It's A Bug's Life

 Today dawned sunny, calm and cool which soon turned into sunny, calm and warm - perfect for insects.

 

There were plenty of Common Blue butterflies and Common Blue damselflies along the south side of the Mere, and Brown Argus too. 

 

A good patch of brambles was where the action was though, starting with a hornet and what I thought was a hornet mimic (Hornet hoverfly) but turned out to be a wasp mimic instead.

Volucella inanis, Wasp Hoverfly (smaller than Hornet Hoverfly)

Volucella inanis x 2

My favourite hoverfly turned up too, showing its Batman insignia particularly well.

Batman hoverfly

Batman insignia detail

Batman was joined for a photo by a smaller hoverfly, a Common Flower Fly.

 

Common Flower Fly (Syrphus ribesii) and Batman hoverfly (Myathropa florea)

There weren't that many butterflies during my walk (a bit early in the day for some of them) so only nine species seen, but it was good to see two Holly Blues on the same bramble flower).

Holly Blues - a male and female

As above

Only three species of dragonfly today but plenty of them - Ruddy Darter, Common Darter and Migrant Hawker.

 

Ruddy Darter

Another Ruddy Darter

Common Darter

Migrant Hawker

As above

Further along, during my walk home, I was watching a Red Admiral basking in the sun and turned to leave when I saw a Common Darter on the next fence post. Just along from that was another Holly Blue, resting on the wire of the same fence. I tried several times to get a decent photo of them all together but I wasn't totally successful as you can see...

Holly Blue, Common Darter and Red Admiral

Here are photos taken of each one individually.

Holly Blue

Red Admiral

Common Darter

Also on the way home going past Weatherhill a beetle ran across the path:

Harpalus rufipes - Strawberry Seed beetle 

Apparently these beetles are used as a biological agent to control seed-eating pests such as aphids, although they feed on strawberry seeds themselves.

It's been a rather quiet week on the birding front but the sight of three Hobbies at the Mere yesterday was nice, as was the sight of a Kestrel sorting out a few Magpies that were harassing it. 

Kestrel v Magpie

I don't know why the Kestrel chose to stay on the ground when it could have easily flown off, as it eventually did. 

 

I'll finish with a few bird photos, none of which are particularly noteworthy, but what else am I going to do with them 😂😂😂😂

Jackdaw

Little Grebe by the north reed bed

Hobby over the north reed bed

And Everything Under The Sun Is In Tune...

 But the sun is eclipsed by the moon

 (Copyright Pink Floyd 1973) 

Last night's partial eclipse taken with the camera on a tripod, manual settings F9 1/3200 sec 100ASA and two coloured filters (red and blue) hand-held over the lens.

 

Partial eclipse image with red and blue filters

Quite interesting effects from the filters (apart from the double crescent) which look like clouds below the sun.

 

I edited other images to monochrome for a more lifelike look:

Monochrome versions

In the morning I walked my usual route along the Mere south side and turned up some interesting insects.

Small Spot-eye hoverfly (Eristalinus sepulchralis) a new species for me

Hydrophorus sp. thought it was a pond skater but it's a fly

Three Willow Emerald damselflies posed for photos. They are a regular sight at the west end of the Mere now, having turned up about four years ago when I found the first one.

This and two below, Willow Emerald damselfly

 A few Common Blue damselflies were out and about, second hatching I think. A female allowed me to get rather close.

Common Blue Damselfly female close up

The Mere water level is gradually going down and water fowl are taking the opportunity to stand in the shallow water to preen and loaf around. A young Cormorant also used the bent mooring pole as a perch.

Immature Cormorant perched on one leg only

Many trees and shrubs are feeling the effects of the drought and are suffering badly, losing leaves and shrivelling. This sycamore is a case in point.

A drought-suffering sycamore

That's it for this short blog entry, just wanted to get the Pink Floyd reference in while it was fresh in my mind 😉😀

August 1st-10th Round Up

 The day after finding a Brown Argus for the first time in a few years I found another! This one was near Weatherhill Farm.

Second Brown Argus of the year 

Brown Argus

 Holly Blues are always nice to see, especial;ly this one that has been loitering in our garden for a few days now.

Holly Blue on our lavender plant

As above

No different dragonflies have been seen unfortunately, but lots of the usual species have been on the wing. Common Darter, Ruddy Darter and Migrant Hawkers seem to be all over.

 

Common Darter

Common Darter Close-up

Migrant Hawker in flight

I spent a morning at the sea front watching the birds come and go. The Gannets and Guillemots were pretty distant but the Sandwich Terns were closer - on the breakwaters and rocks at South Beach.

Gannet after an unsuccessful dive for fish

Guillemots

Adult Guillemot

Juvenile Guillemot with fish

Sandwich Tern with unreadable Darvik ring

Sandwich Terns

Sandwich Terns, one with a fish

Sandwich Terns

Final Sarnie

The young Kestrels are managing on their own now and are still hanging around the natal tree, calling every now and again.

Kestrel

Kestrel calling

On 4 August I had a very good hour at the hide. Bearded Tits (heard only) a Bittern and two Hobbies all within the space of 15 mins, with the Hobbies flying through feeding for about half an hour.

This and two below - Bittern over north reed bed

The Hobbies were catching dragonflies and nipping off their wings, but then they flew off with them rather than eating on the wing. Perhaps they were feeding young.

Hobby de-winging a dragonfly

Hobby off elsewhere with prey

Hobby

That's the first nine days of the month sorted. This morning was another good morning at the Mere with my first Bank Vole of the year seen (but not photographed), Buzzard, Marsh Harriers, Kestrels, Green Woodpecker, Bullfinch, Whitethroats, Reed Warbler, Great White Egret, Little Egrets, eight Common Sandpipers, two Curlews circling the Mere, and plenty of Chiff Chaffs seen and heard. Not so many butterflies but still lots of Common Blues in second field, and dragonflies galore.

Bullfinch, looks like a juvenile

Two of eight Common Sandpipers

Same two Sandpipers

Reed Warbler at Weatherhill

 

And finally, water is scarce and you need to fill up whenever you can. If water is hard to find, try sloe gin instead 😂😂😂

Could be a good crop of sloes this year