7 Mar 21

Wakeham

It was another day in the garden, this time putting up a fence to stop Ted from escaping. If there's a gap he will surely find it. Unfortunately with the new housing estate behind us, the road is pretty busy now, so this was a job that was long overdue.

It might have been sunny, but with temperature not rising much above 8C, it came as no surprise that I didn't see a single bee, butterfly or any other insect. And there are still no migrants about.

So instead of a report here are a few images of Ladybirds I have found on Portland

2-Spot Ladybird

5-Spot Ladybird

7-Spot Ladybird

10-Spot Ladybird

14-Spot Ladybird

22-Spot Ladybird

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On this day..........

2020
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today' Sightings Here.

6 Mar 21

Out and About

Early afternoon, I had to pop into Weymouth to buy some Chick Crumb for the 10 ducklings that are due to hatch between tomorrow and the 12 March. It was quite strange driving into Weymouth, as this was only the second time I have been here during Lockdown, the first being for my vaccine at the Pavilion.

This time my route was over the bridge next to the Swannery Car park, and as I drove over I saw my first Mute Swans and Tufted Ducks for this year. Hopefully when Lockdown ceases to be, I'll be able to add many more birds to my year list.

When I got back there was a Peacock Butterfly flitting around the back garden plus several Honey Bees on the Azalea flowers again.

A bit later I took Ted for a walk through the Lower Horse Paddock, up Broadcroft Quarry Lane, through Broadcroft Quarry Butterfly Reserve and then back through the Horse paddock from the top end of the field.

Unfortunately I left it a bit late for our walk and even though the was sun out, I didn't find or see any insects whatsoever. Mind you with that bitter north-easterly I wasn't really that surprised.

In fact there were no migrants seen or heard today either, but at least I had one good highlight, as I think I may have got lucky with a female Greenfinch nest building in one of the Gorse Bushes on the Butterfly Reserve.

I was just waiting for Ted to catch up and a pair of Greenfinches were calling overhead. As I watched them, the female dived into a Gorse Bush next to me and never reappeared. As for the male, he landed several metres away on another Gorse Bush. One to keep an eye on for the future, and it goes without saying from a safe distance.

Here are a few images from today:

Almost anywhere you walk on Portland you will hear a Robin singing.

An adult Herring Gull in pristine condition.

If animals could talk to each other I wonder what this Starling and Bunny would be saying to each other!!

There are only a few places in the butterfly reserve where you will find Primroses. This patch just seems to be growing larger every year.

Looks like Ted is on a mission and he very nearly carried on running down the wrong track.

Mammals Recorded: 12 Bunnies (All in the Lower Horse paddock)

Birds Recorded: Mute Swan, Tufted Duck, 1 Buzzard, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Greenfinch

Ships Today

This is the French Cargo Ship "MN Pelican" on its way from Poole to Bilbao (Spain). More on this vessel Here.

This is the German Cargo Ship "Paulin B" on its way from Teignmouth to Antwerp. More on this vessel Here.

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On this day..........

2020
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today' Sightings Here.

5 Mar 21

Lower Horse Paddock, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Bumpers Lane, Rufus Castle, Penn's Copse, Penn's Weare, Church Ope Cove, St Andrew's Church, Penns Wood, Perryfield Quarry Butterfly Reserve and Old Quarry Lane

Back on my walks after a few days at home and sadly not a lot around, apart from a few Wall Lizards and a dozen or so Common Droneflies.

No migrants and no butterflies, and apart from the lizards and hoverflies, the only other invertebrates I came across were Honey Bees, White-tailed Bumblebees and Buff-tailed Bumblebees. All a bit disappointing really.

Here are a few images from today:

Plenty of Wall Lizards out today, with a good dozen seen along my walk

And if you were quiet enough and using a bit of stealth you could even get up and personal.

In the past week or so I have seen numerous Honey Bees and White-tailed Bumblebees, plus a few Buff-tailed Bumblebees. Today there were definitely more Buff-tailed Bumblebees about, especially queens like this one on one of the beach huts..

And it was a good day for Common Droneflies, especially around the Alexanders.

And here is one happy chappy, back out on his walks with me.

Birds Recorded: 1 Cormorant, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 1 Raven, 6 Starling, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and 2 Greenfinch

Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and White-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)

Hoverflies Recorded: Common Dronefly (Eristalis tenax)

Ships Today

This is the Cypriot Cement Carrier "Cemvale" on its way from Dunkirk to Runcorn. More on this vessel Here.

This is the British Replenishment Ship "RFA Tidespring" on its way from Plymouth to Weymouth Bay. More on this vessel Here.

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On this day..........

2020
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today' Sightings Here.

4 Mar 21

Wakeham

Another day at home and a bit of gardening, plus sorting out the duck pool for the expected ducklings due to hatch in the next week or so.

On the bird front, there were a few small flocks of Meadow Pipits heading north, and an indication that the Spring migration had started. Well certainly in daylight hours as I had at least 2 Whimbrel calling as they headed north late last night.

Also noted in the garden were dozens of Moth Flies, which are probably the result of having a duck pool. There alternative name is the Drain Fly.

