Six-belters! - Part 1

I've got a week to update, and it's been packed with quality wildlife.  It's largely been about the moths though it has to be said!

On the 14th, I did a quick look at Barleycrates Lane area, but the only highlight was a vast number of Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars devouring a patch of Nettles.

On the 16th and 17th, I finally restarted my early-morning birding walks round the mid-Portland triangle (Barleycrates, Reap, and Suckthumb).  My efforts of getting up at 5am were hardly justly rewarded, but a Yellow Wagtail flying around at Barleycrates Lane was nice.  Plus, at Ferrybridge, which was looking promising...

...was just a Common Sandpiper and a couple of Whimbel out of the ordinary, though I did apparently miss a Little Stint!

The bizarre highlight of these excursions though, was finding this fledgling Wren stuck fast in some Burdock seedheads, at Suckthumb Quarry!

I was able to free it, but it turned out it had both it's wings, one foot, plus it's beak all stuck.  It's head was buried deep in the seedhead, and I wonder whether it was attempting to catch insects amongst the seeds when it got stuck.  Struggling to free itself, it got even more of it trapped by the spiky seeds.

I released it into a nearby bush, where the rest of the family was calling from.

An additional walk was a quick look at the damp area beyond Bumpers Lane, in the hope of searching the Willows I'd seen there for an origin of the Red-tipped Clearwing found in Easton recently.  No obvious larval exit holes or pupa, but it looks a promising site for moths.  A number of interesting species were disturbed, such as Cochylis roseana.  Surely a trapping would be worth doing here?

A sight for saw eyes nearby...

In the evening, I took an impromptu walk round the fabulous King Barrow Quarry reserve with Megan Shersby ( http://mshersby.wordpress.com/ ).  We had just gone through the entrance, when Megan pointed out something sitting on a seed-pod (I suspect hoping it to be Hymenoptera!).

Unbelievably, it was a Six-belted Clearwing, only my second Clearwing species.  What a beauty! The main belter (No. 1).

As usual, the place was full of butterflies.  I was particularly concentrating on the moths though, and we found some good stuff such as Chalk Carpet and this rare-for-Portland Pinion-streaked Snout (it was worn, you may have to take my word for it!).

 

The other top moth was this Syncopacma sp, the habitat and slightly curved line suggesting taeniolella.

 



In the evening of the 18th, I took my last stint at the Little Tern colony, as the wardening efforts wind down for the season.  Only two more chicks to fledge, and most of the birds were off elsewhere, so it was a fairly quiet vigil.

I still managed to find something new however, with this fairly rare Sea Pea.  Belter number 2..

Part 2 coming soon...

By the Will of Godwit

With a day off, I was intending to get up early and get out to thrash the bushes and fields, before settling down for a seawatch, so set the alarm clock for 5. 

By 7:45, I decided I better get up.  I looked out the window, and was glad to see I made the right decision with the impromptu lie in. Fog!

I eventually got down the Bill, but unlike yesterday, it was just as hopelessly gloomy as Weston.  All I could do was hang about the Obs till it lifted.  At least I had the opportunity to scrutinise a selection of the overnight moth catch.  The only (macro) lifer amongst them was a Garden Dart.  I have to say I disputed the ID a little, as I thought it matched the picture of Square-spot Dart better, but I've not seen either, so what do I know!

 

Sorry for the hopeless shot, but this is always going to be a highlight when caught, the extraordinary Chinese Character.  I'll try and get a better shot of this 'bird dropping' another day!

 

Also notable was this Pinion-streaked Snout.  Despite it's size, it's a macro.

Due to being one of the only ones stupid enough to be actually out scrambling through the fields or down the Bill in the path of the 'Haemoroids' (see post 'I'm not Lulworthy'), and not sitting around at the obs, I rarely get to see any of the birds 'in hand'.  So, it was nice to see this Willow Warbler (the first of the autumn in the nets) this morning, courtesy of Joe.

 

Well, by this time it had cleared a little, and a Balearic Shearwater passing the Obs was my cue to get down to the Bill.  Despite Joe's suggestion that they may be 'streaming past', it was business as usual!  I managed to see 8 Balearic and a few Common Scoter and Manx Shearwater pass, but that's all that could be found.  I bumped into Mark Leitch down there, and he had seen another 7 Balearics before my arrival.

 

After I reported all that stuff to the Obs, I thought I'd take a short walk down the East Cliffs.  The highlights here were my first in-flight Hummingbird Hawk-moth (i.e. not in a moth trap) for some time, and as promised before, I got some shots of the drupe-resembling Strawberry Clover seed-heads.

 





This afternoon, I decided I didn't want to be stuck indoors, despite my lack of dynamic ideas, so had a stroll round the Barleycrates Lane area next to the flat.  A short way into the walk, I was quite astonished when the Black-tailed Godwit that had been reported earlier flew into view.  All I saw of the report was 'Ice Blackwit - Weston', which could have easily meant a fly-over for instance, so didn't have any expectations of re-finding it.  It settled in a sheep field, and I went back home for my scope.  It was still present and feeding pretty happily on my return, despite some farm workers in the next field.  I managed to get a few decent record shots, of a species which is pretty rare on Portland (and virtually unknown outside of Ferrybridge).  The deepness of the red colour (not so obvious in these washed out pics) and the fact that it extends onto the flanks, make it a bird of the sub-species islandica.

 

 

The weather is looking a bit better in the coming days, though not so good for seawatching. But, how can that get much quieter!