Surrey Wildlife Trust Bioblitz

Chertsey Meadows Bioblitz

 Great Crested Grebe with young

Common Bent

 

Went to the SWT Bioblitz at Chertsey Meadow today with Devilbirder. Nice bit of habo- meadows, river and reed bed. A good haul of moths including Pine, Elephant and Small Elephant Hawkmoths. Learnt a few more grasses and good to put a few faces to some names. 

Thee Bryans

THEE BRYANS

Micros

 Thistle Ermine

 Garden Grass Veneer (C.culmella)

 Scoparia pyralella

  Grey Tortrix ? (new for site if correct id)

 Marbled Orchid Tortrix

Scarce Silver-lines (not a micro)- a first for the farmlands

 

Been busy in the bugry over the last few nights during this warm spell. 55+ species yesterday alone (with over 100+ moths).
More here MORE MICROS



Latest on Incinerator

Yesterdays local community meeting

 

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Tufties

 Three broods of Tufted Duck young just appeared on the lakes

 Curlew from yesterday morning from the obs

 Rosel's Bush-cricket. A fair few of these on the southern mound.

First-summer Herring Gull in moult (ringed bird W3LT)

Hackbridge Biodiversity Projects

 Wildflower verge along the London Road

 New entrance to Beddington Farmlands with planting beds

 Bedzed eco-village wildlife garden (Gillian's garden)

 The Church grounds (The Grounds Project)

 Village centre rain gardens

Silverdale Estate Communal gardens

 Volucella bombylans (a new one for me today). A bee-mimic hoverfly

 Small Red Damsel (another new one for me)- its a Large Red- so one off! (cheers Steve) 

 Whatever this looping caterpillar is?- it does a good impression of a stick

 Berberis sawfly larvae- infestation in Silverdale which we are treating by beating the bushes, separating out the sawflies from the good insects and then destroying the larvae

Everlasting Peas- out now.



Being doing some bits on our biodiversity projects around town over last couple of days. Here's a few pics. On Thursday we are entering a bid for a major project on some of the larger green spaces in town- all part of creating the most bio-diverse urban district of Greater London.  Fingers crossed.

The new entrance to the farmlands is now complete- looks great! 

Public Walk

Photos by Lukas Becker more here

A few pics from today's public walk and one of the Lime Hawkmoths that were in the trap last night.

Highlights of the walk included seeing the breeding Great Crested Grebes, recently hatched Tufted Duck broods, Little Ringed Plovers, Kestrel hovering at head height, Rosel's Bush Cricket, Meadow Brown and Small Tortoisehell and Crambus culmella and other micros in the grass on the Southern Mound.

Hornet Moths

 Hornet Moths 'in cop'. The female has recently emerged (case present beneath the pair) and presumably almost instantly attracted a male.

 

Derek found a pair of mating Hornet Moths in Dale Park (Hackbridge) this morning and luckily I managed to twitch them. As usual on Poplar.

 

Been busy on the moth front over last few days despite limited by an ecology park meeting on Wednesday evening with the landscape architects and a lecture at the Linnaean Society in Piccadilly last night. Both really productive evenings and making some ground on the ecology park front.

 

Here's a few pics:

 



 Small Blood Vein

 Short-cloaked Moth

 Light Emerald

 Aleimma loeflingiana (new for site)

Insect rush

  White Ermine

 Hawthorn Moth

   Coleophora trifolii

 Sphaeophoria sp.

Probably Syritta pipiens

A mix from sweeping Goat's Rue. Our Beetle expert Roger Booth was looking for the beetle Bruchidius imbricornis (a recent colonist) which he found to be abundant on site. There's some in here (the small beetles).

Busy on the insect front at the moment in these warm conditions. Added a few new species to the site inventory over last few days.

Hawfinch dip

 The Southern Mound meadows- full of day flying moths today; mainly C.culmella, also Burnet Companions, Yellowshell and Sitochroa verticalis. Also Small Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady and Meadow Brown up there.

 Linnet and Skylarks breeding in the new grassland habitat

 Skylark

 Chrysotoxum festivum on Bristly Ox-tongue on the Southern Mound

 Small Tortoiseshell on Thistle

 Painted Lady- five around today. The vanguard of the predicted invasion?

 Plume Moth Gillmeria sp? Gillmeria pallidactyla (Yarrow Moth) - thanks Derek

 Meadow Brown- first of the year today

 Marcus found a Hawfinch in the storm tanks today. Spent a good part of the day looking for it but no joy (might have heard it). The insect life has finally come to life on the Southern Mound with a bit of sun today.
Had Red Kite, Common Buzzard and Hobby.