Spotted Thintail. A Hoverfly

I also had a go at photographing this Spotted Thintail by briefly anaesthetising it with CO2.

Tapered Drone Fly

Chocolate Mining Bee

It has to be said that some Drone flies are decent bee mimics ( if you ignore the antennae). Tapered Drone Fly and Chocolate Mining Bee in the garden this morning

A male Tapered Drone Fly (Eristalis pertenax) facing left on a leaf

Sunny at times today but colder so not many #hoverflies about . This Tapered Drone Fly was in my garden and another was on Alexanders in the car park of the cafe that Clevedon birders use

Fortunately all the Redpolls have been lumped as one species recently. Lesser Redpolls is commonest British subspecies but the name Redpoll is now all you need.

Got my copy today. A monumental amount of hard work has clearly gone into it.

Common Drone Fly on blossom

Common Drone Fly on green leaves

First visit of the year to record hoverflies at Watercress Farm . At least 4 female Common Drone Flies on the Cherry Plum hedge. Trying to see black feet made tricky by the amount of pollen stuck to them.

A hint of sunshine drew out a single male Spotted Thintail (Meliscaeva auricollis) in the garden along with a Green Shield Bug)

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A hoverfly landing on a fence panel

Hoverfly with wings closed, sitting on fence post.

Today's promised sunshine duly appeared but it stayed cold. Still; a single Marmalade Hoverfly showed up on the fence.

2 years back. They are quite tricky and I have an enormous amount to learn still. To keep focus I plan to try and see 100 species in this calendar year and will blog about it. I'll give directions to the blog once the season gets properly underway

The Tapered Drone Fly, Eristalis pertenax on a leaf

Spotted Thintail hoverfly. Meliscaeva auricollis on a yellow leaf

Close up of hoverfly face

The sun appeared briefly giving me a chance to increase my #hoverfly year list with a Tapered Drone Fly ( Eristalis pertenax ). Also in the garden was this Spotted Thintail ( Meliscaeva auricollis) which I tried CO2 and a lightbox to photograph the yellow base to the black area above antennae

Great find. I remember twitching it from Plymouth with the Eider as a bonus

Dipterists Day 2025 - YouTube Recordings of talks from Dipterists Day 2025, held at the University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge on Saturday 15th November.

As requested by many, here's the link to our YouTube channel with the recordings from the excellent Dipterist Day 2025 in Cambridge youtube.com/playlist?lis...
@davebriceflies.bsky.social @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @lancefly.bsky.social @naturebureau.bsky.social @norfolknats.bsky.social Please share 🙏

Research done. Spring individuals occasionally have all black antennae. Several photos on UK hoverflies Facebook group. It makes a mess of the key though !

Temp up to 11 degrees C this afternoon and 3 species of hoverfly in the garden. Two in this picture. Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus) and Spotted Thintail ( Meliscaeva auricollis). I'm slightly concerned that the latter has black antennae though so research needed.

Back to nearby Cheddar Reservoir for the Red-necked Grebe but it stayed even further away than my last visit. A first-winter Med Gull popped in though.

A hoverfly with creamy curved markings feeds from a Sarcococca flower in mid winter

For #flyday here is another of Wednesday's Hoverflies. It's a female Euopedes aka Aphideater. Because the front of the head is hidden and microtrichia are not visible it has to remain indeterminate. But that's science! However, hint, only E. luniger is recorded in January in the UK

At last the Hoverfly year list is underway. 3 species were all using the single Sarcococca bush in flower at Dyffryn House today.
First up was the Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus). This is a female

A new meaning of the word "highlights " I was not previously aware of :)

@portisheadbirds.bsky.social offered a lift to see the Killdeer this morning. My second in Britain, only 50 years after the Eyebrook Reservoir one. It was a bit distant but the other stop provided terrific views of the Great-tailed Grackle.
A fun morning & mostly dry.

Three Grey Plovers fly left showing their black axillary patches

A flock of Grey Plovers taking off

Over 1000 Dublin forming a tight flock with some looking silver in the light

Lots of waders around Dowlais this morning. A wonderful display by 1000s of Dublin . They looked like a shoal of flying sardines at times! Also 33 Grey Plovers with a few Knot thrown in for good measure. Best of all was meeting fellow Birders @doodlebeth.com and Daz for the first time.

Pulsar Axion XQ30 Pro? Pulsar introduced a new entry level device recently, the Axion XQ30 Pro. Did someone already try it? Hermann

www.birdforum.net/threads/puls...
This links to discussion on this model on birdforum which may be helpful unless you have already read it.

Spent an hour or two looking for the #RSPBHamwall .Water Pipit this morning. It had just flown off apparently. I was kept entertained by at least 4 Water Rails in the same area though

A grey-brown Curlew in the rain in a grass field

A wet morning but still seemed worth a quick check at Dowlais. This damp Curlew was the only wafer in the scrape field

Many thanks. I plan to be in touch to ask for advice about seeing some hoverflies later this season. Hope you don't mind

A Yellow-barred Pond Fly on an ivy leaf

A Yellow-barred Pond Fly ( Sericomyia silentis) photographed last summer for #flyday

A pair of black & white Avocets in low grass at the waters edge at high tide

A pair of distant, roosting Avocets were a surprise at Dowlais this morning. The roost area is quite a long way from the current footpath but the plan to extend this path would need full fencing to protect the area from free running dogs of which there are over 100 a day this side of the fence.

A Eurasian Curlew looking right in a marshy field

Cold and clear at Dowlais this morning. The scrape was frozen but 70 Lapwings had turned up in the fields and were accompanied by a single, very distant, Golden Plover. A couple of Curlew were much closer though

A Water Rail in the bottom of a riverside bush

I decided to stand on the footbridge over the Blind Yeo near my house and see what appeared this morning. In half an hour I had seen, Goosanders, a Kingfisher and this showy Water Rail which was a decent return.

Larvae inside case . Bagworm moth

Entomological highlight of a day spent local birding was this Bagworm (Luffia ferchaultella) found in low numbers on a local river bridge. An odd species of moth with only parthenogenetic females known