Wakeham
Yet another day spent in the garden, but at least it was, warm, sunny and with plenty of interest to keep me going.
What I recorded was much the same as yesterday. Though I did wonder if I would see anything at all, as there was a strong easterly gusting to around 25mph.
However the sun did come out and so did the insects, including my first ever
Thick-legged hoverfly (
Syritta pipiens)
Here are a few of sightings from this morning:
The pond area where most of the activity was today.
A daily sight now is this male Blue-tailed Damselfly
Another short video of the Damselfly, but after it took off I kept the camera rolling as a
Red Mite scuttled across the seashell
In a different light though, you would be forgiven in thinking this was a different
Blue-tailed Damselfly. The abdomen appears very black in this photo.
Also a regular visitor is this Common Carder Bee.
But is this one as well. It is certainly similar in size and pattern, but a totally different colour. Could this possibly be a
Brown-banded Carder Bee (
Bombus humilis). If it is, this is the first one I have had in the garden. This bee was fast declining in the UK and only found in the southern counties, however it does appear to be making a comeback. More on this possible Brown-banded Carder Bee
Here.
Well there were even more Yellow-legged Mining Bees about today and joining them was what I believe to be.......
...........a Trimmer's Mining Bee (Andrena trimmerana). However I have asked the experts, so watch this space.
As the sun shone, so a few hoverflies started to appear. This is a
Narcissus Bulb Fly (
Merodon equestris) and a species which is variable in colour and pattern. This individual is the form
narcissi............
..........and if I have this correct this is the form transversalis
This brightly coloured hoverfly is a
Xanthogramma pedissequum and apart from a few I have seen around the island, this is only the second one I have seen in the garden.
I got caught out on this one. I didn't think I had ever seen this species before, but I have just had it confirmed as an
Eupeodes corollae (
Vagrant Hoverfly). I have come across several of these in the garden, but never as small as this individual. Like many other insects, if at the larvae stage their food intake has been reduced, then the emerging adult will be smaller.
This is a new hoverfly for my Portland List, a male
Thick-legged hoverfly (
Syritta pipiens). The habitat it can be found in is gardens, rough meadows and along hedgerows. Its larvae feed on decaying Narcissus bulbs. Well there are many Daffodils in the garden, so it looks like I have set up a bit of a food bank for this species.
Well its confused.com day today. This a very large
Semaphore fly and at least twice the size of any
Poecilobothrus nobilitatus I have seen before. Having just come across an exceptionally small hoverfly (
Eupeodes corollae), I have now come across a fly, where at the larvae stage it was having a banquet everyday. Of course I might have totally the wrong species, which would explain its size!!
Well if I have correctly identified this fly, this was one of the species in the Name a Species 2012 competition and won the lovely English name of
Semaphore fly. Normally clusters of males dance around single females, which lack the white wing marks. In the case of my little pond today it was just one male and no females.
Here is the male
Semaphore Fly dancing on a leaf . More info on this fly on the Blog back in June last year
HERE.
And here is that Ichneumon Wasp I came across a few days ago and......
..........I still haven't managed to ID it yet.
Our Cherry Tree in the back garden. And here is a..........
..........close-up of the Cherries. All I want now, is one of the many
Rose-coloured Starlings that have reached our southern shores over the past week or so, to come and visit the garden. One of my friends took this photo of one
HERE in Kent yesterday.
Sorry Ted no walk again today, at least we have a big garden for you to run up and down in.
My Lockdown Garden List is
Here.
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On this day..........
2019
Today's Sightings Here.
2018
Today's Sightings Here.
2017
Today' Sightings Here.
