Bird wise it was pretty quiet,with the most notable and enjoyable sightings going to a flock of 50 plus Swift feeding low over Grebe Lake,giving some superb views as they screamed their way around the lake and a nice find in the form of a Willow Tit nest.The latter a really nice sight to see with the serious decline in this species.
Today,as on my last visit,it was insects which are beginning to come to the fore,with several nice sightings through my visit.The best of which was a nice Rhagium mordax,or Black-spotted Longhorn Beetle as it is now known,which i found on the edge of the heathy meadow.This is a cracking member of the Cerambycidae family of beetles and is a very striking species with it's large eyes,it's larvae develop in rotting Oak stumps.
Syrphidae featured heavily again with some nice species being logged which included Dasysyrphus venustus,Rhingia campestris,Leucozona leucorum,Cheilosia illustrata,Xylota sylavarum and the similar pairing of Parhelophilus fruititorum/versicolor,the latter are difficult to identify with certainty in the field.
A couple of Shieldbug sp. were encountered today as well,the very common Green Shieldbug and the diminutive Birch Shieldbug,the latter are one of our smaller species.
Very few species of Lepidoptera were recorded on the visit today but included a single Common-white Wave,Small White and Speckled Wood,a poor return,but not surprising in the conditions.
So today wasn't too bad a visit,but we really do need some settled warm weather.
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| Bogbean. |
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| Female Great-spotted Woodpecker. |
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| Small White. |
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| Black-spotted Longhorn Beetle. |
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| Rhingia campestris. |
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