Bank Holiday Blaencaerau

 Weather was pretty poor so looking for hoverflies was hard work, but I stuck at it and used the "stair at a tree for 20 minutes" method. In the end I had a fair haul of 30 species. The best being  Platycheirus tarsalis, Parhelophilus versicolor and Pipiza austriaca. Most numerous was Syritta pipiens (15). The bigger more colourful hoverflies are finally starting to emerge, with firsts of the year with Volucella bombylans and Volucella pellucens taking me to 67 species in May alone. The umbellifer season has also started with both Cow Parsley and Ground Elder blooming making it much easier to locate multiple species at once.

Otherwise all the usual suspects in the insect and bird world led by the Bilberry Bumblebee.

Volucella bombylans - plumata form

Cheilosia albitarsis - checked in hand

Volucella pellucens

Melanogastor hirtella - checked in hand

male Parhelophilus versicolor - checked in hand, but the photo does show the lack of ventral projection (hair clump) on hind femur.  

Bilberry Bumblebee

Gilfach (west), Top Llangynwyd

 My first full visit to this area this year, proved to be a good idea as Hawthorn and Rowan were in full bloom.. A small parasyrphus was on a Buttercup flower warming up in the sun. I took a few photos before I potted it, On examination in the pot I could see it was clearly a Parasyrphus annulatus, which is a new hoverfly for the valley [number 148]. I took it home and checked under magnification to be sure. The photos are inconclusive not showing the hind femur pattern and lack of upright hairs on the squamae but I'll post it anyway.

Otherwise 27 species were seen, highlights other than the parasyrphus were Criorhina berberina, Criorhina floccosa and Pipiza austriaca. Most numerous species was Eristalis pertinax (60) although  a high count of Myathropa florea (8) was also pleasing.

All the usual insects and birds were present including the longhorn beetles Pachytodes cerambyciformis and Rhagium bifasciatum.

Parasyphus - which when examined was "annulatus" and new for the valley

Pipiza austriaca

Criorhina floccosa

Dasysyrphus venustus s.l.

Syritta pipiens

Oedemera nobilis (Swollen-thighed beetle)

Blaencaerau in the sun

 Continuing fine weather is seeing more and more hoverfly species emerging, up to 57 species since the 1st of May. There is a total lack of the Syrphus family group about, only 2 Syrphus torvus seen so far this year and no ribesii or vitripennis. On the plus side Parasyrphus are much easier to find with "lineola, malinellus, nigritarsis and punctulatus all recorded in good numbers. Also had my first Episyrphus balteatus of the year, which is almost certainly a migrant, with the poor weather up to May destroying the chances of any hibernating/spring brood individuals from emerging safely.

Leucozona lucorum

Episyrphus balteatus

Melangyna lasiophthalma

Last week

 Some fine weather for a change had the hoverflies coming out in good numbers and number of species. 41 species were seen and it seems like Rowan is attracting a lot of insects. Below are a few photos from the week

Cheilosia variabilis

Chrysotoxum arcuatum

Dasysyrphus venustus s.l.

Epistrophe eligans

Sericomyis silentis

Sphegina species - probably clunipes.

On the bird front had my first Swifts of the year at Blaencaerau along with Grasshopper Warbler and Whitethroat being the highlight of 39 species. Looks like the Willow Tits have disappeared till the Autumn, I tried tracking them a few times but they disappear towards the farm area.

Garnwen (Saturday)

 The lack of sunny days means hoverfly numbers are below average for the time of year. I only recorded 10 species where I should be expecting 20+. Best of which were Parasyrphus malinellus (1),Parasyrphus punctulatus (3) and Dasysyrphus albostriatus (2). No species exceded 5 individuals.

Dasysyrphus albostriatus

Parasyrphus punctulatus

Parasyrphus species - which can't be identified from the photo, so I potted this one and later found it to be Parasyrphus malinellus.

The Blackthorn blossom has been very poor this year, so I was happy to see a single tree in good blossom and this is where I recorded most of the species today. 

Otherwise the only other insect of note was a bloody-nosed beetle'

On the bird front I saw my first Whitethroat of the year as well as other summer migrants Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler.

