Narroways

Three hours on the patch produced loads of invertebrates. At Narroways, the first Marbled White of the year and a couple of Common Blues were the pick of the bunch, but there was also a Burnet Companion moth.

Common Blue

Marbled White

There were both Myathropa florea and Helophilus pendulus hoverflies and a new fly for Narroways I think - a Scorpion Fly. The Soldier Fly Chloromyia formosa was a nice find and there were good numbers of Honey Bees, Buff-tailed Bumble Bees and one or two Tree Bumble Bees. A few Harlequin Ladybirds were around, predictably.

Soldier Fly

Scorpion Fly

Also in St Werburghs, at the Scrapstore car park, there was a new hoverfly for the patch - Merodon equestris - a convincing bee-mimic that had me fooled for a while. Other invertebrates included a Crab Spider (probably Xysticus sp.) plus what I think is the hoverfly Metasyrphus corollae and, best of all, a Wool-carder Bee - a first for me. Lots of large ladybird larvae at this site - presumably those of Harlequins.

Metasyrphus corollae

Wool-carder Bee

At Fairlawn Road there was a Phyllobius beetle and masses of Harlequins along with a pair of mating Green Shieldbugs. A Chiffchaff showed well and a party of Long-tailed Tits also flaunted themselves shamelessly.

Long-tailed Tits

At St Andrews Park, a Grey Heron flew over chased by gulls and a Coal Tit was heard. On the pond were Azure and Large Red Damselflies and the micro-moth Small China-mark. Another Merodon equestris and a couple of Red Mason Bees were basking around the periphery of the pond.

Small China-mark

Merodon equestris

In the garden, a Wren was agitated by the presence of a cat.

Wren