The local church grounds

I had a wander over to the local church today. It was a good sunny and still day for hoverflies and I spotted at least five species but only got photos of three. I'm still waiting for confirmation from the UK Hoverflies facebook recording group on the identifications but have put down what I think they are under each photo....

Myathropa florea

Rhingia campestris

I thought this was Merodon sp. but now doubting it - I will confirm on next blog post

As to be expected on a day like today there were lots of butterflies, but not many were settling for a photo. It's the season for the early emerging butterflies to find as many mates as possible so they're busy fluttering everywhere.

Small White

Peacock

A clump of speedwell had attracted a Bee-fly (Bombylius major - the Dark-edged Bee-fly). These little critters, that are neither a hoverfly or a bee, are out as early as February but I hadn't seen too many this year, so it was nice to spend some time with this little lovely. The females don't land too lay their eggs, they hover over a ground nesting bee hole and flick their eggs into the nest. The Bee-fly grubs then feed on the bee pupae. The long thin 'spike' on the end of its face is not a stinger, its's the Bee-flys 'tongue', a proboscis, that it uses to probe deep into a flower to collect nectar. Despite their odd looks with short furry bodies and patterned wings, these little critters are completely harmless, just like hoverflies. 

Another nice find today were my first Dock Bugs of the year. Known by the name  Coreus marginatus or Squashbug, these prehistoric looking bugs always fascinate me. At this time of year you will only see the adults. The youngsters go through various size and armour plate changes as they grow, also known as 'instars' and this year it would be nice if I could visually record each instar. Watch this space....

It was a really pleasant couple of hours of strolling and pressing my nose up against wild plants. 

My two new housemates in the lockdown loft are thriving too. The first photo is of 'Leaf', the Orange-tip caterpillar that hatched on Monday. I was a bit worried about 'Leaf' as it  hatched on a leaf (hence the name) and no where near the flower seed heads that these caterpillar feed on. Luckily, over the course of last night it has found a seed pod and is happily munching away. It's about 2.5mm long now.....

and below is SF..... It's about 4mm long. I called him SF because when I found him last Saturday I was convinced he was a sawfly caterpillar. I now think he is in fact an Orange-tip as well, but a few days older than 'Leaf'....

As I'm writing this I popped my head out of lockdown loft window and saw Mr Fox sauntering across the back field. I fired off a few photos but again, due to the lack of light they are crap ! I'll put them on tomorrows blog post. 

Keep well everyone and stay safe