Bloody-nosed beetle

Lletty Brongu woods

 It's surprising what a bit of sunshine can do at this time of year. A good selection of spring hoverflies were in the woods at Lletty Brongu and some in good numbers. 11 species were recorded with the best being Epistrophe eligans (4), Rhimgia campestris (7) and Cheilosia pagana (1). Highest counts were Melanostoma scalare (46), Platycheirus albimanus (41) and Eristalis pertinax (40).

Epistrophe eligans

Rhingia campestris

Xylota segnis

Eristalis pertinax

Helophilus pendulus

First butterflies of the year included Speckled Wood, Brimstone, Small Tortoiseshell and unusually Small White, I have never seen them emerge before Green-veined White before. Tree, Buff-tailed Bumblebee and Tawny-mining Bee were present as well as the common Honey Bee. Other flies include the spring cranefly Tipula vittata and the first shieldbug of the year was Green Shieldbug.

On the bird front Sand Martin (4) have returned and the woods held Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Chiffchaff, but no Rooks using either Llangynwyd or the Sewage works as a nest site.

Tawny-mining Bee

Green Shieldbug

Speckled Wood

Tipula vittata

Finally one of the oldest oak trees in the woods has succumbed to the winter storms and split right down the middle as it fell and was heavily laden with Ivy.  In fact quite a lot of trees have come down and lots of paths are blocked.

Easter weekend

 No new species of hoverfly but numbers are increasing slowly, which was a bit of a surprise after the snow on Thursday. Platycheirus albimanus numbered 24 and there were two male Parasyrphus punctulatus at Blaencaerau. But still singles of Eristalis pertinax and tenax.

Firsts for the year included Tree Bumblebee and the tachinid fly Tachina ursina. Cuckooflower was starting to blossom - a bit earlier than normal. On the bird front seven male Chiffchaffs have returned for the summer.

Parasyrphus punctulatus

Tachina ursina - my yearly photo📷

Cuckooflower

Sunday (24th March) - the season begins

 Things have started to emerge, 4 species of hoverfly were recorded on a 2hr walk up Gilfach (west) on Sunday with Platycheirus albimanus (1), Parasyrphus punctulatus (2), Eristalis pertinax (3) and Eristalis tenax (1) all on the wing.

The only other insects seen were Honey Bee (5) and Buff-tailed Bumblebee (3).

Parasyrphus punctulatus

Eristalis pertinax

Eristalis tenax

The new season

 Hoverfly season is about to begin in the valley, roughly on 21 March (first of the Sallow blossom) and end on 10 October (last of the Ivy blossom). These dates are about 2 weeks later than England and coastal Wales due to the higher altitude micro-climate we endure throughout the year particularly in Spring and Autumn. So here's a snippet of our overall records over the last nine years, with the valley list standing at 147 species, with a few notable missing species that should be recorded in the near future.

End of season at the Welfare Park

 Most of the Ivy has finished and hoverfly numbers are low. So another season winds up. There were 8 species at the park Ivy and dying flowerbed. Platycheirus clypeatus being the only hoverfly of note. Episyrphus balteatus was the most numerous at 15. Any more hoverfly records will be casual/isolated observations rather than recording at sites.

Just the 3 Red Admiral left among the 100's of Common and Tree Wasps.

Eristalis pertinax

Eristalis tenax

Platycheirus albimanus

Weekend round up

 It's that time of year when all the flowers have died back except for a few isolated pockets of Michaelmas Daisy and ornamental flowers in parks and gardens. Even the Ivy is starting to die back. The cemetery Ivy is nearly gone but the Welfare Park is still blooming as well as the Caerau pockets. So this will probably be the end of the hoverfly season for another year. This weekend though produced another 3 migrant Xanthandrus comtus, the most I've seen in a single day. In total 13 species were recorded, with no other surprises. Although migrant flies seem to be outnumbering the residents with 22 Episyrphus balteatus, 2 Scaeva pyrastri and 2 Syrphus vitripennis seen.

Other insects are now becoming scarce with my first Painted Lady in a while feeding on Ivy and large numbers of Harlequin Ladybird present. Nothing to report on the bird front, which was a little disappointing.

Scaeva pyrastri

Sphaerophoria scripta

Episyrphus balteatus

Harlequin ladybird

Hawthorn Shieldbug