Linacre - 31st August 2023

 It was the last day of meteorological summer yesterday, and I had 3 hours down at Linacre. There were several species of butterfly and dragonfly around, a new record count of Lesser Black-backed Gulls and amazing views of a Common Lizard.

Butterflies seen were: Speckled Wood (7), Large White (1), Green-veined White (2), Red Admiral (1), and Small Copper (1). There were dozens of hoverflies, including a sing Myathropa florea ("Batman" hoverfly), Eristalis sp and Syrphus sp. Other insects seen were: Bronze Shieldbug (1, my first Linacre record), 3 Hornets (my highest ever count), a single male Common Blue Damselfly, Migrant Hawker (5; including a pair in tandem) and Brown Hawker (2).

Bronze Shieldbug

Holly Blue

Birdwise, it was quite quiet, but I did hear a single Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler (both singing), two Ravens, over the top reservoir, two Buzzards, again over the top reservoir, Moorhens, Coots, Mallards, Tufted Ducks, Mandarin Ducks, a juvenile Robin and Dunnock and, as previously mentioned, a record count of Lesser Black-backed Gulls (36, made up of 31 adults and 5 juveniles.)

Robin (juvenile)

The final sighting of the visit was a super Common Lizard that was basking on the wall by the boardwalk around the top reservoir. This is a species that is recorded annually at Linacre, and is my second record of 2023. The views that this individual, however, are my best ever! One of the defence mechanisms of this species, is to drop its tail if a predator attacks. As you can see from the picture, this individual has regrown its tail after such an encounter.

Common Lizard

Shieldbugs, Flies, Grasshoppers and Hoverflies

Whilst ringing at Linacre yesterday the sun came out and I spent some time searching out some of the insects with Luke, my nephew. Together we found 3 shieldbug species, 3 hoverfly species, a new fly species and a couple of Field Grasshoppers. The shieldbugs were new records for me at Linacre, as was the grasshopper and one of the hoverflies. Lovely!!!

The Field Grasshopper is a common, widespread species throughout Britain (see here for details), but this is the first time I've managed to see and identify one at Linacre.

Field Grasshopper

 

 We also spotted this beauty, a Noon Fly (Mesembrina meridiana) Again, this is a common species, but my first record. More details here.

 

Noon Fly

 

 The shieldbugs were all new to me at Linacre. Here's the first one, the Common Green Shieldbug. The top photo shows the adult, and the bottom photo shows a "fourth instar" nymph. Apparently, young shieldbugs moult several times before they become adults and each time they moult, they look different. See here for pictures of the different moults.

 

Adult Green Shieldbug

Young Green Shieldbug

 

Another species we saw was the Bronze Shieldbug. This time I'm sure this individual is a "final instar nymph". See here for more images.

Bronze Shieldbug

 

The final shieldbug was a Hairy Shieldbug, another common and widespread species, but my first at Linacre. See here for more details.

 

Hairy Shieldbug

 

The hoverflies were a Drone Fly species (Eristalsis pertinax), a Helophilus species, most likely Helophilus pendulus and a Syrphus species. The Syrphus species is particularly tricky to identify as there are 3 very similar species that can only be separated under good magnification. Unfortunately I didn't have a hand lens with me and the hoverfly wouldn't sit still!

 

Drone Fly

Helophilus pendulus

Syrphus sp