28 Jun 22

Out and about

Three weeks on and it was another trip to Bodenham Hospital, for Dawn's appointment with her surgeon, who this time wanted to tell her what he was going to do next with her shoulder. This appointment was fairly short, so I decided to drive down to the lay-by next to the River Avon Here for a short walk with Ted.

Main highlights on this visit were a Little Grebe, 5 Egyptian Geese (2 adults/3 goslings) and a Kingfisher

Birds Recorded on and around the River Avon:
1 Little Grebe
9 Canada Goose
5 Egyptian Goose
1 Sparrowhawk
2 Moorhen
Wood Pigeon
1 Kingfisher
1 Green Woodpecker
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Song Thrush
Blackcap
4 Chiffchaff
Goldcrest
Long-tailed Tit
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

Six of the nine Canada Geese making their way up river.

And a family of Egyptian Geese.

I heard it three time and managed a "snap" shot of this Kingfisher. Yep its the blue blob in the circle!!

One of at least 3 juvenile Robins in the lane.

And a bit further up the lane was this male Blackcap.

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens)

Still plenty of male Banded Demoiselles along the river bank, plus a.......

.........female.

Butterflies Recorded:
2 Large White
1 Speckled Wood
3 Meadow Brown
1 Marbled White

It was so windy, I think I was lucky to get any sort of butterfly photo. This is a Marbled White.

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

Just the one Garden Grass-veneer seen

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)

Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum) - Hit the Windscreen

A Common Carder Bumblebee, a millisecond before it hit the windscreen. Captured on my Dash-cam.

Hoverflies Recorded:
The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)

Common Banded Hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii)

The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)

This is a female Common Banded Hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii) and is very similar to a Glass-winged Syrphus (Syrphus vitripennis). The main difference is that the hind femur (top part of leg) is yellow rather than black with the female Common Banded Hoverfly .

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Semaphore Fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus)

A male Semaphore Fly (Poecilobothrus nobilitatus)

Froghoppers Recorded:
Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)

A Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)

Plants:

Common Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis)

Monkeyflower (Erythranthe guttata)

Common Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus aquatilis). More on this plant Here.

Monkeyflower (Erythranthe guttata)

And a closeup of the flowers. More on this plant Here.

General Shots:

The River Avon

Ted:

It wasn't a long walk today and I'm pretty sure Ted enjoyed it. Its not much fun having long walks in the sun.

Other birds recorded on our drive there and back:
4 Red Kite
1 Kestrel
Pheasant

Oystercatcher
Black-headed Gull

Mediterranean Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Little Tern
Common Tern
Collared Dove
2 Swift
Skylark
House Martin
Swallow
Pied Wagtail
3 Common Whitethroat
1 Spotted Flycatcher
Rook
Starling
House Sparrow
Linnet
Greenfinch
Corn Bunting
Yellowhammer

Today's total was 51 species