Toft Garden 'Ugly' Bug Parade

I am still sorting the species etc from a garden recording session yesterday so here is an 'Ugly Bug Parade' from Toft - amazing what a macro lens reveals. The first is a Bee-Grabber fly which jumps onto a Bumble Bee to hitch a lift to its nest where it pays its fare as an egg laid in the Bees nest. The emerging grub feeds on the pollen and the bee larvae! The final image shows a Flower Spider that has captured a Hoverfly.

Paxton April Wildlife Survey

 On Tuesday we spent 2 hours recording the various plants, birds, insects etc etc that were present in two related areas of Paxton Pits - the Sanctuary and the Inlet pond area of the Moorings Meadow. Mostly my ID shots were not very pleasing photographically but here are a few that I liked together with the ID sheets. Compared with 2024 (we do a 2-year cycle on sites) there was a marked absence of crane flies and flies in general reflecting the recent dry conditions. To compensate we did see a lot more plant bug activity (Hemipterans).

Butterflies at Trumpington Meadows

What a delight to see Green Hairstreaks at Trumpington Meadows along with Holly Blues - both small jewel-like species that are difficult to see until they move!! We also had Speckled Wood, Peacock, Green-veined White, Small White and Orange Tips on our survey route.

Spring at Paxton Pits

In the last week, I have heard 3 Nightingales and a Cuckoo at Paxton together with Willow Warbler and lots of Blackcaps so spring is definitely here. While one of the Great Crested Grebes is busy incubating the eggs, the other is out fishing etc and catching surface insects. The Coot is sitting on the nest but its partner still brings in some hefty nest materials! The Cormorants seem addicted to collecting twigs etc to add to their already very large nests.

Toft Insects April 7th

 I am a bit behind with sorting and IDing my photographs of fauna in Toft. These were taken on the 7th April in the garden. I was experimenting with shutterspeeds for flying Hoverflies and found it needs 1/8000th to record at least a blurred wing in the capture. Always rewarding when the camera shows something I didn't notice at the time - eg the ants foraging where the Carder bees were feeding on nectar.  This little bee, a Brassy Lasioglossum, is tiny as can be judged by the hairs on the leaf