New Species - St Marks Fly

There have been a lot of these strange looking flies around with their dangly legs and long segmented bodies. It turns out they are St Marks Flies (Bibio marci) and they are called St Marks flies because they appear around St Marks Day (25 April - who knew?). I can't say I have ever spotted them before this year.

Birds at the feeder

A couple of surprising visitors this morning - and both at the same time. The Greenfinch is only an occasional visitor and I only see one maybe once or twice in a year and sometimes not at all. Even more unusual is the Bullfinch who I have never seen at the feeder. Invariably he is seen close by his missus but not this time so I am guessing she is on a nest somewhere and he is desperate to get some food, perhaps for a new family. Let's hope.

New Species - Broad-banded Nomad Bee

I think I was lucky in that the one photo I hurriedly took as this Nomad Bee flew past was enough to identify it. It is the only Nomad Bee with such broad yellow bands - hence Broad-banded Nomad Bee (Nomada signata). The bee book describes it as scarce but I am told it is reasonably common around here. It is parasitic on the Tawny Mining Bee which I found for the first time here recently.

New Species - Ashy Mining Bee

This is a very elegant Bee - subtly attired in grey and black. The Ashy Mining Bee (Andrena cineraria) is described as 'widespread and locally common over much of England and Wales' (Steven Falk)

New Species - Grey-patched Mining Bee

I am making an effort on Bee identification as I am locked down at home and it is sunny. I have the help of a local bee expert who can put me right even when the photos are less than perfect. He tells me that this is the Grey-patched Mining Bee (Andrena nitida) and it is a new one for the Bee list here.

Sparrows nesting on the house walls

When we first moved here we had two or three Sparrow nests 'in' the roof space or at least on top of the thick walls accessed where there was a suitable opening under the soffit boards. Then about three years ago the Sparrows just disappeared and we rarely even saw one flying about the place. One pair came back two years ago and nested in a House Martin next cup I had put up under the eaves at the side of the house and that cup was again used last year. This year the Sparrows seem to be back in greater numbers and we have once again a pair nesting in one of the old nest sites just under our roof. I also saw one flying from a nest box we have on the other side of the house. I only wish the Swallows would come back and next in our barn as they used to.

New Species - Tawny Mining Bee

After many failures at identifying bees from photographs I have at last succeeded in adding the Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva) to The Beeches list. My ID has been confirmed by our local bee expert as well. It is a very handsome bee with reddish hairs on the thorax and deep orange hairs on the abdomen. It was usefully pollinating the blackcurrants when photographed.

First orchids peeping through

I'm seeing rosettes in the fields now - a little earlier than usual. So far 10 Common Spotted rosettes in the South Field and 3 in the East Field.

Red Mason Bees (Osmia bicornis)

These Bees are back - finding all the holes in our stone walls as well as re-using the bee hotel installed last year. The photo is of one just selecting its room at the bee hotel.

Deer back in numbers

This morning we had the pleasure of hosting two stags plus five hinds(?) who have previously visited on their own. It made for a good sight.