6 Jun 23

Old Hill, New Ground and King Barrow Quarries Nature Reserve

There's nothing like a change of scenery, and this one was where Ted could enjoy a good walk with a bit of shade, from the sun.

There were a few warblers noted, with 3 Common Whitethroat, a Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap and 2 Chiffchaffs all singing.

Also seen was a distressed pair of Stonechats on New Ground, where a Magpie was desperately trying to predate their nest. Lets hope it couldn't find it.

Yet again there very few insects about, apart from hundreds of flies of several different species. Other than that, there were just singles of hoverfly, a few bees, several Pot Beetles and an Emperor Dragonfly.

As for butterflies all I recorded were 4 Speckled Woods.

Birds Recorded:
1 Pheasant
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
2 Swallow
Pied Wagtail
2 Stonechat
Blackbird
3 Common Whitethroat
1 Lesser Whitethroat
1 Blackcap
2 Chiffchaff
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

This Pheasant was a bird I wasn't expecting to see on my walk. It was quite wary as I was only 5 metres away from it. I suspect its mate was on a nest close-by.

This male Stonechat and his.........

............mate were very distressed, as this......

..............Magpie was looking for their nest to predate. Whether it found the nest, I'm not sure as it flew off when it saw me.

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
1 Emperor Dragonfly


Butterflies Recorded:
4 Speckled Wood

The only butterfly species I came across today were Speckled Woods. This one is about to be "spooked" by a bee sp. flying in from the right.

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)

Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

bee sp.


Hoverflies Recorded:
1 Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

A Dead Head Hoverfly. The only hoverfly seen on my walk!!

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
7+ Pot Beetle (Cryptocephalus aureolus)

A pair of Pot Beetles in what appears to be their favourite flower, a Common Hawkweed.

Caterpillars Recorded:
Small Eggar (Eriogaster lanestris)

Small Eggar caterpillars

Plants:
30+ Bee Orchids  (Ophrys apifera)
Hop Trefoil (Trifolium campestre)

Lots of Bee Orchids on New Ground.

Here's a close up of that amazing flower head.

And it appears that this is my..........

..............first Hop Trefoil (Trifolium campestre) on Portland

Sycamore and its translucent leaves

General Shots:

Old Hill and the path that bisects the Sycamore wood as you head towards the Verne.

And the view from Old Hill looking towards Chesil Beach

Ted:

Bye then Ted!!

Ships Today:

This is the Panamanian Vehicles Carrier "Malacca Highway" on its way from Zeebrugge to Dublin. More on this vessel Here.

This is the Saudi Arabian Crude Oil Tanker "Dilam" on its way from Sidi Kerir (Egypt) to Rotterdam. More on this vessel Here.


Aircraft Today:

This is the Cessna 182S Skylane, registration G-MICI, doing a circuit over Portland. More Here,  Here and Here.