19 Jul 24

Old Quarry Lane and Wakeham Meadows

With the afternoon temperature expected to reach the mid-seventies, I decided to take Ted for a late morning walk, before it got too hot.

Main highlight was watching Swifts and hirundines heading south. There were also good numbers of butterflies, especially Gatekeepers, but at the other end of scale, one Marbled White was a bit disappointing.


Birds Recorded:
1 Buzzard
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
10+ Swift
7+ Sand Martin
4 House Martin
Dunnock
Blackbird
1 Blackcap
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

I was amazed that this Common Buzzard slipped under the radar of the local Herring Gulls. It was only because I looked up that I saw it.


Butterflies Recorded:
4 Small Skipper
8+ Large White

5 Small White
3 Green-veined White
4 Ringlet
10 Meadow Brown
20+ Gatekeeper
1 Marbled White

A Small Skipper

And a Small White

And this one is Green-veined White

And a Gatekeeper.

Moths Recorded:

2 Silver Y (Autographa gamma)
1 Diamond-backed Moth (Plutella xylostella)
10+ Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae)

This is my..........

............first Diamond-backed Moth (Plutella xylostella) this Summer.

And at long last............

............there were plenty of  Six-Spot Burnet moths about, including this pair mating.

A slow-motion video of a Six-Spot Burnet moth flying through the meadow

Bees Recorded:

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum)

Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

Patchwork Leafcutter Bee (Megachile centuncularis)

This is a Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum).

This is also a Common Carder Bumblebee (Bombus pascuorum) but...

...........very small one.

A worker Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

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

.................Patchwork Leafcutter Bee (Megachile centuncularis)

Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
Ichneumon Wasp (Aritranis director)

A Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) leaving its nest in Wakeham Meadow

Also in the meadow was this Ichneumon Wasp (Aritranis director)

Hoverflies Recorded:
Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

The only hoverfly I came across this morning was this Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:

Red Spotted Parasite Fly (Eriothrix rufomaculata)
Painted Graphfly (Graphomya maculata)
House Fly (Neomyia sp.)

#1 - fly sp.

A Painted Graphfly (Graphomya maculata)

A House Fly (Neomyia sp.)

#1 - fly sp.

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:

Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
Common Green Capsid (Lygocoris pabulinus)
Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

A Common Green Capsid (Lygocoris pabulinus) on Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

And a Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

A Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

Lacewings and Scorpionflies Recorded:
Dash Lacewing (Hemerobius micans) - possibly

Possibly a Dash Lacewing (Hemerobius micans)

Slugs and Snails Recorded:
Red Slug (Arion ater agg)

A Red Slug (Arion ater agg)

Spiders Recorded:
Crab Spider (Misumena vatia)

This Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) is making its way up the stem of this umbellifer.

Woodlice Crustaceans Recorded:

Common Striped Woodlouse (Philoscia muscorum)

This is a Common Striped Woodlouse (Philoscia muscorum)

Plants:
Wild Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus)

This Wild Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) is a good 6ft high.

After I came across this Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus) 3 weeks ago it is...........

.........still flowering.

Ted:

Ted keeping cool in the shade.

Aircraft Today:

This is the British Airways Boeing 777-200, BA296 on its way.......

.............. from Chicago to London. More on this aircraft here.

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Wakeham

Late evening and 12 Swifts headed south over Wakeham.