7 Aug 24

Old Quarry Lane and Wakeham Meadows

This was a day that Ted and I would like to forget, as Ted succumbed to an unprovoked attack by a Jack Russell-type dog.

We were about half-way down Old Quarry Lane, when having let Ted off his lead so that I could photograph a Common Blue in the grass, I heard snarling from another dog and Ted whelping as he was jumped on. 

The owner managed to drag her dog off Ted, but Ted ran off towards the meadow where I eventually caught up with him. I checked him over and fortunately there were no apparent injuries, but he was definitely traumatised by the whole event.

But what really got me, was the fact that the owner just walked off without an apology for the actions of her dog or any words of concern for Ted. Unbelievable!!

I carried on with our walk just to keep his mind off what had just happened, but I could tell he wasn't feeling it.

With all the shenanigans going on, I missed out on a potential fritillary which was flying about in the meadow. That's the second one I have missed this Summer. Third time lucky perhaps.


Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Goldfinch

A Collard Dove in the lane.


Butterflies Recorded
:
3 Large White
1 Green-veined White
10+ Meadow Brown
5 Gatekeeper
1 Fritillary sp.
5 Common Blue
3 Chalk Hill Blue

A very flighty Green-veined White along the lane.

A Meadow Brown and a.........

............Gatekeeper.

These two are.......

............Common Blues.


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

These three are........

..........Six-Spot Burnet moths, all on Common Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)

And the underwings of a Yellow-spot Tortrix. There were dozens about, but try as I could, I just couldn't get a photograph of one the right way up.


Bees Recorded:
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum)

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) on Common Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris)

And a Common Carder bee (Bombus pascuorum) on Lesser Burdock (Arctium minus)


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


Hoverflies Recorded:
Slender Melanostoma (Melanostoma scalare)

A Slender Melanostoma (Melanostoma scalare) on Common Carrot (Daucus carota)


Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded
:
Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.)
House Fly (Neomyia sp.)
Dark-winged Flesh fly (Nyctia halterata)
Red Spotted Parasite Fly (Eriothrix rufomaculata)
Dark-winged Black (Pachygaster atra)

This is a Dark-winged Flesh fly (Nyctia halterata) and a new species of fly for my P&W list.

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

............Red Spotted Parasite Flies

And this is a Dark-winged Black (Pachygaster atra)


Bugs and Beetles Recorded
:
None


Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)

A Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)


Plants Recorded:
Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)

This is the leaf of a Sycamore.......

...........but what is this strange black and yellow patch on it.


Ted
:

No photos of Ted but here is his attacker being lead away. Hmm!!