Twayblade

We had a single Twayblade last year, a surprise appearance after nine years here and so I have been looking for it this year in our West Field without success so far. I was however astonished to find a Twayblade yesterday in our East Field right on the footpath and looking pretty trampled. I hope it survives OK and if the other one reappears I shall be doing some hand pollinating!

Common Blues

This year's crop have just started appearing and I am hoping they will continue showing an increase year on year. I spotted a pair mating yesterday but by the time I got back with the camera there was just the male there (photo above). There are small differences in the patterns of the wing undersides that allow gender to be determined.

Small Tortoiseshells

There have always been some Tortoiseshells around but I didn't see many adults or any caterpillars last year so I was pleased to find a swarm of caterpillars today on the Nettles in my veggie patch. Hopefully that will translate into more adults later this summer and a return to better numbers of this species.

New Species - Common Groundhopper

A new Orthopteran! The downstairs door was open for a while and later I saw what appeared to be a tiny jumping insect. Closer examination revealed a creature like a small grasshopper and it turned out to be something called a Groundhopper, a Common Groundhopper ( Tetrix undulata) to be precise. I had never heard of these insects.

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.