Quick list

Buff Tip 1
Heart and Dart 11
Hoplodrina spp (Vines?) 1
Lime-speck Pug 1
Green Pug 2
Freyer's Pug 1
Pug spp 1
Large Yellow Underwing 1
Pale Motttled Willow 1
Pale Tussock 1
Micro spp 2

The rain held off long enough for the trap to stay dry but this Buff Tip was the best; the Pale Tussock was scruffy.

Late morning at QE for coffee with K but torrential rain prevented a look around, although twenty or so Med Gulls crossed the road on the way up.

Back at base it dried out enough for a hover tick in the shape of this Helophilus trivittatus on the only patch of umbellifer within reach of the fence. On the south side hedges loads of Broad Centurions and a Eumerus spp plus a few Holly Blues and plenty of unidentifiable and unphotogenic black and yellow wasps. A single Large White also refused to sit still.

Oddest sight was a Great Spotted Woodpecker low down within the scrub adjacent to south side reeds amongst a lot of House Sparrows; I suspect it was looking for baby sparrows to eat.

Hweep 'n croak..

The zigzag Nightingale/s was/were hweeping and croaking with one bird flying back and forth across the path before later repeating the process after lunch whilst chatting to Lucy. Elsewhere, birdlife was pretty much nil other than one singing Lesser Whitethroat, a Garden Warbler and a family of Chiffchaffs. On the brooks still plenty of noisy Redshanks but no passage waders and with no management and very long grass Lapwings chicks were hard to find.
Out to Black Wood was a bit pointless with no birds nor dragons and only one (!!!) hoverfly. Back on the reserve for a post lunch walk at least produced this Broad-bodied Chaser, this Eristalis intricaria, plenty of other Eristalis spp (including arbustorum and horticola) on umbellifers and several Merodon equestris of different colours.  This Common Blue was the ONLY butterfly. The two that got away today were a Microchrysa spp and a hoverfly that was probably H. trivittatus.
Highlight of the day was a curious Weasel on Green Lane which responded to some pishing - sadly no photo.

Site faithful Anasymia..

Woke before first light and eventually got up to check the moth trap which, unsurprisingly in such a brick-and-concrete urban site, produced little other than Freyer's pug, an Oligia, H&D, S-sD, three fresh Willow Beauties, a Turnip, a Pale Mottled Willow and a White-headed House Moth. Although common, Lime-speck Pug is still rather attactive. A few micros got away.

With a hot Bank Holiday on the cards it seemed fruitless to go far so I arrived at TH well prior to opening and with spaces still available in the carpark. BoT+C followed by a couple of hours on the east side where plenty of Chrysogaster solstitialis were new out since last visit and a single Anasymia lineata was in virtually the same spot as the last couple of springs. The mini longhorn beetle Grammoptera ruficornis popped up, although I noticed DH had hundreds at Whiteley, and this Burnet Companion was bumbling around in front of the new bench. Pretty much no birds of note other than Sparrowhawk, two Ravens and 20 Black'wits. By lunchtime it was too hot and time for a siesta!

Not enough storm!

Sadly, not enough storm to drop in passage terns and waders nor even push down hirundines and Swifts. By 9 a.m. very warm and clear with the last thunder rumbling off to the north and temperatures on their way up to 24c. Just a few noisy LRPs, plenty of tern action on the rafts and a flyby Raven - even Buzzards were thin on the ground.

Insect-wise first up was this nice Wasp Beetle (nfy) which decided to drop into the undergrowth mid-photography and just after, this Black-tailed Skimmer was posing in reception pond where a Beautiful Demoiselle sat up on Ragged Robin for a nice set of pictures - which I promptly managed to delete!! Downy Emerald and BBC were both noticeably absent. Single Hairy and a probable Southern Hawker.

At Ivy South a massive amount of damsels either teneral and rising in clouds or adults paired and ovipositing included a few Red-eyed Damselflies.
Later good numbers (7-10) of Emperor Dragonflies started to rise especially near the sweeping meadow where many Common Blues and this Brown Argus.

Tracey held the moth trap back 'til lunchtime. Great Prominent, Pale Tussock, Sharp-angled Peacock, Clouded Border and a few others were roosting on the building. In the trap this Fox Moth, two Poplar Hawkmoths, Iron Prominent, Bufftip, Flame Shoulder, Shuttle-shaped Dart, Light Emerald, Treble Lines, White Ermine, Buff Ermine, Spectacle, Least Black Arches, Pebble Hooktip, May Highflier etc.

Hover-wise Xylota sylvarum was nfy.

Heath Pond

After yesterday's 'nil day' with mostly heavy rain today didn't look too much better although it did stay dry and mild but insects were hard to find. Just ten each of House Martin and Swift and three Reed Warblers was it for birds.

