Swifts!

After days of straining every sinew (or at least straining my eyes) I finally saw some Swifts today by scanning the sky over Montpelier with binoculars. There were between 3 and 5 soaring high over the rooftops, a magnificent sight as always.

I had a little walk around the neighbourhood and was delighted to see the snail-eating beetle Silpha laevigata in the verge at Fairlawn Road. These beetles also feast on carrion. I have seen one at Narroways I think but that was several years ago now. On the same verge there was a hoverfly larva - I didn't get a good enough shot to ID the species but it was probably a Eupeodes species. I rarely, if ever, see hoverfly larvae. A Coal Tit was singing nearby.

Hoverfly larva

At Station Road there was a Swollen-thighed Flower Beetle. Nearby the leaves of Sycamore had galls on them caused by a mite. A Mallow was growing along Station Road which might be Common Mallow but I can't be sure as the leaves seemed wrong.

Sycamore Gall Mite

Mallow