Irecord

No birding today nor til Wednesday at the earliest but an email from Irecord today was an acceptance of Hybomitra distinguenda from the unrecorded day at WWT with PW on the first of July.

SHP briefly

Very little insect variety beyond Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers other than these bugs - Mirid (Plagiognathis arbustorum) and Ant Damsel (Himacerus mirmicoides).

Male Stonechat still 'chack-chacking' from same bush as last visit, single Red Kite and a few 'heard-onlys' but otherwise very quiet in the continuing heat. Grass everywhere now is yellowish-white and crispy - oh for some rain!!

A smart Lily along the garden wall.

A pack of two third party batteries arrived today, obviously Chinese, but neatly packaged with both batteries in 'click-lock' plastic containers, a charger taking both batteries and appropriate USB-C lead but surprisingly with both B and C inputs.

Austria comes good!

Off to Chi today to collect the Swaros back from second re-armouring. Almost tempted to put them in the back of a cupboard to prevent another failure. Ten years old next Spring and not sure whether Swaro would go through this a third time. EDIT As well as re-armouring it appears they replaced the eye cups and damaged focussing wheel.

Back home the Heron was surprisingly close and confiding near the library corner. No sound of Reed Warblers for ages so presumably all gone, although a brief Cettis call was the first for a while. 

My first Jersey Tiger Moth of the year flushed off the south-side Hemp Agrimony and perched up in a tree but not long enough for a picture.

Emperors and Southern Hawker Dragonflies were obvious plus three Common Blue butterflies were new here this year. Essex Skippers were very much reduced and little in the way of Ragwort ensured few inverts.

This Vespa germanica was wood-stripping.

The Portsmouth 100 art trail features 45 of these decorated lions with one here, one on the Eastern Rd and the rest available via a downloadable map.

Kevin printed me off a manual for the OM TG7.

A few days ago TH was pretty birdless other than 160 or so Avocets (thanks to IM for the count!) and reasonable numbers of Common Terns, some with young.

Leptura quadrifasciata was the best of the insects. North and South Scrapes are starting to look very dry.

Mid July and still roasting!!

Still no sign of any break in the weather and just too hot for birding and indeed the birds. 

A trip over to Chichester saw Curlew, Med Gull and Little Egret from the car and later at least one noisy young Peregrine on the cathedral.

Later still at home a number of gulls, four species, mostly Meds were hawking overhead - maybe a flying ant day.

Yesterday, Saturday, a walk around the Stansted conservation area produced lots of Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns and Small Skippers with a few of Red Admiral, Comma, Marbled White, Holly Blue and a single Small Copper. A Small Fan-footed Wave was more unusual with just two trapped at No 8 both ten years ago!

Still one or two Downland Villa egg-laying at the bottom of the bridleway path.

A few Marsh Tits and noisy Nuthatches were all invisible as were some noisy young Buzzards. The male Stonechat was very obliging on the roadside bushes and footpath signs; hopefully his noisy presence is indicative of breeding.

Today was first day out with the new camera.

It's going to be hard to adjust to lower quality macro shots after the G9(i) with Oly 60/90mm macro lenses but portability is key here. A cheap JJC lens cover and a semi-soft case arrived soon after and I think the non-Olympus flash diffuser might be the next purchase.

It's certainly better than the camera in my phone although the similar lack of eyepiece will take some getting used to. Not sure but might be better for the occasional digiscope pictures depending on light. Time will tell.

Friday to GWH

A quick trip up the A3 to collect my membership card.

Surprised that all the outdoor seating was gone just ten minutes after opening, but luckily it was cool inside.

Not much on offer today but the pond's loosestrife held a few bees of the same name,  whilst the pond had some feather-gilled newts and a Haematopota cleg.

Volucella zonaria and Cheilosia illustrata were the only notable hoverflies.

Plenty of butterflies, albeit the usual suspects. Strangely, no Painted Ladies today.

'Bonking beetles' have now replaced Swollen-thigheds.

Eriothrix rufomaculata and Common Green Grasshopper