10 Aug 24

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadows and Wakeham Wildlife Site

It was another cool day, so much so that a jacket was needed for the first time in awhile. With the cooler conditions there were certainly more insects about, though the number of butterflies noted were well down on yesterdays figures.

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

Butterflies Recorded:
3 Large White
1 Green-veined White
1 Speckled Wood
3 Meadow Brown
4 Gatekeeper
4 Common Blue
2 Chalk Hill Blue

A Green-veined White on Old Man’s Beard (Clematis vitalba), a plant that is also known as Travellers’ Joy and Wild Clematis.

A pristine Speckled Wood on Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus)

The following photos are of male Common Blues

Moths Recorded:
Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae)
Yellow-spot Tortrix (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana)

Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata)

Straw Conch (Cochylimorpha straminea)

Six-Spot Burnet moth (Zygaena filipendulae)

Yellow-spot Tortrix (Pseudargyrotoza conwagana)

Small Fan-footed Wave (Idaea biselata)

And a Straw Conch (Cochylimorpha straminea)

Bees Recorded:

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Buffish Mining Bee (Andrena nigroaenea)
Common Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum)

A Common Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum) on Buddleia (Buddleja davidii)

Here are.........

...........a few photos...........

..........of a male Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) on Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)

This is a Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum) inside the flower of a Large Bindweed (Calystegia silvatica).

Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)
#1 - Ichneumon Wasp sp.

#2 - Parasitic Wasp sp.

These are............

..............Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris) busy............

..........around the entrance to their nest in the meadow.

#1 - Ichneumon Wasp sp.

#1 - Ichneumon Wasp sp.

#2 - Parasitic Wasp sp.

#2 - Parasitic Wasp sp.

Hoverflies Recorded:

Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Hornet Plumehorn (Volucella zonaria)

Wasp Plumehorn (Volucella inanis)

The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)

Plain-faced Dronefly (Eristalis arbustorum)

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

This a........

..............Wasp Plumehorn (Volucella inanis)..........

............. on Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum).

And a short of the Wasp Plumehorn (Volucella inanis)

The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)

These two are..........

......................Plain-faced Droneflies (Eristalis arbustorum)

This is a Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

And this.......

..........is a Long Hoverfly (Sphaerophoria scripta)

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:

House Fly (Neomyia sp.)
Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.)

Lesser Golden Knapweed Fly (Chaetorellia jaceae)

Lance Fly (Lonchaea ultima) - possibly

#1 - fly sp.

#2 - fly sp.

This is a House Fly (Neomyia sp.)

A Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.)

This is..........

..........a...........

...............Lesser Golden Knapweed Fly (Chaetorellia jaceae)

Possibly a Lance Fly (Lonchaea ultima)

#1 - fly sp.

#2 - fly sp.

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)
Lucerne Bug (Adelphocoris lineolatus)

This is.........

............a Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)

And this is a Lucerne Bug (Adelphocoris lineolatus) on Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Dark Bush-cricket (Pholidoptera griseoaptera)
Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

A Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)

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

A Black Slug (Arion ater agg) in amongst Old Man’s Beard (Clematis vitalba)

Spiders Recorded:
Crab Spider (Misumena vatia)
spider sp.

This Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) on this Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) has caught quite a large fly sp.

A spider sp.

Leafhoppers Recorded:

Leafhopper (Empoasca vitis)

A Leafhopper (Empoasca vitis)

Plants:
Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)
Common Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum)
Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum)

Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus)

Large Bindweed (Calystegia silvatica)

Old Man’s Beard (Clematis vitalba)

Buddleia (Buddleja davidii)

Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum).  Also known as 'Raspberries and Cream'

Ted:

Ted waiting patiently for me to catch up.