Thursday 18th July

An adult Roseate Tern was again in The Bight on the evening tide, this bird was however unringed, so a second individual in two days. also present 136 Sandwich, 12 Common, including the first juvenile, and single Arctic and Little Tern.

Little Tern - Lee Collins

Wader counts included 137 Redshank, 43 Dunlin, 29 Whimbrel, 13 Greenshank, five Sanderling and a Bar-tailed Godwit with 12 Mediterranean Gull and the six Eider also in the estuary.

Elsewhere the second Marsh Harrier of the year was picked up distantly offshore flying NNE before eventually making landfall over Exmouth just after 6.15am; 16 Common Scoter, six Great Northern and a Red-throated Diver were on the sea, two Sand Martin were overhead and the first Wheatear of the autumn was on the Golf Course.

Other Wildlife: Ideal weather for observing summer insects - warm, sunny with a slight breeze. Leading the way again were solitary wasps with Four-banded Digger Wasp Gorytes quadrifasciatus and Dull Cuckoo Wasp Hedychridium roseum nectaring on Wild Carrot. The Shieldbug Digger Wasp Astata boops, host to the cuckoo wasp, was watched taking a captured shieldbug back to its nest burrow. 

Four-banded Digger Wasp Gorytes quadrifasciatus - Alan Keatley

Dull Cuckoo Wasp Hedychridium roseum - Alan Keatley

Shieldbug Digger Wasp Astata boops - Alan Keatley

Also nectaring, the hoverflies Dark-winged Chrysogaster C. solstitialis and Hornet Plumehorn Volucella zonaria and the summer generation of Yellow-legged Andrena flavipes and Short-fringed Mining Bee A. dorsata and with a Waisted Beegrabber Physocephala rufipes watching on.

Short-fringed Mining Bee Andrena dorsata - Alan Keatley

The warm weather favoured orthoptera were at least two Roesel's Bush-cricket stridulating in the Back Meadow, with several Great Green Bush-cricket and numerous Meadow Grasshopper in the long grass and Lesser Cockroach amongst the Marram.

Meadow Grasshopper - Alan Keatley

At least half a dozen Silver Y were disturbed from path sides with a Golden-ringed Dragonfly also on site.