Ventnor Wall Lizards

A return visit to the Botanical Gardens at Ventnor where the wall lizards were showing extremely well. Perhaps 30 or more seen in a variety of ages, sizes, colours and markings.

Common Wall Lizards






Canon Powershot SX10

Isle of Wight birds

A couple of snaps from the Needles.

Wheatear Oenanthe oenanthe


Kestrel Falco tinnunculus


Canon Powershot SX10

Kittiwake, Ferry Meadows

Found by Chris Park on Gunwade Lake. Only my second ever in the PBC area and a very obliging bird. With the winds continuing strong NWly for another day or so could there be more seabirds yet to come?

Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla



Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77x20

Fin Whale, Bay of Biscay

This surfaced several times directly along the port side of the ship. At the same time there was another on the starboard side.

Fin Whale Balaenoptera physalus

Canon Powershot SX10

Common Dolphin, Bay of Biscay

Some of the 806 seen on the Company of Whales trip on the Pride Of Bilbao.


Canon Powershot SX10

More Santurtzi Wildlife

The second visit to the hill.

Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio


Large Conehead Ruspolia nitidula


Italian Cricket Oecanthus pullescens


Short-winged Conehead Conocephalus dorsalis


Dark Bush-cricket Pholidoptera griseoaptera


Calliptamus italicus



Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi


Praying Mantis Mantis religiosa


Wood White Leptidae sinapsis


Wall Lasiommata megera


The Vestal Rhodometra sacraria


Marbled White Spot Protodeltote pygarga


Common Wall Lizard Podarcis muralis


Also seen on the Pride of Bilbao:
Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing Noctua fimbriata


Canon Powershot SX10

Santurtzi, Friday

Some of the wildlife seen on our first bit of shore leave from the Pride of Bilbao.

Graphosoma lineatum


Marbled White Melanargia galathea


Small White Pieris rapae


Holly Blue Celastrina argiolus


Common Blue Polyommatus icarus f. boalensis


Canon Powershot A640

Oncocera semirubella


Mallow Skipper Carcharodus alceae


Long-tailed Blue Lampides boeticus


Gatekeeper Pyronia tithonus


Grey Bush-cricket Platycleis albopunctata


Canon Powershot SX10

Wryneck Jynx torquilla


Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77x20

Pilot Whales, Bay of Biscay

A pod of Long-finned Pilot Whales, some of 70 seen on this Company of Whales trip on the Pride of Bilbao.


Digiscoped with Canon Powershot A640 and Leica APO77x20

Bedford Purlieus north

A lot of dayflying moths about today at the north end of Bedford Purlieus. As well as the ones here there were Silver Y and Straw Dot plus plenty of Common Blue butterflies.

Treble-bar Aplocera plagiata


Small Scallop Idaea emarginata


Brown Argus Aricia agestis



Meadow Grasshopper Chorthippus parallelus



Canon Powershot SX10

More garden insects

The aphid farming continues in our garden with a increasing variety of hoverflies and other insects visiting to harvest the bounty. 7-spot Ladybirds are now more numerous and a few 14-spots have joined them and the Harlequins.

But it's the hovers that continue to dominate. E. balteatus is still the most abundant but more S. pyrastri about, the first M. florea of the year and only the second ever garden record of Xanthogramma pedisequum, a most striking wasp mimic. I should think there are about 10 different species present at the moment.

Migrant Hawker, Holly Blue, Meadow Brown and Gatekeeper were also around today.

Xanthogramma pedisequum


Myathropa florea


Scaevia pyrastri


Eupeodes luniger


14-spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata



Canon Powershot SX10

Volucella inanis

This large hoverfly is now a fairly regular garden visitor.

Volucella inanis

Canon Powershot SX10