After 3 days away in Hertfordshire it was back home to a very different looking Portland, which had had a fair bit of heavy rain, whilst I was away. The plants certainly looked a lot fresher and there were a few patches of green grass in the lawn I sowed in the Spring, which had dried up and looked to have died in the hot Summer sun. We still need more rain though!
Highlights from the back garden were a dozen or so House Martins and Swallows drifting south, and a Chiffchaff calling from a few gardens down.
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
4 House Martin
8 Swallow
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Chiffchaff
Blue Tit
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
One of the local Collared Doves
Feral pigeon
Butterflies Recorded:
2 Large White Pieris brassicae
4 Small White Pieris rapae
Moths Recorded:
And on this Common Ragwort is a Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus AKA Stripe-backed Brusheye.
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Many unidentified flies
Blue Blowfly Calliphora vicina
Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
Parasite Fly Siphona sp
This is a Parasite Fly Siphona sp. and is one of the most difficult Tachinidae flies to identify. Here is a page full of them, which I think you will agree are all very similar looking.
Plants:
Buckthorn Rhamnus sp.
Buddleia Buddleja davidii
Common Fig Ficus carica
Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris
Evening Primrose Oenothera biennis
Guelder Rose Viburnum opulus
Honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum
Ice Plant Hylotelephium spectabile
Lavender Lavandula sp.
Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus
Oxeye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare
Passion Flower Passiflora sp.
Roses:
2 Large White Pieris brassicae
4 Small White Pieris rapae
A female Large White Pieris brassicae
Moths Recorded:
1 Rush Veneer Nomophila noctuella - unfortunately not photographed
1 Pellitory Beauty Cosmopterix pulchrimella
1 Pellitory Beauty Cosmopterix pulchrimella
Below are a few photos and a video of the Pellitory Beauty Cosmopterix pulchrimella
Bees Recorded:
1 Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius
3 Honey Bee Apis mellifera
3 Honey Bee Apis mellifera
6 Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
8 Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
1 Common Furrow-bee Lasioglossum calceatum
On this Passion Flower Passiflora sp. we had a Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris with a Honey Bee Apis mellifera and...........................
Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
4 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
1 Ichneumon Wasp - Possibly Pimpla sp.
Hoverflies Recorded:
4 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
1 Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus
8 Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
1 Common Furrow-bee Lasioglossum calceatum
...............then a little later the same Buff-tailed Bumblebee with a Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Here the Honey Bee forcibly knocks the Common Carder Bumblebee off the flower.
A Common Furrow-bee Lasioglossum calceatum on Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris
Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
4 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris
1 Ichneumon Wasp - Possibly Pimpla sp.
An Ichneumon Wasp possibly Pimpla sp.
4 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
1 Stripe-backed Fleckwing Dasysyrphus albostriatus
4 Thick-legged hoverfly Syritta pipiens
1 Syrphus sp.
On this Common Ragwort is a Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax.
A Thick-legged hoverfly Syritta pipiens AKA Compost Hoverfly on a Crown Daisy Glebionis coronaria.
A Syrphus sp. possibly Humming Syrphus Syrphus ribesii
Many unidentified flies
Blue Blowfly Calliphora vicina
Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
Parasite Fly Siphona sp
Caterpillars Recorded:
Large White Pieris brassicae
The caterpillar of a Small White Pieris rapae
Buckthorn Rhamnus sp.
Buddleia Buddleja davidii
Common Fig Ficus carica
Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris
Evening Primrose Oenothera biennis
Guelder Rose Viburnum opulus
Honeysuckle Lonicera periclymenum
Ice Plant Hylotelephium spectabile
Lavender Lavandula sp.
Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus
Oxeye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare
Passion Flower Passiflora sp.
Pellitory-of-the-wall Parietaria judaicais
Perennial Sweet Pea Lathyrus latifolius
Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria
Red Valerian Centranthus ruber
Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus
Perennial Sweet Pea Lathyrus latifolius
Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria
Red Valerian Centranthus ruber
Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus
Roses:
Below are a few of my 14 roses in bloom.
