12 Jul 23

RSPB Radipole Lake

Having dropped Benji and Ted off at the dog groomers, it was off to Radipole for a few hours to see what was about. And I was so glad I did, as I hit the jackpot with a very rare spider called a Hypsosinga heri.

Before this spider was re-discovered at RSPB Radipole Lake in 2014, it was thought to have become extinct in the UK back in 1912, when the last one was seen at Wickham Fen, Cambridgeshire.

Now I would have never had found one, let alone been looking for one if I hadn't bumped into Mark Eggleton on the reserve. He asked me if I had ever seen this rare spider, to which I replied "no". So he showed me a photo of one on his mobile, just in case I ever came across one.

Quite extraordinary though, as he put his phone away, I noticed a red insect on a reed just a few feet away from where we were stood. I initially thought it was a Red Soldier Beetle making its escape, but Mark knew exactly what it was and that was a female Hypsosinga heri. Unbelievable!

There is no common name for this orb weaver spider, but in Holland it is called Gewone Moeraswielspin which translated into English is Swamp Orb-web Spider. They also call it the Swamp Pajama Spider, which I kind of like.

Birds Recorded:
2 Great Crested Grebe
4 Cormorant
3 Grey Heron
5 Mute Swan
Mallard
Gadwall
Moorhen
Coot
Black-headed Gull
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Swift
80+ Sand Martin
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
Reed Warbler
Cetti's Warbler
1 Blackcap (singing)
4 Chiffchaff (singing)
4+ Bearded Tit (calling)
Great Tit
Blue Tit
Wren
Magpie
Carrion Crow
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
Greenfinch
Reed Bunting

A Great Crested Grebe

Here it is again with a Sand Martin catching insects above it

Two Gadwall

And a very busy nest site.......

...........with Sand Martins coming in and out of their nests.

A male House Sparrow.

Fish Recorded:
1 Common Carp
12+ Roach


Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
Banded Demoiselle
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Black-tailed Skimmer

A female Banded Demoiselle. This was the only one I found and there were no males noted!

A male Blue-tailed Damselfly

And another male.

A male Black-tailed Skimmer

And another view of it.

I'm unsure on this one and.........

............likewise with this one.

Butterflies Recorded:
6 Large White
1 Speckled Wood
1 Meadow Brown
8 Gatekeeper
1 Marbled White
10+ Red Admiral
2 Peacock
7 Comma

A sightly worn Gatekeeper

I counted at least 10 Red Admirals on the reserve. I'm sure there were many more.

A Peacock soaking up the sun

There were several Commas about.

Note the comma on the wing, which is how it derived its name.

Moths Recorded:
1 Silver Y (Autographa gamma)


Bees Recorded:
Honey Bees (Apis mellifera)
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Common Carder (Bombus pascuorum)

Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipe)

A Honey Bee making its way to the Blackberry flowers.

A Buff-tailed Bumblebee

A Common Carder in the flower of a Large Bindweed (Calystegia silvatica), with lots of tiny insects for company. I'm not sure what they are!

I believe this is a Yellow-legged Mining Bee (Andrena flavipe)

Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
1 German Wasp (Vespula germanica)

A German Wasp

Hoverflies Recorded:
Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus)

Pied Hoverfly (Scaeva pyrastri)

Dead Head Hoverfly (Myathropa florea)
The Footballer (Helophilus pendulus)

A Marmalade Hoverfly and........

............another one.

A Pied Hoverfly

A Dead Head Hoverfly

And this one is The Footballer 

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:

#1 - fly sp.

#2 - fly sp.

#3 - Red Spotted Parasite Flies (Eriothrix rufomaculata)

#1 - fly sp.

#2 - fly sp.

#3 - Two Red Spotted Parasite Flies (Eriothrix rufomaculata)

#3 - And a close-up of one of the Red Spotted Parasite Flies

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis)
Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

Leaf beetles sp.

Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis, orange with black spots form - succinea)

And another Harlequin Ladybird form - succinea

Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis, black with 4 red spots form - spectabilis)

A Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva)

A male Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

Leaf beetles sp.

Crickets and Grasshoppers Recorded:
grasshopper sp.

Slugs and Snails Recorded:
White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
Brown-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea nemoralis)
Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)

A White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis)

And a Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)

Spiders Recorded:

Swamp Pajama Spider (Hypsosinga heri)

This is the male Swamp Pajama Spider which Mark showed me on his mobile.

And this is female we found nesting......

.................on this reed. If you look closely there are a cluster of eggs in the nest. An interesting fact is that a male has never been seen here at Radipole!! More on this spider Here, Here and Here.

Plants:
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
Pyramidal Orchid (Anacamptis pyramidalis)

Water margin plant sp

A large stand of Purple Loosestrife in the reedbeds.

Pyramidal Orchids

A water margin plant sp.