Portland.
The day started with a sea watch; however, the sea was relatively quiet and migrants on land were a bit thin on the ground so no big surprises there, but moths were the surprise of the day.
Sea: 1 Arctic Skua, 1 Common Scoter, 2 Sandwich Tern, 6 Balearic Shearwater, several Oystercatcher and reasonable numbers of Auks and Gannet plus several Shag and Cormorant.
Land: Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Common Whitethroat, Sedge Warbler, Wheatear, Grey Wagtail, Yellow Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Swallow, Siskin, Little Owl, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard.
Fish: several Bluefin Tuna feeding offshore.
Dragonflies: Common Darter.
Butterflies: Large White, Red Admiral, Comma, Speckled Wood, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown and Small Heath.
Moths: The surprise moth of the day was an Echium Leaf Miner (Dialectica scalariella picked from the moth trap by Martin Cade and only the 2nd for Dorset, the 1st being found yesterday). A tiny moth (5mm) that needed a macro lens to photograph it. I do not have one but I know someone who does.
Other moths of note were a Blue Underwing, Red Underwing and a Heath Rustic.
Insects: Speckled Bush Cricket.
Echium Leaf Miner a very skittish moth courtesy Martin Cade
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Blue Underwing or Clifden Nonpariel upperside and underside
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Common Darter
Common Buzzard
Red Underwing
Southern Oak Bush Cricket
Speckled Wood
All moths were safely released at the end of the day.
Hi Paul your bush cricket is a male Southern oak
ReplyDeleteHi Paul, hope you're having a good time! The cricket is not a Speckled (no speckles! 😂) but, it is the one I told you to watch out for, the 'new' arrival, the Southern Oak bush cricket - Meconema meridionale, a male. I was going to tell you that I've now found it here , and in Benson. Seems like it's spread pretty quickly since the very first UK records.
ReplyDeleteAmended. Thanks for your comments
ReplyDelete