28 May 20

Penns Wood, St Andrew's Church Grounds, Penn's Weare, Penn's Copse, Church Ope Cove, Rufus Castle and Portland Museum

It was another day giving Star a makeover before she goes back into the water next week. So it was a very quick visit to my local patch today, with a few good highlights.

The first was hearing the male Lesser Whitethroat on the south facing slopes at the cove, the second highlight was watching 2 Peregrine Falcons heading down the island and the third was coming across my first ever Small Barred Long-horn moth.

There wasn't much to see in Penns Wood, but entering into.....

........the grounds of St Andrew's Church there was a good array of invertebrates.

First was a Blue-tailed Damselfly

Then a Speckled Wood followed by......

.........a male Orange-tip butterfly. Sadly it wouldn't open it wings fully but......

..........got a good side view.

For a change this Orange-tip was stationary long enough for a video.

This is a Narcissus Bulb Fly and is actually a hoverfly.

This is a Potter Wasp, but as there are quite a few it will remain as.........

................an Ancistrocerus sp

Church Ope Cove where it was good to hear the male Lesser Whitethroat singing here again........

.......and here it is singing behind the huts.

There were also a few raptors about including this Kestrel taking an interest in the Wall Lizards in between the Beach Huts.

Whilst high above the beach there were a pair of Peregrines circling, before heading down the island.

One of the Wall Lizards which I'm sure the Kestrel was interested in.

On the way up the steps to Rufus Castle I came across........

..........this Rose Chafer coming into land on the Valerian.

This is a female Small Barred Long-horn and a first for me on Portland.

And in case you hadn't noticed in the "Step" photo above, Ted was standing there patiently for me to catch him up.

Birds Recorded: 2 Peregrine Falcon, 1 Kestrel, Herring Gull, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, 1 Rock Pipit, Dunnock, Robin, Blackbird, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Blackcap, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Magpie, Carrion Crow, 1 Raven, House Sparrow, Chaffinch, Linnet and Goldfinch

Reptiles Recorded: Wall Lizard

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded: Blue-tailed Damselfly

Butterflies Recorded: Small Skipper, Orange-tip, Large White, Speckled Wood, 2 Meadow Brown, and Common Blue

Moths Recorded: Small Barred Long-horn (Adela croesella)

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

Wasps Recorded: Potter Wasp (Ancistrocerus sp.),

Hoverflies Recorded: Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus), Epistrophe eligans and a Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) and a Rose Chafer (Cetonia aurata)

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

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

27 May 20

Wakeham

Apologies to the few that follow my Blog, the last few days have been pretty busy and consequently there haven't been a lot of sightings. Today was no exception I'm afraid, as it was spent working on Star our "Tamar 2000", which is out of the water at the moment, having a facelift.

So it wasn't until this evening I got the chance to see what was about in the back garden. Birds noted were a Swift heading south!!, 2 Swallows heading north, the male Common Whitethroat still singing from the horse paddock close-by and a family of Long-tailed Tits in the Buddleia briefly, before heading into the neighbours garden

In the garden I came across a Swollen-thighed Beetle, a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Honey Bees, a Marmalade Hoverfly, an unidentified Syrphus hoverfly and a Cherry-bark Moth (Enarmonia formosana) which I came across on the Cherry Tree. Where else I guess!!

My Lockdown Garden List is Here.

A before shot of Star. Tomorrow if all goes well there will be an after shot.

And the Cherry-bark Moth. This photo really doesn't do it justice, as this small moth is very pretty. On the UK Moth site there are some lovely photos of this moth Here.

My attempt at capturing a Marmalade Hoverfly in flight.

A Swollen-thighed Beetle.

And long overdue, a really good buzz by Ted.

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

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

26 May 20

Wakeham

I spent the whole day gardening and clearing out the shed, so there were very few highlights until 8:10pm, when 2 Hobby's flew over the cottage.

Unfortunately Bumpers Lane was being resurfaced again and the noise of the diggers, lorries and other machines was endless from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Though when the workmen did break for lunch the "resident" Common Whitethroat could be heard on a couple of occasions.

Only other birds of interest during the day were 2 Buzzards circling over Broadcroft Quarry Lane and a lone Swift heading up the island early afternoon.

A few things I noticed in the garden were Large White butterflies & a Red Admiral, a few Honey Bees & 2 Buff-tailed Bumblebees, an Ichneumon Wasp I need to ID, and 2 hoverflies a Marmalade hoverfly & a Sphaerophoria (Twist-tailed hoverfly).

