After a busy few hours preparing the caravan for our next guests, it was a lovely walk afterwards in the sun.
Main highlight went to a Fox cub, which having crossed a field ended up on the path Ted and I were heading up.
Other highlights were two juvenile Stonechats in Tidmoor Cove and at long last I have found out what the mystery caterpillar is, that I have come across over the past two years when walking this route. More will be revealed below!!
Mammals Recorded:
Fox - juvenile
Main highlight went to a Fox cub, which having crossed a field ended up on the path Ted and I were heading up.
Other highlights were two juvenile Stonechats in Tidmoor Cove and at long last I have found out what the mystery caterpillar is, that I have come across over the past two years when walking this route. More will be revealed below!!
Mammals Recorded:
Fox - juvenile
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Wood Pigeon
2 Swift
3 Skylark
2 Swallow
2 Stonechat
Blackbird
Song Thrush
1 Reed Warbler
3 Cetti's Warbler
1 Garden Warbler
1 Blackcap
2 Chiffchaff
Great Tit
Blue Tit,
Wren
Magpie
Rook
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
A Skylark rising up above the meadows.
Here are two........
..............juvenile Stonechats in Tidmoor cove.
And here is a video of one of them in the strong breeze.
And a Chiffchaff singing by Furzedown Farm. A juvenile was close by.
1 Green-veined White
4 Speckled Wood
1 Meadow Brown
1 Small Copper
A Green-veined White with a male Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) behind it.
My first Small Copper of the year.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum)
White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
A White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) carrying.......
..............huge pollen bags.
A Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
1 Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
3 Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
A Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
And there are a few more Marmalade Hoverflies starting to appear.
A female Plain-faced Dronefly (Eristalis arbustorum)
Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)
Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.)
European Cranefly (Tipula paludosa)
A female Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
A Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)
Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.)
European Cranefly (Tipula paludosa)
7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)
Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
A 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)
And a Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis)
The Lackey (Malacosoma neustria)
Water-dropwort Brown (Depressaria daucella)
The Lackey (Malacosoma neustria)
And my mystery caterpillar from the past few years.................
..................... is a Water-dropwort Brown (Depressaria daucella). Other sightings of this caterpillar are here, here and here.
Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica)
Tamarisk Salt Cedar (Possibly Tamarix tetrandra)
.........but I have now identified as a Tamarisk Salt Cedar (Tamarix spp., possibly Tamarix tetrandra ), with this variety being Pink Cascade. More on this Salt Cedar here.
This is Bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara) and also goes.................
............by the name of Climbing Nightshade and Woody Nightshade. More on this plant here.
This is.........
................Hedge Woundwort (Stachys sylvatica)
It has taken me awhile.........
................. to find out what tree this is........
General Shots:
Looking west down The Fleet
Ted:
Ted waiting again!!