It really felt like spring was here in the last couple of days, with temperatures in the high teens and calm conditions. The good weather also brought out plenty of insects – always a welcome sight after a long, cold winter!
A short walk down the woodland edge provided most of the interest, with the first small white butterfly of the year near the car park. This follows the first orange-tip of the year on Phase 1 on Monday spotted by volunteer John Clark.
Next on the list were the first Bombylius major (bee-fly) of 2014. Amazing looking little insects, they are members of the Order Diptera (true flies), but resemble bees, with a furry orange coloured thorax and abdomen. They have very long legs, which dangle in flight and perhaps most strikingly, a long proboscis which is used for nectaring at flowers. They are parasites of solitary bees and wasps, the female lays eggs by flicking them into nest burrows of the host species and the larvae feeding on the bee or wasp larvae inside.
I was pleased to see Chrysolina fastuosa, a beetle of the Family Chrysomelidae (leaf beetles) on nettle in the same area as I discovered it last year, as a first for the site. A stunning insect, the thorax and abdomen are a bright metallic green, with blue and red longitudinal stripes down the elytra (wing cases). At around 5mm in length, you have to look hard for them, but well worth the effort!
Several individuals of an Oulema species were also present on nettle in the same area. This is another member of the Chrysomelidae, with two very similar looking species, requiring closer examination to determine which is which. They are lovely beetles, with a dark metallic blue head and abdomen and metallic red elytra.
Plenty of hoverflies, including a large Eristalis species, four species of bumblebee, including Bombus hypnorum – the tree bumblebee and small tortoiseshell, comma and peacock butterflies were also on the wing.
Also on site yesterday was a black-tailed godwit on Phase 3, the long-staying redhead smew still on Phase 3, later flying to Phase 1 and 20+ holes now starting in the sand martin bank. And finally, a female goosander was a nice surprise on silt lagoon 5 this morning at 06.40, as I was heading back after a fruitless bittern watching session!