Today the sun actually shone and at times there was even
some heat to be appreciated. As such
reception duty today brought with it some insect opportunities and by the close
of play we had seen the14 species of Butterfly - Red Admiral, Small
Tortoiseshell, Comma, Small White, Green veined White, Large White, Ringlet,
Meadow Brown, Holly Blue, Small Skipper, Essex Skipper, Large
Skipper and Small Copper. Not bad at all
and two more were added by visitors with the first Marbled White and Gatekeeper
of the season out on the trails.
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| Comma |
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| Comma |
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Essex Skipper
|
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Red Admiral
|
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| Red Admiral |
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| Ringlet |
The flowering Privet with its intoxicating scent was alive
with Honey Bees and quite a few Bumbles and we checked for Hoverflies and
discovered several imposing Volucella zonaria holding court and engaging in territorial
disputes.
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| female Volucella zonaria |
There were other species to be seen including numerous
Episyrphus balteatus and several Eupeodes and Syrphus which are far more tricky
although one of my Syrphus shots seems to show hairy eyes making it S.torvus.
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| Syphus torvus |
Sarcs lazed around with their paddy feet on
show and I find it wondrously odd that I can now identify Pollenia on jizz by
how the move, their shape and how they hold their wings, long before I have
even got close for a look.
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male Pollenia sp
|
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| female Sarcophaga sp |
Tiny Green-eyed Flower Bees (Anthophora bimaculata) were the
first of the year as they zoomed at hyper speed around the Knapweed heads
whining like demented Mosquitoes as they went while boisterous Wool Carder Bees
(Anthidium manicatum) attended the Honeysuckle.
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| Knapweed |
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Wool Carder Bee
(Anthidium manicatum) - actually in my garden last week
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There were Leafcutter Bees on the Knapweeds too and I am sure that this
small species is Megachile centuncularis. We even watched one entering
a screw hole in the bird table and then reversing back in to lay an egg.
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| Patchwork Leafcutter Bee - Megachile centuncularis |
A Blue-eyed
Hawker spent some time circling the area out front and somehow I managed a shot
that shows the plain sides to the abdomen and hopefully this will be the first
of many this summer.
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| Blue-eyed
Hawker |
Two Pyramidal Orchids are still flowering nicely and one of
the Bee Orchids still had a smart flower at the top and being self pollinated,
the others blooms already had seed pods forming.
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| Bee Orchid |
The Yarrow had Red Soldier Beetles (currently still all single and not enagaged in their other nom de plume...) and green Oedemera
nobilis munching pollen on their pinky white flowerheads and there were Dark
and Roesel’s Bush Crickets in the uncut grass.
Beautiful but invasively destructive Rosemary
Beetles were seen on their other favoured plant - the Lavender.
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Dark
Bush Crickets and a Wolf Spider with egg sac
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| Rosemary Beetle - (Chrysolina americana) |
It almost felt like a summer’s day and a lounging Lizard about
summed things up as she basked on a fence rail.
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Common Lizard
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And all of this wealth of wildlife not 20 metres from our
little desk out front.
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