With cloudy skies and a cool breeze, it was perfect conditions for a walk. Though having said that, it did have a negative effect on the butterflies with only 13 seen of 8 species.
Main highlight today was finding a second Wasp Spider just off the main meadow. This one was also a female. I'll have to find out if its possible to locate a male!
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
6 House Martin
Dunnock
Blackbird
1 Chiffchaff/Willow Warbler - heard not seen
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Below are a few photos of two of the three Common Buzzards over Wakeham this afternoon.
Escapees, Ferals, Possibles Etc.
Feral pigeon
Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
2 Hawker sps.
Butterflies Recorded:
4 Large White Pieris brassicae
2 Small White Pieris rapae
1 Green-veined White Pieris napi
2 Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
1 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
1 Small Blue Cupido minimus
1 Common Blue Polyommatus icarus
1 Chalk Hill Blue Polyommatus coridon
On this spent Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra is a Chalk Hill Blue Polyommatus coridon and an empty cocoon of a Six-Spot Burnet moth Zygaena filipendulae
Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
A Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris on the flower-head of a Buddleia Buddleja davidii. I had to use a bit of fill-in flash as it was so dark in this spot it was feeding.
A few days ago I came across a Black Slip Wasp Pimpla rufipes in the clutches of a Wasp Spider. Today a live one.
What I am pointing at is a Robin's Pincushion on a Dog Rose. It is a gall caused by the larvae of a tiny gall wasp called a Mossy Rose Gall Wasp Dipoloepis rosaea More on this Here.
A Glass-winged Syrphus Syrphus vitripennis on Common Ragwort. This hoverfly also goes by the name of Lesser Banded Hoverfly and Black-thighed Flower Fly.
I was photographing a Common Carder bee and when I got home I realised I also had a shot of a Long Winged Cone-head Conocephalus fuscus nymph
Plants:
Bramble Rubus fruticosusa
Buddleia Buddleja davidii
Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra
Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris
Common Teasel Dipsacus fullonum
Dog Rose Rosa canina
Greater Burdock Arctium lappa
Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna
Hemp Agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum
Large Bindweed Calystegia silvatica
Lesser Burdock Arctium minus
Wild Clematis Clematis vitalba
Red Valerian Centranthus ruber
Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus
Wild Marjoram Origanum vulgare
Ted:
Feral pigeon
Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
2 Hawker sps.
Butterflies Recorded:
4 Large White Pieris brassicae
2 Small White Pieris rapae
1 Green-veined White Pieris napi
2 Meadow Brown Maniola jurtina
1 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta
1 Small Blue Cupido minimus
1 Common Blue Polyommatus icarus
1 Chalk Hill Blue Polyommatus coridon
The location I found this Small Blue Cupido minimus is...........
.............not an area I have seen this species before. Could be promising for next year!!
Moths Recorded:
1 Jersey Tiger Euplagia quadripunctaria - seen but not photographed
8 Rush Veneer Nomophila noctuella
8 Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
1 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata - deceased
1 Jersey Tiger Euplagia quadripunctaria - seen but not photographed
8 Rush Veneer Nomophila noctuella
8 Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana
1 Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata - deceased
A Rush Veneer Nomophila noctuella
Another Rush Veneer
And one more.
One of the 8 Yellow-spot Tortrix Pseudargyrotoza conwagana I noted this afternoon.
The sad demise of a Small Fan-footed Wave Idaea biselata at the hands (legs) of a spider.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
A worker Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius on Common Knapweed and..........
...............another worker.
Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
8 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
2 Ichneumon Wasp sps.
1 Whitefly Wasp Encarsia formosa
1 Black Slip Wasp Pimpla rufipes
8 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
2 Ichneumon Wasp sps.
1 Whitefly Wasp Encarsia formosa
1 Black Slip Wasp Pimpla rufipes
1 Mossy Rose Gall Wasp Dipoloepis rosaea
A Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris on Common Ragwort
This an.............
.........Ichneumon Wasp sp.
A Whitefly Wasp Encarsia formosa and a new wasp for my list
Hoverflies Recorded:
Dead Head Hoverfly Myathropa florea
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
Dead Head Hoverfly Myathropa florea
Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
Superb Ant-hill Hoverfly Xanthogramma pedissequum
Glass-winged Syrphus Syrphus vitripennis
Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis
A Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus
A Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax on Common Ragwort.
And another Common Dronefly this time on Wild Clematis Clematis vitalba
A Superb Ant-hill Hoverfly Xanthogramma pedissequum which....................
.................also goes by the name of Superb Dayglower
This Wasp Plumehorn Volucella inanis was.........
.............difficult to keep up with. Eventually it landed on this Buddleia.
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Many unidentified flies
Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
Root-maggot fly Anthomyiidae sp.
Many unidentified flies
Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
Root-maggot fly Anthomyiidae sp.
Dull Four-spined Legionnaire Chorisops tibialis
A Root-maggot fly Anthomyiidae sp.
A Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
And another Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
Dull Four-spined Legionnaire Chorisops tibialis
Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Dark Bush-cricket Pholidoptera griseoaptera
Common Field Grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus
Long Winged Cone-head Conocephalus fuscus
Dark Bush-cricket Pholidoptera griseoaptera
Common Field Grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus
Long Winged Cone-head Conocephalus fuscus
A Dark Bush-cricket Pholidoptera griseoaptera in amongst the Wild Clematis
A Common Field Grasshopper Chorthippus brunneus
Spiders Recorded:
2 Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi
1 Summer Orbweaver Metellina mengei
2 Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi
1 Summer Orbweaver Metellina mengei
And my second ever Wasp Spider which was roughly 50 metre away from the individual above.
A Summer Orbweaver Metellina mengei and a new spider for my P&W list
Bramble Rubus fruticosusa
Buddleia Buddleja davidii
Common Knapweed Centaurea nigra
Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris
Common Teasel Dipsacus fullonum
Dog Rose Rosa canina
Greater Burdock Arctium lappa
Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna
Hemp Agrimony Eupatorium cannabinum
Large Bindweed Calystegia silvatica
Lesser Burdock Arctium minus
Wild Clematis Clematis vitalba
Red Valerian Centranthus ruber
Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus
Wild Marjoram Origanum vulgare
This is Wild Clematis Clematis vitalba which.....................
.............also goes by the name of Travellers’ Joy and Old Man’s Beard.
It's no wonder Ted is panting. He never stops running about on our "walks"