12 Aug 25

Wakeham

In the garden today, the bees were still very busy visiting the Lavender, especially the Buff-tailed Bumblebees. However one bee, a Common Carder fell victim to a Flower Spider, which was hiding in amongst one of the flower-heads.

The Fig, which was being feasted upon by Common Wasps and a Buff-tailed Bumblebee, finally fell to the ground and was being picked at by a female Blackbird, who in turn was feeding a hungry youngster.

And I came across a new fly for my Port & Wey list, which was on one of the flowering Common Ragworts.

And on the migrant front, 5 House Martins drifted south overhead.

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
5 House Martin
Dunnock
2 Blackbird
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Jackdaw
Starling
House Sparrow
Goldfinch

This female Blackbird was feeding her youngster pieces of Fig Ficus carica

Escapees, Ferals, Possibles Etc.
Feral pigeon


Butterflies Recorded:
2 Large White Pieris brassicae
3 Small White Pieris rapae

Bees Recorded:

Honey Bee Apis mellifera
Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris
Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum
Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius

On the lavender is a Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris and on the right a Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum

A worker Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius

Wasps, Ichneumon Wasps, Parasitic Wasps and Gall Wasps Recorded:
3 Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris

A  Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris sat on a leaf of an English Oak Quercus robur.

Hoverflies Recorded:
1 Common Dronefly Eristalis tenax
1 Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus

Just one Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus seen today.

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
Many unidentified flies
Blue Blowfly Calliphora vicina
Greenbottle Lucilia sp.
1 Locust Blowfly Stomorhina lunata

On the Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris I found this Locust Blowfly Stomorhina lunata, which looks more like a hoverfly than a true fly. The larvae as the name suggests feed within locust egg pods, but as non have ever been found in British Grasshoppers or Crickets, then the adult fly is considered a vagrant. More on this fly here and here.

Spiders Recorded:
1 Flower Spider Misumena vatia

In the flower-head of this Lavender Lavandula sp. a Flower Spider Misumena vatia has caught a Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum

Plants:
Buckthorn Rhamnus sp.
Buddleia Buddleja davidii
Common Evening-primrose Oenothera biennis
Common Fig Ficus carica
Common Ragwort Jacobaea vulgaris
Crown Daisy Glebionis coronaria
Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna
Lavender Lavandula sp.
Nasturtium Tropaeolum majus
Oxeye Daisy Leucanthemum vulgare
Pellitory-of-the-wall Parietaria judaicais
Pendulous Sedge Carex pendula
Perennial Sweet Pea Lathyrus latifolius
Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria
Red Valerian Centranthus ruber