There I was all set for a pleasant walk around the Aldbourne area, when having only walked for about a mile I suddenly realised I was missing my wallet from my back pocket. So having only mustered a handful of birds and butterflies it was back to Nythe to check in the house. It was a real shame cause' there on the kitchen work surface was the wretched thing. I think it must have been one of the quickest walks I've ever attempted, but the main thing I hadn't lost it and I did at least record
Swift,
House Martin,
Greenfinch,
Goldfinch,
Robin,
Blue Tit,
Great Tit,
Blackcap,
Dunnock,
Linnet,
Corn Bunting and
Magpie. On the butterfly front it was just 1
Small Tortoiseshell and 2
Ringlets.
Small Tortoiseshell
With no time to go back and carry on my walk it was a bit of back garden bug hunt. A female
Common Damselfly was a pleasant surprise as it rested on a Yellow Flag leaf. Other creatures in the garden were a fly-by
Small Tortoiseshell, a few
Green Bottle Flies and
Bees. There were a few unidentified insects and I've added them below. One in particular was a grab shot hence the poor quality but it was bee like and had a bright orange colouration on the side and under the abdomen.
Female Common Damselfly
Green Bottle Fly
Possible Digger Wasp - crossocerus quadrimaculatus
Re-identified as a syritta pipiens (hoverfly)
Thank you to Peter Brash for the identification.
Is this a Heriades truncorum? See footnote below.
Possible Honeybee
Hoverfly - Helophilus pendulus
Overhead a
Sparrowhawk headed south and a pair of
Blackbirds were very agitated with something.
Female Blackbird
Footnote: Having sifted through a few books and the internet the closest match I could find to the mystery bee above is a
Heriades truncorum. The website I used to find it was bwars.com but as its only found in a few places in the south-east I'm not that convinced. More research.....
