4 Jun 20

Old Quarry Lane, Horse Paddock and Wakeham Meadow

A much fresher feel to the day and any rain we had last night wasn't evident this morning. There was a fair bit of cloud cover with the odd ray of sunshine coming through.

Main highlights today were 3 Swifts over Wakeham, plus both the resident Blackcap and Common Whitethroat still singing away.

Not too many butterflies and day-flying moths about, but did come across a new moth for my Portland List, a Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella).

There were certainly a lot of flies, including a probable Neomyia viridescens

Here are my sightings, images and a video from today:

Old Quarry Lane with the only habitat left now................

........... on the right hand side

In the hedgerow along the Lane was this Dead Head Hoverfly......

.............and a Common Drone Fly

I spotted what I initially thought was a very very small fly, land on this Cocksfoot grass (Dactylis glomerata)

It wasn't until I checked the image through the viewfinder that I realised it wasn't a fly but a moth. In fact one of the smallest moths I  have ever encountered. Micro moth it certainly is and the clue was the grass it was on which makes this a Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella)

A White-tailed Bumblebee

From the lane I headed into the Horse paddock and at the far end of the path is........

...........this bramble patch which was alive with invertebrates.

There was this Dagger Fly - Empis tessellata

Broad Centurian - Chloromyia formosa

Yellow Dung Fly - Scathophaga stercoraria

This is a juvenile Roesel's Bush-cricket - Metrioptera roeselii

Common Green Grasshopper - Omocestus viridulus

This brightly coloured insect is a Xanthogramma pedissequum hoverfly.

Another hoverfly seen was this Marmalade hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) coming into land.

Down comes the landing gear and......

.......a successful landing on a Dog-rose

Not a hoverfly but a Honey Bee.

From the Horse Paddock it was through the gates to the Meadow.

In here I came across an adult Roesel's Bush-cricket.

Here is a side profile of the Roesel.

I dont think I have ever seen so many Swollen-thighed Beetles as I have this year, they are everywhere.

And a Dock Bug.

This is a Thistle Ermine. I had noticed a white moth flying around the meadow a few days ago. Unfortunately on that day it disappeared into the hedgerow. This time I was a bit luckier, as it only flew off a short distance.

Not a White-tailed Bumblebee but a Buff-tailed Bumblebee. There is just buffness in the tail for a Bombus terrestris
Still not that many Meadow Browns on the wing. In fact I only recorded 2 on my walk and worse than that I only found 1's of Common Blue, Large White and Speckled Wood.

A very bright yellow & white Daisy, with a very green fly settled on it.


This fly could well be one of the very similar looking Neomyia flies:  N. cornicina and N. viridescens. There are ways of distinguishing them, but unfortunately I needed to see more of the thorax. However the habitat I found this specimen would suggest Neomyia viridescens

Just as Ted and I started off our walk, we bumped into one of my favourite neighbours, the lovely Beryl and her trustee dog Fly. And judging by the "Buzz", Ted was also enjoying the encounter.....

..........even if it did make him pant a bit.

Here he is a little more chilled.


Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, 3 Swift, 2 Swallow, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Common Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded: Damselfly sp.

Butterflies Recorded: 1 Large White, 1 Speckled Wood, 2 Meadow Brown and 1 Common Blue

Moths Recorded: Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella) and a Thistle Ermine (Myelois circumvoluta)

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius), White-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) and Sweat Bee sp.

Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea), Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax) and Syrphus sp.

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Muscid Fly sp., Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria), Broad Centurian (Chloromyia formosa), Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata) and a probable Neomyia viridescens

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded: Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii), Common Green Grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus), Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

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On this day..........
2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

2017
Today' Sightings Here.

3 Jun 20

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church Grounds, Church Ope Cove, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Rufus Castle, The Cuttings Quarry and Mermaid Track

No highlights today as the rain just got heavier and heavier as I headed off to the cove via Penns wood. At least it eased off by the time I got to the beach. No warblers were heard or seen on the walk. To wet!!

Here are my sightings and a few images:

Penns Wood looking very lush as the heavens opened.

At least Ted has his waterproof jacket on. 

With so much rain there wasn't much to see in Penns Wood or the church grounds. However by the time I got the cove it had eased off a bit. Here are a pair of Dock Bugs mating. Looks like someone has thrown a bucket of water of them. 😀

 Also in the same area at the back of the cove was this Hairy Shieldbug and this........

.............brightly coloured Broad Centurian fly. Unfortunately I was a bit too hasty in photographing it and........

..........the second shot wasn't much better.

Just below the south facing slopes I came across this Muscidae fly. With so many in this family it might take awhile to identify the exact species.

The Dog-roses are now in flower at the cove and a few Swollen-thighed Beetles have taken up residents.

On the south facing slope at the cove was this Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis) 

My first of the year.

Also on the slope was this Saint John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) now in flower. It is sometimes...........

.........known as Perforate St John's-wort or Common St John's Wort More on this plant Here.

Unsurprisingly the wet weather saw many Garden Snails out in the damp grass, especially on Penn's Weare.

Also on the Weare was this White-tailed bumblebee. In fact this was the only bee I saw on my walk.