As regards the Sphaerophoria, there are many very similar species, and can only be identified  by checking the male genitalia. Having said that this individual I found on the Lavender has a bulbous tip to its abdomen and could well be a Sphaerophoria rueppellii. Steve Falk's Flickr page has some great examples of Sphaerophoria's. See them Here.

My Lockdown Garden List is Here.

Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Almost similar to the Marmalade Hoverfly, but........

.........considerably smaller. Though that doesn't mean much, as hoverflies can vary in size within their own species.

It is in fact a Twist-tailed hoverfly. The closest I can get to is Sphaerophoria rueppellii. But to be 100% sure it would have examined at very close quarters.

It even stayed still long enough for a video.

And an Ichneumon Wasp.......

........which does look vaguely familiar. And another one to ID later.

Aircraft Today

Two Bell Boeing V 22 Osprey did a couple of laps around the island today.

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

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.

25 May 20

Horse Paddock, Wakeham Meadow, Easton Railway Cuttings and Wakeham Railway Cuttings

Despite getting up pretty early this morning I wasn't able to get out for a walk until around 11:30am. I'm certainly not complaining about the weather, but a long walk wouldn't have been fair on Ted, even with a "bucket" of water in my bag. So today it really was the local patch and a visit to the meadow, across the road from the cottage, and then to the Wakeham Railway Cuttings via the old Easton Railway Cuttings.

Highlight at 2:30am this morning was listening to Badgers across the other side of the road from the Cottage. Ever wanted to know what they sound like...............

...........well here is a good sound Track. All I've got to do know is see one.

Highlight today were my first Meadow Browns of the year with two in the meadow Here and another in Easton Railway Cuttings.

Highlight this evening at 21:45 a Pipistrelle "type" Bat flying up and down the garden. Ten minutes earlier 6 Swallows flew north.

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

Just behind Wakeham on the west side there is a horse paddock Here, which at this time of year is full of insects like this.......

..............Yellow-barred Long-horn Moth and......

.........this stunning looking Bramble Sawfly (Arge cyanocrocea)

It looks that good I thought I would post.....

..........three photos of it.

With plenty of flowers out, there were also many Swollen-thighed Beetles as well.

Just before I left the horse field I came across this unusual wildflower.

Well at least that is what I thought it was. The closest species I got was Hop Trefoil, but the petals on that plant have "spiky" tips to the petals. Turns out it's a Double Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris). And judging by this website here, I'm thinking I'm right when I said it wasn't a wildflower.

To the west of the horse field is this meadow which is just coming into life with a few butterflies, especially Common Blues, Dingy Skippers and my first Meadow Brown of the year. In the horse field in the distance a male Common Whitethroat was singing on top of the brambles.

In the next few weeks I will suspect Marbled White butterflies and Six-spot Burnet Moths will start appearing, especially as the Knapweed is just coming into flower. A flower both these species frequent.

My first Burnet Companion of the year was also flitting about in the meadow.

From the meadow I headed off down through the old Easton Railway Cuttings where there were...........

............several Common Blue Butterflies, with a few mating. Here are a pair and another male flying in.

Here are a pair on a Valerian.

And another Common Blue

Not only were there Meadow Browns in the Meadow but also in the Cuttings as well, along with a few Speckled Woods, Small Blues and................

.............this Vetch Piercer Moth. As I made my way to Wakeham Railway Cuttings there were House Martins overhead and another Common Whitethroat around the Windmills.

A very dusty railway cutting. Fortunately there is a path running alongside which was dust free. Just behind the tree on the left was a 3rd Common Whitethroat, whilst further down a male Blackcap was singing.

On the way down the path I came across what looks like a predated Wood Pigeons egg.

And wherever you find Ivy, inevitably you will come across this parasitic plant, Ivy Broomrape, Orobanche hederae

Not the ideal weather for walking, if you are a dog. So there was no Bichon Buzz today from Ted, just a slow walk and a pit stop for a drink along the way.

Mammals Recorded: Badgers heard. Pipistrelle "type" Bat

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

Butterflies Recorded: Dingy Skipper, Orange-tip, Large White, Speckled Wood, Meadow Brown, Small Blue and Common Blue

Moths Recorded: Yellow-barred Long-horn Moth (Nemophora degeerella), Vetch Piercer (Grapholita jungiella) and Burnet Companion (Euclidia glyphica)

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

Hoverflies Recorded: None possibly to hot!!

Sawflies Recorded: Bramble Sawfly (Arge cyanocrocea)

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded: Sawfly

Bugs and Beetles Recorded: 7-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata) and Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

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

2019
Today's Sightings Here.

2018
Today's Sightings Here.