Old Quarry Lane and Wakeham Meadow
It was another early walk for me and Ted, before the sun really heated things up. It wasn't much different than yesterday's walk, but I did come across 2 Chalkhill Blues today.
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Blackbird
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
House Sparrow
Linnet
Goldfinch
It was another early walk for me and Ted, before the sun really heated things up. It wasn't much different than yesterday's walk, but I did come across 2 Chalkhill Blues today.
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Blackbird
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
House Sparrow
Linnet
Goldfinch
This Collard Dove has the right idea and is sat in the shade of a Sycamore Tree.
Small Skipper
Large White
Small White
Speckled Wood
Ringlet
Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
2 Common Blue
2 Chalk Hill Blue
Speckled Wood
Gatekeeper
A very worn Common Blue
A Chalkhill Blue
Moths Recorded:
Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae)
A Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae) on Knapweed
Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
A Red-tailed Bumblebee
Ichneumon sp.
An Ichneumon sp
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Mimic Bee Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Grass Fly (Thaumatomyia notata)
Lesser Golden Knapweed Fly (Chaetorellia jaceae)
Grass Fly (Thaumatomyia notata)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
A Common Red Soldier Beetle on Old Man's Beard (Clematis vitalba)
And a female Swollen-thighed Beetle
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)
A Meadow Grasshopper.
lacewing sp.
A lacewing sp.
Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus)
Lesser Burdock which is just starting to flower and attracting quite a few insects.
It makes a huge difference when we go for a morning walk. Ted has more energy and enjoys a good run.
--------------------------------------------------
Chickerell
And this afternoon I had an unplanned walk in the countryside just north of Chickerell village. I say unplanned, I had dropped Dawn and David off at St Mary's Church in Chickerell village for their friend's wedding, and I was going to head off to Bennetts Watergardens for an hour or so, before coming back to take them to the reception.
However it transpired that the Watergardens are only open Sundays to Fridays. So instead I parked up close to church and did a mile and a half walk around the local fields.
My 1½ mile walk around the local fields north of Chickerell Here.
Main highlight of the walk was coming across a wasp nest. However it was only when I got home and started editing the images that I realised the occupants were Tree Wasps and a very aggressive wasp by all accounts.
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
2 Swift
1 Skylark
5 House Martin
Swallow
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Song Thrush
2 Blackcap
3 Chiffchaff
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Rook
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Bullfinch
Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
1 Emperor Dragonfly
1 Migrant Hawker
I'm 99% sure this is a female Migrant Hawker.
Small Skipper
Lulworth Skipper
Large Skipper
Large White
Small White
Speckled Wood
Ringlet
Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
Marbled White
1 Red Admiral
4 Peacock
1 Comma
2 Common Blue
2 Chalk Hill Blue
There were many Skippers seen and a few photographed. I still need to sort them out as they are not the easiest of butterflies to ID. The bottom photo of course is a Comma.
A Comma.
Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)
Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
A male Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
A White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) on a Teasel
Tree Wasps (Dolichovespula sylvestris)
Tree Wasps around their nest in a hedgerow.
And there's lots of toing and froing
Here's one on its way out of the nest.
And its getting pretty close!!!
Hoverflies Recorded:
Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)
Pied Hoverfly (Scaeva pyrastri)
Stripe-winged Dronefly (Eristalis horticola)!!
Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)
Pied Hoverfly (Scaeva pyrastri)
Glad to be corrected but I'm pretty sure this is a Stripe-winged Dronefly (Eristalis horticola)
Red Spotted Parasite Fly (Eriothrix rufomaculata)
Red Spotted Parasite Fly (Eriothrix rufomaculata)
And another Red Spotted Parasite Fly
Common Red Soldier Beetles (Rhagonycha fulva)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Common Green Grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus)
A Common Green Grasshopper
General Shots:
Looking north across the wheat fields
In the distance Hardy Monument
And zooming in, its a lot easier to see. More on the monument Here.