5 May 22

Portland Castle

Today I christened the Kayak Dawn bought me for my 65th birthday, and I'm pleased to say that, one I didn't fall out of it, two I managed to manoeuvre around Portland Harbour like a real pro 😂 and three I made it back to the beach safe and sound.

Here are a few images from the kayak.

Looking across Portland Harbour towards Ferrybridge and Chesil Beach

A Wheatear on the Portland Marina Breakwater

Believe it or not, but this was our old............

............Tamar 2000 boat "Star", now reregistered as "Ariah Rose". I thought it was bad luck to change the name of a boat!!

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Old Quarry Lane, Wakeham Meadow, Easton Railway Cuttings and Wakeham Railway Cuttings

It's not often I'm up early, but today I managed an early morning walk around the lane, meadows and railway cuttings opposite the cottage.

And what a morning it was, with the following warblers all recorded: 1 Grasshopper Warbler, 2 Reed Warbler, 3 Sedge Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 3 Common Whitethroat, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Blackcap and a Chiffchaff. The only one missing was a Willow Warbler.

Just to add this is the third Grasshopper Warbler I have seen and heard over the past 4 days.

I'm not being greedy, but a few other birds wouldn't go amiss for my year list, such as Spotted Flycatcher and Tree Pipit. As for "scarcer" birds, the likes of  Turtle Dove, Hoopoe, European Bee-eater, Bluethroat, Woodchat Shrike, Golden Oriole, Rosy Starling and even Tree Sparrow, would be very welcome ticks in the box.


Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Grasshopper Warbler
2 Reed Warbler
3 Sedge Warbler
1 Garden Warbler
3 Common Whitethroat
1 Lesser Whitethroat
2 Blackcap
1 Chiffchaff
Long-tailed Tit
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

This is really odd, but all the Grasshopper Warblers I have recorded "reeling", of which some were very loud indeed, on playback you can barely hear them. This individual is just audible.

Here are a couple of........

.......Sedge Warbler photos from the meadow and a...........

..............very short video of one of them.

One of the 3 male Common Whitethroats on lookout.

A female Common Whitethroat. This one was in the Easton Railway Cutting.

And another female, this time in the meadow, which sadly will be another concrete jungle in the not too distant future.

A very vocal Lesser Whitethroat in the Wakeham Railway Cuttings

They certainly do "rattle". In the background is a Chiffchaff "Chiff Chaffing" and a male Blackcap singing.

And the male Blackcaps are certainly in good voice as well.

Here's a short video of this male singing from Old Quarry Lane

Butterflies Recorded:
4 Large White
3 Small White
3 Green-veined White
1 Wall Brown
1 Small Copper
1 Small Blue
1 Common Blue

A Green-veined White

A Wall Brown along Wakeham Railway Cuttings.

A Small Copper in the meadow.

A Small Blue in Easton Railway Cuttings. I also came across a Common Blue, which evaded the camera.

Moths Recorded:

Green-longhorn Moth (Adela reaumurella)

My first Green-longhorn Moth of the year.

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)


Wasps Recorded:
Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris)


Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)
Spring Epistrophe (Epistrophe eligans)


Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa)
Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetle (Ischnomera cyanea)

A "small" Bloody-nosed Beetle

Lesser Thick-legged Flower Beetles and a Great Green Bush Cricket on the bottom flower.

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
Great Green Bush Cricket (Tettigonia viridissima)

A Great Green Bush Cricket nymph

General Shots:

The meadow which very soon look like.........

..............this on the other side of the path.

At least for the time being, Old Quarry Lane appears to be safe. Though rumour has it that a few of these Sycamores will be felled.

Ted:

Ted on a go slow today.

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Wakeham

Here are a few photos and a video from the garden tonight:

A mouse collecting spilt seeds from the bird feeders.

A female Palmate Newt

And below the female is a male.

4 May 22

Wakeham

I can't believe it was 46 years ago today, that I joined the Royal Air Force as an Air Photography Operator and then progressing to a NVQ Assessor. Overall it was a pretty good career, spanning 30 years, plus a further 3 years as a Reservist. How time flies.

Sadly no walk today, as I was needed at home, but at least I managed a bit of gardening and of course keeping an eye out for the wildlife around me.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull

1 Stock Dove
1 Wood Pigeon
2 Collared Dove
2 Dunnock
1 Robin
1 Blackbird
2 Great Tit
1 Blue Tit
2 Magpie
2 Carrion Crow
1 Jackdaw
5 House Sparrow
2 Linnet
5 Goldfinch

A pair of Collared Doves keeping a wary eye on me and Ted, as they feed on the fallen Nyjer Seeds.

A Dunnock just taking off.

A male Linnet in the neighbours Sycamore Tree.

And two Goldfinches on the Nyjer Feeders.

Amphibians Recorded:
4 Frog

Lots of Frogs in the small pond

And another..........

............two more. The larger "bath" pond doesn't appear to have Frogs in it, but Palmate Newts and Toads.

Butterflies Recorded:
2 Large White
1 Holly Blue


Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Grey-patched Mining Bee (Andrena nitida)

Ashy Mining Bee (Andrena cineraria)

A Grey-patched Mining Bee (Andrena nitida)

And an Ashy Mining Bee (Andrena cineraria)

And a short video of it having a brush-up

Hoverflies Recorded:
Spring Epistrophe (Epistrophe eligans)

And a not particular good photo of a Spring Epistrophe hoverfly

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:

Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami)

Rosemary Beetle (Chrysolina americana)

A Cinnamon Bug - Corizus hyoscyami

And another view of it.

