RXwildlife Sightings

Bumblebee declines have been well publicised. It is the suite of longer tongued species that have declined most significantly. The reason is that these species need very extensive areas of flower-rich countryside to survive. The shrill carder bee Bombus sylvarum for instance, sadly lost from the RX area, is thought to require ten square kilometres of suitable flowery habitat with the appropriate food plants to maintain viable populations. Over the next few weeks I intend to highlight some of the more valuable foodplants for these insects, and encourage land managers to let them flower on their land.

Right now some of the best bumblebee forage is on the dead nettles, such as white dead nettle Lamium album.

 This inhabitant of hedgerows and rough grassland Read the rest of this entry »

The small pond at the entrance to the hide at Castle Water is the only reliable place on the reserve to find Large Red Damselflies which occur in small numbers. As the emergence period is fast approaching the pond was sampled yesterday for last instar nymphs, with restricted access to the pond a few were found. Photographs taken through a hand lens show two identification features, the square shape of the back the head (top picture), the bottom picture shows the distinctive pattern and shape of the caudal lamellae or gills.

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A cold wet horrible morning but still a few highlights, 54 whimbrel left the roost on Flat Beach Quarry, 2 Little Gull, 35 Dunlin and 14 Knot were there also. A Swift overhead at Ternery Pool was unexpected (the earliest recorded sighting for the Reserve is the 17th of April 1996).