Thursday 1st & Saturday 3rd June

Thursday 1st June 2017:
Another warm afternoon saw me again visit Hillditch Pool to record the dragonflies.  Today there were 4 Emperor Dragonflies (3♂ , 1♀) present, the female of which was seen oviposting (egg-laying).  A single immature Scarce Chaser was also noted. 


♀ Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) oviposting

Another invert of note today was a bumblebee mimic hoverfly called Volucella bombylans.  This hoverfly lays it's eggs in the nests of bumblebees and wasps where it's larvae will scavenge for food.


Bumblebee mimic hoverfly (Volucella bombylans)

Saturday 3rd June 2017:
This afternoon I again decided to spend my time at Hillditch Pool.  The weather was warm and sunny and a number of butterflies were on show including my first Meadow Brown of the year.  Also observed were 2 Large Skippers, 1 Red Admiral and a ♂ Common Blue. 


♂ Large Skipper  (Ochlodes sylvanus)

There were 3 Emperor Dragonflies (2♂ , 1♀) present and also a ♂ Scarce Chaser.  This was my first male of the latter species I had recorded at the site this year.  Unlike the orange/brown female Scarce Chaser the male develops a powdery light blue colour (or pruinescence as its known) on it's abdomen.

♂ Scarce Chaser (Libellula fulva)

Another insect of note today was a Wasp Beetle that was seen feeding on umbellifer flowers. 


Wasp Beetle (Cletus arietis)

Tuesday 30th May & Wednesday 31st May

Tuesday 30th May 2017:
I decided to have a mooch around Hillditch Pool today looking for inverts.  Beetles were the order of the day as I recorded 2 Red-headed Cardinal Beetles, a ♀ Thick-legged Flower Beetle and a 14-spot Ladybird.  Harlequin Ladybird, Garden Chafer and Red Soldier Beetle were also noted.


Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis)

Also recorded during this visit were White-lipped Snail and Nursery Web Spider.  A small number of Small Tortoiseshell butterfly caterpillars were found feeding on Nettles.

Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis)

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) larva

Wednesday 31st May 2017:
I paid another visit to Hillditch Pool today to make the most of the warm mild weather.  If yesterday was all about the beetles then today was all about the moths, the highlight of which being a stunning long-horned micro-moth called Adela croesella.  This type of moth are called long-honed due to their long antennae.  Other moths recorded included 7 Straw Dot, a Common Carpet and a handful of Nettle Tap moths. 


Adela croesella

Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis)

The only butterflies observed during the visit were 1 Small Tortoiseshell & 1♂ Orange Tip. 


Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae)

I also found a Hairy Shieldbug during my visit and a ♂ Thick-legged Flower Beetle was also noted.


Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum)

Thick-thighed Flower Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

On the Odonata front, a single ♂ Emperor was the only dragonfly observed but good numbers of damselflies were present.  Both Beautiful and Banded Demoiselle were particularly showy.


♂ Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens)

Thursday 25th to Monday 29th May

Thursday 25th May 2017:
Paid a brief visit to the Common this afternoon to check out the Rush Pool and surrounding area.  at the pool there were 5 Broad-bodied Chasers present (3♂ , 2♀). 


whilst walking the surrounding grassland and scrub I recorded 2 Garden Carpet moths and 3 Mother Shipton.   Many Cinnabar moths were now on the wing.   A Black-headed Cardinal Beetle was also recorded. 


Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria)

Friday 26th May 2017:
The conditions were hot weather-wise so I decided to head down to Hillditch pool in the search for dragonflies.  It proved worthwhile as both a ♂ Emperor dragonfly and an imm. Scarce Chaser were observed on the wing. Both of which were year firsts, not only for the site but the county.  There was also a noticeable increase in the demoiselle damselflies present.


♀ Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)

The site year firsts continued with a Large Skipper butterfly present on vegetation near the pool.  Other butterflies recorded were a ♂ Common Blue and a Red Admiral.   Also observed during the visit were 3 Small Yellow Underwing moths and a single Hornet.


Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)

Monday 29th May 2017:
It was a dull, damp, drizzly day on the Common but I still decided to have a mooch about.  I walked an area on the southern section of the common from the pull in at the former car park along the Worcester Rd.  I was pleased to discover that there was a healthy population of Tower Mustard in that area with 36 flower spikes counted in total.  Tower Mustard is a fairly scarce plant in Worcestershire but it is known to be present in small numbers on the Common.


The only other positive I could take from the visit was hearing a Lesser Whitethroat singing over the road on the Cook's side of the Common.  As I continued my walk the rain became heavier and I decided to abandon and visit another day.


Tower Mustard (Turritis glabra)

 

Sunday 21st and Wedndesday 24th May

Sunday 21st May 2017:
Today I returned to the Common for the first time after a weeks holiday and it was amazing just how much things had progressed during that time.   For today's visit I started by checking the area around the Rush Pool and was greeted by the site of two ♂ Broad-bodied Chasers being territorial and chasing each other.  In the grassy areas near the pool there were 2 Small Heath butterflies on the wing and a Straw Dot moth was also noted.


Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa)

Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus)

From the Rush Pool I headed over to Hillditch Pool where the sunshine had bought out a good selection of butterflies. A ♂ Brimstone, 1 Large White, 1 Green-veined White, 1 Peacock and 6 Small Tortoiseshell were recorded.   Things hadn't progressed mush on the damselfly front with only Blue-tailed Damselfly being a new addition.  Many Azure and Large Red Damselflies were observed.  A Cucumber Green Spider was also noted.


Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) - ♀  form rufescens

Cucumber Green Spider (Araniella cucurbitina)

Wednesday 24th May 2017:
This afternoon my wife and I undertook a walk around the lower terrace of the Common to check both Rush Pool and The Bog for Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies).  The hot sunny weather had certainly bought them out with  5 Broad-bodied Chaser (3♂ , 2♀) at Rush Pool and 3 Broad-bodied Chaser (1♂ , 2♀) at The Bog.  The only other species of Odonata recorded within these areas was Azure Damselfly.  Also of interest during this walk were 3 Cinnabar moths. and a number of Brown Silver-line moths.  Garden Chafer beetle was also noted.


Cinnabar (Tyria Jacobaeae)

We then headed across to Hillditch Pool where damselflies were the order of the day.  Red-eyed Damselflies were now on the wing patrolling the lily pads. and we recorded 4 in total (3♂ , 1♀).  good numbers of demoiselle were observed with 9 Banded Demoiselle (7♂ , 2♀) and 4 Beautiful Demoiselle (2♂ , 2♀) recorded.  Azure, Blue-tail and Large Red damselflies were all present in good numbers. 


Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas)

♂ Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens) 
& ♂ Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

The visit to Hillditch seemed fairly unproductive until my wife Bev picked up on a ♂ Common Blue butterfly flitting over the bracken.  My first for the site this year.


Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus)

Tuesday 9th May

Tuesday 9th May 2017:
The weather was again warm and settled so I decided to undertake a walk from Lower Poolands car park to look for more Green Hairstreak butterflies.  It proved worthwhile as I found 2 more Green Hairstreaks at the Broom scrub in front of the electricity pylon on the east side of the former plantation.  This takes the total up to 11 over the past 2 days at 6 separate locations.  I will share a map of the sightings once their flight season is over.


Also in this area I was treated to the sight of 2 juvenile Long-tailed Tits being fed by their parents.


Juvenile Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)

Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi)

It was a productive walk on the butterfly front as I also observed my first Small Heath and Small Copper of the year for the site. 3 Orange Tip and 2 Holly Blue were also noted.


Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)

Moth-wise I recorded 2 ♂ Emperor patrolling, 2 Red Twin-spot Carpet and a single Mother Shipton.  The latter is called Mother Shipton as the pattern on the wing is said to look like the face of the 16th centaury hag of Yorkshire folklore, Old Mother Shipton.


Red Twin-spot Carpet (Xanthorhoe spadicearia)

Mother Shipton (Euclidia mi)

It was a good day on the bird front too as I observed my first Garden Warbler of the year flitting about and singing at the edge of the Oak wood near Poolands car park.  Another highlight was seeing/hearing 4 male Yellowhammers perched up singing at different locations across the Common.  This is really heartening as Yellowhammers are declining nationally and over the last 10 years and I personally have noticed a big drop in their numbers at traditional arable sites I visit.


Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)

Sunday 7th and Monday 8th May

Sunday 7th May 2017:

This afternoon I spent some time checking around the Rush Pool and The Bog for dragonflies.  It seemed as though I was going to be out of luck until a teneral 4-spotted Chaser flew past and landed on some vegetation near the edge of The Bog.  Sadly it flew off over the Bog before I could get any record shots but I did see it long enough to confirm the id with my binos.  

Whilst walking around the Rush Pool I flushed a couple of Brown Silver-line moths from the surrounding bracken.  

A single Green Hairstreak was recorded on the other side of the Worcester Road on the stretch of common next to Cooks.  This is an area of the Common where few (if any) records of this species have been recorded.

Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi)

Brown Silver-line (Petrophora chlorosata)

Monday 8th May 2017:

Today's weather was hot and sunny so I undertook a walk around to look for Green Hairstreaks.  In total I recorded 9 Green Hairstreak in total at 5 separate locations (2 of which were on the Cooks Garden centre side of the Common). 

Green Hairstreak (Callophrys rubi)

From the Common I headed over to Hillditch Pool where I recorded my first Azure Damselfly of the year in the form of a single immature blue form female. 

Also of note at Hillditch were mating Cantharis rustica Soldier Beetles.

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella) - ♀ Blue Form

Soldier Beetles (Cantharis rustica)

Monday 1st May to Thursday 4th May 2017

Monday 1st May 2017:
Undertook a walk around Hillditch Pool and the SE side of the Common today. On arrival at Hillditch I was greeted by the wonderful sound of a Cuckoo calling.  On speaking to some of the Common regulars it had been present since Saturday.    On the Common there were Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Blackcaps and Common Whitethroats singing seemingly everywhere. 


Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)

Black-headed Cardinal Beetle was a new invert for the year list and Gorse Shieldbug was also recorded.  A Common Lizard was seen scurrying off into the undergrowth.


Black-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa coccinea)

During the walk I bumped into my friends Toni and Pete who were visiting the Common for the first time after reading about it on the blog.  They were both really pleased to see a pair of Green Woodpeckers and also a ♂ Emperor moth responding to the pheromone lure.


Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis)

Tuesday 2nd May 2017:
A brief visit to Hillditch today was fairly unproductive but for a 14-spot Ladybird and 2 Bloody-nosed Beetle larvae. 


14-spot Ladybird (Propylea 14-punctata)

Bloody-nosed Beetle (Timarcha tenebricosa) larva

Thursday 4th May 2017:
Today's warm sunny weather bought out increased numbers of Odonata with 4 Large Red Damselflies recorded at Hillditch Pool.  The following butterflies were also observed:  1 Holly Blue, 2 Orange Tip, 2 Peacock and  6 Small Tortoiseshell. 


Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

Peacock (Aglais io)