St Andrews Park!

The meadow area of the park has become impressively biodiverse since it was planted about 6 or 7 years ago. Today there was a Speckled Wood butterfly, an Ichneumon Wasp, a Scarlet Tiger moth caterpillar, a probable Phyllobius weevil, several probable Raspberry Beetles or close relative, a few Anthomyia flies, a Speckled Bush-cricket nymph plus Buff-tailed Bumblebees and Common Carder Bees. Hoverflies were well represented with a Marmalade Fly, a Platycheirus, a Melanostoma, an Eupeodes, Melanogaster (my first for the patch if I remember rightly) and a Syritta pipiens. It was lovely to see the first Yellow Rattle flowers of the year.

Scarlet Tiger larva

Anthomyia

Marmalade Hoverfly

Ichneumon

Melanogaster

Raspberry Beetle

Yellow Rattle

Speckled Wood

In the bath this morning I was greeted by a small Centipede which an expert on Facebook thinks is a possible Lithobius melanopa.

Narroways and Breeding Bird Survey!

This morning I spent a few hours on Narroways Nature Reserve and was delighted to see a young Raven in the nest being fed by a parent. There 2 or 3 Blackcaps singing but not much to report bird-wise.

There was a Common Lizard basking on the sleepers.

Butterflies included Orange-tip, Speckled Wood and Comma.

A nice selection of hoverflies too - Cheilosia pagana, Eupeodes, Melanostoma scalare, Helophilus pendulus, Syrphus, Epistrophe eligans and Eristalis pertinax.


Eupeodes

Epistrophe eligans

Melanostoma scalare

Cheilosia pagana

Syrphus

Eristalis pertinax

A Dark-edged Bee-fly, a Green Shieldbug, a Harlequin Ladybird and a Dock-leaf Bug were also seen. Both Red-tailed Bumblebees and Common Carder Bees were on the wing.

Green Shieldbug

Dock-leaf Bug

Garlic Mustard and Cow Parsley were coming into flower.

Cow Parsley

Garlic Mustard

Another Dark-edged Bee-fly was nectaring on Green Alkanet at Fairlawn Road.

Earlier I had done my Breeding Bird Survey in the local area - there were no great surprises and bird song seemed subdued. The list is as follows:

Lesser Black-backed Gull 6
Herring Gull 1
Feral Pigeon 19
Woodpigeon 21
Collared Dove 3
Magpie 8
Jay 2
Carrion Crow 3
Blue Tit 1
Great Tit 5
Coal Tit 2
Blackcap 1
Blackbird 11
Robin 5
Dunnock 3
House Sparrow 31
Goldfinch 5

Speckled Wood

A Speckled Wood along Station Road today. A single Evening-primrose flower on the tracks at the station - this is a plant that has largely disappeared from Montpelier Station although it grows further up the track at St Werburghs and beyond. Also a small hoverfly which looks like a Melanostoma species but the photo is so blurred I can't ID it....A few Great Tits around the station this morning and a Wren was heard.

Speckled Wood

Probable Melanostoma sp.

Evening-primrose

Narroways again!

Highlights today included a Blackcap singing loudly and persistently near the Ashley Hill entrance, Grey Wagtail on the brook, 1 Long-tailed Tit at Simons Grove and a fly-over Jackdaw.

Yellow Fieldcap

Grey Wagtail

Solitary Bee

A Crab Spider Xysticus cristatus was loitering on a metal post and a solitary bee (probably an Andrena sp.) was on a daisy on the cutting where also several Yellow Fieldcap fungus Bolbitius titubans.

At Fairlawn Road a Melanostoma hoverfly was on a dandelion and a Jay was calling.

Melanostoma

Narroways and St Andrews Park!

Bumped into Harry on my way to Narroways this morning and he showed me an active Long-tailed Tit nest with both parents in attendance. He also showed me the Raven's nest which was later visited by both parents and I saw some tumbling display flight over the church field - lovely stuff. Also a pair of Grey Wagtails and a pair of Goldcrests plus a singing Blackcap and twittering Greenfinches - an increasingly uncommon sound these days! Blackthorn was coming into flower in several places.

Raven nest

Blackthorn

Goldfinch and Coal Tit showed well at Fairlawn Road.

Not much to report at St Andrews Park other than a couple of Herring Gulls, a few Goldfinches and a singing Coal Tit. A Melanostoma hoverfly was near the pond.

Melanostoma

Herring Gull

St Andrews Park

A lunchtime stroll produced a few invertebrates enjoying the sunshine - a few Eristalis pertinax (Drone flies), a Xylota segnis hoverfly, a Small White butterfly, several Honey Bees and a Garden Spider. A Great Tit was singing and a Jay called. A Robin was active near the bowling green and a Grey Squirrel posed for the camera.

Eristalis pertinax

Small White

Grey Squirrel

There was a Melanostoma hoverfly nectaring on a sowthistle flower along the rainbow bridge at the Fairlawn Road end.

Melanostoma

Narroways

Today on the reserve: a singing Blackcap near the brook, Jackdaw over Church Field, 2 Magpies nest-building near the cutting, a Goldcrest and 2 Collared Doves near Boiling Wells gate and 2 more Goldcrests along stony path, Chaffinch, Goldfinch and Dunnock along stony path and 2 Black-headed Gulls over Simons Grove. House Sparrows in scrub over railway bridge.

Along Fairlawn Road Great and Blue Tits were in evidence, and my first hoverfly of the year was sat on a dandelion - a Melanostoma sp. (probably M. scalare). Spanish Bluebells were coming into flower at the top of St Andrews Road.

Spanish Bluebell

Melanostoma

Montpelier Station

Very little to report today other than a probable Melanostoma hoverfly and a Thick-thighed Flower Beetle looking a bit out of place on the wall.

Melanostoma

Thick-thighed Flower-beetle