Staines Moor: 22 May

Not quite sure what happened to spring, but just like that it is now summer, with a few very quiet hours at Staines Moor today producing naff all passage migrants.

A Lesser Whitethroat flicking between bushes in the SE corner (my first ever on this part of the moor), 1 Red Kite over N, 1 Common Swift E and a Barn Swallow W could all have possibly be moving through rather than local birds, but no other movement was evident.

Other 'highlights' were 2 Gadwall (flew onto the Colne), c.200 Eurasian Starling (mainly adults but some juveniles in tow, with many towards the southern end of Bonehead woodland, around the livestock and in NW corner), 2 (1m, 1f) Common Shelduck E, 2 Egyptian Geese W, 2 Redshank (Colne and east pool), 1+ Hobby, 1 Common Buzzard (local bird), 3 Common Tern (Colne), 1+ Little Egret (Colne), 5 Sedge Warbler (2 pairs and a lone ringed male in the swamp - see below), 5H Common Whitethroat, 2H Common Chiffchaff, 2 (1m, 1H) Blackcap, c12 Common Pheasant (1 very tame male torquatus, and 1 female with c.10 very young chicks in the swamp, a couple of which I almost trod on!), 7 Reed Bunting (6m, 1f), 1 Grey Heron, several Linnet and lots of Meadow Pipit and Skylark.

No sign of the Grasshopper Warbler or the pair of Stonechat, and still no Common Cuckoo - the first year of absence that I can remember and I really hope we haven't lost them as a regular breeding species.

Ringed and unpaired male Sedge Warbler singing in the swamp today (coordinates/grid reference of recovery: 51.442805,
-0.512438/TQ 03482 72584). I think I've managed to piece together the ring number from photos - 3N46271, and the pic bottom
right seems to say MADRID and the word AVES above it, so perhaps this bird was ringed in Spain by the San Sebastian/Aranzadi
(Spain) ESA scheme. Hopefully I'll find out some history soon. Many thanks to the Lakes and Pennines, the BTO and Lee Barber
on Twitter for their feedback (right-click on image and open in a new tab to enlarge).

A Roe Deer spooked in Bonehead woodland was my first daylight sighting at the patch, 1 Downlooker Snipe-fly Rhagio scolopacea was my first this year, and plenty of Yellow Iris Iris pseudacorus are now in flower. 12 horses are now out to graze.

1 of about 10 Common Pheasant chicks with a hen, encountered in long grass in the swamp today. This bird and another were frozen
to the spot right by my feet.

Downlooker Snipe-fly Rhagio scolopacea in the swamp today (taken with a Samsung Note 4)

Weather: Sunny (2 oktas in morning) becoming cloudy early afternoon (4 oktas by 13:00 and 8 oktas by 14:00), very light SW wind, damp early morning.

Smartphone wildlife macro photography

Back in May I bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone and discovered that the camera is excellent for macro photography. While not quite the same quality of the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, the Note 4's 16 MP front camera doesn't do a bad job and is great for those impromptu photographic opportunities.

The camera settings are as follows: mode: auto; ISO: auto; white balance: auto; metering: centre-weighted; HDR: off; tap to take pics: on. I usually magnify by 1.3 x and set the screen to maximum brightness in strong sun. I can't find any manual control of aperture but maybe another app allows this? All the pics below were taken with the phone, and have just been cropped a little and had some unsharp mask applied. Not bad results.

Common Carder Bee Bombus pascuorum, Worcester Park, Surrey, 28 July 2015

Five-spot Burnet Zygaena trifolii on its larval foodplant Greater Bird’s-foot Trefoil Lotus pedunculatus, Brook Manor, Devon, 9 July 2015

Lesser Stag Beetle Dorcus parallelipipedus, Bramley, Surrey, 13 July 2015. The eye is out of focus in this pic, but I was really
rushed at the time.

Yellow-legged Mining-bee Andrena flavipes next to its nest burrow, Riverford near Buckfastleigh, Devon, 8 July 2015

Volucella inanis, Worcester Park, Surrey, 25 July 2015

Small Skipper Thymelicus sylvestris, Hampton Court, Surrey, 1 July 2015. This pic was taken in low light in a marquee at the
Hampton Court Flower Show.

High Brown Fritillary Argynnis adippe, Aish Tor, Devon, 9 July 2015

Leaf-cutter Bee sp. probably Megachile centuncularis, sealing it's nest in my bee hotel with a leaf, Worcester Park, Surrey, 2 August 2015

Western Bee-fly: 10 July

Spent some time watching Western Bee-flies Bombylius canescens, at Chudleigh Knighton Heath Devon Wildlife Trust reserve today. Found a colony of around five or six that were firing eggs into the nest burrows of their host mining bee species. Not still for a second, these are darn tricky to photograph! All were females as far as I could see (eyes do not meet at the top).

Female Western Bee-fly Bombylius canescens firing eggs into the nest hole of a mining bee by flicking their abdomen downwards,
Chudleigh Knighton Heath, 10 July

A bee-fly's view of the target - a mining bee burrow entrance, Chudleigh Knighton Heath, 10 July

Two or three were often depositing eggs into the same mining bee nest at a time

They periodically collect dust from bare patches of soil with the tip of their abdomen, to coat each egg to give it extra weight to help it
reach it's target

You can clearly see the 'basket' of dust and soil collected on the tip of the abdomen in this shot

They spent very little time resting. Note the dark femora as well as the dark bristles amongst the pale hairs behind the eyes which
help distinguish from the even rarer Heath Bee-fly Bombylius minor.

Western Bee-fly is a very scarce species, mainly restricted to south-west England, south Wales and eastern Ireland. They fly from May to August.

