Wednesday, 15 July 2026

Common Flower Bug, a garden first!

 
At last a day when the wind wasn't blowing the plants around, there was decent heat, and it brought out some of the insect species that had been missing so far. Earlier in the week I'd seen a third Hummingbird Moth this year, and I hope that an Elephant Hawk Moth seen seen last year left behind some new ones.

Usual caveat, ID's are best efforts


Common Flower Bug Anthocoris nemorum, this bug is only 4mm long, and it looks less than that


Grey-banded Mining Bee Andrena denticulata





Early Mason Wasp Ancistrocerus nigricornis





Gwynne's Mining Bee Andrena bicolor


Migrant Hoverfly Eupeodes corollae


Pied Hoverfly aka White-bowed Smoothwing Scaeva pyrastri


Buff-tailed Bumblebee


Anthomyiidae indet


Broad Centurian Chloromyia formosa


I thought the Magpies might stop visiting my garden but I've been left with one adult and one of this years juveniles

Tuesday, 14 July 2026

Mediterranean Gulls and Great Egret

Lurgies, Montrose Basin and West Links, Arbroath, new summer visitors and returning birds


Mediterranean Gull 3rd calendar year at West Links, Arbroath. Both birds found by John A

Same bird as above, showing dark on its outer primary

Also an adult with yellow/orange bill tip


Osprey at the Lurgies, I hope it's only weed trailing from its talon and not fishing line


The first summer Great Egret found by Dan this week, more are welcome along with Spoonbills!

Little and large in the Egret world


Common Sandpiper juvenile, I noted the yellow legs and checked against Spotted Sandpiper, as you can see the Common has a long tail projection, whereas Spotted short. The harsh light is probably washing out the green legs making them look yellow





The light coming off the seaweed has made this Lapwing many strange colours

Sunday, 12 July 2026

Candy striped spider and Water scavenger beetle

   
Not a big post in keeping with the subjects.

I don't think I'd get these handheld photos with my 70mm lens, the Nikkor MC 105/2.8 S is a revelation.

Note, I'm aware that viewing/reading the text on an Android and probably iPhone is difficult. I've investigated and found the theme/template is no longer supported and I can't enlarge the fonts. I suggest reading the blog in landscape will help. The desktop version on a computer isn't affected. I'll look into changing the template but that would affect all of the previous posts, with all the problems that brings.


A Water scavenger beetle Helophorus brevipalpis. Probably the smallest insect I've photographed and managed to identify, maybe not to the level of variant, I don't have a microscope and it's 2mm long


Candy-striped spider Enoplognatha ovata and a Black Compost Fly which is a very small insect, and the spider isn't very big


10-spot Ladybird and a different pattern from the previous one in an earlier post, they're also very small




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