Thursday 30 March 2023

Thursday 30th March

No tidal visits today but the first Swallow of the year flew through with 11 Sandwich Tern offshore, Chiffchaff in good voice around the bushes and 45 Linnet and two Wheatear in Greenland Lake.

Wildlife News: An on and off weather day with numerous short, sharp showers, however, the intervening sunny spells were rewarding with a variety of insects on the wing. 

Best of all was the first Warren record of Cliff Mining Bee Andrena thoracica with a female excavating a nest hole along the Back Path. The species usually nests on a soft cliff slope, but occasionally uses level ground, a common coastal species, its discovery at the Warren is long overdue.


Cliff Mining Bee - both Alan Keatley

Another long-overdue addition were a few male Small Sallow Mining Bee Andrena praecox, with the first Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius of the year also on the wing.

Small Sallow Mining Bee - Alan Keatley

Hoverflies were represented by single Common Twist-tail Sphaerophoria scripta, Slender Melanostoma M. scalare and Tiger Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus, all new for the year along with a few Common Eristalis tenax and Tapered Dronefly E. pertinax and singles of Common Spotted Field Syrph Eupeodes luniger and Hairy-eyed Syrphus S. torvus. Surprisingly the only butterfly seen today was a lone Peacock.

Elsewhere the first Marram Weevil Philopedon plagiatum of the year was on the dune slope along with the first Dark-edged Beefly and in Greenland Lake, three Snake's-head Fritillary in flower.

Marram Weevil - Alan Keatley

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