Port and Wey: 5 May 22

Portland Castle

Today I christened the Kayak Dawn bought me for my 65th birthday, and I'm pleased to say that, one I didn't fall out of it, two I managed to manoeuvre around Portland Harbour like a real pro 😂 and three I made it back to the beach safe and sound.

Here are a few images from the kayak.

Looking across Portland Harbour towards Ferrybridge and Chesil Beach

A Wheatear on the Portland Marina Breakwater

Believe it or not, but this was our old............

............Tamar 2000 boat "Star", now reregistered as "Ariah Rose". I thought it was bad luck to change the name of a boat!!

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Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadow, Easton Railway Cuttings and Wakeham Railway Cuttings

It's not often I'm up early, but today I managed an early morning walk around the lane, meadows and railway cuttings opposite the cottage.

And what a morning it was, with the following warblers all recorded: 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler, 3 Sedge Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 3 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap and a Chiffchaff. The only one missing was a Willow Warbler.

Just to add this is the third Grasshopper Warbler I have seen and heard over the past 4 days.

I'm not being greedy, but a few other birds wouldn't go amiss for my year list, such as Spotted Flycatcher and Tree Pipit. As for "scarcer" birds, the likes of Turtle Dove, Hoopoe, European Bee-eater, Bluethroat, Woodchat Shrike, Golden Oriole, Rosy Starling and even Tree Sparrow, would be very welcome ticks in the box.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Grasshopper Warbler
2 Reed Warbler
3 Sedge Warbler
1 Garden Warbler
3 Common Whitethroat
1 Lesser Whitethroat
2 Blackcap
1 Chiffchaff
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

This is really odd, but all the Grasshopper Warblers I have recorded "reeling", of which some were very loud indeed, on playback you can barely hear them. This individual is just audible.

Here are a couple of........

.......Sedge Warbler photos from the meadow and a...........

..............very short video of one of them.

One of the 3 male Common Whitethroats on lookout.

A female Common Whitethroat. This one was in the Easton Railway Cutting.

And another female, this time in the meadow, which sadly will be another concrete jungle in the not too distant future.

A very vocal Lesser Whitethroat in the Wakeham Railway Cuttings

They certainly do "rattle". In the background is a Chiffchaff "Chiff Chaffing" and a male Blackcap singing.

And the male Blackcaps are certainly in good voice as well.

Here's a short video of this male singing from Old Quarry Lane

Butterflies Recorded:
4 Large White
3 Small White
3 Green-veined White
1 Wall Brown
1 Small Copper
1 Small Blue
1 Common Blue

A Green-veined White

A Wall Brown along Wakeham Railway Cuttings.

A Small Copper in the meadow.

A Small Blue in Easton Railway Cuttings. I also came across a Common Blue, which evaded the camera.

Moths Recorded:

Green-longhorn Moth (Adela reaumurella)

My first Green-longhorn Moth of the year.

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)

Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)

Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Spring Epistrophe (Epistrophe eligans)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)
Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetle (Ischnomera cyanea)