06 Sunday Oct 2019
Tags
British dragonflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, dragonfly, immature male Red-veined darter, Red-veined darter
What’s bright yellow, flies like a helicopter, has relatively huge eyes that are half reddish-brown and half blue, and can sometimes be found in marshy, reed-filled areas in the south-west of Britain?
I wasn’t sure until I looked it up but it seems this stunning creature that I photographed at Cosmeston a couple of days ago is an immature male Red-veined darter.
26 Thursday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, insects, nature
Tags
British hoverflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, Eristalis nemorum, Eristalis species, Helophilus pendulus, hoverfly, Syrphus species
Despite the wind and rain of recent days, which continued through part of today, when the sun came out at Cosmeston there were still a few hoverflies about. I’ve forgotten everything I ever knew about hoverflies, which wasn’t much, but I think these are Syrphus sp. (these usually need microscopic examination to identify to species), Eristalis sp. (my photo doesn’t show enough details to be sure which species this is – maybe E. tenax), Eristalis nemorum, and ‘The footballer’, Helophilus pendulus.
24 Tuesday Sep 2019
Tags
#365DaysWild, British craneflies, Cosmeston Lakes Country Park, crane fly, cranefly, Tipula oleracea
With every step I take through the dampish long grass and reed-filled ground in Cosmeston’s west paddock, small creatures flit up and away from my intrusive legs and feet. These are craneflies, probably the species Tipula oleracea.
I am no danger to them but they are right to flee: a couple of days ago, I was sitting eating my lunch at a picnic table in a nearby country park, watching as a Magpie strutted through the grass, picking off cranefly snacks for its lunch.
21 Saturday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, insects, nature
Tags
#365DaysWild, British butterflies, butterfly, Common blue, Common blue butterfly, Lavernock Nature Reserve
It was looking faded, jaded and more than a little tatty but this Common blue butterfly has certainly got staying power. Most of its species have died off now in my local area so it was a delight to see this little one today at Lavernock.
20 Friday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
It seems Commas don’t know their road code: no stopping on double yellow lines 24/7 if no signage. Or maybe this Comma thought the sparkling yellow paint was a flower. Luckily, this was on a quiet country lane with little traffic so the butterfly was in no danger. And it did look rather pretty, highlighted by the bright sunshine.
16 Monday Sep 2019
Posted in autumn, insects, nature, wildflowers
Tags
bees, bees on scabious, British wildflowers, Buff-tailed bumble bee, bumblebee, Common carder, Devil's-bit scabious
I keep coming back to the Devil’s-bit scabious, I know, but it’s just so lovely and so full of life now that many of the other wildflowers have gone over. Bumblebees, in particular, seem to love feasting on it. I think these are Buff-tailed bumblebees and Common carders but don’t quote me!
14 Saturday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, insects, nature, plants
I heard them before I saw them.
I’d been smelling the ivy flowers all day, as I walked one of my local circuits, though Cosmeston along to Lavernock and back to Penarth along the coastal path. But I hadn’t noticed any open flowers until I heard the loud buzzing coming from the ivy ahead of me on the path. It was alive with various species of bee and fly and hoverfly. And then I spotted what I was looking for – the ginger fluff and black-and-yellow-stripes of Ivy bees (Colletes hederae), my first for 2019.
You can find out more about these handsome creatures in my previous blogs here and here.
11 Wednesday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, autumn, insects, nature, plants
Tags
#365DaysWild, autumn fruit, blackberries, bramble, British butterflies, butterfly, Red Admiral, Red admiral on bramble
I think everyone would agree that blackberries, the fruit of the bramble bush, are delicious. I’m not one of those people who risks the almost obligatory scratches to go blackberrying at this time of year – I prefer to leave them to the birds and minibeasts. But, at Cosmeston yesterday, I’d been walking longer than I anticipated and my stomach was rumbling so I thought I’d grab a few to keep me going.
Well, if looks could kill, I would never have made it home because these Red admiral butterflies were absolutely certain the blackberries belonged to them. And they weren’t going to relent, letting me get my hand really close to them without moving a millimetre. One even flew out and ‘buzzed’ me before re-settling on its chosen fruit. I got the message and left them to their feast.
10 Tuesday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, insects, nature
Flies are fascinating!
This bristle-backed orange-and-black beauty, Tachina fera, is commonly seen in Wales and England any time between May and October. These flies produce two broods over the summer months but their life cycle is perhaps not what you might think. Like almost 300 other fly species in Britain, these are parasitoids – the eggs they lay on plant leaves hatch as larvae that burrow their way inside the bodies of other larvae, the caterpillars of several species of moth, which they then proceed to eat to death. It’s a larvae-eat-larvae world out there, folks.
08 Sunday Sep 2019
Posted in 365DaysWildin2019, flowers, insects, nature, wildflowers
Tags
#365DaysWild, Bog hoverfly, British hoverflies, Devil's-bit scabious, hoverfly, Lavernock Nature Reserve, pink scabious, Sericomyia silentis
It looks a bit like a wasp but this black-and-yellow-striped minibeastie is a hoverfly with the rather tongue-twisting name Sericomyia silentis. Perhaps Bog hoverfly would be easier but, in my opinion, its common name doesn’t do this little beauty justice.
I spent a couple of hours today at Lavernock Nature Reserve, where the Devil’s-bit scabious is looking simply stunning and is attracting myriads of insects. I took lots of butterfly photos but thought to post one of the other little critters today. The Devil’s-bit is usually a lilac colour but some at Lavernock are this subtle shade of pink instead. Its nectar obviously tastes just as good!
earthstar 
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