13 Jul 23

Bumpers Lane, The Cuttings Quarry and The Mermaid Track

Today was pretty windy, but at least it was dry. Main highlight was the number of butterflies I recorded with 13 species found, including 8 Clouded Yellows and a Painted Lady. I also came across my first Ringlet and 2 Chalk Hill Blues for this year, with both species seen along the Mermaid Track.

Birds Recorded:
1 Kestrel
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
Dunnock
Blackbird
1 Song Thrush (singing)
1 Blackcap
2 Chiffchaff (singing)
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
2 Raven
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

One of the two very vocal Ravens over Penns Weare.

Butterflies Recorded:
2 Small Skipper
15+ Large White
5 Small White

1 Green-veined White
8 Clouded Yellow
2 Speckled Wood
1 Ringlet
5 Meadow Brown
10+ Gatekeeper
4 Marbled White
2 Red Admiral
1 Painted Lady
2 Common Blue
2 Chalk Hill Blue

A Small Skipper

A Large White

And a Green-veined White

A very lucky shot of one of the 8 Clouded Yellows I came across on my walk. This individual is a male. More on this butterfly species Here.

A Speckled Wood

A Meadow Brown with one white dot in a black spot.

Unlike this Gatekeeper which.......

............has two white dots in each of its black spots.

A Marbled White

And my first Chalk Hill Blue for this year. This is..........

..........a male. More on this butterfly species Here.

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)

A Honey Bee on a Buddleia, with what looks like a pair of ears coming out of its head.

For one moment then, I thought I'd come across a real oddity.

Here it is again heading off to another flower.

Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

A Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus)
Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

A Dock Bug

And a Common Red Soldier Beetle

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)


Plants:
Old Man’s Beard (Clematis vitalba)

Along Bumpers Lane the Old Man’s Beard is almost at the top of the cliff. It also goes by the name of Travellers’ Joy and Wild Clematis.

Ted:

Just a few Ted's today.

Ships Today:

This is the Lithuanian Ro-Ro/Passenger Ship "Optima Seaways", on its way from Dunkirk to Rosslare. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Sailing Vessel "Cool Blue" on its way from Torquay to Weymouth harbour. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Ro-Ro Cargo Ship "Anvil Point" in Weymouth Bay.

It wasn't until I looked closer, that I realised it was being followed by......

..........three RIBS. It appears that "Anvil Point" is assisting the British Forces with their training.

As you can see from this image, it's been very busy.  More on "Anvil Point" Here.