Out and about!

Just a stroll around the neighbourhood this afternoon. At the station there was an Early Bumblebee - an attractive species I don't see that often. Unfortunately it was too quick for the camera and I only managed one blurred shot. On the railway track was a bee-mimic hoverfly, Merodon equestris. Not sure why it kept returning to the track ballast unless it was deriving some kind of nutrient from the stone. A few Small White butterflies were patrolling the disused platform.

Blurred Early Bumblebee

Merodon equestris

There were several Creeping Cinquefoil flowers dotting the verge at the top of St Andrews Road - another terrible photo I'm afraid.

Creeping Cinquefoil

Last night there was a visiting Light Emerald moth attracted by my kitchen light.

Another new moth!

Very excited to find another new moth in the trap this morning and a very beautiful one too - a Figure of Eighty! There was a supporting cast of:
Scarlet Tiger 1
Heart and Dart 30
Treble Lines 2
Mint Moth 1
Vine's Rustic 1
Shuttle-shaped Dart 1
Chrysoteuchia culmella 1
Celypha lacunana 1

Figure of Eighty

Mint Moth

Chrysoteuchia culmella

There was plenty of Goldfinch action on next-doors feeder today.

Lesser Stag Beetle!

My moth trap contained one of my favourite beetles last night, a Lesser Stag Beetle. It looked very dirty, so had probably been digging around in dead wood before flying to my trap.

A new moth for the patch last night - the full list is as follows:
Scarlet Tiger 4
Middle-barred Minor 1 This is a 'first' for the patch - it usually likes marshland!
Heart and Dart 10
Shuttle-shaped Dart 1
Spectacle 1 Only caught this moth once before - several years ago
White Ermine 1
Lesser Yellow Underwing 1
Bee Moth 1
Brown House Moth 1
Mint Moth
Plum Tortrix 1

Bee Moth

White Ermine

Large Yellow Underwing

Middle-barred Minor

Scarlet Tiger

Spectacle

Other odds and ends in the trap included a Honey Bee, a Hawthorn Shieldbug, an Ichneumon Wasp and a Harlequin Ladybird.

Hawthorn Shieldbug

Disappointing moths!

I put up the moth trap last night but I don't think the conditions were perfect so I didn't catch much. I will try again in a night or two.
Heart and Dart 15
Shuttle-shaped Dart 6
Marbled Minor 1
Treble-lines 1
Light Brown Apple Moth 3
Dark Goundling 1

Dark Groundling

Heart and Dart

Marbled Minor

 

Breeding Bird Survey!

Today I did my BTO Breeding Bird Survey in the Montpelier, St Andrews and St Pauls area. There were no surprises but I was very happy with the numbers of Starlings this morning, and House Sparrows continue to be doing OK on the patch.
Lesser Black-backed Gull 3
Herring Gull 3
Woodpigeon 15
Collared Dove 5
Swift 1
Wren 4
Dunnock 2
Robin 9
Blackbird 11
Blackcap 1
Blue Tit 3
Great Tit 5
Jay 1
Magpie 4
Carrion Crow 7
Starling 10
House Sparrow 20
Goldfinch 4
Feral Pigeon 19

Later, a Common Whitethroat was singing near St Werburghs City Farm.

Montpelier and St Andrews Park!

The verge along Fairlawn Road this afternoon produced a Tree Bumblebee, a couple of Harlequin Ladybirds, a Large Red Damselfly and the hoverflies Myathropa florea and Syritta pipiens.

Myathropa florea

Large Red Damselfly

At St Andrews Park meadow area there was a Solitary Wasp apparently in the Pemphredon family, a presumed Nomad Bee and lots of Swollen-thighed Flower Beetles.

Solitary Wasp

Moffs!

I trapped 40+ moths last night plus a few other insects. The list was as follows:
Heart and Dart 20
Shuttle-shaped Dart 5
Buff-tip 1
Angle Shades 1
Buff Ermine 2
Scarlet Tiger 1
Marbled Minor agg. 2
White Ermine 1
Treble Lines 1
Notocelia cynosbatella 1
Muslin Moth (female) 1
Common Clothes Moth 1
Mint Moth 1
Light Brown Apple Moth 2
Tachystola acroxantha 2
Codling Moth 1
Willow Beauty 1

Fellow-travellers included a Caddisfly, a Birch Shieldbug, a Leafhopper and a Birch Shieldbug.

Scarlet Tiger

Buff-tip

Muslin Moth

White Ermine

Shuttle-shaped Dart

Treble Lines

Garden Birds!

My neighbour's birdfeeder played host to quite a few visitors today, including Blue Tits, Goldfinches and Robins. Other birds seen and heard outside my window today included Blackbird, Dunnock, Magpie, Feral Pigeon and Woodpigeon.

Starling Invasion!

I was delighted to see a large group of up to 10 Starlings at the station this afternoon, I think there were young ones amongst them. This is a bird that has been lost to many parts of the neighbourhood so it is wonderful to see that they are still hanging on at this particular spot.

Starlings

There's a nice patch of vegetation further down Station Road, near the school, which includes Hogweed, Welsh Poppy, Lesser Burdock* (* now identified as a Hollyhock) and Smooth Sow-thistle. The latter had its leaves lined with leaf mines caused, I think, by a species of fly.

Hollyhock

Welsh Poppy

Smooth Sow-thistle

Leaf mines 

Insects seen today included a Cheilosia hoverfly and a splendid weevil called Liophloeus tessulatus, the latter trundling along the wall at the station.

Cheilosia hoverfly

Liophloeus tessulatus

St Andrews Park!

There were some great invertebrates in the meadow area this morning - a Large Red Damselfly, a Picture-winged Fly which I think is something called Trypeta zoe (I think I will just call it Zoe, sounds perfect), a Merodon equestris (bee-mimic hoverfly), another hoverfly Melanostoma, a Running Crab-spider and a Soldier Fly I can't identify as I couldn't get a good enough photo.

Back in Fairlawn Road, Montpelier there was another Merodon equestris, a very attractive Xanthrogramma pedissequum agg. hoverfly, a pair of mating 14-spot Ladybirds and an Ichneumon wasp. Tiny little Cocksfoot Moths and several Oedemera beetles were on the dandelions.  A Chiffchaff was singing nearby.

Merodon equestris and friend

14-spot Ladybirds doing what comes naturally

Xanthogramma pedissequum

Cocksfoot Moth

Woodworm!

I saw a tiny beetle in the kitchen last night which looks like  a Furniture Beetle or Woodworm! If the flat crumbles to dust in the next few days I'll know what to blame!

Spitting Spider!

I was absolutely delighted to find a Spitting Spider in the kitchen this morning. This unmistakeable and beautifully-patterned spider traps its prey by shooting sticky venom from its jaws. This is only my second sighting, having seen one a couple of years ago in the bathroom.

I'm happy to report that a pair of Blue Tits are nesting in the nestbox in the front garden. They hardly ever fail to nest each year which is great.

A Swift flew at roof-level over Richmond Road this morning.