From the cove I made my way up the steps towards Rufus Castle. Near the top I came across this 7-spot Ladybird on a clump of nettles. I hadn't realised it at the time, but when I was editing this image later, I noticed a larvae, of the same species, just behind the nettle on the right.

Not only that but there was also a 7-spot Ladybird pupae close by

Next stop and The Cuttings Quarry. And if you look very carefully you can just make out Ted at the back.

In the quarry I came across another snail, this one I need to check for the species.

And the final leg of my walk was along the Mermaid Track, where there.....

........were several Ivy Broomrape (Orobanche hederae)

And the not so clean Ted, who was absolutely filthy. Thank goodness for the jacket, otherwise I dread to think what he would look like.

Birds Recorded: 1 Cormorant, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow and Chaffinch

Bees Recorded: 1 White-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Broad Centurian (Chloromyia formosa) and a Muscidae sp

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis), Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum) and 4 Dock Bug (Coreus marginatus)

Slugs and Snails Recorded: Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa) and a snail sp.


Ships Today

One of the local fishing boats "Red Rose" makes its way back to Portland Harbour

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On this day..........
2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

2017
Today' Sightings Here.

2 Jun 20

Wakeham

A busy day in the garden, planting out more Marrows, Giant Sunflowers, Sweet Peas, putting up trellises, and creating a Duck Pond. So not much time for watching any wildlife.

I managed to look up a couple times and on one ocassion there were approximately 30 Herring Gulls and a few Great Black-backed Gulls circling around in a thermal over Broadcroft Quarry Lane. Also with them were 2 Kestrels.

In the garden I had some new visitors, the first was a Common Blue and then next a Speckled Wood.

Not so many bees about in the heat, though there were 3 Honey Bees on the Scabious, plus a Swollen-thighed Beetle.

Just two hoverflies a Vagrant Hoverfly and a Helophilus sp.

This evening as I checked the garden pond, I could see 2 Palmate Newts. What I hadn't realised until edited the photo there was also a juvenile in the photo as well.

My "Lockdown" Garden List is Here.

Here are a few photos and a video from today
It's not until you get up close to Honey Bees, that you really appreciate the orange in the abdomen. 

There were 3 on the Scabious throughout the day.

And a bit of action from one of the busy bees.

This Vagrant Hoverfly is a daily visitor to the garden. Here it is on the Rosemary

This Helophilus hoverfly was very frustrating as it zipped around the garden, especially around the pond. It landed just once, enough for one photo and then it was gone. There have been 5 Helophilus species recorded in the UK, but you are more likely to see three Helophilus pendulus (The Footballer), Helophilus trivittatus and Helophilus hybridus. As I didn't get another view of it it will sadly remain as a Helophilus sp. More on Helophilus Here

Using the flash on my camera I managed to photograph two Palmate Newts in the dark. What I hadn't realised at the time, was that there was a juvenile on the far right, lying on a submerged rock with a petal floating over its head. What great news though with a pond which was only built a couple years ago. I think you would say that is good success story. I nearly forgot there was also a Frog present.

Amphibians Recorded: 1 Common Frog and 3 Palmate Newts

Butterflies Recorded: Large White, Speckled Wood and a Common Blue

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)

Hoverflies Recorded: Vagrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae)

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

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On this day..........
2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

2017
Today' Sightings Here.

1 Jun 20

Wakeham

I spent most of the day working on our Tamar 2000 boat and it was going very well, until a bolt holding one of the anodes in place snapped off. So unfortunately there will be no relaunch of Star this Wednesday, as that's the day the new parts arrive. Such is life.

So by the time I got home it was too hot to take Ted for a walk, so we spent the remainder of the afternoon in the back garden getting sun burnt.

Two days ago the resident Herring Gull, Bo hatched 3 chicks, though today there were only 2 visible. Where there the 3rd one was, I couldn't tell

The visible ones are the offspring of Bo a 16 year old female Herring Gull, who has bred here in Wakeham since at least 30 May 2012. Bo got her name from an Blue and Orange 771 plastic ring around her leg. Sadly the ring and her metal one are both gone.

More on BO:

10 Jun 17

13 Jun 17

19 Jun 17

11 Nov 17

12 Jun 18

5 Jul 18


My "Lockdown Garden List" is Here.

Here are a few images from this afternoon:

And here is Bo the female Herring Gull, in her 8th year in Wakeham with 3 chicks this year.

Feeding time has just finished.

Having been fed, the chicks.............

............ retreat back to the nest.

Well hopefully I have got this right a male Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius). Not easy to see in the photo, but there would be a thin yellow band in the middle of its body, unlike...........

..........this male Early bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), where the middle yellow band is more prominent.

A bit easier to ID, a Honey Bee on the neighbours overhanging pyracantha.

A bit of a mystery bee. I suspect it is one of the Sweat Bees.

And here is a Vagrant Hoverfly on the Valerian.

And the Lavender had around 6 Swollen-thighed Beetles hanging.........

...........onto the flower stalks.

It was a bit to hot for a walk this afternoon and Benji put one foot on the courtyard and turned and went back in.

Butterflies Recorded: Large White

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris), Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) and a bee sp.

Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) and a  Vagrant Hoverfly (Eupeodes corollae)

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

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On this day..........
2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

 2017
Today' Sightings Here.
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