Late summer hoverflies at Leighton Moss

Following a failed attempt to see a pectoral sandpiper at Heversham and then lunch in the Eric Morecombe hide, I spent most of the rest of the day with Ray watching and photographing hoverflies on the ivy covered wall at the start of the public causeway. I'm not sure how long we spent there, but we didn't get past the farm house at the start of the causeway all afternoon!

There were hundreds of hoverflies buzzing around the ivy, as well as lots of wasps and honey bees, plenty of interesting flies and several red admirals. In total we managed to identify 21 species of hoverfly. Here is a small selection (approximate numbers seen of each in brackets).

Ivy in flower, a magnate for invertebrates at this time of year, partly due to the shortage of other flowers.

One of my favourite hoverflies, Eristalis intricaria, a bee mimic (5).

Syrphus torvus, identified by its hairy eyes! (1).

Another favourite of mine, Sericomyia silentis. (5).

Dasysyrphus tricinctus (1).

Eupeodes luniger (2).

Eupeodes luniger.

Eupeodes luniger. Note the diagnostic "Y" on the frons.

Eupeodes luniger.

Helophilus pendullus (many).

Helophilus hybridus (5).

Helophilus trivittatus (5).

Helophilus trivittatus. Note the white face.

Syrphus ribesii (many).

Eristalis tenax, complete with swollen hind tibia. This was probably the most common species we saw today, literally hundreds of this species.

Melanostoma mellinum (many). Short abdomen, small white area of dusting on face. This was the only one we identified for sure but there were probably others.

Eristalis pertinax. Another very common species, again counted in the hundreds today.

Melanostoma scalare. Long abdomen and (if you could see  it) a large area of white dusting on its face. Lots seen today.

Myathropa florea, with a batman logo on its thorax (5).

Other hoverflies included Episyrphus balteatus (marmalade hoverfly), Syritta pipiens, Xylota segnis, Dasysyrphus ablostriatus, Eristalis arbustorum, Platycheirus albimanus and Epistrophe grossulariae.

Red Admiral.

Phasia hemiptera, a tachinid fly.

Mesembrina meridiana, also known as Noon fly.

More from the white-winged black tern at High Rid reservoir

A few better photos of the white-winged black tern from High Rid reservoir today. The bird performed really well, flying within a few feet at times, but it was quite difficult to follow in my camera due to its erratic flight and the light was so bright that most photos were burned out or silhouetted. Still, shouldn't complain, it's a cracking bird!

This photo shows the shoulder patch very well. Prior to this bird I used to think that a shoulder patch was diagnostic of juvenile black tern, but apparently it's not uncommon for white-winged black to also show this feature (British Birds 82: 296-319 July 1989). As you can see, the shoulder patch on this bird is small and clearly brown, whereas on juvenile black tern it would be larger and much darker brown or black. The bill is correct for white-winged black tern but wrong for black tern, which would have a longer and more pointed bill.

A nice shot of the white rump and pale wings contrasting nicely with the dark "saddle" with scapulars only faintly fringed pale. On juvenile black tern the rump would be grey, the wings darker, less contrast with the back and the scapulars would be fringed paler.

It was often harrassed by the black-headed gulls, especially if it landed on its favoured bouy, and it was very vocal in its defence. I don't really know why it keeps landing on the orange bouy, there are others elsewhere away from the gulls and closer to where it spends most of its time feeding, but it never seems to bother with these. I've not seen it land anywhere else.

White-winged black tern at High Rid Reservoir

At lunch time I called in at High Rid reservoir near Horwich for a look at the juvenile black tern that has been present for a couple of days, only to discover that it was actually a white-winged black tern! As soon as I saw the bird I noticed the white rump and dark saddle, but on closer inspection it also showed what appeared to be a shadow of a breast patch, though this wasn't always visible. A breast patch is usually regarded as a diagnostic feature of juvenile black tern which probably explains the misidentification for the first two days of its stay, but apparantly white-winged black tern can also occasionally show this feature. I suppose a hybrid is also a possibility, but I have no idea how common they are. Probably a lot rarer than white-winged black tern! This is most likely the same bird which was at Rishton Reservoir on 4th September, which also had a faint breast patch.

Black redstarts at the Copper Mines

Three black redstarts on show today at the copper mines excavation on the Great Orme. I never expect to get great photos of this species, but today I at least managed some interesting photos (at least I think they are!).

No it's not fallen asleep, it's sunbathing!

The copper mines.