Yesterday was another damp and miserable day off at home but
the prospect that the sun may actually shine today spurred me into early (well
post breakfast) action. I know I could
have gone for the Roller or off to dip Mr Ross but I fancied a walk and so
set off into Ranscombe with a few targets in mind. I came through the Albatross Avenue Tunnel –
technically Razorbill Close and had to slosh my way through the leafy chestnuts
where the path was once more a series of deep slippery muddy puddles made all
the worse by the off road bikes.
The Meadow Cranesbills out the other side were in full bloom
with that intense almost lilac blue that is so difficult to capture in a
picture. There were still Bee Orchids in
flower as I crossed CTRL and a host of new cerise Pyramidal Orchids cones.
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| Bee Orchid |
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| Pyramidal Orchid |
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| Meadow Cranesbill |
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Helophilus pendulus
|
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Bombus pratorum
|
I lingered by the first sunny bramble patch as I had seen
White Admiral here last year. A Red version
and a couple of Meadow Browns were seen along with a good variety of
Bumblesbees including several Bombus hypnorum and vestalis and another long
bodied one that I think is Bombus hortorum.
A Chrysotoxum bicinctum was my first of
the year and a Xylota sylvarum was scuttling around the leaves in their usual
un-hover like manner.
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Red Admiral
|
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Bombus hypnorum
|
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Bombus vestalis- male
|
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Bombus vestalis- female
|
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Bombus hortorum
|
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Eristalis arbustorum
|
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Xylota segnis
|
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| Chrysotoxum bicinctum |
There were a few Andrena Bees which I need help
with and several Labyrinth Spiders had set up suitable elaborate sheet webs
between the Bramble fronds.
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Andrena sp
|
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Andrena sp
|
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| Labyrinth Spiders |
I headed into the first main clearing which was
covered in stands of tall Thistles and St John’s Wort and scanned around for
Silver wash Fritillaries but there were only more of the two species seen so
far. However I did pick up two very small globular Volucella inflata. I found
loads of these last year at Crabbles Bottom Orchard but none up here so I was
most pleased. Cheilsoia variablis were
patrolling mini Bramble territories and showing off this long delta wings upon
landing and there were Black and Yellow longhorn Beetles clambering over the
Hogweed heads with the first Red Soldier Beetles of the season for company.
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Hairy St John's Wort
|
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| Volucella inflata |
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| Cheilsoia variablis |
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Meadow Brown
|
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Black and Yellow Longhorn - Rutpela maculata
|
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Red Admiral
|
Two Common Darters zipped around and one eventually
landed for me and there were little patches of pink Common Centuary here and
there. I had to watch my step as there were Wolf Spiders everywhere and some
had replaced egg cases for a heaving back of micro-wolves in the making.
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Scorpion Fly
|
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| Icnumen |
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| Pardosa saltans |
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Common Darter
|
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Common Centuary
|
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Wood Sage
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Empis tessellata were feeding on the Thistles and
my first Field Grasshopper of the year was heard and seen at my feet. It was
not particularly well marked on the pronotum but it was very hairy!
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Field Grasshopper
|
Some of the paths were like they were in mid winter
and I retraced my steps and took another route not wanting to spend the first
day of July flat on my back in a stinking muddy rut. Volucella pellucens eyeballed me from the
middle of the path and I found a two new Beetles which I think are Black
Striped Longhorn (Stenurella melanura) and a shiny black Click Beetle which I
think is Hemicrepidus hirtus.
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| Volucella pellucens |
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| Volucella pellucens |
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| Hemicrepidus hirtus |
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| Black
Striped Longhorn (Stenurella melanura) |
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Chrysogaster solstitialis, small Tachinid (?) and Red Soldier Beetle
|
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Andrena Bees
|
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| Rutpela maculata |
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Volucella inflata
|
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Red Soldier Beetle
|
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Eristalis pertinax
|
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Coleophora serratella moth mine
|
Chrysogaster solstitialis and Chrysotoxum festivum
were found along the woodland edge and Bryony Bees were still attending the
White bryony although the flowers were now a lot higher up!
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Spaerophoria scripta
|
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| Chrysotoxum festivum |
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| Chrysogaster solstitialis |
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Bryony Bee - Andrena florea
|
While watching
these a Garden warbler appeared just in front with a bill full of Scorpion
Flies and went into frantic alarm mode so I took a couple of pics and moved on
so that it could get to its nest.
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| Garden Warbler |
Meadow Grasshoppers and Dark Bush Crickets lounged
on leaves and i found a couple of young Speckled Bush Crickets too.
