Well it's been a great start to June, with yet another glorious day. The temperature reached 22.0°C in the back garden, but best of all the wind was just a gentle breeze.
Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Robin
Blackbird
1 Song Thrush
Wren
Magpie
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch
The "resident" Song thrush is still singing away in the Sycamore tree on the edge of the meadow.
With so much foliage on this Sycamore, it took awhile to locate him.
1 Green-veined White
3 Speckled Wood
4 Common Blue
There are still reduced numbers of butterflies with just Speckled Woods and.......
.............Common Blues being the main species on the wing. This is a male.
100+ Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella)
1 Endothenia sp.
Bees Recorded:
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)
Grass Fly (Chlorops pumilionis)
Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
Well if you want to ID a difficult fly then you can't go wrong with this House Fly above. However by a bit of luck, this female fly above can be identified as an Orange Muscid Fly (Phaonia pallida), simply because of the orange patch between her eyes. The only other species it could be confused with, would be Thricops diaphanus, where that patch between the eyes is dark. Had this been a male, then closer examination would have to undertaken using a microscope. More on Phaonia pallida here and Thricops diaphanus here.
In the centre is a female Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis). Bottom right is a Common Grammoptera (Grammoptera ruficornis) and top left are possibly Pollen Beetles (Meligethes aeneus). The latter being the commonest of our pollen beetles.
A Cocksfoot Moth (Glyphipterix simpliciella). A species that is very prolific at the moment
Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis)
Mother of Pearl (Pleuroptya ruralis)
Endothenia sp.
Same as above.
Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)
Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius)
Hoverflies Recorded:
1 Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
1 Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare)
A Chequered Hoverfly (Melanostoma scalare) and......
............its underside.
Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)
Grass Fly (Chlorops pumilionis)
Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
Orange Muscid Fly (Phaonia pallida)
Dagger Fly (Empis tessellata)
A not very good photo of a Grass Fly (Chlorops pumilionis)
A female Yellow Dung Fly (Scathophaga stercoraria)
Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)
Common Grammoptera (Grammoptera ruficornis)
Common Grammoptera (Grammoptera ruficornis)
Pollen Beetles (Meligethes aeneus) - Most likely
Rustic Sailor Beetle (Cantharis rustica)
Rustic Sailor Beetle (Cantharis rustica)
A male Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) on a Bramble (Rubus fruticosusa) flower.
A closer look at a Common Grammoptera (Grammoptera ruficornis) and an even........
............closer view. This species is one of our our smallest longhorn beetles.
A Rustic Sailor Beetle (Cantharis rustica) which..........
...........I thought was turning around for a full on photo, but flew off instead.
Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii)
A Roesel's Bush-cricket (Metrioptera roeselii) in miniature.
Flower Crab Spider (Misumena vatia)
This Flower Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) was on top of this umbellifer until I got bit too close and.....
...........then it shot underneath for safety!!
Plants Recorded:
Stinking Iris (Iris foetidissima)
In an overgrown part of the meadow were these Stinking Iris (Iris foetidissima)
A close-up of one of the flower heads revealed a beetle/bug sp. We will never know!!
Sensible Ted has found a bit of shade.