12 Sep 22

Bumpers Lane, Broadcroft Pools, Broadcroft Quarry Lane and Lower Horse Paddock

I was my intention to go kayaking this afternoon, but then that would have meant Ted missing out on a daytime walk. I'm not a big fan of night walking, so it was off to the lanes to see what was about.

I'm so glad I did, as I came across my third Ortolan Bunting on Portland since I saw my first two on 4 Sep 18 at Fancy's farm Here.

Also heard was a Bee-eater at around 3:15pm and then later at 5:30pm when I was sat at home, with the front window open.

Other birds of interest were House Martin, Swallow, a Grey Wagtail, 2 Yellow Wagtail, 1 Blackcap and 4 Chiffchaff

Birds Recorded:
1 Buzzard

Herring Gull

Wood Pigeon

1/2 Bee-eater (heard)

House Martin

Swallow

1 Pied Wagtail

1 Grey Wagtail

2 Yellow Wagtail

Dunnock

Robin

Blackbird

1 Blackcap

4 Chiffchaff

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Wren

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Jackdaw

Starling

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Linnet

Goldfinch

1 Ortolan Bunting

A pretty awful photo of a male Blackcap, but.......

...........to the right of it was this Ortolan Bunting.

I heard it first and was really confused by its call, which was a cross between a Great Spotted Woodpecker and House Sparrow. In fact in the top photo there were several House Sparrows, but this call was different!!

Here is a short video of it calling before it flew off.

Courtesy of xeno-canto here is a very good example of how it sounded. It's a bit more defined than the calls it was making in my video.

Butterflies Recorded:
3 Large White
3 Speckled Wood
4 Small Heath
4 Meadow Brown
10+ Red Admiral
2 Painted Lady
2 Common Blue

A Speckled Wood

Small Heath

Meadow Brown

One of the ten plus Red Admirals on the Buddleia along Broadcroft Quarry Lane

Also on the Buddleia were two Painted Lady's

A female Common Blue with her wings closed and........

.......then open

And the same here, a male Common Blue with its wings closed and then......

........open. That is some vivid blue. Which reminds me I didn't see a single Adonis Blue this year

Moths Recorded:
100+ Rush Veneer (Nomophila noctuella)

There were even more Rush Veneers around today. Everywhere I walked, especially around Broadcroft Pools, there were a good 4 or 5 rising with my every step.

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

A Common Carder Bumblebee on a flowering Buddleia

Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)


Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Tapered Dronefly (Eristalis pertinax)
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)


Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)
Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)

Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)

Lacewings and Scorpionflies Recorded:
lacewing sp.


Spiders Recorded:
Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)

Its that time of year for your spiders. This is a Garden Spider with a snack waiting its web.

Plants:

"Pink Candy" Hebe (Hebe carnosula)

"Pink Candy" Hebe. Apparently very good for bees, butterflies and moths. Sad thing was, there weren't any to be seen!!

General Shots:

Broadcroft Quarry Lane, which I ought to be renamed "Quiet Lane", especially now that it has been blocked off for Quarry Traffic. This lane is a pretty good area for Autumn Migrants, as they head south down the island. Special birds of note I have seen here since Autumn of 2017 have been: Wryneck, Radde's Warbler, Pallas's Warbler, Yellow-browed Warbler and Firecrest. Plus the Ortolan Bunting today.

Ted:

Ted licking his lips after having a treat. Well, if hadn't taken him for a walk this afternoon, I would have missed out big time on the Ortolan Bunting and Bee-eater.