A panorama of the ice-bound Pillinge lake, taken from the hide.
Wednesday 22 December 2010
Monday 13 December 2010
Yesterday 12 Dec 2010 my wife and son (Pattie and Thomas Outen) went to purchase a Christmas Tree from our local farm at Clifton Bury. They told me that some of the trees had galls on them. I checked thees out and identified them as caused by the Homopteran bug Adelges abietis. Sean Karley has confirmed my identification and tells me that "this species was already on the checklist for Beds, but without any localised record; it has one now!"
Sunday 12 December 2010
MVCP - Pillinge Panoramas
A view over the MVCP Pillinge Lake from the Wetland 3 bank.
Both of these photos were taken using my Canon S95 compact camera and stitched together using Photoshop Elements. The final images were made up from about 8 or 9 individual photos each. These are very compressed versions of the panoramas, both full-size versions are about 17,000 pixels long... Photos by Martin Green
Sunday 28 November 2010
Ectoedemia quinquella leafmines in Oak leaf
The scans below show an Oak leaf found at The Lodge, RSPB Sandy, today. It shows the characteristic leaf mines of Ectoedemia quinquella and there are seven mines in the leaf. This species typically mines Oak leaves in November and there are often many mines in an individual leaf. Scans by Andy Banthorpe.
Wednesday 24 November 2010
Norellia spinipes - Daffodil Fly
This fly species was present in some numbers in a Carex bed at Stanford Wood on 19 Nov 2010, a rather surprising habitat to find it. It was originally identified from my images by Stephane Lebrun, from Le Havre. This identification was confirmed from a specimen by Malcolm Smart, a national authority in the UK on Scathophagidae. The family includes the very common Yellow Dung Fly. By contrast the Daffodil Fly is very local in Britain with only a handful of records.
Thursday 4 November 2010
Saturday 30 October 2010
Ectoedemia hannoverella mine in Black Poplar
The scan below is of the leaf mine of Ectoedemia hannoverella in a leaf of a black Poplar sp. This species was found new to Bedfordshire near Arlesey in November 2009 and was also found at that site in 2010. This leaf is from Chicksands Wood on 30th October 2010 and is the second site in the county for the species. Please look out for the characteristic mining pattern in the leaves of Black Poplar and report any to David Manning - with a photo for confirmation.
The adult moth lays the egg on the petiole of the leaf where it forms a gall by initial mining and then mines out into the leaf blade leaving a characteristic green island area once the rest of the leaf turns yellow. Scan by Andy Banthorpe
The adult moth lays the egg on the petiole of the leaf where it forms a gall by initial mining and then mines out into the leaf blade leaving a characteristic green island area once the rest of the leaf turns yellow. Scan by Andy Banthorpe
Wednesday 6 October 2010
Tuesday 5 October 2010
Pale Pinion
Thursday 30 September 2010
Hummingbird Hawkmoth
Monday 20 September 2010
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Shaggy Inkcap (?) MVCP
This fungi was near the path at Stewartby Lake at beginning of the climb up to the the hilly area near the lagoon corner if you approach from the sailing club side. I'm guessing it might be a Shaggy Inkcap purely because it was shaggy and inky but I've not looked it up so I would appreciate it if anyone would let me know what it actually is... Photo by Martin Green.
Saturday 4 September 2010
Apple Mine
Chequers and Medlars
Thursday 2 September 2010
Tuesday 31 August 2010
Caterpillar ID
Nearly stepped on this striking caterpillar outside the back door - any suggestions on identification please?
30-35 mm in length. Not quite right for Lime Hawk-moth?
Monday 30 August 2010
Common Lizard - Stewartby Lake
Red-legged Shieldbug
New to VC30 - Stigmella tiliae & Enteucha acetosae
Leafmining micro-moths added to the Bedfordshire (VC30) list in the last week were Stigmella tiliae and Enteucha acetosae.
Stigmella tiliae was found mining the leaves of a Lime tree in Lower Stondon on 23th August by Melissa Banthorpe and subsequently at Woburn Park, The Lodge RSPB Sandy and Ampthill Park by Melissa and Andy. All scans by Andy Banthorpe
Enteucha acetosae was found mining the leaves of Sheep's Sorrel at Ampthill Park on 29th August by Melissa and Andy.
Stigmella tiliae was found mining the leaves of a Lime tree in Lower Stondon on 23th August by Melissa Banthorpe and subsequently at Woburn Park, The Lodge RSPB Sandy and Ampthill Park by Melissa and Andy. All scans by Andy Banthorpe
Stigmella tiliae mine from Lower Stondon 23/08/10
Stigmella tiliae mine + larva from Ampthill Park 29/08/10
Enteucha acetosae was found mining the leaves of Sheep's Sorrel at Ampthill Park on 29th August by Melissa and Andy.
Sunday 29 August 2010
Schizophrenic bramble
Saturday 28 August 2010
Stewartby Lake - sunrise
Sunday 22 August 2010
Flying Wolf
I spotted this female Philanthus triangulum, the Bee Wolf, coming towards me at Sandy Smith NR and grabbed a few shots, but only this one was vaguely in focus:
Then she turned sideways towards her burrow and I was able to grab a few as she went past:
The honey bee she was carrying was then buried as food for her young. Here the burrow is being re-opened on her return, having concealed it with sand when she left:
Photos by Keith Balmer
Then she turned sideways towards her burrow and I was able to grab a few as she went past:
The honey bee she was carrying was then buried as food for her young. Here the burrow is being re-opened on her return, having concealed it with sand when she left:
Photos by Keith Balmer
Hunting flies
There was an abundance of flies feeding on mint at Sandy Smith NR, making it an ideal hunting ground for Mellinus arvensis wasps. It was interesting to watch them stalk their prey. This one got away:
but this one wasn't so lucky!
Here's a sequence of stalking,
stinging to paralyse
wrestling
shaking violently
and finally hugging
before eventually flying off with it to her nest.
Photos by Keith Balmer
but this one wasn't so lucky!
Here's a sequence of stalking,
stinging to paralyse
wrestling
shaking violently
and finally hugging
before eventually flying off with it to her nest.
Photos by Keith Balmer
Saturday 14 August 2010
Small Ranunculus larvae
Tuesday 10 August 2010
A female Common Emerald damselfly, at the 'Wall Brown' bridge at Rookery.
A (presumably Common?) Lizard at Rookery.
A (presumably Common?) Lizard at Rookery.
...and a (again presumably Common?) Toad at College Wood
A good day for reptiles and amphibians, not so good for butterflies, though I did see, but not photograph, a Wall Brown at Rookery, and I did manage to get some pics of the final resident Bedfordshire butterfly I hadn't photographed with my digital camera. I won't reveal the species, as it's too embarrassing.
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