I have always wanted to see a Bee Beetle and I remember one being found across the Thames on Dartford Marsh one summer and thinking.. if there then why not here at RSPB Rainham Marshes? Then a few weeks back Frank found the first for the site on the Mullein on the river wall and my hopes were raised and so when Jerry Hoare discovered one in the Wildlife Garden yesterday the search was on to refind it. It took a little while but it was eventually picked up nectaring on the verbena and achillea in a raised bed for everyone to enjoy... smiles all round...
It turns out that this is not the normal species that we get in the UK (Trichius fasciatus) but a newly colonizing almost identical species (Trichius gallicus) from the near continent.
And it is still here today - 5th July...
Howard Vaughan, Information Officer