2 Jun 25

Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Wildlife Site, Easton Railway Cuttings and Wakeham Meadows

I was a bit more adventurous today and managed to include the Wakeham Wildlife Site and Easton Railway Cutting on my afternoon walk. The latter had a short back and sides earlier in the year, with all the bushes and cover, bar one bramble bush, stripped right back on its eastern side.

Time will tell if this bit of hedge clearing, by the Dorset Branch of the Butterfly Conservation, pays off and we see more butterflies in the future. Today there were a few butterfly species about, including one Small Blue for which this location here, has been good for over the years.

Main highlight today was a very active and vocal Chiffchaff singing from Old Quarry Lane and then the Wildlife Site, and then back again. Also noted was a male Common Whitethroat by the the cuttings, which is a good sign, as it hasn't been put off by the removal of the bushes it frequented last year.

Other bits and pieces were a large blue-coloured dragonfly I spooked in the meadow and my first skipper this Summer.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull

Wood Pigeon

Dunnock

Robin

Blackbird

1 Common Whitethroat

1 Chiffchaff

Wren

Magpie

Carrion Crow

Jackdaw

Starling

House Sparrow

Chaffinch

Goldfinch

Escapees, Ferals, Possibles Etc.
Feral pigeon


Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
1 dragonfly sp.

Butterflies Recorded:
2 Dingy Skipper
1 Large Skipper
4 Large White
5 Speckled Wood
8 Meadow Brown
1 Small Blue
5 Common Blue

A Dingy Skipper with what I think is a Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) to the right of it.

A Large Skipper

A Speckled Wood

My first Meadow Brown this year that I have been able to photograph. They have been very flighty for the past 3 days.

A Small Blue. The only one I found in the cuttings today. As I sometimes do, I used the App Obsidentify to see what species it thought it was. Imagine my surprise when it came back with 96% Mazarine Blue and 3% Small Blue. Mazarine Blues became extinct in the UK during the late 90's. However a few immigrants have been seen along the South Coast, but in this case I think the App has a case of misidentification. More on Mazarines here.

The same Small Blue as above and this time the app has it as 96% Small Blue, 2% Short-tailed Blue and 1% Mazarine Blue. Incidentally I came across dozens of Long-tailed Blues in Mallorca at the end of April, beginning of May, only to realise that they were actually Short-tailed Blues. Their actual name is Lang's Short-tailed Blue or Common Zebra Blue.

I can see why Obsidentify thought it might be a Lang's Short-tailed Blue............

...............or as it is also known as a Common Zebra Blue. These two photos were taken in Mallorca on 6 May 25 here.

A male Common Blue.

And another male Common Blue.

Moths Recorded:
moth sp.

Knapweed Root-borer (Epiblema cirsiana)

Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella)

Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella) - Possibly

Tortricidae moth sp.

And this moth which...........

..............posed beautifully for me is a Knapweed Root-borer (Epiblema cirsiana)

Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella)

I tried the Obsidentify app for this Crambinae moth.....

The best it could come up with.........

......71% Garden Grass-veneer (Chrysoteuchia culmella).  I suppose it could be a well worn individual!

Bees Recorded:

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)

Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)

Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

A Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) on a flowering Wayfaring-tree (Viburnum lantana)

And another Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) to show that there is difference in colouration with this species.

Also on the Wayfaring-tree was this worker Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

And the third species of bee I came across on the Wayfaring-tree was this Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)

And a better photo of an Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum)

And again but with both wings showing!!

Yep you've guessed it. The Wayfaring-tree with a Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) on the flowers.

Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
Ichneumon Wasp sp.


Sawflies Recorded:
sawfly sp.

Hoverflies Recorded:

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Large Narcissus Fly (Merodon equestris)

Mimic Bee Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)

Syrphus sp

Mimic Bee Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans) - form bombylans.

And another Mimic Bee Hoverfly (Volucella bombylans) 

A Syrphus sp.

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:

Blue Blowfly (Calliphora vicina)
Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.)
Jet-black Parasite Fly (Zophomyia temula) 

A Jet-black Parasite Fly (Zophomyia temula) 

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
beetle sp.

A Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) in a Dog Rose

A beetle I have seen before, but I just cannot recall its name!!

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii)
Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)

A Common Field Grasshopper (Chorthippus brunneus)

A juvenile male................

...................Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii)

...................Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii)

Slugs and Snails Recorded:
Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)
White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis)


Spiders Recorded:
1 Crab Spider (Misumena vatia)

A Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) with an unfortunate bee sp.

General Shots:

Easton Railway Cuttings with its "Short back and sides". Despite it being cut back there were 7 butterfly species recorded.

Ted:

Ted emerging from under the Cotoneasters.

And then a good run in the meadow.

Aircraft Today:

This is the privately owned Socata TB-10 Tobago, Registration G-BKBW on its way from La Rochelle to Gloucester. More on this aircraft here and a photo here.