Hello there, it's been another scorching day in the Dearne Valley and there's still an hour or so to get down to OM and enjoy the evening sunshine.
From today at Old Moor.
I'll also add a few recent sighting from me around the ponds.
I've seen 4 spotted chaser dragonflies, common blue, meadow brown and ringlet butterflies and then dazzling ruby tailed wasps on a couple of wooden posts.
As you might already know from previous years, the ruby tailed (cuckoo/jewel wasp) is a big favourite of mine.
It is a parasitic wasp hence the nickname - cuckoo wasp. They are solitary and quite dazzling, hence the nickname - jewel wasp! They are about 1cm long and move very, very quickly. They lay their eggs in the nests of solitary bees and mason bees. Once they have found the nest of one of those, they make sure there are no bees in the nest before reversing into the nest and laying their eggs next to the eggs of the host. They are then looked after by the host and emerge as and when.... I watched one following a solitary bee at the weekend. Every time the bee landed on a certain post then the wasp wasn't far behind, as if to say 'Come on, get a move on, make a nest!' Quite fascinating :)
Here's a photo of one from a year or so ago.
Also around the ponds I've spotted many alder beetles, puss moth caterpillars, jumping spiders and other spiders (I'm not very good on spider ID...), wasps and solitary bees.
John Seeviour was at Bolton today and he gave us the following list of sightings - thanks John.
Bolton Ings: 2 mute swans with 8 cygnets, 4 little grebe, 5 great crested grebe (I saw one swallow a simply enormous fish from the monitoring hide last weekend), 6 mallards, 62 gadwall, 14 tufted duck, 17 male pochard with 2 females and 2 juvs, a cormorant, a little egret, 13 lesser black backed gulls, 82 coots with 31 juvs, 4 chiffchaff, 3 willow warbler, 8 blackcap, 2 whitethroat, a sedge warbler, a sparrowhawk and a jay.
Gary Stones was at Adwick today and here is what he saw...t hank you Gary. - 1 little egret, 27 avocet with 20 juvs, 24 redshank, c60 lapwing, 1 little ringed plover, 4 ringed plover with 2 juvs, one oystercatcher and one yellow wagtail.
That's it so far today so enjoy this lovely evening.