Old Quarry Lane and Wakeham Meadows
What a noisy day, as both the BBC News and Sky News were flying their respective helicopters back and forth over the island to film the first refugees boarding the Bibby Stockholm barge which is moored up in the harbour. More on this story at the bottom of the Blog.
On the walk though there were plenty of invertebrates about including 9 butterfly species and 3 moth species.
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Great Tit
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Linnet
Goldfinch
What a noisy day, as both the BBC News and Sky News were flying their respective helicopters back and forth over the island to film the first refugees boarding the Bibby Stockholm barge which is moored up in the harbour. More on this story at the bottom of the Blog.
On the walk though there were plenty of invertebrates about including 9 butterfly species and 3 moth species.
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Great Tit
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Linnet
Goldfinch
A cheeky House Sparrow
1 Common Darter
A male Common Darter
Butterflies Recorded:
2 Large White
1 Small White
1 Green-veined White
1 Wall Brown
Meadow Brown (None seen today)
10+ Gatekeeper
Red Admiral (None seen today)
1 Painted Lady
1 Peacock
1 Small Blue
8 Common Blue
A Gatekeeper
A Common Blue
Moths Recorded:
3 Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae)
7+ Yellow-spot Tortrix (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana)
1 Straw Conch (Cochylimorpha straminea)
A Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae)
My first Yellow-spot Tortrix (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana) of the year and there were several others on the wing
Straw Conch (Cochylimorpha straminea)
Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
Ashy Mining Bee (Andrena cineraria)
sweat bee sp.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
A Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Another Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
A Common Carder
A sweat bee sp
Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
A Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Ichneumon Wasps Recorded:
Ichneumon sp
There were several of these..................
.............Ichneumon sps
Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)
Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)
Slender Melanostoma (Melanostoma scalare)
#1 - hoverfly sp
#2 - hoverfly sp
A Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)
I think this could be a Slender Melanostoma (Melanostoma scalare)
#1 - hoverfly sp
#2 - hoverfly sp
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Yellow Bellied Fly (Sciara hemerobioides)
Red Spotted Parasite Fly (Eriothrix rufomaculata)
On the left a Yellow Bellied Fly (Sciara hemerobioides) and an Ichneumon sp
Red Spotted Parasite Fly (Eriothrix rufomaculata)
#1 - fly sp.
Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
#1 - bug sp.
A 3rd instar nymph Common Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)
A male Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
And a female Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) with a #1 - "micro" bug sp below it.
Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)
A Meadow Grasshopper
Spiders Recorded:
#1 - spider sp.
#1 - A spider sp.
Ted having a good run
Aircraft Today:
Both these helicopters below are filming the first refugees to board the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland Harbour. The barge is accommodation for asylum seekers being processed by the Home Office. More on the Barge Here and Here.
This is the BBC News chartered helicopter Aerospatiale AS355 F2 Ecureuil 2. More on this aircraft's flight over Portland Here.
And this is Sky News chartered helicopter using the same aircraft type Aerospatiale AS355 F2 Ecureuil 2 Registration G-UKTV. More on this aircraft's flight over Portland Here.
And here are both helicopters "jostling" for a good position over the harbour.