16 Jul 24

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows, Easton Railway Cuttings, Wakeham Railway Cuttings, Wakeham Railway Cuttings (east), The Cuttings Quarry, Bumpers Lane and Silklake Quarry

Well when we left the cottage it was grey and murky, which saw me wearing my jacket and Ted in his waterproofs. However 30 minutes into our walk and the sun burst out and the temperature soared like a rocket.

So the jacket came off and Ted was relieved of his waterproofs, and we both had a very enjoyable walk.

There were a few highlights with a couple of House Martins heading south over the meadow, a Common Whitethroat in the Easton Railway Cuttings and another in Bumpers Lane.

I also came across a fairly large light coloured "blue" butterfly, which I'm pretty sure was a Chalkhill Blue. Unfortunately it just wouldn't rest and eventually it flew out of the Cuttings Quarry and disappeared out of sight. There will be more I'm sure.


Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
2 House Martin
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Song Thrush
2 Common Whitethroat
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch

A male Common Whitethroat in Easton Railway Cuttings.

Reptiles Recorded:
3 Wall Lizard
5 Slow-worm

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

...............Wall Lizard

Butterflies Recorded:
1 Dingy Skipper
3 Small Skipper
5 Large White
2 Green-veined White
3 Ringlet
10+ Meadow Brown
20+ Gatekeeper
2 Marbled White
3 Small Blue
1 Chalk Hill Blue

A very worn Meadow Brown.

And a Gatekeeper.

Marbled White

Here are a..........

............couple of Small Blues

Moths Recorded:
2 Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

A  Silver Y (Autographa gamma)

Bees Recorded:

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)
Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

#1 - bee sp.

#2 - bee sp.

A Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)

And a Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

#1 - bee sp.

#1 - bee sp.

#2 - bee sp.

#2 - bee sp.

Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:

Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Ichneumon Wasp sp.

In Wakeham Meadow.......

.............these Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris)..........

............are in a new nest just......

 .....................a few metres away from last years residence.

An Ichneumon Wasp sp.

Hoverflies Recorded:
Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)
Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Thick-legged hoverfly (Syritta pipiens)

Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

Here are a couple of photos of..........

.....................Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

A Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

And these are...........

............Marmalade Hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus)

And this............

..........is a Thick-legged hoverfly (Syritta pipiens)

A Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:

Yellow Bellied Fly (Sciara hemerobioides)

Painted Graphfly (Graphomya maculata)
Grass Fly (Meromyza sp.)

House Fly (Neomyia sp.)
Long-winged Satellite Fly (Macronychia dolini)

Yellow Bellied Fly (Sciara hemerobioides)

Here are a few.............

..........photos of.......

.............Painted Graphfly's (Graphomya maculata). In this photo there is also a 

..................Grass Fly (Meromyza sp.)

A House Fly (Neomyia sp.)

This is a Long-winged Satellite Fly (Macronychia dolini) and a new fly for my Portland List. More on this fly here.

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

A Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

And a female Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) which.........

................was photo-bombed by this Gatekeeper.

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)


Spiders Recorded:
Crab Spider (Misumena vatia)

A Crab Spider (Misumena vatia)

Ants Recorded:
Small Black Ant (Lasius niger)


Plants:
Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)

Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)

This is Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) and also....

..........goes by the name of  'Raspberries and Cream'.

And the.............

............Pyramidal Orchids (Anacamptis pyramidalis) are still in flower.

Ted:

Poor Ted. It was cloudy and cool when we left.

At least there was plenty of shade and of course a large bottle of water for him.

Ships Today:

This is the British sailing vessel "Kandooma" on its way from Dartmouth to Weymouth. More on this vessel here

This is the British sailing vessel "Sourire" on its way from Dartmouth to Weymouth. More on this vessel here.

This is the British Fishing Boat "Meerkat" fishing off Portland's east coast. More on this vessel here.