One of the phantom craneflies, Ptychoptera contaminata, at Lower Common Allotments, Bath. I found this on a nature walk I led for the Bath Organic Group @bathorganicgroup at their open day today.
Adults of this species are usually found on the vegetation near shallow still or slow-flowing water, in which they lay their eggs and develop as larvae. I have found two other species in the Bath area.
As I mentioned yesterday, we had a bonus non-moth insect in the moth trap at Bath City Farm @bathcityfarm over the weekend.
This is a Cockchafer or Maybug. These beetles emerge in large numbers in May, and are attracted to light. Like most beetles, the adult is short-lived compared to the larvae, which live in soil and eat plant roots (usually grasses). The larvae are an important food item for many species, including moles, some birds, and several other insect species. Some bat species eat the adults, including the rare Greater Horseshoe Bat, of which there is an internationally important population in Bath.
Moths from the trap at Bath City Farm @bathcityfarm over the weekend:
1. Green Carpet
2. Common Marbled Carpet
3. Common Pug
4. Waved Umber
5. Flame Shoulder
6. Peppered Moth
7. Shuttle-shaped Dart
8. Cauchas rufimitrella
9. Muslin
10. Yellow-barred Brindle
We also had a bonus non-moth insect, which I'll post tomorrow! Can you guess what it was?
If you like my photos and want to give wildlife photography a go yourself, then come along to a free nature photography workshop at Charlcombe Nature Reserve @charlcombecommunitynr on 13th June (booking essential), as part of the Festival of Nature @festofnature . It's a nice site - I've led walks there before - and there should be plenty of things to photograph on the day.
There will also be drawing and writing workshops on the day too - why not come to all three!
Programme:
•Photographing Nature with Michael Williams 10:00-12:00
•Drawing in Nature with The Silly Scribbler 1:00-2:30
•Writing in Nature with Jo Butts
3:00-4:30
Common Twayblade at Brown's Folly Avon Wildlife Trust @avonwt nature reserve. There's several hundred of these orchids growing on this site. No sign of some of the rarer orchids that have previously been recorded there, but lots of Common Spotted and Broad-leaved Helleborine coming up.
I'll post some insects from there tomorrow.
Spent a lovely afternoon again on a nice patch of unimproved limestone grassland on a farm owned by Emorsgate Seeds @emorsgateseeds on the outskirts of Bath. Even on a cloudy day, there was lots to see. Loads of Dingy Skipper and Small Heath butterflies, both fairly uncommon in the area, and I was very happy to fidn a patch of flowering Horseshoe Vetch - a species that has declined considerably in the area, and is the food plant of Chalkhill and Adonis Blue butterflies.
1. Green Pot Beetle (Cryptocephalus aureolus)
2. Horseshoe Vetch
3. Dingy Skipper
4. Flesh Fly (Sarcophaga sp.)
5. Silver-Y Moth
6. Germander Speedwell
7. Bird's-foot Trefoil
8. Yellow Rattle
9. Small Heath
10. Green Pot Beetle (Cryptocephalus aureolus) and Oedemera lurida
The dung beetle Onthophagus coenobita in Hedgemead Park in #Bath yesterday. Usually found on herbivore dung, but occasionally on carrion and decaying fungi. Might have flown in from the surrounding countryside. Males (like this one) have a prominent horn arising from the back of the head.
Reptiles seen near Bath yesterday:
1. Common Lizard
2. Female Adder
3. Grass Snake
4. Slow Worm
Sadly, the first three are now becoming scarce in the local area, in part due to habitat destruction, but also from non-native predators, including cats and especially Pheasants, which are released in large numbers around the outskirts of Bath. Pheasants will eat reptiles - even Adders!
The female Adder in this photo is the same one I have seen for several years running (I can tell by the head markings - they are like fingerprints). Sadly, It has been a couple of years since I last saw a male or any other females at this site, so I fear for their future. She's never been even the slightest bit aggressive towards me, and I can get very close to her with a camera. A beautiful animal.
Marsh Fritillary butterflies today on the outskirts of Bath - the first time they've emerged from within Bath & North East Somerset since 2019! Last year there was a big influx of them from Wiltshire and they recolonised a former breeding site. Their fate in the region still hangs in the balance, as the nearest Wiltshire site is under threat and there are very few suitable sites left in the area. Habitat enchancement and creation for Marsh Fritillaries also benefits many other species.
(Please note, the Bath site is not publicly accessible, and is also very sensitive to disturbance. Please do not access it. There are other more well-known and publicly accessible sites not too far away in Wiltshire)
