Lord of the Dance

With yet more wind and rain forecast, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the sky was blue and clear, the wind light and the temperature reasonable when I got to work this morning and so at 7.30 I headed down to the Cordite where I found a nice little collection of hovers (amongst other flies) lounging around on the warming brambles. 

The highlights were my first (I think) Anasimyia contracta for the site, Volucella bombylans and pellucens, Tropidia scita, Cheilosia illustrata and a cracking Chrysotoxum bicinctum.

Anasimyia contracta

Cheilosia illustrata

Chrysotoxum bicinctum

Chrysotoxum bicinctum

Helophilus pendulus

Tropidia scita

I know that there are no common names for these but they are still wonderful little insects and like any names, they soon sink in.

There were some fine shiny Lucillia Greenbottles lazing about along with a few Flesh Flies with their paddy feet and fat Bluebottles.

Flesh Fly - Sarcophaga sp

Calliphorid genus 

Lucilia sericata Greenbottle

Lucilia sp Greenbottle

While this piebald beauty is one of my favourites and I think it is Graphomya maculata

 

 Graphomya maculata

Neomyia sp of Greenbottle - an old specimen

However, star performance went to one of my favourite little flies - Poecilobothrus nobilitatus - with his pied wings and wing-waving dance off in the fly equivilent of a Black Grouse lek to attract the almost as dapper females... the woodland at Rainham is alive with them at the moment. 

Poecilobothrus nobilitatus

So pick a sunny day, find a warm spot and crouch down close to the leaves - big bindweed seems to be a popular choice of arena for this most engaging of little flies and sit back and enjoy the Lord of the Flies perform Lord of the Dance...

RSPB Rainham Marshes 12-7-16