Wonders on my doorstep - 17th July 2018

With temperatures already rising early this morning, I decided to make and early start and venture under a mile from my door to a little nature reserve on my doorstep.

Now in 16 years of living in Strood I have never been to Rede Common but the lure of a nice shiny new sign alongside the A2 has been tempting me for some time now and I only wish I had visited sooner.

I spent a fantastic two hours wandering through the fawn coloured grassy meadows dotted with clumps of vibrant Ragwort that is almost the only nectar source out there this time of year bar the Rosebay Willowherb, Old Mans Beard and some late Brambles.  There was the constant thrum of Meadow and Field Grasshoppers and Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and Ruddy Darters were in abundance.

Looking south-east

Luminous Ragwort

Rosebay Willowherb

I was actually impressed that an inherently wild space in a cramped urban environment could be managed so sympathetically with regularly cut wide paths through the meadows and obviously looked after trails through the largely Hawthorn scrub.  There were random Apple and Walnut trees and a nice bank what I think are Damson.

Walnut

Damson

Obviously it was fairly quiet on the bird front but Blackcaps were in song and I lost count of the number of Song Thrushes I saw while the odd Chiffchaff called and House Sparrows were out foraging, attesting to the insect abundance around me.  I was particularly pleased to find Bullfinches as I had them in my garden way back in 2002 when we first looked at the house but not since and yet here they were under half a mile away.

this Woodpigeon was the only bird to sit still for me!

My circuits amassed a good variety of inverts with:

Butterflies: Large White, Small White, Green veined White, Peacock, Comma, Red Admiral, Speckled Wood, Ringlet, Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Large Skipper, Essex Skipper, Common Blue, Holly Blue, Small Copper and White-letter Hairstreak

Gatekeeper

Meadow Brown

Speckled Wood

Essex Skipper

Large Skipper

Large Skipper

Common Blue

Common Blue

Small Copper

Dragonflies: Southern Hawker, Migrant Hawker and Ruddy Darter

Ruddy Darter

Ruddy Darter

Hoverflies: Cheilosia illustrata, Episyrphus balteatus, Eristalis intricaria, nemorum and tenax, Myathropa florea, Syritta pipiens, Volucella inanis, Xanthogramma pedissequum, Scaeva pyrastri and Sphaerophoria scripta

 

Cheilosia illustrata

Cheilosia illustrata

Myathropa florea

Syritta pipiens

Syritta pipiens

Eristalis tenax

Eristalis tenax

Eristalis tenax

Episyrphus balteatus

Volucella inanis

Sphaerophoria scripta

Sphaerophoria scripta

 

Xanthogramma pedissequum agg - just too far away!

Conopid Flies: Sicus ferrugineus and one of the black and yellow species too

Sicus ferrugineus

Sicus ferrugineus

Sicus ferrugineus

Bumblebees: Common Carder, Buff-tailed, Red-tailed and Early

Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus terrestris

male Red-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lapidarius

Solitary Bees: Andrena pilipes, Andrena flavipes and several smaller species

 

Andrena pilipes

 

Andrena flavipes to the best of my knowledge

Andrena flavipes to the best of my knowledge 

Honey Bee Apis mellifera

Seven Spot Ladybird

Oedemera nobilis - female

Hogweed Bonking Beetles - Rhagonycha fulva - on Hogweed and well...

Cinnabar moth cat

Swifts careened overhead in screaming family parties as I stood and looked east towards Rochester castle and cathedral and the shining Medway beyond, all the way to the dock cranes of Sheerness on Sheppey.  To the south I could hear the M20 and see the Chestnut woods of the Ranscombe Farm NR and Cobham and south east to the farm fields and woods on the Wouldham side of the Medway.

Swift

The eastern view

I was actually embarrassed to have never visited before; the stands of dead Hogweed telling me of the invert opportunities missed this season. I told as much to a lovely Irish lady called Margaret, out with her granddaughter and in one of those curious twists of serendipity she happened to be heavily involved with the group of volunteers that have helped to make this reserve possible.  It would seem that the local RSPB have been involved too and on mentioning where I work it came to light that an ex colleague of mine, Hettie H, was at college with Margaret. It really is a small world...

I will now endeavour to visit when I get the chance, to watch it change throughout the year and you never know, I may even find some interesting autumn waif up on the hill I had ignored for so long...