Port and Wey: 17 Jul 23

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse and Wakeham Railway Cuttings (east)

It was a nice sunny day, but still breezy. There were a few highlights with a Common Darter, Two Painted Lady's and a Hummingbird Hawk-moth, being the best. Still no Ringlets!!

Birds Recorded:
2 Cormorant
1 Kestrel
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

Reptiles Recorded:
Wall Lizard

A Wall Lizard in the grounds of St Andrew's Church

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
1 Common Darter

Also in the church grounds was this female Common Darter.

Butterflies Recorded:
10+ Large White
5 Small White
4 Meadow Brown
4 Gatekeeper
1 Marbled White
2 Red Admiral
2 Painted Lady
1 Comma
2 Common Blue
2 Chalk Hill Blue

A side profile of a Red Admiral

A Comma in the church grounds

This is a male.........

...............Common Blue.

And another male. This time a Chalk Hill Blue.

Moths Recorded:
Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)
Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

In the Cuttings Quarry was this Silver Y

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

White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)

A White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) on Common Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris)

Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
German Wasp (Vespula germanica)

Hoverflies Recorded:
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

In Penns Wood there were dozens of Dead Head Hoverflies on the Japanese Spindle. This one was on a Bramble.

In the church grounds was this Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria) on Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)

Plants:
Weld or Dyers Rocket (Reseda luteola)

This plant is Weld and also goes by the name of Dyers Rocket. However it is supposed to straight and not bent like this one. Here is a straight one..........

...........in Wakeham Meadow.

Ted:

Yes Ted I'm coming

Ships and Aircraft Today:

This is the British Patrol Boat "HMS Exploit - P167" in Weymouth Bay. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Patrol Boat "HMS Dasher - P280" in Weymouth Bay with a Royal Navy Merlin hovering above it. Thank you to my good friend Ed Wilson for explaining that the code on the Merlin showing a 'M' means it is ZJ128 last noted with 845NAS (Naval Air Squadron) at Yeovilton. More on HMS Dasher Here.