Recent sightings – June to mid-July 2019
Our new bug viewers have been especially popular with our visitors, providing a glimpse into the normally hidden lives of a range of insects. One new resident is the leafcutter bee, which as its name suggests, cuts away sections of leaf from a plant, and then uses them to line its nest, typically in pre-existing cavities as we have here, or in rotting wood which they can burrow into themselves. The overlapping leaf sections form a cylindrical cell, in which is placed a single egg and a supply of pollen for the larvae to eat once it hatches. The cell is sealed with a single section of leaf. Once fully grown, the larvae will spin a cocoon and pupate, overwintering in the cell and emerging in the spring.
A female leafcutter bee constructing a cell from leaf sections.
We also have mason bee larvae in the bug viewer, which as their name suggest, use various bits of masonry and stone to make a mud cap for their nests.
Both the leafcutter and mason bee are solitary bees – all females are fertile and there is no queen nor worker bees in the nest – there is no sharing of the work as the female does everything herself once she has mated with the male, constructing the nest and collecting pollen. Solitary bees also do not make honey or wax. Solitary bees are important pollinators, and many are polylectic, meaning they collect pollen from a wide variety of species. Leafcutter and mason bees have specialised hairs on the underside of the abdomen to collect pollen.
We are delighted that we’ve had two pairs of spotted flycatchers breeding on the reserve this spring, and we know that one pair fledged four youngsters. This is the first breeding record we have for spotted flycatchers for several years, and given the fact that their numbers plummeted by a startling 89% between 1967 and 2010, we are thrilled to see them successfully rearing young here at Lochwinnoch. These summer migrants are some of the latest to arrive to the UK, normally arriving around late April or early May and you should be able to see them around the reserve until September. Listen out for their characteristic “tseeep” call, and then see if you can spot them perching upright on a branch as they keep an eye out for flying insects to eat. They will often fly after an insect and then return to the same perch, a practice known as ‘flycatching’!
Spotted flycatchers, photos by David Wilkie.
Recent sightings – June 2019
Osprey: seen on 13th, 14th, 19th, 21st and 28th June
Peregrine falcon: seen on 21st June
Mandarin duck: seen on 11th, 14th, 15th and 20th June
Great crested grebe: 10 on 15th June, 7 on 16th June, 8 on 30th June
Greylag goose: 41 on 16th June
Canada goose: 22 on 11th June, 26 on 16th June, 30 on 24th June
Shoveler: seen on 1st, 3rd, 23rd June
Tufted duck: 15 on 15th June, 16 on 16th June, 9 on 22nd June
Water rail: seen on 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th June
Oystercatcher: 2 seen on 21st June
Lapwing: 20 seen on 28th June
Snipe: 2 seen on 6th June
Whimbrel: seen on 1st June
Common sandpiper: seen on 21st June
Kingfisher: seen on 22nd and 24th June
Swift: 54 seen on 13th June, 32 on 20th June
Sand martin: 3 on 3rd June, 2 on 21st June
Swallow: 17 seen on 18th June
House martin: 8 seen on 5th June, 6 on 18th June
Stonechat: seen on 4th and 8th June
Grasshopper warbler: seen on 3rd June
Sedge warbler: 5 seen on 4th June, 3 on 20th June
Garden warbler: 1 or 2 seen a handful of times throughout the month
Chiffchaff: 2 seen on 4th June
Willow warbler: 6 seen on 4th June, 3 on 22nd June
Blackcap: 9 seen on 4th June, 2 on 22nd June
Spotted flycatcher: seen on 4th June
Treecreeper: 5 seen on 23rd June
Lesser redpoll: 3 seen on 19th June
Bullfinch: 4 seen on 18th June
Reed bunting: 3 seen on 14th June
Raven: 3 seen on 21st June
Recent sightings – July 2019
Osprey: seen on 8th and 16th July
Hen harrier seen on 14th and 15th July
Peregrine falcon: 18th July
Sparrowhawk: seen on 12th July
Buzzard: 3 seen on 3rd July
Little grebe: seen on 14th July
Great crested grebe: 10 seen on 5th July,11 on 14th July
Greylag goose: 29 on 14th July
Canada goose: 43 on 3rd July
Gadwall: seen on 6th July
Teal: 2 seen on 14th July
Tufted duck: 200 seen on 12th July, 108 on 14th July
Water rail: 4 seen on 7th July
Oystercatcher: 4 on 7th July
Lapwing: 32 seen on 8th July, 28 seen 14th July
Snipe: 3 on 9th July, 4 on 14th July
Redshank: 2 on 16th July
Common sandpiper: 1 on 6th July, 2 on 12th July
Kingfisher: seen on 6th July
Swift: 32 seen on 1st July
Sand martin: 4 seen on 9th July
Swallow: 10 seen on 4th July
House martin: 2 seen on 8th July
Grasshopper warbler: seen on 9th and 10th July
Sedge warbler: 2 seen on 5th July
Chiffchaff: 1 on 1st July, 3 on 6th July
Willow warbler: 5 seen on 5th July
Blackcap: 3 seen on 4th July
Goldcrest: seen on 4th July
Spotted flycatcher: seen regularly throughout the month
Nuthatch: seen on 3rd, 6th, 10th and 13th July
Treecreeper: seen on 2nd July
Lesser redpoll: 4 seen on 5th July
Bullfinch: 2 seen on 9 July
Linnet: seen on 6th July
Siskin: 10 seen on 5th July
Reed bunting: 2 seen on 5th July
Notable mammals Otter (5 July) Roe deer (17 July)
Moths caught in the moth trap on 19 July: Six-striped rustic Haworth’s minor Bright-line brown-eye Elephant hawkmoth Poplar hawkmoth Burnished brass Magpie moth Double square spot Dotted clay