A short walk this morning and wow was it warm. Despite the stiff southerly breeze, it was very mild and it certainly brought the bees and hoverflies out in force.
The Ivy by the observation area at Rufus Castle has just come out in flower and there are now a few Ivy Bees on it. Further up the path (under the arch way towards the Museum) there were more Ivy Bees here on the freshly opened flowers.
Lots of hoverflies with Common Drone Flies (Eristalis tenax), Tapered Drone Flies (Eristalis pertinax) and even the Drone Fly (Eristalis abusivus). There were a few Dead Head Flies (Myathropa florea), several Marmalade Hoverflies (Episyrphus balteatus) and a Syrphus sp.
Just two butterflies seen, both Speckled Woods along the Mermaid Track. A Bloody-nosed Beetle was in its usual spot along the South-west Coast Path and there were many wasps about, Common Wasps and an Ichneumon sarcitorius
Here are a few images from this morning.
A Speckled Wood along the Mermaid Track.......
........and another here also.
This is an Ichneumon sarcitorius
A Meadow Grasshopper (Chorthippus parallelus)
A Bloody-nosed Beetle makes its way along the coast path.
The Ivy bushes are all in bloom and don't the Ivy Bees know it.
It isn't just the Ivy Bees that like the Ivy.......
.......a Tapered Dronefly...........
.......Common Carder Bee..........
........Honey Bee........
......Common Wasp..........
...........Dead Head Fly..........
......the rear end of a Dead Head Fly.......
......and for me the star of the show an Ivy Bee.
Such a small bee........
......not much bigger than the Syrphus hoverfly in the top right-hand corner.
And another.
There were also a few Ivy Bees between the archway at Rufus Castle and.......
.......back up the track towards Portland Museum.
Not an Ivy Bee but a Honey Bee.
A lot smaller than the Honey Bee an Ivy Bee.
And another.
The underside of a Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
And the top side.
The view looking south over Church Ope Cove.