Leader: Glen Maddison
On a cold, grey and windy day, with few breaks in the cloud, and very little in the way of sunshine or warmth, 13 others met me at the Park & Ride on Lansdown.
Though my expectations were not too high, the first hour was most encouraging, with the expected Red Kite, joined by a couple of Buzzards and a hovering Kestrel as we made our way into the stiff breeze along the side of the Racecourse, where we watched Swallows hawk for insects, House Martins collect nest materials for their mud ‘igloos’ slung under the eaves of a row of houses opposite the Charlcombe Inn.
Green-veined White butterfly © Richard Bottle
Meadow Longhorn moth © Richard Bottle
Skylarks serenaded us as we headed towards the golf course, and we managed to notice the first butterflies of the trip, with Speckled Wood, Green-veined Whites, a single Orange-tip and the first of two Painted Ladies spotted.
The Rustic Sailor Beetle (Cantharis rustica), a Hoverfly, the Dull-backed Sedgesitter (Platycheirus manicatus) and a pair of mating Bloody-nosed Beetles were noted among the foliage as we walked by, and a number of the small micro moths, Meadow Longhorn (Cauchas rufimitrella) were seen displaying amongst the Umbellifers.
Pair of Bloody-nosed beetles © Glen Maddison
Ichnuemon wasp, Alomya debellator © Glen Maddison
The Ichnuemon wasp, Alomya debellator, a species that parasitises the larvae of certain moths was also a good find.
We ate lunch at the Battlefields monument, noting another Painted Lady and a Holly Blue, before we struck out for home. On the way back, we had, arguably, our best bird sighting of the day, when I spotted a single Wheatear in a bare field! With Tom’s help, and ‘scope, we all got good views.
Not a bad day considering the weather, with 40 species of bird seen/heard and a fair number of invertebrates listed.
Glen Maddison
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