a few feet and then took off.

Plants:

Borage (Borago officinalis)

Borage in flower and dont the bumblebees know it, with Common Carders and Early Bumblebees buzzing about from flower to flower.

General Shots:

Looking up the track through Pennsylvania Castle Wood, with masses of Russian Comfrey as ground cover and a few trees coming into leaf.

Ted:

Ted having a wander around the Pirates Graveyard.

It was quite warm in the sun, away from the wind that is. Here's Ted keeping cool at the cove.

Ships Today:

This is the Liberian Oil/Chemical Tanker "Didimon" anchored up in Weymouth Bay, having departed Jorf Lasfar (Morocco) on 22 Mar 22. More on this vessel Here.

This is the Japanese Vehicles Carrier "Eternal Ace" on its way from Zeebrugge to Koper (Slovenia). More on this vessel Here.