Tuesday, June 06, 2017

Summer on the patch

Summer on the patch. Birds are busy raising young, so not much change to report, but insects are beginning to appear.

Bramble bushes in particular are insect magnets. Here's one in a wooded area so protected from wind, and it was alive with bees.




This looks like a male Vestal Cuckoo Bee (bombus vestalis).  It has the distinctive yellow tinge to the edge of the white tail, and has a band round the top of the abdomen.


This and the one below look like a female Vestal Cuckoo Bee (no middle ring).



I don't know which this one is. It is a female worker bumble bee (has pollen baskets) but has no middle band.


This is a worker (pollen baskets again) and is straightforwardly either a buff-tailed bee or white-tailed bee.

Then a couple of hoverflies, both of which are I believe Volucella Bombylans. These mimic bumble bees, the first one mimicking red-tailed bee and the second white-tailed bee.




Now on easier ground. A male Large Skipper - first of the year.


Finally a Whitethroat, and then one of the more notable birds of the patch. Please leave a comment when you have found it!




2 comments:

Gill Osborne said...

Such a lovely time of year, isn't it? Is your special patch bird a Little Owl? Took some finding but I got there eventually...

DorsetDipper said...

yes that's it Gill. It is generally somewhere in the vicinity of the big tree. As you say, summer is always full of activity on the patch and always a great time to be out.

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