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.

Hogs #15 to #19

A major release takes place tomorrow as a mother and four hoglets are currently in the soft release pen. It will be interesting to see if the family depart as rapidly as the single hogs seem to. With one exception the hogs have all disappeared in short order but there have been a lot of sightings in the village so they (or some at least) are apparently surviving OK. The photo is of two of the hoglets out during daylight hours lured out by the smell of food it seems.

Butterfly update

Still a little short on species this year with no Green Veined Whites seen, no reappearance of the Silver Washed Fritillary, Holly Blue only a probable and not confirmed, no Red Admiral. I thought I had recorded Essex Skipper last week but a closer look at the photographs (above) has the two sitting atop a grass stem as Small Skippers as that glossy black underside of the antennae is not there. Still the big numbers of Marbled Whites does compensate to a great extent as they are the iconic Monmouthshire Meadows butterfly.

White Plume Moth

I have seen this before (in 2016) but it deserves another mention as it is a rather elegant creature. It relies on Bindweed for its survival but I found this one indulging itself on the heady attractions of Common Ragwort in the early evening. Despite its size the White Plume Moth ((Pterophorus pentadactyla) is a micro moth and is perhaps the commonest of the 44 species of micro moth found in the UK.