New Species - Marmalade Fly (Episyrphus balteatus)

I am reasonably confident of this ID although the lack of eyes and antennae made it a a little more difficult. I found it in the house in a state of decay but the markings of this particular hoverfly are distinctive according to my excellent Hoverfly Guide (Ball and Morris). The photo is about 25x magnification. The wings were less than 1cm long.

New habitat - dry stone wall

There are plenty of dry stone walls around the place or rather there is a mixture of ex-dry stone walls and some garden stone walls. We have seen wildlife using the walls, notably bank voles and their predators weasels, but nothing recently. However we have started the process of restoring some of these long-gone field barriers by getting an expert to build a short section of proper dry stone wall where there are remnants of a previous wall. It's looking good so far and I'll commission a longer adjoining stretch next year.

Early Spring Flowers

The usual array of early spring flowers are out and the list includes the ubiquitous Lesser Celandine, the widespread Slender Speedwell, a smattering of dandelions and the well distributed Common Dog Violets. In addition we have the earliest Cowslips, Bluebells and Cuckoo Flowers just showing some colour. In the wooded areas there are plentiful Wood Anemones, some of which have spread out into the fields. In the garden areas but also in some fields are significant patches of Barren Strawberry. Among the probably planted species are Lungwort and the now disappeared Snowdrops as well as the Wild Daffodils that I introduced a few years back. And then we have one delightful patch of Primroses that have made a home on one steep grassy bank and seem to be spreading slowly at that location

New Species - mainly bees

My friendly bee expert was here today checking out the Spring Bees on site. A number were new species, namely Hairy-footed Flower Bee, Common Mourning Bee (which predates the Flower Bee) and Tree Bumblebee. We also saw the Dark-edged Bee Fly for the first time here though last year I recorded the Western Bee Fly. The photo is the Common Mourning Bee.

7-Spot Ladybirds

So far this Spring I have come across three ladybirds - all of them of the 7-Spot variety. This is encouraging in that I rarely see Ladybirds these days. Back in Leicestershire I used to see a several different types even if 2-Spot and 7-Spot were the commonest prior to the arrival of Harlequins.

Honey Bee

I found this apparently drowned insect in a water butt and after pulling it out noticed a very slight twitch of one leg. I left it out to dry and then took it indoors in a box and put some honey under its head. I was amazed to find it fit and healthy the next morning and it was gone about twenty minutes after I put it outside in the sun. I didn't recognize it as a Honey Bee but apparently the long thin cell on the outer edge of the wing is diagnostic. Of course the design of the abdomen is also distinctive but I was fooled by the bright colouration. I had read that honey is the one thing that gets an ailing bee up and flying and it actually works.

Siskins on the feeder

No photo I'm afraid but there were a pair of Siskins on the seed feeder today. I rarely see them on site. Also the Greater Spotted Woodpecker was back after a fairly long absence. The usual crowd of tits was there including the regular Marsh Tits that come every day