Pig Bush |
Pig Bush |
Many of us will be spotting Bee-flies in the garden and in the Forest at the moment. The commonest of the four native species is Bombylus major, the Dark-edged or Large Bee-fly, with dark patches on the edge of each wing. It is worth looking closely at the wings as the less common Spotted Bee-fly, B.discolor, is also found in the Forest. It is very slightly smaller and has spots on its wings.
These odd-looking furry flies are parasites on Andrena
mining bees. They adults deposit their eggs by flicking their abdomen, to propel the eggs towards the mouth of the bee’s nest. According to research
done in both Russia and Japan they are not particularly accurate! They also
have another strategy where they simply lay their eggs on plants visited by the
bees which stick to them and are then transferred to the nest.
Bombylius flies only superficially resemble bees, unlike some of the
Hover flies, so are they mimics or just hairy? It has been proposed that they
get a measure of protection from predators by being bee-ish, but also that it allows
them to approach the host’s nest without being attacked.
CR
We heard a buzzard, and spotted a possible bullfinch at a distance. However when we emerged onto Agarton Lane there were several birds to be seen - long tailed tits, chiffchaff, wren, robin, blue tit, chaffinch, goldfinch and dunnock . We also saw roe deer in the field alongside and several bee hives on the edge of the field.
Cherry Plum and Blackthorn are both flowering at the moment, but the white bushes/shrubs we see around us are often dismissed as being merely Blackthorn.
Cherry Plum is the first to flower and the leaves appear at the beginning of flowering or soon after. Its flowers are slightly larger than those of Blackthorn and the stamens are shorter than the petals. It does not have spines.
Blackthorn starts flowering 2-3 weeks later and its twigs are more densely packed with its smaller white flowers. The stamens are longer than the petals giving a flowering spray a slightly fuzzy appearance. The branches also have spines, hence the name.
RC