An Odd Sunday

 Sunday June 9

It started with a planned visit to Cley Centre. Andrew Kershaw trapped a Larch Pug in his garden on Friday night. None of our group had seen one before, so he kindly brought it to Cley this morning for 10.30.

 

Having duly admired this large pug with its unique white thoracic crest, we left for some birding. Glandford Lane first, where Cetti's Warbler, Chiffchaffs and Common Whitethroat were singing during a fairly gloomy spell. I managed a photo of the Whitethroat only fit for the folder. I pointed at where I thought the bird was and got lucky.

On to the ford where Pam spotted an insect on top of the foaming white cow parsley head. It turned out to be a Bumblebee Plumehorn, not a Bumblebee at all, but a Hoverfly mimic.

 

 


The bumblebee mimic hoverfly, sometimes known as the bumblebee plumehorn, is a common sight across the UK in late spring and summer. As its name suggests, it does an impressive job of mimicking a bumblebee, complete with a furry body. They're often found along hedgerows and the edges of woodland, or in scrubby areas. They visit a wide range of flowers, including thistles and brambles. Males are highly territorial and will defend their favourite sunlit leaf from other males, occasionally darting out to look for females.

We then spent an hour in Sculthorpe Mill car park hoping for a view of a Spotted Flycatcher. No luck again.It was rather breezy, the trees whipping about so maybe it was keeping low. We enjoyed watching the commoner birds present  and the arrival of the lunchtime crowd.

It started to rain. Pam's choice was to drive home so that she could do some potting on of indoor plants and some more veg seeds.


 

 



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