Corn Bunting recce and garden wildlife

   
In an earlier post I mentioned Corn Buntings being seen and reported near East Haven. There was some doubt as to whether there was three males singing or perhaps one male on a grand tour looking for females. I had a look around East Haven recently in less that perfect conditions and didn't find any Corn Buntings at all, but I didn't cover all of the available habitat, I'll keep looking in the next five weeks.

Also here, a look at the little things in my garden including Hoverflies, Wasps and Bumblebees.

Tree Bumblebee nest in a fascia, slow motion at 480 pixels      A second nest in a dormer  

A female Pheasant found while looking around a farm near East Haven for Corn Buntings. I didn't find any, perhaps too late in the morning, not many places for males to sing from, and too windy

Just two pairs of Skylarks, but Song Thrushes, Goldfinches, Greenfinches and a Whitethroat were all calling from the mature hedges around many of the fields

A gardening day today, a little cultivation and a lot of looking for Bees, Wasps and Hoverflies. And a bonus Common Frog

Wolf Spider species walking across the duckweed in my pond and carrying a cluster of eggs in a silk package

This Tree Bumblebee was found in my kitchen and a bit lethargic, and as I've been finding a few dead workers near the nests I thought it was doomed. However, I took it outside and into the sun and it recovered and flew away. The first and largest nest I have is very active in these warm conditions, and males perform an energetic lek almost all day while looking for virgin queens to emerge from the nest. Today I saw three different queens carry off a male to mate, but couldn't see where

Best ID I have is from ObsIdentify and a Spiny Mason Wasp Odynerus spinipes, which the book seems to confirm

 

Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus, very common and easily identified

Migrant Hoverfly Eupeodes corollae, or Migrant Aphid-eater. They eat aphids and were trialled in greenhouses where they ignored the aphids and ate the fruit

Pied Hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri 

Narcissus Bulb Fly Merodon equestris

Blackbird female

Starling