Stuff

A couple of catch-up bits first. I've managed to sort another of the sawflies from Ketton Quarry on 17/05 - or rather confirm from the key that the suggested ID on UK Sawflies was right. It is Cytisogaster chambersi, based on the facial markings which separate it from two other spp.

And I've also sorted a couple of small black hoverflies from the garden on Monday: one was another Pipizella viduata, but the other was new for me - Eumerus funeralis. It's not much of a looker, and only c5mm long so not exactly the most exciting hoverfly but good to sort it properly based on ocelli position and underside of hind femora.

Rear pair of ocelli positioned close to the 'baseline' of the eyes than E. ornatus

Shiny bare patch on hind femora

Another new one for the garden was a surprise, given that the one I swept at Countesthorpe Meadows on 16/05 was on the fourth or so record for the county ....

Empis scutellata - just about to escape from the moth trap it came to

I've got a few bits to pin and check later tonight, including a yello-faced bee from the garden today and a weird shaped small thin sawfly.

Here's a couple more from Huncote Embankment yesterday:

Graphomya macualata - female

Graphomya maculata - male

Helophilus pendulus

A here's a few more from the garden trap ...

Campion - only second garden record

Buff-tip

Coxcomb Prominent

"I made a god out of blood, not superiority,
I killed the king of deceit, now I sleep in anarchy"

Syrphin

Spent some time in the garden early this morning, too early for any real activity - just enjoying the relative peace, birdsong, morning warmth and plenty of coffee. I wasn't enjoying the largely empty moth trap. One of the Blackcaps showed itself a little better, and I saw a female in the garden which was nice.

I could hear a Skylark singing, and a very distant snatch of Lesser Whitethroat - I think the days of this being annual on the embankment are now over as it is probably too densely shrubbed over now. It sounded not far away, just beyond the end of the embankment where it turns to hedgerow along the field edges.

Early this afternoon, with left foot big toe much more flexible and much less painful than of late, I headed of for my first walk in over two weeks. I headed back to the disused railway line and I've got a few bits from the outing to share over future posts. Today though, I'll focus on the main activity in the garden yesterday with a couple of bits from today thrown in as they fit the topic - Syrphinae.

Having got completely fed up with the Eristalis pertinax disturbing anything, but having also noted a few smaller hoverflies in the garden, I decided it was time to swish the net and try to get them sorted. I'm not used to fondling hoverflies and clearly need more practice as getting hold of them was certainly not a refined and honed process - however all were released unharmed. Getting one-handed shots whilst hand-rangling diptera is also an art that I need to perfect. Turned out they're all female, I guess the males were too busy to be fanny about flying in sunshine.

First up, one that really should be exciting but again (having had one last year) a sense-check on the UK Hoverflies facebook group says sp. only. These clearly just need lumping ....

Female Pipiza sp.

Legs not yellow enough for P. luteitarsis, so probably P. noctiluca sl, but might not be ...

Female Eupeodes sp.

Another bugger, as markings not quite right for either E. luniger or E. corollae

 The rest were more straightforward ....

Female Melanostoma scalare

 Female Platycheirus albimanus

Grey spots on abdomen, extensively yellow legs

Female Rhingia campestris

Black edging to tergites

The following are all from the walk today ... same method, same clumsy handling ...

Female Leucozona lucorum

 

Female Helophilus pendulus

Female Syrphus ribesii

Note the hind femur is largely yellow except the base

More Entomological Variety

Sage Leafhopper (Eupteryx melissae), Guineaford, Devon, 05/08/2012

Allygus mixtus, Whetstone, 16/08/2012

Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertinax), Enderby, 18/08/2012

Helophilus pendulus, Enderby, 18/08/2012

Cinnabar, Enderby, 18/08/2012

I think this is a Grey Pug, Enderby, 18/08/2012

This one is almost certainly Zygina angusta, though separation from the scarcer Zygina ordinaria is not 100% reliable from external characters. From the garden trap last night.

After consultation with national experts from British Bugs, this one is not identifiable (possibly not even by gen det!) it's one of the Aphrodes bicinctus/makarovi complex which at present is not fully resolved and may well include more than two species. Enderby, 18/08/2012

The Egret, On The Patch, & Monster Garden Tick

It's September - time to start the slow transition into generally apathetic birder mode for the next nine months or so. I decided to head off to Saddington Res this morning. Immediately after leaving the estate and turning into Springwell Lane I spotted a reasonable hirundine flock hawking over the hedgerow and tree line - 23 Swallows and four House Martins. On the way to the res I also passed two groups of Common Buzzards soaring on thermal columns - three in one near Countesthorpe and four near to Saddington - it felt like I was in Devon.

On arriving at the res, I immediately picked up the target - a Great White Egret roosting in a tree on the far bank. Great scope views but too far away for anything resembling a decent photo - I really need to sort out something to try digiscoping. After ten minutes or so the Egret had a short fly about and then came down to wade and feed on the tideline - still miles away - before flying over to roost again in trees along a channel. This time it was nearer - but still too far for the DSLR and pathetic lens I have. Anyone with a decent scope and adaptor would have got superb digiscoped shots from here.


Use your imagination - it's the white blob on the left of the grey blob

Also at the res were good numbers of hirundines including a handful of House Martins and Sand Martins, and a drake Pochard but nothing else of note - including the Green Sands that had been knocking about.

I then headed over to have a walk through my adopted Soar Valley South patch, following Route 1. I was really hopeful of picking up a Whinchat - but no such luck. Only birds of note were a pair of flyover Stock Doves, four Swifts hawking very high up, calling Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Bullfinch and more Common Buzzards. Loads of corvids and yet more hirundines.

Whilst walking around the patch I noticed a lot of these smart stripey hoverflies - I think they are Helophilus pendulus but I know there are a couple of similar species.


Helophilus pendulus?

Not too many butterflies about, but before heading home I noticed a large communal group of Small Tortoiseshell larvae on nettles by the car. I boxed a few up to try and rear through - I'll sort some photos of those another day.

After sorting out lunch for everyone I was happily browsing the tinternet to ID that hoverfly when there was one almighty fucking bang and the house was rocking - immediate thoughts were that either one of the industrial units nearby had blown up or something had crashed into the motorway. We then remembered that the annual airshow at Cosby was on - I've never fathomed how/why a village with no airstrip within several miles and no military connections has an airshow!

It then became clear that the almighty bang was a combination of the pyrotechnics at the site (about a mile from our house) and the Vulcan bomber flying about. Feck! I managed to grab the camera and just catch the bomber as it departed after it had passed over the house - what a monster garden tick.


Awesome

We decided to head over to Huncote Embankment and watch out for the remaining flyovers - and when we got there it was clear that loads of others had the same idea. The roads were littered with cars and people all no doubt brought out by the Vulcan. As we progressed along the embankment, we were treated to a really close flyover by the Red Arrows.



We then spent over an hour watching the Lancaster bomber, the Sally-B, a Spitfire, Hurricane and some yankee fighter - probably. Anyway they were entertaining.


Lancaster Bomber


Sally-B


Fighters

All the while, yet more hirundines were cruising past - I must have seen about 500 Swallows today. The superb finale to the flyover theme at Huncote was a Raven calling and tumbling into the quarry.