Thursday 28 May 2020

Thursday 28th May

An enthusiastically early start and long session into the early afternoon was not reciprocated by bird life, with only single figures of Sanderling, Dunlin, Ringed Plover and a single Bar-tailed Godwit on the tide along with the non-breeding flock of Oystercatcher.  Also a dozen Swallow passed and three Song Thrush noted in the bushes. 

Wildlife news: the hot and sunny conditions turned attention to other forms of life. The unmown meadows and glades teemed with insects.  The striking yellow striped, bulb-bodied hoverfly Xanthogramma pedissequum, and the bee-mimic hoverfly Volucella bombylans were on the wing. Along the dune ridge, many Silvery Leafcutter Bee (Megachile leachella), a few Grey-patched Mining Bee (Andrena nitida) and a ruby-tailed wasp (Chrysididae spp., probably Hedychridium roseum given habitat and time of year).  Other sightings were of Red-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis), Wasp Beetle (Clytus arietis); as well as various butterflies such as Meadow Brown and Speckled Wood.


Silvery Leafcutter Bee Megachile leachella - Alan Keatley


Volucella bombylans - Alan Keatley

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