Port and Wey: 26 Aug 22

Bumpers Lane, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Upper Horse Paddock and Lower Horse Paddock

A late morning walk around the lanes, butterfly reserve and horse paddocks, produced just two Willow Warblers. However it was a pretty good walk with 3 Cormorants heading west over Wakeham, a fly-by Clouded Yellow butterfly and two Hummingbird Hawk-moths.

Only unusual sighting was a "mini" wasp in Broadcroft Quarry Lane.

Birds Recorded:
3 Cormorant
Buzzard
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
House Martin
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
2 Willow Warbler
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Linnet
Goldfinch

Three Cormorants cut across Portland from east to west over Wakeham.

One of the local Buzzards circling over the Lower Paddock

One of many Carrion Crows in the Upper Horse paddock

For a split second I thought I had come across a Spotted Flycatcher in the dead branches of this Cypress. Unfortunately not, it's a juvenile Goldfinch.

Escapees Recorded:
Fife Canary

In the same Cypress, which is in the Lower Horse paddock, was the escaped......

............Fife Canary. It seems to be following the Goldfinches around.

Butterflies Recorded:
8 Large White
3 Small White
1 Clouded Yellow
2 Speckled Wood
2 Small Heath

4 Meadow Brown
4 Common Blue

A Speckled Wood

And a Small Heath

This is a Meadow Brown.

And there were a handful of......

............Common Blues about.

Moths Recorded:
2 Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)

This Hummingbird Hawk-moth was in............

...........the Butterfly Reserve.

Whilst this one was resting up on the......

.............Brambles in the Lower Horse paddock.

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

This unusual bumblebee was in the Butterfly reserve. It was fairly large and quite long.

Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
1 wasp sp.

A Common Wasp.

I'm not sure what this wasp is though.

This is probably the best shot I managed of this very small wasp.

And a couple more.....

.........photos of it. If I had to compare it with anything I would say it was half the size of a Common Wasp. Perhaps that is what it is!!!

Hoverflies Recorded:
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)