3 x Peacock, 1 x Green-veined White.
Warm and sunny.
Andrena sp. are solitary bees which dig burrows in banks of earth (left). Nomada sp. are kleptoparasitic bees that lay their eggs in the Andrena bees' nests. The right-hand image shows Nomada leucophthalma investigating an Andrena nest.
Nomada leucophthalma is a parasite of Andrena clarkiella, which I photographed very close to this spot in 2006. Andrena clarkiella feeds its young exclusively on Willow pollen, which gives it only a few weeks of feeding opportunity.
Nomada leucophthalma about 13mm long.
A pair of Syritta pipiens hoverflies (left). When I disturbed them they separated and proceeded to feed on pollen (right).
Note the very inflated thighs.
A new Bibio species for the site: Bibio lanigerus. Bibios are known as St. Marks Flies, since they often appear around St. Marks Day - April 25th. This is the earliest I've seen by a couple of weeks.
The first Birch leaves. Now is the time to look for micromoth larvae, since they don't waste any time when the leaves are fresh.
A few Peacocks seen today. This specimen is very fresh.
As usual, I spent some time on The Stump, and found this rather large ant moving at high speed. Looks like a Lasius sp.
Bluebells will soon carpet the woodland with blue.
The very delicate Wild Cherry blossoms are very short-lived.
Larch leaves have been out for a while.
A single specimen of Marsh Marigold in the dried up streambed.
Flowers of a Laurel sp. on the left and unidentified flowers on a broken (or cut) tree branch on the right.
