Port and Wey: 11 Jun 22

Old Quarry Lane and Wakeham Meadow

Back again to the meadow. It's a short walk, and just right for Ted in this warm sunny weather we're having at the moment. Also, on longer walks I tend to miss an awful lot, and this particular walk this afternoon was pretty good actually with a new damselfly to add the meadow list and in fact for my Portland List.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
1 Stock Dove
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Blackbird
1 Common Whitethroat
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

The humble House Sparrow, doing quite well on Portland, but rapidly disappearing in other parts of the UK. One place they have suffered badly is London, where you will be lucky to see one, let alone hear one. I had thought it was down to Carbon Monoxide poisoning especially with some many vehicles in the Capital. But apparently not, it's actually a mosquito-borne disease called avian malaria, and for some reason is more prevalent in House Sparrows than other bird species.

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

This is a male Common Blue Damselfly and...........

..........incredibly its' not only my first one in Wakeham Meadow...............

............but my first one on Portland.

Butterflies Recorded:
Large White
Speckled Wood
Meadow Brown
Common Blue

Lots of Speckled Woods about.

And there were certainly more Meadow Browns as well, with many just emerging.

Just a few Common Blues seen

Moths Recorded:
#1 - Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

#2 - moth sp.

#3 - Common Nettle-tap moth (Anthophila fabriciana)

#1 - Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

#1 - moth sp.

#1 - moth sp.

#3 - Common Nettle-tap moth (Anthophila fabriciana)

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

Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)

Ichneumon Wasps Recorded:
#1 - Ichneumon sp.

#2 - Ichneumon sp.

#1 - Ichneumon sp.

#2 - Ichneumon sp.

Hoverflies Recorded:
#1 - Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
#2 - Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

#3 - Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris) - form narcissi

#1 - Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

#1 - Marmalade Hoverfly. Another attempt to capture one in flight.

#2 - Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

#3 - Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris) - form narcissi

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:

#1 - Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)

#2 - fly sp.

#1 - Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)

#2 - fly sp. As flies go this is a very iridescent species. Try as I have though, I am really struggling to ID this fly. I've not given up yet!!

Sawflies Recorded:

Bramble Sawfly (Arge cyanocrocea)