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| Meadow Grasshopper |
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| Meadow Grasshopper |
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| Dark Bush Cricket |
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| Dark Bush Cricket |
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| Speckled Bush Cricket |
I reached Birch Wood Corner and turned towards the
Meadow Clary Bench. It was still in
flower but was in the shade and I had my usual few minutes rest there before
moving onto the top of Kitchen Field but not before two Blue Eyed Hawkers had
been seen and a buck Fallow Deer had raised his velveted antlers from within
the depths of the yellow Composite meadow below me.
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Richly coloured new Hazer growth
|
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Field Bindweed
|
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Episyrphus balteatus
|
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Meadow Clary
|
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Fallow Buck
|
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I can see you
|
The meadow under and just beyond the trees were
littered with probably hundreds of Pyramidal Orchids to replace the spread of
Man Orchids from a few weeks ago. The Hellborines were over and had fat seed
pods and by looking under the bracken I at last found several of the ‘cambrensis’
form of Bee Orchid. They were mostly
gone over and had struggled under the Bracken but I found a couple of good
flowers.
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| Pyramidal Orchid |
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| Pyramidal Orchids |
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'cambrensis ' form Bee Orchid with his little waistcoat
|
Meadow Browns and Marbled White floated around and
my first Large Skipper darted hither and dither while a White Admiral power
glided through and kept going.
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| Marbled White |
Kitchen Field is yellow this year rather than red
but was punctuated with the blue spires of Viper’s Bugloss and the white of
Stinking Chamomile. I looked for my Blue
Pimpernel but the plant had gone over to seed but there was delicate Venus’s
Looking Glass within my little flint circle.
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| Viper’s Bugloss |
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| Stinking Chamomile |
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Perrenial Sow Thistle
|
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Field Poppies
|
I climbed up to Brockles Field which still had the
cattle in there grazing and was pleased to find several patches of Common
Broomrape scattered throughout along with more Pyramidal and lots of Agrimony.
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Hedge Woundwort
|
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Xysticus Crab Spider
|
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Common Broomrape
|
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| Common Broomrape |
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| Agrimony |
I decided to keep going west, at least to the
bottom of the next field and picked up several Ringlets, Common Blues and Small
Skipper on my way down the slope while Small Heaths and Small Copper were on
the open path.
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| Ringlet |
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Small Heath
|
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Marbled White
|
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| Marbled White |
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| Marbled White |
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Small Skipper
|
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| Small Skipper |
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Meadow Brown
|
The air was thick with the heady scent of Privet
and I found plenty of Bumblebees in attendance along with several more
Volucella inflata.
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| Celypha lacunana |
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Volucella inflata having a wash
|
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| Yellow-wort |
My favoured patch for Silver-washed Frits at the
gate at the bottom did not deliver but there were several more Marbled Whites
and a female Brimstone stopped for a refuel.
There were odd Sicus ferrugineus watching the movements of the Bumbles
and I checked the Burdock for Terellia tussilaginis and duly
found one of this smart little Picture Wing Fly.
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| Brimstone |
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| Sicus ferrugineus |
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| Terellia tussilaginis |
I double backed on the inside track adding Small White to
the tally and after a cuppa on the Wildlife Bench I cut back into Kitchen Field
where a Blue Eyed Hawker actually stopped long enough for me to get a
shot. I am about nine miles from the
North Kent Marshes where this species undoubtedly emerged and I know they head
off to the woods to start with but making it south of the M2 seems a bit
extreme!
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Small White
|
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Stinking Iris
|
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female Blue-eyed Hawker
|
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Hogweed at he bottom of Kitchen Field
|
The Valley was largely yellow too but with a few scattered
Field and Opium Poppies adding splashes of colour. Again there were lots of Bumbles to be seen
and an immaculate Small Tortoiseshell was seen along with Comma and a tatty
Painted Lady.
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| Comma |
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Opium Poppy
|
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| Painted Lady |
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| Small Tortoiseshell |
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A fasciated Composite
|
I slogged up the other side passing amore patches of spent
Common Broomrape before dropping down into Longhoes where the sea of blue
Bugloss last summer had been replaced by a carpet of red and lilac Poppies. It
was equally captivating.
I checked the few bits of Field Scabious for Andrena
hattorfiana but there were none and the first Greater Knapweed blooms were out
too. I cut through Merrals Shaw where Enchanter’s Nightshade was flowering, to
the railway and then up to the Green Bridge.
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| Enchanter’s Nightshade |
There were no Small Blues but I did see another Blue-eyed Hawker and a
Broad Bodied Chaser and Garden Chafers were dancing around the little Oaks.
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| Garden Chafer |
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Cinnabar Moth on Nipplewort
|
The railway embankment was now a riot of purple Pryamids but
most the mega Bee Orchid patch had gone over but they were still
impressive. Back up by the Cranesbills
where I began a Large Skipper posed splendidly to round things up.
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| Large Skipper |
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| Bee Orchid |
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