Church Ope Cove, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle, The Cuttings Quarry and Bumpers Lane
I was up with the Sparrows this morning, for a very early morning walk to see what was about. I had hoped to find a few Ivy Bees, as the Ivy is now flowering, but instead I came across dozens of wasps & hoverflies. With warm weather expected to last for another 5 days or so, hopefully this "seasonal" bee will start appearing.
On the migrant front there were 100's of House Martins & Swallows heading south, whilst along my walk I came across 5 Blackcap and a good 10 or more Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler, with one Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler singing. Over the cove were two Grey Wagtails and 3 Meadow Pipits.
Also of note were at least 10 Robins singing from their future "Autumn/Winter" quarters. Hopefully I'll be able to tempt a few to feed from my hand like last year.
Mammals Recorded:
2 Brown Rat
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
100+ House Martin/Swallow
3 Meadow Pipit
2 Grey Wagtail
Dunnock
10+ Robin
Blackbird
5 Blackcap
1 Chiffchaff (singing)
1 Willow Warbler (singing)
8 Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler (calling)
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
1 Raven
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
A Goldfinch and a very charming bird
5 Wall Lizard
1 Slow-worm
Wall Lizard
Wall Lizard
Wall Lizard
A juvenile six inch long Slow-worm
Large White
1 Small White
2 Speckled Wood
2 Meadow Brown
2 Red Admiral
2 Chalk Hill Blue
A Small White
Meadow Brown
Red Admiral
And a female........
.............Chalk Hill Blue
2 Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum stellatarum)
Yellow Belle (Aspitates ochrearia)
Yellow Belle (Aspitates ochrearia)
Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Common Furrow-bee (Lasioglossum calceatum)
#1 - bee sp.
#2 - bee sp.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum)
A Common Furrow-bee (Lasioglossum calceatum) on Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)
#1 - bee sp
#2 - bee sp
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Golden-moustached Fly Fox (Ectemnius cavifrons)
Two Golden-moustached Fly Fox's (Ectemnius cavifrons) in.......
................Penns Wood
Common Copperback Hoverfly (Ferdinandea cuprea)
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
Plain-faced Dronefly (Eristalis arbustorum)
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
Pellucid Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens)
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
Pellucid Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens)
Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)
Common Copperback Hoverfly (Ferdinandea cuprea)
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
Plain-faced Dronefly (Eristalis arbustorum) and.........
.................a dark coloured variant. More info here.
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
Pellucid Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens)
Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)
Spiders Recorded:
Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
A Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) and......
..............another.
Plants:
Apple (To be registered with a name)
Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)
An apple to be registered with a name if it tastes good
Field Scabious (Knautia arvensis)
General Shots and a video
Church Ope Cove
The "Steamer"
Wakeham Railway Cuttings looking east. Ted's there somewhere on the path.
This flowering Ivy at Church Ope Cove was covered in wasps and hoverflies. No sign of any Ivy Bees (Colletes hederae)
Ted:
Ted looks like he's steaming
Oh dear where have you been!!