We kick off the Tuesday field meetings with a cool afternoon with an overcast start, but it warmed up and cleared up as we came out into the heath. We walked around the wood, and then explored the heath and the pond. The bluebells are still on peak form, and the combination of the Greater Stitchwort and Bluebells is magical.
Greater Stitchwort and Bluebells.
Shortly after we start we see the first hightlight, a honeybee hive installed in a dead tree. Busy workers buzzing about, some laden with pollen were coming in.
Honeybees on the hive entrance.
A female Hill Cuckoo Bee (Bombus rupestris), which parasitises the red-tailed bumblebee. Cuckoo bees have no workers, instead the females (which look very similar to the parasitised species) emerge later than the host, and expel or kill the queen of a bumblebee colony and take over the nest, using workers to raise the next generation of males and female cuckoos bees. They can be told apart by the lack of pollen baskets, the very dark wings and the different pattern of hairs in the abdomen, forming clear rows.
Several Treecreepers got our attention. One was a young chick, precariously clinging from a large tree trunk, being fed by two busy parents. All members had a chance to observe the chick, which looked just out of the nest.
Young Treecreeper being fed by its parents. Note the very short tail of the fledgling.
There were some brief sunny spells which got butterflies out, we had several Speckled Woods, Green-veined White, Orange Tip and Large Whites.
Orange Tip.
The reserve was very dry, particularly the exposed heath, but we were please to find a large clump of Hare's-tail Cottongrass, Eriophorum vaginatum. Surprisingly the pond held water, but no dragonflies were seen. Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, a Whitethroat and several Garden warblers were heard. A single Garden Warble showed briefly at the heath.
Haretail Cottongrass.
The path by the heath had numerous Green Tiger beetles (Cicindela campestris), a pair, posed nicely for photos, and you can note how the male holds onto the female with his jaws.
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