With Ted at the groom room, it was an opportunity to have an hours walk at Radipole. With more time I would have walked around the whole reserve, but with the time I had, I chose to walk from Goldcroft Avenue here, where I parked the car, to the North Hide here and back.
Lots of highlights this afternoon including (can you believe it) my first Sedge Warbler of the year!!
Birds Recorded:
2 Marsh Harrier
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
4 Sand Martin
5 Swallow
Blackbird
2 Reed Warbler
1 Sedge Warbler
2 Cetti's Warbler
1 Blackcap
1 Chiffchaff
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
A Marsh Harrier looking a bit worse for wear.
And a female Marsh Harrier..............
............in slow-motion and..............
..................in real time.
2 Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta - possibly
3 Scarce Chaser Libellula fulva
1 Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum
8+ Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans
Butterflies Recorded:
Large White Pieris brassicae
Small White Pieris rapae
Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
Comma Polygonia c-album
Moths Recorded:
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Many unidentified flies
Slugs and Snails Recorded:
Garden Snail Cornu aspersa
White-lipped Banded Snail Cepaea hortensis
In the reedbeds Bulrush Typha latifolia..........
8+ Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans
A Scarce Chaser Libellula fulva
As above.
And another Scarce Chaser
This is a................
.............female Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum
It even let me video it from close range.
A Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans
And another Blue-tailed Damselfly.
A male Banded Demoiselle Calopteryx splendens along.........
.........the bank of the River Wey
And another shot of it.
Large White Pieris brassicae
Small White Pieris rapae
Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
Comma Polygonia c-album
Comma Polygonia c-album and.................
.............another Comma....................
................And one more. This time showing the "comma" on the underwing.
moth sp.
A deceased moth floating down the River Wey
Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
1 Ichneumon Wasp sp.
Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Hoverfly Syrphus sp.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
1 Ichneumon Wasp sp.
An Ichneumon Wasp sp.
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Hoverfly Syrphus sp.
A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
A hoverfly Syrphus sp.
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Many unidentified flies
I'm assuming these are a species of "Cluster" fly. Unfortunately...........
..............there are many similar looking flies.
Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Short-winged Cone-head Conocephalus dorsalis
And this feller with the very long antennae.......
.............is a young male Short-winged Cone-head Conocephalus dorsalis
Garden Snail Cornu aspersa
White-lipped Banded Snail Cepaea hortensis
Amber Snail Succinea putris
Plants:
A White-lipped Banded Snail Cepaea hortensis
An Amber Snail Succinea putris. And a new mollusc for my P&W list.
Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria
Bulrush Typha latifolia
I don't think I have ever.............
.............seen so many Meadowsweets Filipendula ulmaria in flower.
In the reedbeds Bulrush Typha latifolia..........
........which is also known as Great Reedmace.
General Shots:
Apparently this will be the "normal" on some of the RSPB Reserves in Dorset. So instead of spending money in cutting back vegetation etc, so that the public have good access around some of the quieter reserves, money saved here will be invested in wildlife instead. What a great idea.