RXwildlife Sightings

Though still a bit windy and chilly in the open there has definitely been a bit more inveretebrate activity over the last few days compared to previously. One of several species abroad in my garden at Lime Kiln Cottage was this dock bug (Coreus marginatus) a species which unsurprisingly gets its name from the fact that it feed on various docks and sorrells. Common in southern Britain, this is a ‘true bug’ with piercing and sucking mouthparts and relatives of this species which occur in America can be a pests of squash plants. Consequently one of the umbrella names for the groups of insects to which this species belongs is ’squash bugs’

Dock bug

Still not exactly warm, but out of the wind in the sheltered scrubby areas near the viewpoint a good selection of damselflies had gathered. At least 50+ Variable Damselfly, 100+ Blue-tailed  Damselfly, 20+ Red-eyed Damselfy and 30+ Azure Damselfly were enjoying the warmth. Hairy Dragonfly and Downy Emerald were also patrolling the nearby bramble bushes. As the season progresses I keep expecting to find a bigger emergence of Hairy Dragonfly at Castle Water, so far I have only collected twenty exuvia and would expect a lot more by now if recent years are anything to go by. A selection of picture from this morning are below.

One of two male Hairy Dragonfly at stage 2 of emergence near the viewpoint this morning.

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A search for more signs of Downy Emerald emergence today revealed 8 exuviae and one adult at the point of taking its maiden flight. Trying to find all the exuvia can be a challenge, especially when its only a few spindley legs grasping a sprouting common reed stem showing, as shown in the third picture below.

On the verge of taking maiden flight Read the rest of this entry »

I can’t believe that it’s been five years since I first found Downy Emerald as a new breeding species of dragonfly at Castle Water. Last year I did not find any exuvia or see any adults on the wing, so thought it was just a  short term thing as the species had been expanding its range in the south east and had just used Castle Water as a stepping stone to find other woodland habitats. While at the viewpoint this morning I checked the margins to see if the sunny weather had encouraged any dragonflies to emerge, and was delighted to find 3 Downy Emerald in the process of emerging and 5 exuviae. Several Hairy Dragonfly and small numbers of Red-eyed Damselfly were also emerging in the margins.

Downy Emerald at stage four of emergence Read the rest of this entry »

Graeme Lyons, Michael Blencowe and Mat Davidson came over to Rye Harbour yesterday to record a podcast on the reserve. They spent the morning with Barry looking at birds, and then came with me to look at invertebrates. Highlight of the day (and one which I suspect will be diffcult to beat all year) were three male Pellenes tripunctatus, a rare jumping spider only occuring at three places in Britain and only dicovered here last year (actually a year ago today!). We also saw plenty of pale grass eggar caterpillars, and over 30 bombardier beetle!

Pellenes tripunctatus male
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At last some signs of Hairy Dragonfly emergence at Castle Water, in recent years the first few exuviae and adults have been found from the 24th April onwards. This morning I found a male and female that had successfully reached stage four of emergence and hopefully if the temperature rises a little today should manage to take a maiden flight. The highlight though was watching the first few steps of a larva as it left the water and crawled up its chosen emergence support. This part of the process always fascinates me as the aquatic life is left behind and an aerial life beckons, if only for a brief time. 

With this declining summer visitor so much in the news recently - click here I havent heard anyone question their food supply here in Britain. They specialise on eating hairy caterpillars and it is generally accepted that populations of moths have declined. Here at Rye Harbour the population of cuckoos is steady AND there are many hairy caterpillars available. Even in this cold wet weather it is easy to find two species of large hairy caterpillar on the shingle habitat - the irritating brown-tail moth and the nationally rare pale grass eggar - and it is easy to watch the cuckoos eating them… Read the rest of this entry »

A couple more species of damselfly this morning in the margins near the viewpoint, Blue-tailed and Variable. Also of interest an Orange-tip, 2 Small Copper and the hoverfly Rhingia campestris.

Male Variable Damselfly

Yesterday I took the opportunity to carry out my first butterfly count of the year, and after the wet weather it was good to get out in the sun! Truth be told there was little in the way of butterflies, with several peacock, a speckled wood in the scrub around Castle Water hide and a green-veined white the only species recorded, though there were plenty of other things to see. Highlight for me was the rare jumping spider Marpissa muscosa at Castle Water Hide, a species only recorded for the first time on the reserve in 2007 and now seen annually. Also seen on the the route were several hundred St Mark’s fly - every bush seemed to have its attendant group flying lazily round the branches - the spring hoverfly Epistrophe eligans and red-tailed bumblebee, buff-tailed bumblebee and common carder bee (the first ones I have seen at Rye Harbour this year).

Common carder bee
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I have been searching for the first signs of some Hairy Dragonfly emergence over the last week and was hopeful today of finding some exuviae, but found none. There was however some teneral damseflies in the margins and most appeared to be Azure Damsefly. While checking out some potential emergence supports I came across a moth called The Spectacle. When looked at head on it’s obvious how it gets its name, the antennae also create a nice Jimmy Edwards style handlebar moustache.

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