This is a Moth Fly. Unfortunately there are 99 UK species in the Psychodidae family, so narrowing it down to a particular species is down to the experts I'm afraid.

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On this day..........

2020
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today' Sightings Here.

3 Mar 21

Wakeham

No walk today, but at 23:55 at least 2 Whimbrel were heard calling as they flew over the cottage. 

Here are a few butterflies I have photographed on Portland.

Large Tortoiseshell

Small Tortoiseshell

Wall Brown

Clouded Yellow

Grayling

Speckled Wood

Common Blue

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On this day..........

2020
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today' Sightings Here.

2 Mar 21

The Fleet

Having dropped David off at work, Ted and I called into Ferrybridge for a short walk along The Fleet. The tide was well out and there were waders just about everywhere you looked.

Main highlights were 2 Whimbrel, my first for the year and dozens of Ringed Plovers and Dunlin. Also here in good numbers were at least 30 Oystercatchers.

As I stood on the embankment, behind me were several Greenfinches calling, which is a good sign they are doing well at this location.

Here are a few images and videos from today:

Looking west along The Fleet. In the background is Chesil Beach

One of the 2 Whimbrel here on the mudflats.

Here is one of the Whimbrel making its way along the waters edge.

A common sight on The Fleet are Little Egrets

A very short video of it feeding in the shallows.

And the same as above but in slow-motion

And one of my favourite gulls the Common Gull.

Birds Recorded: 1 Little Egret, 10+ Red-breasted Merganser, 30+ Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover, Dunlin, 2 Whimbrel, Mediterranean Gull, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Common Gull, Robin, Blackbird, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Starling and Greenfinch

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On this day..........

2020
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today' Sightings Here.

1 Mar 21

Lower Horse Paddock, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, Bumpers Lane, Rufus Castle, Penn's Copse, Penn's Weare, Church Ope Cove, St Andrew's Church and Penns Wood

Another sunny day, though that north-easterly was pretty chilly.

Main highlight today was my first Large Tortoiseshell of the year, flitting about in amongst the beach huts at the cove. Not the first one seen this year, as they have been spotted at the cove since 26 Feb, with 5 seen on 27 Feb. More on the Large Tortoiseshells below

Elsewhere plenty of Wall Lizards, but still no Summer Migrants. Where are the Sand Martins, Chiffchaffs and Wheatears!!!

Here are a few images from today:

The cove was the place to be this afternoon, especially by.........

..........the huts where there was a........

..........Large Tortoiseshell basking in the sun. This species was extinct in the British Isles, but since a few were released back in 2018, they have been seen on Portland every year since.

The huts were also good spots for the Wall Lizards. Can you spot them?

Here's one and the..........

..........second one. There were plenty of others around as well.

This Magpie has just blinked and appears to have a blue eye. In fact it is a third eye-lid and helps protect the eyes and moistens them. It is called a nictitating membrane.

Lots of small hoverflies about this afternoon. This is a Spotted Meliscaeva (Meliscaeva auricollis)

The Primroses are still doing well in the grounds of St Andrew's Church, despite being stood on a few days ago.

This is Russian Comfrey (Symphytum x Uplandicum) in Penns Wood started to show late January and is now just coming into flower. This Comfrey is a cross or hybrid of Common Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) and Rough Comfrey (Symphytum asperum). Once the majority of them are in flower, hopefully there will be a few Hairy-footed Flower Bees about.

And today on my walk I was joined by David, who looks like he's being dragged down the steps by Ted.

Birds Recorded: Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, 2 Raven, House Sparrow, Chaffinch and Goldfinch

Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard (Podarcis muralis)

Butterflies Recorded: 1 Large Tortoiseshell

Bees Recorded: Honey Bees (Apis mellifera), Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) and White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)

Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) and Spotted Meliscaeva (Meliscaeva auricollis)

Large Tortoiseshell

2018 - Present Day - The story so far:

2018-2019

The Large Tortoiseshells on Portland were released at Tout Quarry in 2018

I found my first one in Broadcroft Quarry Butterfly Reserve on 31/03/18

They then over wintered into 2019.

2019-2020

In 2019 they were found in Bottomcombe Quarry and Broadcroft Quarry. They bred and the new brood hatched and over wintered into 2020.

Two pristine LT's were found at Church Ope Cove on 2/03/20 and 3 were seen the next day. A few days later a 4th was found but in a sorry state, looking more like a Comma than a LT.

On 16/03/20 at Church Ope Cove all 4 were seen with 2 visiting Pennsylvania Castle Woods in the afternoon. 1 was a female, 2 were males and the 4th was to worn to sex.

On 22/03/20 a pair in Pennsylvania Wood were showing good interaction just 30 metres from where the larvae were found the day before. In fact the male on this day had a lucky escape when a Pipistrelle "type" Bat, very nearly caught it.

On 6/05/20 I came across a very worn and tattered LT on the south facing slopes at Church Ope Cove.

The last Large Tortoiseshell seen this year was, I believe around 5/07/20

2020-2021

First Large Tortoiseshell seen 26/02/21 at the cove.

27/02/21 Five were seen at the cove.

Found my first one this year at the cove on 1/03/21

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On this day..........

2020
Today's Sightings Here

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today' Sightings Here.