Linacre Insects - 30th May 2020

I was down at Linacre this morning, checking the nestboxes and ringing some of this year's pulli (more on that in a future blog). With the temperature being around 19 degrees whilst there, I also managed to get some good insect records, including a new species for me at Linacre.

Insects seen today were: Large Red Damselfly (1 male), Common Blue Damselfly (c5 males), Blue -tailed Damselfly (1 male, the first Linacre record of 2020), Broad-bodied Chaser (1 female, my first Linacre record since 2014!), Swollen-thighed Beetle, Red and Black Froghopper, Cinnabar Moth (1), Silver Y moth (1), Silver-ground Moth (1), a long-horned moth, Nemophora degeerella, bees including Tree, Red-tailed and Common Carder,  and a couple of yet-to-be identified micro moths.

Broad-bodied Chaser

The new species was Britain's largest species of Crane fly, Tipula maxima. It was very big indeed! Apparently, it can have a leg span of up to 100mm.

Tipula maxima

Linacre Insects - 17th April 2019

The weather went up to 17 degrees yesterday and this afternoon, so I had a couple of sessions walking around the middle reservoir of Linacre. This area is particularly good for insects as it's south facing, and there is also some open ground, along with many Dandelions and Dog Violets. Today's session was the best with at least 7 Peacocks, 4 Commas, 2 Orange Tips (males), 1 Small White, 1 Green-veined White and 2 Brimstones seen.

Brimstone

Other insects seen included: Red-tailed, White-tailed, Common Carder and Tree Bumblebees, 3 Dark-edged Bee Flies, Tawny Mining Bee (2 females  - first Linacre record), a Drone Fly species, most likely Eristalis pertinax, and a new species of Nomad Bee, Nomada leucophthalma.

Tawny Mining Bee (female)

Nomad Bee?

Linacre Nestbox Season Begins - just!

It was supposed to snow this morning, so I decided to stay in bed. In the end it didn't snow, it didn't even rain, so I eventually  went down to Linacre in the afternoon to have a first check of the nestboxes for the 2016 season. In all, I checked all the tit boxes (80+), with just half a dozen or so showing any sign of nesting activity. All the nests found were N1, meaning they'd just been started, and consisted of just a few pieces of moss. A Great Tit was seen with nesting material need to one of the boxes.

Whilst walking around I heard at least 8 singing Chiffchaffs and 2 singing Willow Warblers, along with a drumming Great-spotted Woodpecker. 3 Canada Geese were on the top reservoir along with a pair of Mandarin Ducks,  a super group of c.50 Swallows- very nice. 1 House Martin was found in amongst the Swallows. The juvenile/2nd calendar year Shag was still present on the bottom reservoir along with 2 Cormorants. I managed to get a fuzzy picture of what I think is a Chiffchaff in the Willows by the top reservoir. As you can see, a pesky branch got in the way of the auto focus, but it's not too bad.

Chiffchaff

The Willows around the top reservoir were starting to come out today, so I got this photo.

Willow

The weather was about 8 degrees and there were a few sunny spells. During the sunny spells I noticed my first bee species of the year, a Tree Bumblebee, feeding on a dandelion.

Tree Bumblebee

Bees, Butterflies and a Bee-Fly

The weather yesterday was gorgeous, with temperatures of 13 degrees, blue skies and bright sunshine. As a result I decided to have a look at the insects at Linacre, and I'm very glad I did, with 5 species of bee, 6 species of butterfly, 2 species of Hoverfly and a new species of Bee Fly seen!

First up the bees. The species seen today were: White-tailed, Buff-tailed, Common Carder, Honey and Tree Bumblebee. All these, with the exception of the Tree Bumblebee, were the species that I've recorded before at Linacre. The Tree Bumblebee is a relatively new arrival in the UK, and is slowly spreading North. More details on the Bumblebee Conservation website here.

Tree Bumblebee

 

Next, the butterflies. In total I saw 6 species in just 1 spot, at the base of the top reservoir dam wall. Species seen were: Green-veined White (c.6), Comma (1), Peacock (minimum of 8), Small Tortoiseshell (2), Orange Tip (2 males) and a Brimstone (my first record for Linacre).

 

Green-veined White

Comma

Orange Tip

Brimstone

Whilst watching the butterflies, I also managed to spot a Bee Fly - a brand new species for me! Looking on the web, I'm pretty sure it was a Dark-edged Bee Fly (Bombylius major). Details here.

Dark-edged Bee Fly

Farm Walk number 2 and a sunbathing Mr White!

Got up early again today and went off to a farm near Worksop to carry out the second of this year's survey walks for the RSPB's Voluteer and Farmer Alliance scheme. The sun was shining and, after a coolish start, it warmed up to produce a lovely walk with 32 species counted, including 5 species.

Skylarks and Yellowhammers were well represented, but the best bird of the day for me was the Tree Sparrows that were present around the farm buildings and in the hedgerows. I took this picture of a wonderful Ash tree and hedgerow just to give you an idea of what the farm looks like.

Ash tree and Hawthorn hedge

I didn't see any Grey Partridge on the farm today, but I did spot this confused looking bird feeding by the road side on the drive across. Very unusual sighting!

Grey Partridge

When I got home I spent the day in the garden and managed to get this shot of "Mr White" subathing on the lawn. Good to see he's still going strong. Also spotted a Tree Bumblebee in the garden today, a first!

Mr White

Black-necked Grebes - beautiful birds!!!

Spent a few hours over at RSPB Old Moor in Barnsley as my Father's Day treat on Sunday. Unfortunately the weather wasn't playing, with grey clouds and a strongish wind. Despite this however, I managed to get some good birds (as always) and a new tick for me in the shape of a Tree Bumblebee!!

First up, birdwise, were the hundreds of Black-headed Gull chicks. They were everywhere!! Most were pretty well developed and spent most of the time sat around preening.

Juvenile Black-headed Gull

The next birds I saw were two stunning adult summer plumaged Black-necked Grebes swimming on The Mere from the Family Hide.These birds have been present for over a week now and can, at times, show really well. No photos of these birds, but here's one I took a few years ago in West Yorkshire.

Black-necked Grebe

As well as the young Black-headed Gulls, lots of other species were also in full breeding mode with juveniles of the following species seen: Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Little Grebe, Coot, Moorhen, Mallard, Gadwall and Pochard (my first ever!!). Other species still on eggs or feeding young included Lapwing and Sedge Warbler. Three species of wader were seen: Ringed Plover, Little Ringed Plover and Redshank, but no young were spotted. Avocets have bred successfully for the first time this year, but we didn't see them today! Don't know where they were! Swifts, Swallows, House Martins and Sand Martins were all feeding over the water. The latter species was using the high tech Sand Martin nesting bank, bought with donations from many groups including our very own Chesterfield RSPB Group.

Sand Martin bank

On the way back to the car the sun had come out so I stopped off to look at some bees. I spotted one that I thought might be a Tree Bumblebee, so took a few shots, before it flew off. I uploaded the pictures to the Bumblebee Conservation Trust's website and they very kindly emailed me back to confirm the identification.

Tree Bumblebee

This bee is a relative newcomer to the UK having only arrived here for the first time in 2001, but has been spreading north ever since. It's quite easy to identify, so if you want to find one for yourself this summer have a look on the above link.