In the Garden Today

It is always interesting to find a new insect in the garden, and this hoverfly is no exception. I haven't posted it on iSpot yet, but I'm wondering if I am in the right area with a proposed ID of Chrysotoxum bicinctum, an imperfect wasp mimic. The first link will take you to an Irish site, but I gather this species is widespread. I look forward to having the identification confirmed - or corrected!

Hoverflies were not the only insects on the move in the garden today: we saw several Small White butterflies, one Holly Blue and one Red Admiral. I would so love to find a Small Tortoiseshell or a Painted Lady...

We have also been enjoying the resident grasshoppers. All the photos below, except the top right one in the collage (which was taken a fortnight ago), were taken this afternoon.

It turns out it's not a Hoverfly Mystery

I watched these insects in my Suffolk garden this afternoon, and would be delighted if anyone can tell me what is going on. Is this a hoverfly nest, please? (Update, I now know it isn't.) I know very little about hoverflies. 

Update: many thanks to Crafty Green Poet for informing me that these are not hoverflies. Please see her comment. 

P.S. You can find my butterfly-related #30DaysWild post for Day 20 here.

My BBC Springwatch SOS Wildflower Trough (5) - Pollinators!

My patience has been rewarded with spring flowers and pollinators. There were a number of bees and Marmalade Hoverflies around the wildflower trough today - a joy to see!

• SOS Wildflower Trough post 4
• SOS Wildflower Trough post 3
• SOS Wildflower Trough post 2
• SOS Wildflower Trough post 1

And finally, just to add a bit more color to this post, these last three pictures were taken today and show an insect, probably a bee of some kind, making use of the insect hotels...

We have small swarms of cockchafers around the silver birch for the last few evenings and a few bats. There have been moths in and out of the window.

My BBC Springwatch SOS Wildflower Trough (3)

You can see from the photo above, taken this afternoon, just how my wild flower seedlings have grown. There are some buds, and I am keeping a watchful eye on these as it will be good to see the first flower. The trough is my response to the BBC Springwatch S.O.S. project to try to encourage pollinators into the garden. 

The insects, it appears, are not so impatient. I always enjoy seeing Marmalade Hoverflies in the garden. This is the first one I have seen in my trough. These insects are not only good pollinators but their larvae are also useful aphid-eaters.

The photo above shows a Ladybird, unfortunately a succinea Harlequin (Harmonia axyridis), on one of the shoots that is likely to produce the first flowers. It will eat the aphids, but it is not the most welcome of guests.

As I looked around the trough, I noticed a tight ball on the nasturtiums...

... and recognised these Garden Spider spiderlings as we have had clutches of them in the garden on previous years. They are orb-weavers, and the second part of their name, 'diadematus', reflects their jewel like appearance. I hope they won't eat too many of our butterflies, but I find it hard to be so concerned about the wasps and flies that will also make up their diet as they grow.

They dispersed later in the day, making their way over the trough and out into the big wide world.

My trough at the outset prior to wildflower seed-sowing

• SOS Wildflower Trough post 2
• SOS Wildflower Trough post 1

A Minsmere Medley

7-spot Ladybird, a native species. I have logged it on the UK Ladybird Survey.

We spent a sunny afternoon at RSPB Minsmere on Saturday. We may not have seen many birds (and indeed we looked in vain for Bearded tits on this occasion), but there were some lovely insects out and about. Our visit gave me the chance to pick up a copy of the site leaflet (previous post) that contains my Minsmere soundbite.

A small Hoverfly

A Darter (?Common Darter) perching in the sunshine

Poisonous toadstool, Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

Another Common Darter (?female)

Emerald Damselfly

Migrant Hawker Dragonfly

Close-up, showing yellow 'golf tee' mark on S2

A magnificent Fox Moth caterpillar

The windswept beach that adjoins the Minsmere reserve

NT Dunwich Heath - signs of autumn

We took a trip to the sea at Dunwich Heath on Saturday, and while we were there, we noticed two Red-banded Sand Wasps. One flew across our windscreen and you may just be able to make out the other in the photo above. I took a quick record shot (the photo you see), but the insect flitted off before I could take a better photograph.

I have noticed these unusual Sand Wasps on the heath before. This is what I wrote a year ago:

 '... my eyes fell upon this strange insect, which I guessed was a kind of ant. There were three of them in the area, if I remember correctly, but they were pretty speedy creatures and hard to catch on camera as the kept vanishing beyond the wire netting. I was browsing the web earlier today when I spotted a photo of the insect here on the RSPB Lakenheath Fen page. The creature turns out (it seems to me) to be Red-banded Sand Wasp (Ammophila sabulosa). It has even appeared on a Romanian postage stamp. You can read about the wasp's kleptoparasitic behaviour in the Comments here on the iSpot nature website. 
These wasps are quite striking. They are long, thin and ant-like.' 

My photo from 2014

 The heath was looking colourful, with the last flush of summer shades. 

There were a few insects about, though we saw few birds.

I'm guessing this is Hoverfly Syrphus vitripennis or Syrphus ribesii

The sign serves as a reminder that this coastal landscape is a very fragile one. The sandy cliffs are prone to erosion and at the mercy of east coast storms.

The heath divides the sea (right) from the a wooded area to the left of this photograph. It will soon be the deer rutting season.

I have a hunch that this is either Birch Brittlegill Russula betularum or a similar species. I believe it is poisonous. There were certainly plenty of birch trees at the back of the reserve. I see 'Red Russula' were recorded on nearby Westleton Heath.

Fungi identification is not my forte, so please feel free to leave a comment if you can help with an ID.

Is this a 'Blusher', Amanita rubescens, perhaps? (see last photo on this link)

The old coastcard cottages on the heath are now National Trust holiday properties, a cafe and shop.

We have seen more Kestrels than ever this summer. This one was a fair distance away, but we had a good view through binoculars.

My thanks to Facebook friends, Matt and Paul, for confirming that this looks like a juvenile Stonechat.

Saturday turned into such a lovely evening that we drove on the short distance to Southwold, where we had fish and chips overlooking the River Blyth. You can make out Walberswick on the far side. We were keeping an eye (and an ear) out for skeins of geese when we were suddenly alerted to the presence of a very strange gull silhouette. It was flying slowly over the water, and as it approached, we could see very clearly that it was a Barn Owl.