Castle Water
Its been an excellent year for seeing the migrant hoverfly Scaeva pyrastri, yesterday I found it everywhere, even on one of the island at Ternery Pool. While checking through some Creeping Thistle at Castle Water I came across a female of the species lacking the distinctive comma shaped markings on the abdomen, checking through British Hoverflies I found this to be a rare variation found in the females (var.unicolor). Additional hoverfly highlights yesterday included finding two Volucella zonaria feeding on a small patch of Hemp Agrimony next to the footpath just north of the viewpoint. I know these mighty hoverflies have featured before, but they are the most fantastic things.
Female Scaeva pyrastri (var. unicolor)