Fly ID

 Cheilosia sp? First I'll add my feeble attempt at an id and then check with UK Hoverflies.

Neoascia interrupta- A rare one!  (UK Hoverflies ID HERE) 

 Eristalinus sepulchralis

 Sphaerophoria sp

 Myathropa florea- Easy one with 'Batman' marking on thorax 

 Cheilosia pangana 

 Helophilus pendulus

 Cheilosia sp? No this is Pipiza.

?

 Dark-edged Bee Fly mating

Early Mining Bee- Andrena Haemorrhoa 

Sunny (The Simpsons Sky) conditions today with a prevailing south west wind- usually means very quiet for birds at the farmlands. The nets were quiet, a couple of Whinchat, a few Sand Martins going through, a White Wagtail and a couple of Common Sandpipers.

Therefore I headed off to the path along the North Lake for a bit of fly action. BEDDINGTON HOVERFLIES UPDATED

Meanwhile

Ahhhh...orgghhh

Whitethroat drinking sweet nectar from the flowers of a Field Maple

7-spot Ladybird. The tiny wasp Dinocampus coccinellae has laid its eggs inside the beetle, eaten it from the inside and also transferred a virus which has paralysed the host. The zombie ladybird has then been compelled to stand over the emerging pupae to protect it- providing food and protection for its parasitic  host. More here

Heard a Cuckoo today by the bridge. Quite a few Buzzards about. Loads of insects down the North Lake path- still trying to work out some of the Chelosia hovers. A few Mayflies about and more Green Longhorns. Orange-tip again. Collected a few more un-identified bits:
April Un-identified

Oak, Plane, Robinia and Poplar now coming to leaf (Previous here)

Members Day

 Two Whinchats- firsts of the year

Common Sandpiper (one of four ), A good influx of waders today (see below).  

Male Wheatear. All the males (3 of five birds) looked like first-summers. These birds looked like they had more extensive peach tones on the underparts than birds earlier on in the month (see here) but it could have been due to different light. Good to see the ploughed area working to plan. 

 Swallow- about 60+ birds today, hawking low over the lakes and resting on the new tree planting

 Common Tern (probably)- the inner primary window (is just visible)

Photo by Lukas Becker

Good visible migration conditions today for the Beddington Farmlands associate members spring walk (More here). A north-easterly airflow, low cloud and light rain produced ideal fall conditions. We saw 1 Hobby, 2 Whinchat, 3 Wheatear, 10+ Yellow Wagtail, 30+ Swallow. 3-4 House Martin, 2 Common Sandpiper and 1 Skylark. We also had Shelducks, Gadwall, Teal and Lapwing and heard Lesser Whitethroats, Whitethroats and Sedge Warblers singing.  

The full Bird Group counts for the day were as follows : 1 Hobby, 3 Little Ringed Plover, 1 Ringed Plover, 14 Dunlin, 4 Common Sandpiper, 2 Greenshank, 1 Whimbrel, 1 Snipe, 2 'Commic Tern', 2 Skylark, 4 Sand Martin, 60+ Swallow, 6 House Martin, 6 Meadow Pipit, 3 Tree Pipit, 4 White Wagtail, 1 Blue-headed Wagtail, 37 Yellow Wagtail, 5 Wheatear and 2 Whinchat.

The moth trap was relatively busy (first mild night in a long time)- 10 species- the highlight being a Least Black Arches (only a few site records).

 Least Black Arches

 Platyedra subcinerea (Thanks Martin for id) 

 Brimstone Moth

 Brindled Pug

Eudonia angustea

Steady Movement

 The change in weather seems to have had an impact. Whimbrel on the Southern Lake today, 1 Woodlark over (seen by Glenn- I still need it for the site), Hobby and Garden Warbler firsts for the year, an influx of at least 14 Shelducks, 30+ Sand Martin, 20+ Swallow, 1 Yellow Wagtail, ), 2 LRP (prospecting locally), 1 Greenshank, 1 Red Kite and 1 Wheatear. The 2nd-summer Iceland Gull also back (looks like it went to Staines in the week) 

 Whitetroat- a good influx of warblers today: 10 Chiffchaff, 20 Blackcap, 20 Whitethroat, 3+ Lesser Whitethroat, 7 Reed Warbler, 1 Garden Warbler, 2 Sedge Warbler

 Eristalinus sepulchralis- The loop in the wing vein R4+5 and spotted eyes is unique for this genus in Britain. Recently emerged- this species is mainly in the rank vegetation on 100 acre. 

Sawfly sp- 10s of these today along North Lake Path on Roses

 Holly Blue- A few of these, also Small Tortoiseshell, Speckled Wood, Green-veined White, Peacock, Brimstone

Baccha elongata- finally seen (noticed) one of these distinctive hovers. The very long, slender, wasp-waisted shape is unmistakable. 

APRIL UN-IDENTIFIED

BEDDINGTON HOVERFLIES

Light movement

A few bits on the move today- Buzzards, a couple of Red Kite, 20+ Swallow, 4-5 Sand Martin, 1 Wheatear and 4-5 Lesser Whitethroats new in.

Little Oak Wildlife Garden of the Week

Surveying/quoting today. Some nice gardens as always- this one was my favourite this week- literally buzzing with insects. The Prunus is getting a bit big and blocking out too much sun so just going to give it a light prune (a bit later in the year- best time to prune Prunus is in the summer). Other than that- not much else for us to do. Nature doing most of the work.

Quick update on what I've noticed is now (or not) flowering/ in leaf (follows on from THIS):

Still not in leaf: Oak, Robinia, Ash, Walnut, Sycamore coming out

Flowering: The first Hawthorn, Apple and Pear, Honesty, Cow Parsley, Wallflowers, Red Valerian, Choisya, Green Alkanet, Jews Mallow, Ramsons, more Bluebells, Forget-me-nots

LITTLE OAK

Spring winter-gull

 Second-summer Iceland Gull

 Second-summer Iceland Gull- a lot of gulls are on the move at the moment, good numbers of Lesser Black-backs- birds which have presumably wintered in France and Iberia and now moving back north. Herring Gulls also moving from the south and west. This movement often brings good gulls with them- also presumably been wintering to the south or west . e.g. The Glaucous-winged Gull was 18th April 2007. 

 Been a couple of Great Black-backs recently too- after a period of absence. 

 House Martin- a few other migrants around today: 2 Lesser Whitethroat, 8 Whitethroat, 3-4 Chiffchaff, Blackcaps, 2 LRP, 1 Common Sandpiper, 1 Yellow Wagtail, 10 Swallow, 5 House Martin, 4 Sand Martin and the first Swift of the year.  

The high pressure currently producing sunny conditions with an east airflow breaks up around Friday bringing in a few frontal systems and a change in wind direction- could be an interesting change (any change this time of year can have impacts). We are currently in peak migration period so any day in any weather can produce but ideal conditions can produce some right results.