Port and Wey: 15 May 24

Out and About

It was another day out with Dawn, this time a walk around Blackdown Wood, lunch at Hardy Monument, followed by a fossil hunt at Charmouth. The latter a lot more successful than yesterday's visit to Kimmeridge.

Highlights at Blackdown Wood were 2 Common Buzzard, 2 Green Woodpeckers, 2 Stonechat, 2 Garden Warbler, 5 Common Whitethroat, 6 Blackcap, 10 Chiffchaff, 2 Willow Warbler, 1 Goldcrest and 4 Coal Tit

Highlights at Hardy Monument were several Linnets and a Yellowhammer.

Highlights at Charmouth were several Reed Warblers singing from the reedbeds along the River Char.

Birds Recorded:
2 Common Buzzard
1 Kestrel
2 Oystercatcher
10 Herring Gull
1 Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
4 Swift
2 Green Woodpecker
Skylark
3 Swallow
Meadow Pipit
Pied Wagtail
Dunnock
Robin
Stonechat
Blackbird
Song Thrush
7+ Reed Warbler
2 Garden Warbler
5 Common Whitethroat
6 Blackcap
10 Chiffchaff
2 Willow Warbler
1 Goldcrest
Long-tailed Tit
Coal Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
1 Jay
Magpie
Rook
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Yellowhammer

A Common Whitethroat

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
1 Azure Damselfly

1 Broad-bodied Chaser

A female Azure Damselfly

Butterflies Recorded:
Orange-tip
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White
2 Speckled Wood
1 Red Admiral
1 Holly Blue

Just the one Red Admiral seen

Moths Recorded:
4 Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum)

A Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum) on a Rhododendron

Slugs and Snails Recorded:
White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Plants:
Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)

Rhododendron (Rhododendron ponticum)

On the slope are Bluebells and Rhododendrons

There are masses of Bluebells still in flower

You can tell that these are native Bluebells, as all the flowerheads are on one side, causing them to droop, in one direction. More on our native Bluebell here.