Where's The Time Gone

I'm not sure why I haven't visited Stratton Wood since June, but I managed a short walk there today and as I pulled into the car park, it was quite obvious there had been some huge changes since my last visit. All the trees to the west and north of the car park had been removed to make way for some electrical cables being laid down here. I'm not sure why its going to take months to complete, as the area being worked on isn't that large, but for some reason the car park is going to be out of commission from 1 Sep 14 to 31 May 15.

For those wanting to visit Stratton Wood from September to May, the only car parking available will be the lay-by on the south-bound carriageway of the A419, there's a footpath into the wood here or alternatively it will have to be via Stanton Park car park.

As Benji had the groom room my walk wasn't going to be long, so off we went. As we left the car park the evidence of tree felling was quite obvious, but fortunately it doesn't go far into the wood and at the top of the path cuts away to the right and heads towards the bungalows.

The path looking back towards the car park

And looking east from the path towards the bungalows.

A Collared Dove looks on at all the work being done.

Once we passed the pylons, it was back to normal. Not a lot has changed since May, apart from the fact that the wild grasses are taller and there was a lot Ragwort about, which was obviously a good source of pollen and nectar as most plants were covered with Honeybees, Drone Flies and hoverflies, especially Eristalis arbustorum. Further on into the wood a few Speckled Woods appeared and I also came across singles of Green-veined White, Red Admiral, Meadow Brown and a Small Blue.

Drone Fly

Honeybee

Hoverfly, Eristalis arbustorum

Speckled Wood

Green-veined White

Flying about in one of the Oak Trees along Kingsdown Lane there was an unusual Hoverfly. A 12 foot ladder would have come in handy as it wouldn't come down to head height. So alas I only managed a few photos of it looking up, which aren't brilliant and dont really help with identifying it. All I can say is that on my initial sighting of it I thought it was a wasp. I did try this website out Here, which is excellent, but what I really needed to do was get a photograph of its abdomen to see the pattern.

Hoverfly sp.

Hoverfly sp. high up in the canopy of an Oak tree

 Dotted around the wood there are a few new noticeboards and in one of the meadows a brand new bench, which will hopefully withstand any vandalism.

New information board

And a new bench overlooking one of the meadows.

In the meadows lots of Ragwort again and also small patches of Field Scabious, Knautia arvensis. Whilst in the hedgerows, there was evidence of a Robin's Pincushion gall, "caused" by the Diplolepis rosae gall wasp, which laid its eggs in either the leaves or stem of this Dog Rose.

Field Scabious

Robin's Pincushion Gall

As I headed back towards the car park I followed the path which runs parallel with the A419. Along this stretch there were at least 5 Dragonflies which looked liked Southern Hawkers. Unfortunately one of our cats caught one yesterday but left it in the garden, so I've got a good close up of one, albeit a dead one.

A female Southern Hawker - deceased

A real close up

Birds Recorded: Buzzard, Wood Pigeon, Collared Dove, House Martin heard, Robin, Blackbird, 2 Blackcap, 5 Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Long-tailed Tit, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Wren, Jay, 12+ Magpie, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Bullfinch.

Butterflies Recorded: 5 Speckled Woods and singles of Red Admiral, Green-veined White, Small Blue and Meadow Brown.

Dragonflies Recorded: 5 Southern Hawkers (males and females)

Other insects Recorded: Drone Fly, Robin's Pincushion gall wasp, Hoverfly, Eristalis arbustorum and another hoverfly sp.