10 Jul 23

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Church Ope Cove, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle, The Cuttings Quarry and Bumpers Lane

At long last a decent walk to the cove and back. Though on a couple of occasions it was touch and go with the weather, as every now and then there was a light fall of rain, which fortunately didn't materialise into anything heavier.

There were some really good highlights, on a walk which I know Ted thoroughly enjoyed after three days of convalescing at home after his ordeal with grass seeds in both his ears.

The two main highlights were my first Long-legged Tabby moth (Synaphe punctalis) and possibly several Golden-moustached Fly Fox wasps (Ectemnius cavifrons)

Birds Recorded:
2 Kestrel
Herring Gull
3 Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
4 Swift
5 Swallow
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird

1 Common Whitethroat
1 Blackcap
2 Chiffchaff
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

Here are a pair of Kestrels hunting......

............over Penns Weare. This is the male with the female above.

I could hear a Common Whitethroat above the Cuttings Quarry and just managed a shot of it with a big fat caterpillar for youngsters no doubt.

In Penns Wood was this interesting male Blackcap singing away. It kept adding other bird songs to its repertoire. The first bird was a Song Thrush, which I unfortunately wasn't able to record, but near the end of this recording it had a few Nightingale notes in its song.

Reptiles Recorded:
Wall Lizard
Common Lizard
Slow-worm

A Wall Lizard in amongst the Brambles.

And two of the three Slow-worms under one of the tin sheets along my walk. When I actually walked towards the sheet, there was a Common Lizard sat on it.

Butterflies Recorded:
Large White
Meadow Brown
Gatekeeper
Marbled White
Small Blue
Silver-studded Blue
Common Blue
Adonis Blue
Chalk Hill Blue

A Large White that just wouldn't settle

A very tired looking Meadow Brown

And this is a slightly better looking Gatekeeper with a tear in its wing.

It was fairly windy, so the Marbled Whites were hunkered down in sheltered spots.

A Small Blue

And several Common Blues

Here is another Common Blue

And one more.

Moths Recorded:

Long-legged Tabby (Synaphe punctalis)

In the Cuttings Quarry I came across this Long-legged Tabby (Synaphe punctalis). My first ever and another one for my Portland Moth List

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.

A worker Red-tailed Bumblebee

And a male Red-tailed Bumblebee

A Common Carder just leaving the flower of a Large Bindweed (Calystegia silvatica)

#1 - And my first........

#1 - mystery bee!

#2 - And my second mystery bee. Side view.

#2 - rear view

#2 - in flight head on view.

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

Golden-moustached Fly Fox (Ectemnius cavifrons) - Possibly

If you go down to the woods today (Penns Wood that is), there is this log which.........

......has lots of holes in it.

One visitor was this Common Wasp. But these holes don't belong to this species, but.....

.................to these very small but.......

..........possible Golden-moustached Fly Fox's (Ectemnius cavifrons). 

Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
Wasp Plumehorn (Volucella inanis)

A Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

And a Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

And a Wasp Plumehorn (Volucella inanis)

As above

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:

#1 - fly sp.

#1 - fly sp.

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)
Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

This has been a bad year so far for 7-spot Ladybirds. I don't think I'm even into double figures yet.

A Bloody-nosed Beetle trundling along the path

A female Swollen-thighed Beetle

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

A Meadow Grasshopper in about the same area I............

.............found this pink form in August 2018.

Ants Recorded:
Small Black Ant (Lasius niger)

A Small Black Ants nest

Plants:
Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)
Wild Marjoram (Origanum vulgare)
Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)
Common Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris)

There are still a few Pyramidal Orchid about.

This is Wild Marjoram

The tall plants at the back are Hemp Agrimony. Also known as 'Raspberries and Cream'.

Common Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris).........

.............also known as Yellow Toadflax and Butter-and-eggs

Portland Russets

General Shots:

A very green and lush Penns Wood as is.......

...........the Pirates Graveyard (St Andrews Church)

Ted:

A very happy Ted.

Ships Today:

This is the British General Cargo Ship "Conformity" on its way from Liverpool and Immingham. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Sailing Vessel "Ocean Strider" on its way from Dartmouth to Portland Harbour. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Sailing Vessel "Ossian Warrior" on its way from Dartmouth to Portland Harbour. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Royal Navy Patrol Boat "HMS Puncher (P291)" just off Portland's east coast. More on this vessel Here and Here.