As it was Dawn's birthday, we decided to have a family walk down to Church Ope Cove and soak up a few rays of sun. The walk was good, but the strong south-westerly really hit us when we arrived at the beach.
Consequently the walk ended up being a bit shorter than we had expected and we opted to head back home.
There were a few highlights with singles of Fulmar, Gannet and Cormorant out to sea. Inland the Lesser Whitethroat is still singing away alongside Wakeham Railway Cuttings and all the Whitethroats and Blackcaps are now in "residence" along this particular walk.
Today saw my first Blue-tailed Damselflies of the year, in the grounds of St Andrew's Church and I also came across the caterpillar of the Brown-tail moth, at the back of the cove.
Birds Recorded:
1 Fulmar
1 Gannet
1 Cormorant
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
4 Common Whitethroat
1 Lesser Whitethroat
2 Blackcap
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
A lone Fulmar passes overhead at the cove.
And a Cormorant fishing just off the beach.
Wall Lizard
A Wall Lizard basking in the sun at Rufus Castle
Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Butterflies Recorded:
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White
Wall Brown
Speckled Wood
Holly Blue
Common Blue
Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
Hoverflies Recorded:
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
A Dead Head Hoverfly on the leaves of a Japanese Spindle in Penns Wood.
The caterpillar of the Brown-tail moth
General Shots:
Ted:
Ted having a buzz in the grounds of the Pirates Graveyard (St Andrew's Church Ruins)
Ted looking a bit more relaxed here.
And chilling out in the shade.