Oaken Wood, Surrey: 25 May

Spent the day with Pete Alfrey, Helen Cavilla and Rachel Walls searching for Wood Whites Leptidea sinapis at Oaken Wood - a small part of Chiddingfold Forest in Surrey managed by Butterfly Conservation for this rare species. A thorough search for several hours found no sign of any Wood Whites (bugger knows where these things were hanging out today?) but we still had an excellent invert-filled day.

Lepidoptera: 1m Nemophora degeerella, 1 Olethreutes arcuella, shed-loads of Speckled Yellows Pseudopanthera macularia, 1 Mother Shipton Callistege mi, 1 Four-dotted Footman Cybosia mesomella, 1 Peacock Moth Macaria notata, 1 The Cinnabar Tyria jacobaeae, 1 Straw Dot Rivula sericealis, 1 Brown Silver-line Petrophora chlorosata, 2 (larva) The Lackey Malacosoma neustria, Green Hairstreak Callophrys rubi, 2 Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta, 1 Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni, and several Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria.

Odonata: 1m Beautiful Demoiselle Calopteryx virgo, 1m Downy Emerald Cordulia aenea, and lots of Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula.

Male Nemophora degeerella - a fairly common but beautiful longhorn moth

Olethreutes arcuella

Speckled Yellow Pseudopanthera macularia - flying in force today, i.e. absolutely ******* everywhere!

Four-dotted Footman Cybosia mesomella

Peacock Moth Macaria notata

The Lackey Malacosoma neustria

Downy Emerald Cordulia aenea - note the dark frons (marked with yellow on Brilliant Emerald Somatochlora metallica).
Good identification article here.

Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula

Avifauna noted includes 5 Nightingale (1 seen), 1m Yellowhammer, 4 Common Buzzard, 1H Willow Warbler, 1 Common Cuckoo that refused to show itself and a female Mallard on eggs (one of us also suppressed a family flock of Marsh Tits, but enough said about that!). 1 very brief Adder and 2 Common Frog were also logged.

Early autumn at the patch

Some early signs of autumn passage at Staines Moor today, with 1 Green Sandpiper along the Colne this morning, 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Sedge Warbler, 3 Garden Warbler, 4 Blackcap, 1 Common Whitethroat, and 8(3H) Chiffchaff all along the old railway (and 2 heard elsewhere), c.25 Meadow Pipit in the NW corner could be local birds, and 7 Barn Swallow over S. Also 1+ Hobby still, 1+ Kestrel, 2 Mistle Thrush, 1+ Grey Heron, 1-2 Kingfisher and 4+ Canada Geese.

A flighty Green Sandpiper on the Colne early morning

Shed loads of Lepidoptera around today: 1 Brown Argus, 3+ Small Copper, several Common Blue, (just) 1 Small Skipper, 2 Comma, 2 Peacock, lots of Gatekeepers, Meadow Browns, Green-veined Whites and Small Whites. Elsewhere 2 Small Heaths were noted, and a Holly Blue on the mud along Bonehead Ditch.

Brown Argus Aricia agestis

Small Copper Lycaena phlaeas

Male Common Blue Polyommatus icarus. I love how you can see the ventral side pattern through the wings on this pic.

Gatekeepers Pyronia tithonus are everywhere on the Moor at the moment!

Green-veined White Pieris napi

Small White Pieris rapae

A few moths also noted: 6 Silver Ys, and hundreds of Pearl Veneers Agriphila straminella (there must be thousands present on the Moor at the moment), and a couple of Pale-streak Grass-veneer Agriphila selasella.

Six Silver Ys Autographa gamma disturbed from the grass today - a mini influx!

Pearl Veneer Agriphila straminella

Pale-streak Grass-veneer Agriphila selasella

Other bugs included: 1 Long-winged Conehead Conocephalus discolor, and lots of hoverflies including a Eristalis horticola, a Female Helophilus trivittatus, and a male Long Hoverfly Sphaerophoria scripta.

Long-winged Conehead Conocephalus discolor

Eristalis horticola

Female Helophilus trivittatus

Male Long Hoverfly Sphaerophoria scripta?

Large Bee-fly

Another morning at the patch but with clear conditions today and over the last couple of days it was no surprise to find little sign of migration. 2 Cuckoos over north calling early morning, 1 Common Tern E and 1 Barn Swallow S were the only migrants seen actually on the move, and 4 (1m, 3f) Northern Wheatear around the anthills in the north-west corner could be some of yesterday's birds. Other notables on Staines Moor were 2+ Hobby, 2 Red Kite, 1+ Lesser Whitethroat, 1 Garden Warbler, 2 Little Egret along the Colne, 1 Kingfisher along the River Wraysbury, 1 Mistle Thrush, a pair of Gadwall over, 5 (3m, 2f) Reed Bunting, 5+ Northern Lapwing, 1-2 Sparrowhawk and lots of Linnet.

Found some cool bugs including a brilliant Large Bee-fly (or Dark-edged Bee-fly) Bombylius major feeding on Bugle Ajuga reptans flowers along the railway embankment footpath. What an amazing creature! Even though it's quite a slow flyer it still gave the macro lens a run for it's money.

Large Bee-fly Bombylius major

Large Bee-fly Bombylius major

Also found a couple of hoverflies including this one.

Syrphus sp.

Butterflies seen include 2 male Orange-tip Anthocharis cardamines, several Peacock Aglais io, and a Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni.

Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni

On Stanwell Moor; 1 Cuckoo, 1 Lesser Whitethroat, 2 Garden Warbler, 3+ Barn Swallow, 2 Great Spotted Woodpeckers (potentially nesting) and 1-2 Northern Lapwing over were noted. No sign of the Gropper today but I didn't wait around for long.

Weather: Sunny, warm, clear sky (1 okta), no wind early morning increasing to a light westerly.