Saturday 20 July 2019

Various Things- May to July 2019

For Sarah and I it has been a frantic late spring and early part of the summer, the completion of the sale of our business has taken over our lives and between dealing with this and trying to keep on top of work there has been little or no time to get out and about. Here, in summary, are a few things I have done this year between late May and late July.

A stay at our cottage in the Cotswolds for a weekend allowed me a rare moment of moth trapping. There was nothing exceptional in the trap in the morning but the following were of interest.

Treble Lines showing variation in the markings - Cowley, Cheltenham

Purple Bar, a common and widespread species that feeds on Bedstraws - Cowley, Cheltenham

White-spotted Pinion  - Cowley, Cheltenham

Yellow-barred Brindle, a localised species feeding on species such as Holly, Ivy and Privet - Cowley, Cheltenham

Small Elepant Hawk-moth - Cowley, Cheltenham

Green Silver-lines - Cowley, Cheltenham

Gold Spot - Cowley, Cheltenham

Miller - Cowley, Cheltenham

Poplar Hawk-moth - Cowley, Cheltenham

Yellow Shell - Cowley, Cheltenham

June was a very wet and windy month and so curtailed most of my invertebrate survey work and I popped down to Pennington Marsh on a couple of occasions in windy and often wet conditions.

Shelduck brood and an incubating Avocet - Pennington Marsh

Shelduck chicks - Pennington Marsh

Avocet and Little Ringed Plover - Pennington Marsh

Avocet and chicks - Pennington Marsh

Well grown Avocet chick taken on the same day as the above image reflecting the extended breeding period of the species - Pennington Marsh

Little Ringed Plover - Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Sand Martin resting from the winds and rains - Pennington Marsh

Juvenile Sand Martin - Pennington Marsh

Redshank - Pennington Marsh

Redshank - Pennington Marsh

Hunting Little Egret - Pennington Marsh

Returning and non-breeding Black-tailed Godwit - Pennington Marsh

Much of my summer work has been dominated by invertebrate surveys with Adam Wright along the A358 in Taunton, Portsmouth Water sites in Hampshire and West Sussex and along the A417 in Gloucestershire. Here are a few images of some of the more interesting species we have recorded.

The Marsh Fly (a Snail-killing Fly) Coremacera marginata - Portsdown hill, Fareham

During the late June and July I recorded Downland Villa at two sites three sites in the Cotswolds and one near to Droxford in Hampshire. This previously very rare species has been making a comeback in recent years with a series of sites being found in the Cotswolds and southwards into Dorset and Hampshire.

The hoverfly Parhelophilus frutetorum - Taunton

White-legged Damselfly - Taunton

The spider Misumena vatia with prey and the beetle Oedemera nobilis, the spider has captured the fly on hogweed and the beetle is perched on the back of the spider - Taunton

The Click-beetle Agrypus murinus - Near to Arundel

The Nationally Scarce bee Osmia bicolor - Birdlip, Gloucestershire

The Nationally Scarce bee Hylaeus signatus - Portsdown Hill, Hampshire

Female Red-backed Shrike self-found during an invertebrate survey at Birdlip, Gloucestershire on 26th June. There have been five records of this species in Gloucestershire since 1971 all of which have been day birds.

Common Broomrape - Portsdown Hill, Hampshire

Lizard Orchid at a site near to Arundel, West Sussex

Lizard Orchid at a site near to Arundel, West Sussex

Lizard Orchid at a site near to Arundel, West Sussex

Fly Orchid at a site near to Arundel, West Sussex

Bee Orchid at a site near to Arundel, West Sussex

Bee Orchid at a site near to Arundel, West Sussex

Bee Orchid at a site near to Arundel, West Sussex

Common Spotted Orchid at a site near to Arundel, West Sussex

Pyramidal Orchid at a site near to Arundel, West Sussex

A short trip to Noar Hill Nature Reserve near to Selbourne in Hampshire on 24th June produced a few nice orchid species.

Common Twayblade - Noar Hill NNR, Hampshire

Common Fragrant Orchid - Noar Hill NNR, Hampshire

Common Fragrant Orchid - Noar Hill NNR, Hampshire

White form of Common Fragrant Orchid - Noar Hill NNR, Hampshire

Musk Orchid - Noar Hill NNR, Hampshire

Musk Orchid - Noar Hill NNR, Hampshire

After much searching I eventually found a single Frog Orchid 
- Noar Hill NNR, Hampshire

The Nationally Scarce plant Dragon's-teeth - Noar Hill NNR, Hampshire

Knapweed Broomrape - Noar Hill NNR, Hampshire

I recorded a few of the Horsefly Chrysops caecutiens in my garden - Romsey, Hampshire

This year I eventually managed to get around to buying a set of Clearwing pheromone lures and while a took them to a few sites with me, surprisingly, my moderately urban garden in Romsey produced the greatest range of species most of which are new for me.

Red-belted Clearwing - Romsey, Hampshire

Red-tipped Clearwing - Romsey, Hampshire

A peak count of 11 Orange-tailed Clearwing - Romsey, Hampshire

Orange-tailed Clearwing - Romsey, Hampshire

Yellow-legged Clearwing - Romsey, Hampshire

Yellow-legged Clearwing - Romsey, Hampshire