12 May 23

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadow, Perryfield Quarry Butterfly Reserve, Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle, The Cuttings Quarry, Bumpers Lane and Lower Horse Paddock

It was another warm day and so it was a case of making the most of it, before the forecasted rain arrived. Main highlight today was a Hobby which passed over my head along Bumpers Lane.

However the best highlight was the one I missed and that was a Moltoni's Warbler, trapped at the Portland Bird Observatory around midday. The Moltoni's in the hand pic.twitter.com/gi44jXej9y

Birds Recorded:
1 Buzzard

1 Hobby

1 Kestrel

1 Oystercatcher

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

1 Stock Dove

Wood Pigeon

Collared Dove

Dunnock

Robin

Blackbird

2 Common Whitethroat

1 Lesser Whitethroat

2 Blackcap

2 Chiffchaff

Long-tailed Tit

Great Tit

Blue Tit

Wren

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Jackdaw

Starling

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Linnet

Goldfinch

I can see you. 

Oh, it looks like this male Kestrel saw me as well.

A lone Oystercatcher heading north over Church Ope Cove

A Common Whitethroat along Bumpers Lane

And another close to Wakeham Meadow

Reptiles Recorded:
Wall Lizard
Common Lizard

A Wall Lizard minus a chunk of its tail

Butterflies Recorded:
1 skipper sp.
4 Large White
3 Small White
1 Brimstone
1 Wall Brown
1 Speckled Wood
2 Peacock
1 Holly Blue
1 Common Blue

A Wall Brown along Bumpers Lane

One of the two Peacock butterflies at Church Ope Cove

Moths Recorded:
Carnation Tortrix (Cacoecimorpha pronubana)


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

#1 - bee sp.

#2 - bee sp.

1 nomad sp

And a Red-tailed Bumblebee

A Common Carder

#1 - bee sp.

#2 - bee sp.

Hoverflies Recorded:
Spring Epistrophe (Epistrophe eligans)


Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Blue Blowfly (Calliphora vicina)
Muscid Fly (Phaonia subventa)
Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)


Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
1 miridae sp.

A miridae sp.

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Dark Bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)

A Dark Bush-cricket nymph

Spiders Recorded:
Nurseryweb Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

A Nurseryweb Spider

Ants Recorded:
Small Black Ant (Lasius niger)


Froghoppers Recorded:
Common Froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)

Plants:

Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum)

Pale Flax (Linum bienne)

Lambs Lettuce (Valerianella locusta)

Chalk Milkwort (Polygala calcarea) or Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris)

Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)

Borage (Borago officinalis)

Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum)

Pale Flax (Linum bienne) and a.............

...............close-up of the flower.

Lambs Lettuce, also known as Corn Salad

This is a Milkwort and most likely Common Milkwort (Polygala vulgaris). However there are a few others it could be - Heath Milkwort (Polygala serpyllifolia), Chalk Milkwort (Polygala calcarea) or Dwarf Milkwort. Also known as Kentish Milkwort (Polygala amarella)

Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)

Borage (Borago officinalis)

General Shots:

The grounds of St Andrew's Church

Rufus Castle with black clouds forming. Rain is on the way.

Wakeham with the sea at the "bottom" of the road.

Ted:

Lots of Ted's enjoying themselves

Ships Today:

This is the Liberian Container Ship "Independent Horizon" on its way from Southampton to Cork. More on this vessel Here.

This is the Oil/Chemical Tanker "Atlantic Twin", flying the flag of Gibraltar. It is on its way from Rotterdam to Plymouth. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Fishing Boat WH992 "Happy Days", heading up Portland's east coast.

This is the British fishing boat WH296 "Portland Isle" returning to Weymouth Harbour from its fishing grounds just off Portland. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Oil Products Tanker "Raleigh Fisher" anchored up in Weymouth Bay. More on this vessel Here.

You are just going to have to take my word for it, but this is the Algerian warship "KBH ", on its way from Poole to Alger (Algeria). More on this vessel Here and Here.