12 Oct 23

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows, Lower Horse Paddock, Higher Horse Paddock, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Bumpers Lane, Silklake Quarry, The Cuttings, The Mermaid Track, Wakeham Railway Cuttings and Wakeham

It was late afternoon walk, which started off fine but by the end of it had turned to a fine drizzle. Fortunately I was pretty close to home and made it back before the heavy stuff arrived.

Main highlights today were 2 parties of Long-tailed Tits. The first I came across was in Broadcroft Quarry Lane which consisted of 15 birds and a lone Chiffchaff. The second party was when I revisited the meadow on my way back home where there were 14 birds and 3 Chiffchaffs.

Mammals Recorded:
1 Bunny


Birds Recorded:
1 Gannet
Kestrel
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
5 Meadow Pipit
Dunnock
Robin
2 Stonechat
Blackbird
1 Song Thrush
2 Blackcap
5 Chiffchaff
29 Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
5 Linnet
2 Siskin
15 Goldfinch

A lone Gannet heading south down Portland's east coast

A "pair" of Stonechats in the butterfly reserve.

And.........

...............down in...........

..........one. This juvenile male Blackbird has mastered the art of picking, flicking and swallowing Cotoneaster berries

This Chiffchaff..........

.........and this one plus 2 others were tagging along with the two Long-tailed Tit parties. A fifth individual was in the butterfly reserve.

Don't be shy..........

..........that's better. I came across two parties of Long-tailed Tits. One of 15 with a Chiffchaff tagging along and the other party was 14 birds with 3 Chiffchaffs in amongst them.

Butterflies Recorded:
2 Speckled Wood
4 Red Admiral


Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae)

I'm seeing fewer and fewer Common Carder Bees now.

A Honey Bee and Harlequin Ladybird on the flowering Ivy.

Not so with the Ivy Bees, which are still out in good numbers.

Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)

The Common Wasp nest in Wakeham Meadow seems........

...................to be even busier now. I didn't stay long!!!

Hoverflies Recorded:
5 Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
1 Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

The most numerous of hoverflies around at the moment appears to be these Chequered Hoverflies

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
1 Tiger Cranefly (Nephrotoma flavescens)

A Tiger Cranefly (Nephrotoma flavescens)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
2 Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)

There are certainly fewer Harlequin Ladybirds about now. This is the  - form succinea

Slugs and Snails Recorded:
1 Black Slug (Arion ater)

This is the "red" form of Black Slug (Arion ater agg). More on this slug here.

Spiders Recorded:
2 Nurseryweb Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)
#1 - spider sp.

Nurseryweb Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

#1 - spider sp.

#1 - spider sp.

#1 - spider sp.

#1 - spider sp. (Slow-motion)

Plants:
Field Maple (Acer campestre)

Common Toadflax (Linaria vulgaris)

A Field Maple (Acer campestre)....

...There aren't that many on the island, this one is along Broadcroft Quarry Lane

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

Ted:

This is hunting down a Bunny which ran past him. Too late Ted!!

After all that running it's time for a drink.