Well I thought I'd planned my walk with Ted perfectly. The early morning rain had passed through and as the clouds began to break I set off with Ted in a breezy but sunny walk. I had no sooner walked up the lane and covered about an eighth of the meadow, than the cloud returned very quickly and the sky blackened.
Not wanting to get caught out, Ted and I made it back home just as the heavens burst and the rain began to fall very heavily. It did eventually stop and blue skies returned, but I decided not to chance it again. Well at least not today.
Main highlight was my first Wall Brown of the year, and not only that, my first in the meadow since I moved here in May 2017. In fact I reckon there were two more, which were chasing each other across the tops of the Wild Fennel.
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Escapees, Ferals, Possibles Etc.
Feral pigeon
Butterflies Recorded:
15+ Large White Pieris brassicae
10+ Small White Pieris rapae
3 Wall Brown Lasiommata megera
4 Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria
10+ Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
10+ Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus
2 Marbled White Melanargia galathea
20+ Common Blue Polyommatus icarus
0 Chalk Hill Blue Polyommatus coridon - None seen today
..............video here this individual was resting and then with the rain on its way took refuge in the undergrowth. How do they know that rain is on its way!! Or was it the fact that sky went very dark very quickly.
A Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria soaking up the sun before the rain arrived.
Two Gatekeepers Pyronia tithonus in a bramble patch.
A Marbled White Melanargia galathea
A male and................
.............female Common Blue Polyommatus icarus
1 Silver Y Autographa gamma
12+ Six-Spot Burnet moth Zygaena filipendulae
1 Triple-stripe Piercer Grapholita compositella
My first Silver Y Autographa gamma for quite awhile
A Six-Spot Burnet moth Zygaena filipendulae on Common Knapweed.
This male Common Blue was spooked by the moth flying past it...............
Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
Leaf Cutter Bee Megachile sp.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
Leaf Cutter Bee Megachile sp.
Perkins' Mining Bee Andrena rosae - possibly
Hoverflies Recorded:
8 Dead Head Hoverfly Myathropa florea
4 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Glass-winged Syrphus Syrphus vitripennis - possibly
Possibly a Glass-winged Syrphus Syrphus vitripennis AKA Lesser Banded Hoverfly and Black-thighed Flower Fly
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Flesh Fly Sarcophaga sp.
Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
2 Red-spotted Parasite Fly Eriothrix rufomaculata
Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva
On the bramble flowers was this...............
..............Patchwork Leafcutter Bee Megachile centuncularis, with a Gatekeeper behind it.
Well this could be a new Andrena bee for my P&W list.............
................a female Perkins' Mining Bee Andrena rosae
8 Dead Head Hoverfly Myathropa florea
4 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Glass-winged Syrphus Syrphus vitripennis - possibly
On one particular bramble patch there were at least six Dead Head Hoverflies Myathropa florea
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Flesh Fly Sarcophaga sp.
Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
2 Red-spotted Parasite Fly Eriothrix rufomaculata
A Red-spotted Parasite Fly Eriothrix rufomaculata on Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris
Common Red Soldier Beetle Rhagonycha fulva
2 Rose Chafer Cetonia aurata
1 Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina
Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Meadow Grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus
Plants:
Bramble Rubus fruticosusa
Buddleia Buddleja davidii
Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra
Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris
Common Teasel Dipsacus fullonum
Wild Clematis Clematis vitalba
Two Common Red Soldier Beetles Rhagonycha fulva
Two Rose Chafers Cetonia aurata on...........
..............this Common Ragwort.
A Common Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina - 2nd instar nymph
Meadow Grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus
A Meadow Grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus
Bramble Rubus fruticosusa
Buddleia Buddleja davidii
Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra
Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris
Common Teasel Dipsacus fullonum
Wild Clematis Clematis vitalba
Wild Fennel Foeniculum vulgare
Yarrow Achillea millefolium
Yarrow Achillea millefolium
These are the first leaves of Yarrow Achillea millefolium.............
Ted:
