30 Jun 24

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows and Wakeham Wildlife Site

After a cloudy wet start to the day, the rain finally stopped and it was off out to my local "Summer" patch.

Highlights today definitely went to the butterflies with over 50 counted from 7 species.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
2 House Martin
Dunnock
Blackbird
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

A male Chaffinch singing within the Sycamore wood next to the meadow.

Butterflies Recorded:
2 Large Skipper
1 Green-veined White
2 Speckled Wood
1 Small Heath
30+ Meadow Brown
4 Gatekeeper
12+ Marbled White

A Large Skipper

A Gatekeeper and..........

...........a Marbled White

Moths Recorded:
1 Silver Y (Autographa gamma)
3 Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

#1 - moth sp.

A Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

#1 - moth sp.

Bees Recorded:

Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum)

Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

A female Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

And of course a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Sawflies Recorded:
1 Turnip Sawfly (Athalia rosae)

Hoverflies Recorded:

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
1 Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)

3 Mimic Bee Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)

A Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)

And a Mimic Bee Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans) - variety plumata

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
15+ Broad Centurian (Chloromyia formosa)
2 Red Spotted Parasite Fly (Eriothrix rufomaculata)
1 Thick-headed Fly (Sicus ferrugineus)

One of the many Broad Centurians (Chloromyia formosa) seen today.

And two..........

...............Red Spotted Parasite Flies (Eriothrix rufomaculata)

A Thick-headed Fly (Sicus ferrugineus)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)


Ants Recorded:
Small Black Ant (Lasius niger)


Plants:
Bramble (Rubus fruticosusa)
Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)
Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris)
Dog Rose (Rosa canina)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)
Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum)
Provence Rose (Rosa gallica)
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)
Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
White Clover (Trifolium repens)


Ted:

And Ted taking it easy.

29 Jun 24

Wakeham

Well that was the hardest bit done today with the makeover in the back garden. And though there is still a fair bit to go, it should be pretty plain sailing now, with just the flowerbeds and re-sowing the lawn to do.

During my breaks I came across the following:

A female Azure Damselfly

A Sand Wasp (Ectemnius sp.)

An Ichneumon Wasp sp.

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Yellow Bellied Fly (Sciara hemerobioides)

I'm getting there slowly.

And overhead was this privately owned Van's RV-6 Registration G-RVMT. More on this aircraft here and here.

28 Jun 24

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows and Wakeham Wildlife Site

The weather forecast was for the morning cloud to clear, so Ted and I decided on a walk in the reasonably cool conditions. The timing wasn't too bad, but by the end of it the cloud was replaced by blue skies and of course a very warm sun.

Main highlight today went to the butterflies with five species recorded including my first Gatekeeper of the year.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch


Butterflies Recorded:
2 Small Skipper
30+ Meadow Brown
1 Gatekeeper
2 Marbled White
2 Common Blue

A  Small Skipper

A very damaged Meadow Brown

My first Gatekeeper this year.

And a pristine looking Marbled White

Moths Recorded:

Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

Bees Recorded:
#1 - Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
#2 - Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

#3 - Sweat Bee (Sphecodes sp.)

#4 - Bee sp.

#5 - Colletes sp.

#6 - Bee sp.
 

#1 - A Honey Bee takes off from this Blackberry flower

#2 - This is a female Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

#3 - A Sweat Bee (Sphecodes sp.). More on this species here.

#4 - A bee sp.

#5 - And this bee is..............

...........a member of the.........

...............colletes. I've narrowed it down and it could well be one of these. Davies' Bee (Colletes daviesanus), Hairy-saddled Colletes (Colletes fodiens), Sea Aster Bee (Colletes halophilus),
Plasterer Bee (Colletes similis) or Common Colletes (Colletes succinctus)

#6 - bee sp.

#6 - bee sp.

#6 - bee sp.

Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
2 Sand Wasp sp.

Below are a few photos and a video of a pair of Sand Wasps.

(No sound)

Sawflies Recorded:
Turnip Sawfly (Athalia rosae)

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

...........Turnip Sawfly (Athalia rosae)

Hoverflies Recorded:

Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Mimic Bee Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)

A Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

A Mimic Bee Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans) - variety plumata

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)

Broad Centurian (Chloromyia formosa)

Noon Fly (Mesembrina meridiana)

#1 - cranefly sp.

#2 - fly sp.
#3 - fly sp.

#4 - Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.)

A Broad Centurian (Chloromyia formosa)

A Noon Fly (Mesembrina meridiana)

#1 - cranefly sp.

#2 - fly sp.

#3 - fly sp.

#4 - Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

Trivial Plant Bug (Closterotomus trivialis)
miridae sp.

A Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

A couple of photos of a...................

.....................Trivial Plant Bug (Closterotomus trivialis)

Joining this unidentified fly on this Hawkweed are two miridaes.

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

A Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

Spiders Recorded:
Crab Spider (Misumena vatia)
Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)

On the far right is a Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) with a Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata) it has just caught. Top left are two male Swollen-thighed Beetles (Oedemera nobilis) fighting.

A very young Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) with its prey.

Ants Recorded:
Small Black Ant (Lasius niger)

A Small Black Ant (Lasius niger)

Plants:
Bramble (Rubus fruticosusa)

Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
Common Hawkweed (Hieracium vulgatum)
Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)
Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
Cow Parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris)
Dog Rose (Rosa canina)
Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna)
Hedge Bedstraw (Galium album)
Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa)
Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria)
Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum)
Provence Rose (Rosa gallica)
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)
Wall Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster horizontalis)
White Clover (Trifolium repens)
Wild Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

This plant is..........

............Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

This plant is.............

..............Lady's Bedstraw (Galium verum)

The Provence Rose (Rosa gallica) in the meadow is looking pretty amazing.

General Shots:

At long last the building company have conceded, that they will not be building on the meadow and have now taken the fence down along the path.

Ted:

A cooler day and a good walk for Ted.