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| Downland Villa (Villa cingulata) |
NBN Atlas - Downland Villa
Showing posts with label bee fly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bee fly. Show all posts
Friday, 8 July 2022
Thursday, 17 March 2022
Monday, 23 March 2020
Sunday, 22 March 2020
.. "The sound of hoof beats 'cross the glade, Good folk, lock up your son and daughter. Beware the deadly flashing blade, unless you want to end up shorter."
Lyrics above ^^ from BBC Blackadder S1 eps 1-5 .. 'nuff said.
Wednesday, 27 March 2019
It's that bee fly time of year again!
I caught my first sighting of the year of dark-edged bee fly (Bombylius major) on Monday 18th March - at Whiteways Countryside Site, Bury Hill in West Sussex. I counted three individuals on the wing.
It took me until the following Sunday 24th March - before I clinched my first garden record of the year with two individuals being recorded front and back garden respectively.
A walk to St Hubert's Church, Idsworth on the same day produced multiple sightings of B. major using the hedgerows or gardens along the route. The following day as I walked the holloway that is Mill Lane to Halnaker Windmill - I counted three B. major en route.
Working from home today, I had an opportunity to keep one eye on the garden, and noted during a screen break - that a dotted bee fly (Bombylius discolor) was exploring the plant pots and weeds on the overgrown patio. Camera in hand I captured some record shots for iRecord - and doubled my days count of this species - when a second hove into view.
At the end of the working day as the temperature dropped - I noted a B. major roosting on a plant pot in the receding sun line.
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| dark-edged bee fly 18th March |
It took me until the following Sunday 24th March - before I clinched my first garden record of the year with two individuals being recorded front and back garden respectively.
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| dark-edged bee fly 24th March garden record |
A walk to St Hubert's Church, Idsworth on the same day produced multiple sightings of B. major using the hedgerows or gardens along the route. The following day as I walked the holloway that is Mill Lane to Halnaker Windmill - I counted three B. major en route.
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| dark-edged bee fly Mill Lane, Halnaker 25th March |
Working from home today, I had an opportunity to keep one eye on the garden, and noted during a screen break - that a dotted bee fly (Bombylius discolor) was exploring the plant pots and weeds on the overgrown patio. Camera in hand I captured some record shots for iRecord - and doubled my days count of this species - when a second hove into view.
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| B. discolor 27th March garden record |
At the end of the working day as the temperature dropped - I noted a B. major roosting on a plant pot in the receding sun line.
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| B. major 27th March garden record |
Saturday, 21 April 2018
It's all about the bee fly (Bombylius L. spp.)
I was pleased to record my first bee fly of the year on the notable road verge at Kithurst Hill, West Sussex on the 6th April, as reported here previously at:
http://part-timenaturalist.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/and-orchid-season-starts-kithurst-hill.html
It would take another two weeks before I recorded them at home, in the garden - with two species B. major and B. discolor seen on the 19th April. Unfortunately only one of them remained obliging for the camera on the day:
This morning, I was at Buchan Country Park in Crawley, a site owned by West Sussex County Council (WSCC), and managed by the WSCC Countryside Service:
Buchan Country Park
B. major were out in force on the site, and I noticed some behaviour that I have not previously seen to date? It occurred when small groups of bee fly were seen together. An individual would drop to the ground, bottom down and agitate their wings to slower or faster effect. I wondered from the behaviour as to whether this was a female actively wafting pheromones as part of their mating behaviour? My iPhone video of this behaviour can be seen on YouTube at:
B. major female: egg coating behaviour, Buchan Country Park
I tweeted @SoldierfliesRS with the video, and received a prompt response to my enquiry - that this behaviour was more likely the female coating her eggs with soil, to make them heavier and easier to drop into the open mouth of a solitary bee sp. nest.
More about the bee flies can be found here on the Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme:
Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme
http://part-timenaturalist.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/and-orchid-season-starts-kithurst-hill.html
It would take another two weeks before I recorded them at home, in the garden - with two species B. major and B. discolor seen on the 19th April. Unfortunately only one of them remained obliging for the camera on the day:
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| B. discolor (female) |
This morning, I was at Buchan Country Park in Crawley, a site owned by West Sussex County Council (WSCC), and managed by the WSCC Countryside Service:
Buchan Country Park
B. major were out in force on the site, and I noticed some behaviour that I have not previously seen to date? It occurred when small groups of bee fly were seen together. An individual would drop to the ground, bottom down and agitate their wings to slower or faster effect. I wondered from the behaviour as to whether this was a female actively wafting pheromones as part of their mating behaviour? My iPhone video of this behaviour can be seen on YouTube at:
B. major female: egg coating behaviour, Buchan Country Park
I tweeted @SoldierfliesRS with the video, and received a prompt response to my enquiry - that this behaviour was more likely the female coating her eggs with soil, to make them heavier and easier to drop into the open mouth of a solitary bee sp. nest.
More about the bee flies can be found here on the Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme:
Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme
Friday, 6 April 2018
The orchid season starts, Kithurst Hill, West Sussex
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| early purple orchid (Orchis mascula) |
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| common twayblade (Neottia ovata) |
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| dark-edged bee fly (Bombylius major) |
Monday, 13 March 2017
Spring distraction, Hazleton Common
Today's weather forecast was more than promising; sunshine / partially cloudy with temperature up to 13oC, light winds albeit NW so would feel a little cooler.
A visit to Hazleton Common between 10:30 and 13:15 produced some rewarding spring encounters, including three adder (Vipera berus) , and singles of common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) and grass snake (Natrix natrix) all seen basking. The former included a pair of "black adder" entwined, and then shortly afterward basking in proximity.
The grass snake did not wait around to be photographed. However, whilst skulking in the hope of the beast re-emerging from the bracken, I noted a common lizard and a dark-bordered (dark-edged) bee fly (Bombylius major).
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) and peacock (Aglais io) butterflies were on the wing - the peacocks already territorial, I witnessed a couple of dog fights, and got buzzed several times by at least two of them. There were a number of different bees on the wing too, at best my ID ran to white-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) and a possibly quite early? red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius).
Whilst the A3M dominated the soundscape, chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) and dunnock (Prunella modularis) tried their best to sing above it.
A visit to Hazleton Common between 10:30 and 13:15 produced some rewarding spring encounters, including three adder (Vipera berus) , and singles of common lizard (Zootoca vivipara) and grass snake (Natrix natrix) all seen basking. The former included a pair of "black adder" entwined, and then shortly afterward basking in proximity.
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| adder |
The grass snake did not wait around to be photographed. However, whilst skulking in the hope of the beast re-emerging from the bracken, I noted a common lizard and a dark-bordered (dark-edged) bee fly (Bombylius major).
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| common lizard |
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| dark edged bee fly |
Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni) and peacock (Aglais io) butterflies were on the wing - the peacocks already territorial, I witnessed a couple of dog fights, and got buzzed several times by at least two of them. There were a number of different bees on the wing too, at best my ID ran to white-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) and a possibly quite early? red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius).
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| peacock |
Whilst the A3M dominated the soundscape, chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) and dunnock (Prunella modularis) tried their best to sing above it.
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