RXwildlife Sightings

Spurred on by Gordon Jarvis’s record of Hemyda vittata, I decided to take a visit to the same Peamarsh woodland myself yesterday. No Hemdya unfortunately, but I did come across a mating pair of the large and slightly weird looking tachinid Phasia hemiptera. This species is related to H. vittata and is also a parasitoid on true-bugs. It is sexually dimorphic (ie the sexes look different), the male having very broad, patterned wings in contrast to those of the female which are narrower and unpatterned. Also present were several pairs of mating Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris), the attractive day-flying moth Speckled Yellow, and a good numbers of the Labyrinth Spider (Agelena labyrinthica).

Phasia hemiptera
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The first Swift of the year for Rye Harbour were reported this morning, with two separate reports of up to three birds from the viewpoint at Castle Water. Also present here was at least one Garganey and 50+ Whimbrel. On the Beach Reserve at 95 Bar-tailed Godwit and three Grey Plover were feeding along the shore just after dawn, while a Curlew Sandpiper was present on Harbour Farm Pools late morning.

For the last few days there have been exceptional numbers of enormous (up to 60mm) hairy caterpillars crossing the private road along the Beach Reserve. These are unprecedented numbers of the Pale Grass Eggar Lasiocampa trifolii subsp. flava known only from shingle beaches in Kent and East Sussex. The larva feeds on a variety of grasses and plants including broom, creeping willow, heather and bramble. This glut of caterpillars is being enjoyed by Rooks and Cuckoos.
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