Friday 19th. June 2015

Firstly , an identification of the larva that I thought was a Saw Fly on the end of the last post . It turns out to be the caterpillar of the strangely named Dingy Flat-bodied moth .
Now , a picture catch up on some recent outings :

An unusual Broad-leaved Helliborine on the Orchid Bank at High Elms , the variegation being caused by a virus in the soil .

Also on the Orchid Bank , a single Greater Butterfly-orchid . Identified as such by the non-parallel

and widely spaced pollinia of the flower , brown ended in the hood in this shot . The Lesser Butterfly-orchid has parallel and close pollinia .

A stop at Bough Beech Reservoir found the water level dropped , far too late to attract any migrant waders , but provided roost for Common Terns , a Mallard and a passing Great Crested Grebe .

Nearby , another probably queen Hornet , in flight this time ,

and a first Darter of the year , an immature Ruddy .

A frustrating hour or so at Long Lake , Sevenoaks Reserve , spent trying to photograph Downy Emerald in flight produced much for the recycle bin , but the odd usable shot too .

Fortunately on the odd occasion , it did come to rest .

Plenty of Red-eyed Damselflies around , and they were making sure that there would be plenty around next year too .

In the garden , this female , wonderfully named , Gasteruption jaculator , one of the Ichneumons that is reasonably easy to identify , was looking for a host into which it would lay her eggs .

Another fast moving and unidentified Ichneumon , was dragging what looked like  a spider , much heavier than itself , into a wood pile , no doubt to lay on and provide food for it's offspring .

Up on the Common , a single Bee Orchid , a first of the species this year for me ,

and lots of Common Cow-Wheat in the open glades .

At Spring Park Pond , 2/3 female Red Admirals were busy ovipositing ,

leaving their sigly layed eggs on the topsides of Common Nettle leaves ,

and a freshly emerged Speckled Wood gave an unusually posed photo opportunity .

A trip to Lullingstone Country Park produced my first Marbled White ( 1 of 3 ) of the year .

Also starting their flight period , Dark Green Fritillary , one of 6 recorded .

They spent most of the time in the ground vegetation , occasionally nectaring from their favoured Greater Knapweed .

Two Small Skipper were also first of the year sightings .

Two Cinnabar moths were also seen .

A female Painted Lady , ovipositing on Greater Knapweed , was the most unexpected sighting .

Arriving for the High Elms butterfly transect , this Ichneumon sp. was breakfasting on a small one .
The transect itself gets no better , with just 37 butterflies , Meadow Brown (26) , Common Blue (4) , Speckled Wood (2) , Green-veined White (2) and Large Skipper (1) going into the notebook . It's now nearly mid-Summer , when will the butterfly drought end ?

Most interesting thing found was this Horse Fly / Tabanus bromius .

How about that for a pair of eyes ?
Yesterday , I made a long anticipated trip to eastern Kent with fellow enthusiast Keith , but I will have to do another post , or this one will go on for ever .

Tuesday 9th. June 2013

A picture catch-up on a few recent outings :

Spotted this Nuthatch with food at High Elms , but didn't have time to hang around .

Spent a morning there next day and finally managed to get a shot of one of possibly nine youngsters having at look at the big world outside . Great engineering work by the parents to plug the large hole with clay , leaving just enough room to squeeze in and out .





Star of the Bird Survey at Down House , was this Roe buck who heard the first shutter click and

high-tailed it into the woods with his doe . Just 14 species of bird and one butterfly recorded .

The High Elms butterfly transect started off finding this photogenic male Scorpion Fly ,

this Golden-bloomed Grey Longhorn Beetle / Agapanthia villosoviridescens ,

and an open-winged Green-legged Sawfly / Tenthredo mesomelas , before a butterfly was recorded ,

of which just 19 of 6 species were found , plus this Orange Tip larva on Garlic Mustard .

On the way round , the first Pyramidal Orchid of the year , just bursting flower bud ,

the flowers on the first White Helleborines to flower are now fully open ,

a Hornet , possibly a queen , found on a path across Burnt Gorse ,

one of a small colony of Adders Tongue / Ophioglossom vulgatum , a member of the Fern family , in the same area ,

and a Crab Spider , busy having a mid morning snack .

A stop-off at Esher Common en route to Thursley Common , failed to find the hoped for early Silver-studded Blue butterfly , but found more snacking , this time an Asilidae sp. Robber Fly feeding on a Common Heath moth ,

and Biting Stonecrop / Sedum acre , just coming into flower .
Thursley Common had a cool breeze blowing over it , and Odonata were at a premium , with Four-spotted Chasers , a single Downy Emerald and common damselflies being the only species found .

Even the ubiquitous Common Lizards on site were restricted to a single sighting .

A couple of Orchids caught my eye , this Early Marsh Orchid / Dactylorhiza incarnata ,

and this one with spotted leaves . The nearest I have got is a hybrid Fragrant x Heath-spotted specimen , but any other thoughts would be appreciated .

A Cuckoo called constantly from a distance and these two Curlew made passes calling .

The lack of Odonata was reflected in just two Hobby being seen , one high overhead and one sat for ages in a distant bush .

Best bird sighting though was five minutes in a copse of Scots Pine with this singing male Common Redstart .

From the garden , a female Holly Blue warming up in the morning sunshine ,

on a wood pile , this Ichneumon sp.

and this fast moving Ruby-tailed Wasp / Chrysis ignite , aka Cuckoo Wasp as it lays it's eggs in Mason Bees nests . Having hatched , the RtW's offspring eat the larvae of it's host .

A windy visit with Keith to Sevenoaks Reserve for Odonata , produced a new hoverfly for me , Xanthogramma pedissequum ,

a Grass Snake , sunbathing on a log pile ,

positive 2 , probable 3 Painted Ladies ,

and an unusual spider , Tetragnatha Montana , a first for me . No sign of the hoped for Downy Emerald in the conditions , but a female Broad-bodied Chaser was seen along with the usual damselflies and demoiselles .
We then moved on to an equally windy River Eden near Chiddingstone , where the male

White-legged Damselflies are now sporting their powder blue , mature finery ,

but the females seemed to still be in their immature , lacteal phase . A Downy Emerald was found on site , and we spent some time trying to get in-flight shots , but gave up finding it impossible in the windy conditions . Two Red Admiral were also seen , the first for some considerable time for me .

Also seen was this larva , which I think might be of a Sawfly sp. , but haven't been able to ID it so far . Any thoughts would be appreciated .