New Fly species - Gonia sp - possibly G. vacua

At first I thought it was a Hoverfly but after determining there was nothing similar in my Hoverfly Guide I looked wider and spotted Gonia spp. To me it looks like G vacua but I don't really have the info to prove that and I can find nothing on the distribution of the species. I do know it's a fine looking fly though.

Waxcap #4 - Golden Waxcap

A lone Golden Waxcap (Hygrocybe chlorophana) takes the 2019 waxcap tally here up to four. I am expecting a rapid increase in September in that number.

New Hoverfly species -Syrphus ribesii

I found a lone Hogweed which was a Hoverfly party, particularly for five or six specimens that turned out to be Syrphus ribesii. I always start optimistically when trying to ID hoverflies because the field guide by Ball and Morris is so helpful. I try and make sure that my photos include face, legs and eyes as well as the thorax patterns and importantly the wing veination so I take quite a few in the hope I have all the info I need. This particular hoverfly is difficult to separate from S. torvus and S. vitripennis but I got lucky that my main photos were of a female (determined by the gap between the eyes) and that I had a good focus on the femur (which is black only at the top in the female S. ribesii). It turns out that this nails the specimen as being ribesii rather than one of the others.

Hog #20 released

Although they don't seem to hang around here the released hogs are being sighted in the village - sometimes with more than one in a garden. Hopefully there will be lots of hoglets around next year. The photo is of the twentieth hog, a smallish female who is got one more night in the soft release pen before freedom beckons.

Cinnabar moth back on site

I always let some Common Ragwort grow in front of the house hoping it will attract Cinnabar moths whose distinctive larvae generally live on the leaves and flowers. I don't remember seeing the larvae for a few years but there are eight of the strikingly coloured caterpillars on the ragwort today.

Major, major new species - the Hawk's-beard Nomad Bee

My friendly local bee expert undertook another survey here in June and was excited to find a 'rare in Wales'Cat's-ear Nomad Bee. Because of its scarcity here it was sent off to the experts at BWARS for formal confirmation. Excitingly it turned out to be the incredibly rare Hawk's-beard Nomad Bee (Nomada facilis) rather than the Cat's-ear Nomad Bee (Nomada integra). As far as I can see there have only been seven records in the UK since 1802. The first recognition that it was a UK species came in 2017 with one recorded in Lewisham. This led to a re-examination of similar bees in national collections which unearthed five more specimens, all from Southern England. Is this the UK's rarest bee?

Daily deer visits

We see fallow deer or their droppings most days in varying numbers. Yesterday there was a group of five which looked like it comprised a mother with a 'teenager' and a mother with two young fawns. At one point the three larger deer all leapt the fence into the woodland but the fawns approached the fence and bottled the jump as it was too high. They then spent a few minutes checking out anxiously for another place to cross the fence but couldn't find one. I was wondering how this was going to pan out but about ten minutes later the mother came back for them and presumably they all left the field the way they came in in the first place.

And another new hoverfly species - Common Drone Fly

Difficult as they are to identify, 'Britain's Hoverflies' (Ball & Morris) gives one a great chance and I am confident that the one I photographed recently is the Common Drone Fly (Eristalis tenax). There are a few specific features that distinguish this hoverfly, and this one is exhibiting two of those features clearly. One is dark bands on the eyes and the other is a curved and thickened, banana-shaped hind tibia. As its name suggests it is a commonly found hoverfly both throughout the year and across the UK.

New Hoverfly species - Sphaerophoria scripta

Luckily this hoverfly of the Sphaerophoria genus can be identified due to its body being longer than its wings. Other species of this genus (there are 11 of them in total) require microscopic examination of the male genitalia> A bit out of my range! This species is also 'widespread in grasslands in England and Wales'. Also flying today was the Marmalade Fly (Episyrphus balteatus), a hoverfly I have recorded before.