Osprey!

Just when I thought that migration was almost over we get sent this splendid picture of an osprey flying over Goosander Hide last Sunday, thanks to Jon Mitchell for sending this into us.

Osprey by Jon Mitchell

My best bird sighting from yesterday was a couple of turnstone on Ibsley Water, it has been a very good spring for these high Arctic breeding waders, by contrast numbers of dunlin, usually one of the most common migrant waders, have been very low.

Numbers of moths have started to increase a bit, although the nights are still rather cool int he main. Sunday night yielded a few firsts for the year in the form of common swift, orange footman and cinnabar. I also saw my first buff-tip of the year, the last fell victim to a blue tit which got into the trap.

buff-tip

One of the regular surveys that happen on the reserve are the butterfly transects, typically May sees a big drop in numbers as the spring species season ends and we wait for the summer species to emerge. This drop in numbers has not been as noticeable as usual this year due to a very good early emergence of small copper and the blues, in our case common blue and brown argus (yes it is a “blue” really, just not a blue one!).

common blue

Although it has not been very warm, it has been sunny, which seems to be resulting in a good season for insects, or at least for some, I have noticed that dragonflies still seem to be very scarce, although damselfly numbers appear to be picking up. Looking around the Centre area at lunch yesterday I found a lacewing larva, it sticks the husks of its aphid victims to its back as a form of concealment, or at least to make it look unappetising.

lacewing larva

Out in the meadow I noticed several common malachite beetle, usually on the yellow flowers, many insects favour particular types of flowers, but some also seem to pick particular colours.

common malachite beetle

As it was World Bee Day, I will end with a picture of a bee, nectaring at the flowers of green alkanet at the back of the Centre, these bees seem to favour flowers of this type, also commonly seen at forget-me-not.

bee at green alkanet flowers

 

Advertisement

Butterflies and Beetles

Suddenly it seems to be summer. On Sunday I saw as many insects as I have seen for some years, the past couple of years have been poor ones for insects, so we are due a good season. Butterflies are at a low just now, most spring species have come to and end and summer ones have yet to get going. However I did see common blue, small copper, a few orange-tip, speckled wood, a few red admiral and peacock, small and green-veined white and most exciting of all, and a first for the reserve, a green hairstreak.

green hairstreak – a reserve first!

It was also good for beetles, including several brilliant common malachite beetle near the Centre pond.

common malachite beetle

Longhorn beetles are also starting to appear.

longhorn beetle pair

There are also huge numbers of damselflies all over the reserve now, but still rather few dragonflies, although I did manage to see a single hairy dragonfly perched near Ivy North hide, although I failed to get a picture of it.

Late Spring Colour

After a few days of properly sunny weather things are picking up on the reserve now, with more and more insects in evidence each day. There are lots of damselflies about and today I added azure damselfly to my species list for the year. I also saw my first Blashford holly blue and small copper today, often the spring brood of small copper can pass almost un-noticed, so maybe there will be really big numbers by the autumn, something to look forward to. The holly blue was near the Centre, first spotted flying round the tree tops but then it dropped down to drink from the damp ground beside the puddle outside the Centre entrance.

holly blue drinking

The recent southerly winds have also resulted in a modest arrival of large white and red admiral, fresh in from the south.

red admiral

Other insects today included common malachite beetle, the more frequent cousin to the very rare and beautiful scarlet malachite beetle, which is actually found within just a couple of miles of the reserve.

common malachite beetle

The most notable insect of the day though was a rather rare and splendid hoverfly, a species associated with old woodland and no doubt on the reserve because of our direct link to the New Forest, it goes by the name Brachypalpoides lentus. It flies about through the vegetation like a parasitic wasp and even mimics their behaviour by trembling its body when at rest, just as the wasps do.

Brachypalpoides lentus

There are a lot more flowers coming out now, which probably pleases the insects, the hawthorn is in full bloom as is the broom, although I think our broom is actually a planted alien species called hairy-fruited broom rather than the native.

broom in flower

The day was not wholly about insects though. On Ibsley Water the immature little gull is still to be seen, usually just to the east of Tern hide. A little further away on the longer shingle spit there was a very smart drake garganey this morning and as I locked up there was a single Arctic tern over the lake with the usual dozen or so common tern.