26 Mar 23

Pennsylvania Castle Woods, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus castle, The Cuttings and Bumpers Lane

For one horrible moment I thought Ted and I were in for a soaking as a huge black cloud followed us down to Penns Wood this afternoon. Fortunately it just passed us and was last seen topping up the English Channel.

After that near miss the sun remained out for the rest of our walk and it turned out to be a bit of Chiffchaff day, with at least a dozen seen and heard.

Despite the sunny conditions I didn't see a single butterfly, but there were plenty of bees, hoverflies and another Common Wasp.

Birds Recorded:
Cormorant
1 Buzzard
1 Kestrel
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
1 Rock Pipit
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
12 Chiffchaff
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
2 Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

A female Kestrel in Bumpers Lane Quarry

One of many Robins singing their hearts out.

Spot the well camouflaged Rock Pipit  amongst the pebbles on the beach (Centre of image)

There were Chiffchaffs everywhere. This one........

..........was catching insects in this Wild Cherry Tree

I saw at least 12 and this.......

.........individual was.........

...........singing in tree opposite the cottage, next to a very busy and noisy road.

Reptiles Recorded:
Wall Lizard

A pair of Wall Lizards

Bees Recorded:
Yellow-legged Mining-bee (Andrena flavipes)
Chocolate Mining Bee (Andrena scotica)

Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

A Yellow-legged Mining-bee (Andrena flavipes) and my......

...........first this year.

And another shot of Yellow-legged Mining-bee on an Alexanders.

Chocolate Mining Bee

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

Yet another Common Wasp. Judging by its large size I suspect it is a queen

Hoverflies Recorded:
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Eupeodes sp.
Hairy-eyed Flower Fly (Syrphus torvus)

There were lots of hoverflies about today like this Common Dronefly and.........

One of the Eupeodes family maybe

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Kelp Fly (Coelopa frigida)


General Shots:

Penns Wood with a green carpet of Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x uplandicum) which is a cross or hybrid of Common Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) and Rough Comfrey (Symphytum asperum)

From Penns Weare looking south at the British fishing boats "Rampant" and "Loyal Friend"

Ted:

Ted seemed a lot happier today, without the rain spoiling his walk.

Ships Today:

This is the Portuguese General Cargo ship "Bravewind" on its way from Southampton to Belfast. More on this vessel Here.

Sister ships passing each other just off the tip of Portland. On the left is the Lithuanian Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship "Optima Seaways" on its way from Dunkirk to Rosslare (Ireland). and on the right, heading east, is the Lithuanian Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship "Regina Seaways" on its way from Rosslare (Ireland) to Dunkirk. More on"Optima Seaways" Here. And more on "Regina Seaways" Here.

I think this is the British Sailing vessel "Blue Extasy" on its way from Poole to an unknown destination. More on this vessel Here.

This is the Oil/Chemical Tanker "Chem Amsterdam" flying the flag of the Marshall Islands. It is on its way from Port Richmond (Pennsylvania - USA) to Antwerp (Belgium) via Weymouth Bay. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Fishing Boat PH 37 "Loyal Friend" in Church Ope Cove. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Fishing Boat WH148 "Rampant", just south of Church Ope Cove. There is no info on this vessel, but there are a couple of photos of it in Weymouth Harbour Here and Here.