17 Jun 24

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows and Wakeham Wildlife Site

It was a much better day weatherwise with blue skies and light winds.

Highlights today were both Common Whitethroat (in the meadow) and Lesser Whitethroat (just south of the wildlife site).

Also recorded was my first ever Wood Marble moth (Lobesia reliquana) in the meadow.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Common Whitethroat
1 Lesser Whitethroat
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

I just managed this shot of a Common Whitethroat as it made its way along the hedgerow next to the meadow.

Butterflies Recorded:
1 Dingy Skipper
3 Speckled Wood
6 Meadow Brown
8 Common Blue

Speckled Wood

And here.........

..............we have........

............three very worn female Common Blues

Moths Recorded:

#1 - Wood Marble (Lobesia reliquana)

#2 - moth sp.

#3 - moth sp.

#4 - Garden Grass Veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella)

#1 - My first ever Wood Marble (Lobesia reliquana)

#2 - moth sp.

#3 - moth sp.

#4 - Garden Grass Veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella). Thank you to Ed Wilson for the ID.

Bees Recorded:
Common Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

A "bright" looking Common Carder bee on Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

And a "pale" looking Common Carder bee on a White Clover (Trifolium repens)

Hoverflies Recorded:

Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)

Superb Ant-hill Hoverfly (Xanthogramma pedissequum)
Bumblebee Plumehorn (Volucella bombylans)

Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
Pellucid Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens)

Here a couple of............

............photos of the Superb Ant-hill Hoverfly (Xanthogramma pedissequum) seen today.

A Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

Bumblebee Plumehorn (Volucella bombylans) var. plumata

A Pellucid Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens)

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

A Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:

Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami)
Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

A Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami)

And there is now an............

...........abundance of Common Red Soldier Beetles

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Great Green Bush Cricket (Tettigonia viridissima)

And here are a couple.............

.............of photos of a Great Green Bush Cricket (Tettigonia viridissima)

Spiders Recorded:
Crab Spider (Misumena vatia)

Common Candy-Striped Spider (Enoplognatha ovata)

Word has got out that the resident "Dog Rose" Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) has been doing quite well catching bees and flies. And now.........

..............a Common Candy-Striped Spider (Enoplognatha ovata) has set up camp just a few flowers away.

Leafhoppers Recorded:
Leafhopper (Empoasca vitis)

And the smallest insect I photographed today was this Leafhopper.

Ted:

If there's a bit of shade, then Ted will use it.