Bee-Fly.

Bee-fly, Bombilius major

A stroll today down the path to Ashton, this time remembering to take a camera, was rewarded, not only with shots of Peocock, and Comma, but also with a sighting of a Bee-Fly, Bombilius major. While hovering like a humming bird, the long proboscis is used to gather nectar. It is quite harmless
though the high pitched whine may cause some alarm.

                                     

                                           

Butterflies and Moths

Two warm, sunny days have brought out the butterflies again. Brimstone and Peacock have both been seen in the garden, and a stroll down the permissive path to Ashton . with its south facing bank warming up rapidly, has produced Small Tortoiseshell, and Comma as well as Peacock and Brimstone.  My moth trap is slowly picking up again, with Common Quaker, Twin Spot Quaker, Hebrew Character, Early Thorn and Oak Beauty appearing regularly.

My sponsored Cuckoo, Selborne,  has spent the last few weeks flying to and fro between Guinea and the Ivory coast and is now heading North West. In previous years he has started crossing the Sahara around the 25th March so maybe this move is the start of his long journey back to the New Forest.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR.

I noticed this morning that the buds on the Horse Chestnut tree outside my bedroom window have begun to open, a definite sign that Spring is here. Soon the leaves will open and hide the activities of the Rooks which live in the upper branches. Some are dismantling last year's nests and starting anew while others are just patching up their old nests. A disturbing development this year is the number of fights that have occurred as intruders try to take over one of the existing nests. The birds grapple together as they fall, fluttering, down through the branches until they hit the ground, where they end up with one bird pinned down on its back while the other tries to peck it to death. This is a common behavior in Blackbirds which will reject all human attempts to separate them, and usually results in the death of one bird. Rooks however must have some sort of ‘submit’ signal which leads to the upper rook returning to the nest and the other flying off.

My Cuckoo, Selborne, is behaving rather oddly. The latest satelite information from its tag reads:-

“Selborne doubles back - 11 Mar 2019

Selborne has left Guinea and headed back east and into Ivory Coast. He seems to be homing in on the rains that are currently prevalent in the southern half of Ivory Coast. This wasn’t a short journey, he is 376km (234 miles) from his location in Guinea. This shows the importance of homing in on the rains and that our Cuckoos have the ability to do this.”

In previous years he has set off on his 3,000 mile journey back home around the 24^th of March, so plenty of time yet to stock up for the flight.