Linacre - 11th August 2026

 Today was my first visit to Linacre since the end of July (!). I was very pleased to meet a reader of this blog, in the car park. Hello to you. In all, I was on site for 2 and a half hours, and saw a few nice insects and birds.

First the waterbirds. Despite the low water levels on the bottom, and top reservoir, there were decent numbers of birds around. Mallard (81 - the highest count of the year, so far), Mandarin Duck (30), Tufted Duck (34), Great-crested Grebe (2 adults - no young this year), Grey Wagtail (1), Pied Wagtail (2), Lesser Black-backed Gull (10; 7 adults and 3 juveniles), Black-headed Gull (1 - a nice, early record), Coot (2 adults - no juveniles), Moorhen (3 adults - no juveniles), Cormorant (1), Grey Heron (2; 1 adult and 1 juvenile) and a single Common Sandpiper (2nd record of the year).

Common Sandpiper (heavily cropped)

Grey Heron (juvenile)

 Smaller birds seen were: Swallow (6), House Martin (5), Chiffchaff (1 singing, and others "wheeting", Song Thrush (1 juvenile), Stock Dove and 2 Common Buzzards.

Insects seen were: Painted Lady (3), Meadow Brown (2), Holly Blue (1), Common Blue Butterfly (1 male and 1 female, the first records of 2026), Red Admiral (1), Speckled Wood (1), Large White (2), Migrant Hawker (1), Brown Hawker (1), a Yellow Shell moth and a Grasshopper sp.

Holly Blue

Common Blue Butterfly (female)

Painted Lady

Field Grasshopper?

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