A couple of Eristalis arbustorum, the first for me this spring, were on umbellifers near to the Water Rail bench along with Graphomya maculata, a common but striking Muscid fly. Elsewhere very little although the large, single gorse bush was attracting plenty of bees including Bombus pratorum and Honeybee and there were very many Chrysopilus cristatus in the undergrowth.

Back at the carpark the only butterfly, a Green-veined White, and this very attractive hemipterous bug Miris striatus.

Another poor choice..!!

A poor decision to not do a usual Wednesday at PB where the waders from yesterday were joined by Temminck's Stint and Wood Sandpiper and, as I write this (Thursday), MP has just had 22 Greenshanks! Today, TH had zero passage waders other than a single Whimbrel east from the restaurant and just 13 or so Avocet chicks and 22 Black'wits flushed by the female harrier. Now, plenty of BHG chicks with the ever present threat of predation by Lesser Black-backs.

Rather a lot of Parhelophilus spp and the first Syritta pipiens and good numbers of Rhagio scolopaceus; and one male Orange Tip still

Ivor's juvenile Tawny Owl was nowhere to be seen but a single large Fox cub was in the same area.

On the west side Four-spotted Chaser and still a couple of Hairy Dragonflies, one above.

Dragons galore

Most notable feature of the day was the number of dragonflies and damsels with 20+ of Broad-bodied and Four-spots, single Hairy and Downy, gazillions of Azures and Large Reds, a few Blue-tailed, two or three Beautiful Demoiselles and my first Banded of the year, a male, on Black Pond whilst chatting to Nikki.

Butterflies were pretty non-existent but some new hovers - Eristalis nemorum with males hovering over females, Eristalis horticola, Platycheirus rosarum, Leucozona leucorum and a Xanthogramma pedisequum in virtually the same bush as every year(!) adjacent to the Adder Alley fence - camera incompetence ensured no photo here.

Birwise a Grey Plover and a s/p Curlew Sandpiper had already disappeared by the time I arrived but the (nearly) s/p Spotted Redshank was still present along with at least four Ringed Plovers and ten Black'wits. Two drake Mandarin on north brooks with others reporting a female and young on the south brooks but no sign of the Garganey. Several Lapwing chicks were obvious and which were to be targeted by ringers this evening with GT in attendance; apparently Redshank chicks present also.

A Lesser Whitethroat was still rattling away near Nettley's but the Nightingales are now mostly silent.

On the raptor front a single kite and probably ten Buzzards, several of which were very 'playful'.

Back home the two female flower bees were still present.

P.S. Noted whilst writing this that the Chichester Peregrines are now ringed.

Three Ps and three blues...

So in rather variable weather Peak (Portsdown Hill - stretching things I know!!), Pond and Park. Parking adjacent to the Churchillian and walking down the meadows next door produced three each of Holly and Small Blue plus double figures of Common Blue  but it was hard work; and a few Merodon equestris. This interesting looking tachinid fly was identified as Phania funesta by Matt Smith.
This 2cy Med Gull was hawking insects over the picnic area along with adults and BHGs.

At PHP nothing on the water other than six Lesser Black-backed Gulls and just two Sand Martins overhead. A singing Firecrest was adjacent to the carpark and four Reed Warblers were on territory. This yet to be ID'd Soldier Beetle was about it for insects. Edit - Thought it was Cantharis rustica after looking on Naturespot and confirmed via FB.

At QE the Brachypalpoides lentus was in the same place but the butterfly slope was empty except for this Cinnabar moth. Despite rain three male Broad-bodied Chasers were busy and a female chaser spp was briefly egg laying before disappearing into the trees.

Hornets

The Common Terns have muscled their way onto the rafts and were pretty noisy; a Raven flew in quietly from the west. To support suggestions of a hornets nest near the hide a whopping queen was in the vegetation below and later another was over reception pond where a male Broad-bodied Chaser was defending its territory against a Downy Emerald which never once perched up for a shot, unsurprisingly. Elsewhere, this Beautiful Demoiselle was sat by the radar gate and on the other side of the road a Platycheirus scutatus agg was nfy. A Treble-bar spp. and this Tenthredo sawfly spp (mesomela?) and the wasp Argogorytes mystaceus were also new.

A look at the vaga site with Bob where also Nomada goodeniana and other tri-coloured Nomadas elsewhere.

Not large numbers of Sand Martins at the wall but enough to provide entertainment; sadly the only perched bird here was a Blue Tit taking food to nestlings presumably in one of the holes.

A Hobby was high over reception and Red Kite was heading off eastwards, 2-4 Med and 2+ noisy LRPs on Ibsley Water plus a couple of  Garden Warblers around the carpark.