A Rosemary Beetle, which in this case is on a Lavender and not on the Rosemary just 2 metres away.

Spiders Recorded:
Copper Sun-jumper (Heliophanus cupreus)

A Copper Sun-jumper (Heliophanus cupreus)

And another slightly out of focus shot of it again.

General Shots:

The view down the back garden with the "bath" pond in the foreground and Dawn's Volkswagen Beetle Muriel on the garden shed at the far end of the garden.

And the original pond which I made out of an old Tractor tyre.

Ted:

Anyone would think he's been a naughty boy. Far from it, he's just waiting patiently for me to open the gate for the back garden.

3 May 22

Lower Horse Paddock, Upper Horse Paddock, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, and Bumpers Lane

It was another fairly dry, cloudy and muggy day, with the occasional light drizzle. Two good highlights today with both my first Hobby and Garden Warbler of the year.

The Hobby passed fast and low over the Lower Horse Paddock, causing a bit of a stir with the Wood Pigeons as it flew over the heads. It caught something, but was gone before I could I tell what it was.

The second new bird for the year was a Garden Warbler which was catching insects from a muck pile of straw and horses waste alongside the hedge on the other side of Broadcroft Quarry Lane. This must be a good spot for migrants, as I also had a female Common Redstart here as well a few days ago.

Other highlights were the male Chaffinch again and his aberrant song, 2 Chiffchaffs, 7 Common Whitethroats, 1 Lesser Whitethroat and 2 male Blackcaps.


Mammals Recorded:
Bunny


Birds Recorded:
1 Hobby
Herring Gull
3 Stock Dove
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
3 Swallow
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Song Thrush
1 Garden Warbler
7 Common Whitethroat
1 Lesser Whitethroat
3 Blackcap
2 Chiffchaff
1 Willow Warbler
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Greenfinch

Not the easiest of birds to photograph. This is a male Blackcap singing from the top of a Sycamore tree.

A male Chaffinch singing its "normal" song

So many Linnets about.

I did try recording its song, but it was drowned out by a Common Whitethroat singing from the bush right next to me. The funny thing is I stopped videoing the Linnet and turned slowly to record the Whitethroat, which immediately flew off!!!

Butterflies Recorded:
Large White
Speckled Wood
Small Blue

We're only just into May and this Speckled Wood is already very tatty

A Small Blue and my first this year.

Moths Recorded:
Vetch Piercer (Grapholita jungiella)

Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella)

Vetch Piercer (Grapholita jungiella)

Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella)

As above a Cocksfoot Moth

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)
White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)

Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)

A White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum)

Another view of the White-tailed Bumblebee

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
fly sp.

And my mystery fly today.

Spiders Recorded:
Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)


Plants:

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)

Ground Ivy (Glechoma hederacea)

General Shots:

A traffic free Broadcroft Quarry Lane, which saw my my first Garden Warbler of the year, along with other migrants feeding in the trees and bushes.

Ted:

Spot the dog

Here we are at the bottom of Broadcroft Quarry Lane. The new housing estate is on the left and what will probably another housing development on the right in the Lower Horse Paddock

Run Bunny, run Bunny, run run run......

2 May 22

Lower Horse Paddock, Upper Horse Paddock, Broadcroft Butterfly Reserve, Broadcroft Quarry Lane, and Bumpers Lane

After yesterdays rain, today was still cloudy, but dry. In fact out of the wind it did feel quite muggy.

Today's highlights were the same/another Grasshopper Warbler "reeling" on the reserve and the male Chaffinch with the aberrant song.

Mammals Recorded:
Bunny

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
2 Stock Dove
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Grasshopper Warbler
5 Common Whitethroat
1 Lesser Whitethroat
1 Blackcap
2 Chiffchaff
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Linnet
Goldfinch
Greenfinch

One of the pair of Stock Doves feeding in the butterfly reserve

The Robins are still in good voice

As are the Common Whitethroats

I heard this Lesser Whitethroat and as I rounded a hawthorn Bush he heard me and was off.

If only all birds were as easy to photograph, like this male House Sparrow.

The male Chaffinch is still singing his aberrant song.

Here is a compilation of video clips of its unusual song. I have also added a few links of more aberrant songs which other male Chaffinches have been recorded singing Here, Here, Here and Here.

And one of many Goldfinches on the reserve.

Butterflies Recorded:
Orange-tip
Large White
Small White
Green-veined White
Wall Brown
Speckled Wood

A Wall Brown hiding in the grass in the Lower Horse Paddock.

Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)


Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)


Spiders Recorded:
spider sp.

spider sp.

General Shots:

And a typical Grasshopper Warbler territory. Though I have heard two here over the past 3 days, I doubt they will breed here as there are just too many dog walkers.

Ted:

One minute Ted's sat in front of me and then the next second..............

.........he's off like a Greyhound. However just like a good old boomerang, he still comes back.

1 May 22

Wakeham

Well not the best of starts to May, as it started off with rain and continued late into the afternoon.

Only highlight today was a male Linnet on the feeders along with a few Goldfinches, House Sparrows, a Blue Tit and a pair of Collared Doves.

Collared Dove

A male Linnet and Blue Tit

The male Linnet

Goldfinch