Wednesday saw a brief visit to Chichester with no sign of the Peregrines and just one adult Raven calling from the nest tree; it became more strident and powered off southwards at speed although no obvious reason. A single flyover Grey Wagtail was the only other notable bird. On the way back 4-5 Whimbrel/Curlew were the only obvious but very distant birds at low tide from the FM carpark; a single remaing roadside Avocet.
Plenty of spiders in the pond side scrub including Nursery Web, Wolf (Pardosa spp) and Crab (Philodromus spp), lots of Alder Leaf Beetle (Agelastica alni).
With a good flush of new-flying damselflies on Monday seeing a number of Blue-taileds warming up on the pond fence supports wasnt too much of a surprise.
The Comma was quite obliging.
Tuesday morning was coffee, lunch and a poke about at GWH with my first Portevinia maculata (at last!) on the small patch of Ramsons. Bees were pretty thin although lots of dashing Nomada; Marshamella, Goodeniana and unidentifiable 'tri-colours'.
The harsh sunlight and breeze wasn't conducive to catching a nicely perched Orange Tip.
The pond water was quite clear with a few obvious newts like this one, a Smooth I think.
Mating Musca autumnalis and what would have been Tachina fera until the presence of magnicornis and possibly another species from the continent have muddied the waters.
After lunch, a brief stop at QECP to look for Osmia bicolor, was successful but only two females seen both of which insisted on perching up at the base of a different plant every few seconds but never staying still long enough for a picture. As usual Early, Red-tailed and Common Carder were common bumbles.
Two Slow Worms and a single Bank Vole in the usual spots.
Both local adult Ravens, now very ragged, were crossing back and forth presumably to a nest site. Three Firecrests sang, two Marsh Tits called and one of the Grey Wagtails was taking advantage of the muddy edges of the leaky pond. No 'dragons' yet but many tadpoles.
Today was another 'bug' day with dozens, probably hundreds of Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycorus baccarum) and this Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami), the latter common but not something I've seen for a while. And of course, flighty Orange Tips and Brimstones in the warm afternoon sun.
Monday at Titchfield was sunny, but windy and generally short of birdlife. A Common Sandpiper was the only half-decent wader; and not a single Common Tern. Six Swifts and an end-of-session Hobby circling over the meadow as I walked back to the car.
Inverts were better with a dozen or more hover species; Dasysyrphys albiostratus and Anasimyia contracta were best-of-the-bunch (below).
A single too-quick-for-me dragonfly was probable a Four-spot. Lots of Large Reds and considerably more teneral Azure Damsels rising up from the pondside vegetation.
A Green Hairstreak, not very obliging, was nice AND a reserve tick as was a Great Green Bush-cricket nymph. And Box Bug was new for me.
