Clevedon Wildlife

 I finally managed to see some hoverfly adults today. The temperature was only 6C but the sun was out for a bit. The actual purpose of our trip to Dyffryn House near Cardiff was to look at Snowdrops but I had high hopes of more. In fact I only found a single flowering bush on the whole estate but this Sarcococca had three hoverflies of different species as well as a couple of bumble bees and a Yellow-Dungfly.                                                                    Episyrphus balteatus  The Marmalde Hoverfly The first was more or less expected, it being a relatively common overwintering species in southern England. The Marmalade Hoverfly.  The second species was again, not a surprise. This was the Common Drone Fly ( Eristalis tenax). I took loads of photos to be sure that I captured the critical...

In the brief dry window today I made my first attempt at finding hoverfly larvae this year. My last try failed but it seemed worth i, if only as a break from researching sites for later in the year. I chose to go to a local rewilding site where I am surveying regularly for hoverflies as part of a large volunteer effort. The site, Watercress farm near to Nailsea, is run by the Belmont Estate whose owners are seeking to prove that a nature based solution can generate money as an alternative to an intensive farming. It seems to me that as many alternative land uses as possible should be trialled to give Britain a healthier mix for the future generations. I set up shop in the Poplar Wood to search leaf litter for diapausing (resting phase) larvae.                                                                       ...

 I fully understand that many people would not like to catch, kill and preserve Hoverflies, preferring instead to photograph them. That is indeed fine and I have no issue with those views. For myself, though I feel strongly that it is important to know exactly what insects exist so that declines can be measured and action taken. Unfortunately it simply isn't yet possible to identify the majority of UK species in the field. I am fortunate to have the skills and opportunity  to carry out identification using a microscope. To me it is important that I do what bit I can. The UK Hoverflies Facebook group do a great job of recording about a third of the UK species but cannot, yet go beyond this. Roger Morris has written a paper discussing how trends in populations may be being influenced by photographic recording. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355203638_Is_photographic_recording_influencing_published_trends_in_the_relative_frequency_of_invertebrates?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7Im...

  What you carry is, very much, up to your plans for what you see. If you just want to enjoy seeing Hoverflies then you could just go without any kit at all. Or you could just take a notebook and jot down your sightings. Personally I have two main aims that heavily influence how laden I have become. These are to enjoy taking decent quality photographs and to record Hoverflies for posterity with the records being available to scientists, naturalists or others in the future. Having birded for nigh on 60 years I have a loft full of annual notebooks. Re-reading some early ones I realised that no-one else would be likely to plough through them so decided to change to mostly using electronic means. My choices are Ebird for birds and iRecord for insects. Mind you it was eye-opening to read a list where I walked to my nearby wood in the early 70s and simply recorded Turtle Dove as "abundant as usual".  Having said that I still use a notebook for listing what insects I am seeing in th...

                                        Black Lagoon Fly (Eristalinus sepulchralis) There are many resources available these days via the internet and I will just mention those that I use most regularly. Most days I have a look at the wonderful UKHoverflies facebook group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/609272232450940 This lets me see hundreds of photos of adult hoverflies which are identified by experts. As well as helping me familiarise myself with many species I also get a good idea as to what is flying currently. The most comprehensive selection of British Hoverfly photos imaginable can be seen at Steven Falk's Flickr pages with many photos each of nearly 300 species. https://www.flickr.com/photos/63075200@N07/collections/72157629600153789/ For checking my own identifications I send every new or tricky species into iRecord usually via the Android app. Web address of main site below...

 I intend to make this beginners guide as straightforward as possible. To that end I will do some short posts covering resources, equipment and courses for home and field use. Let's start with the books I use. The original is definitely British Hoverflies by Alan Stubbs and Steven Falk. It's a weighty tomb but stuffed full of keys, drawings and information. Until recently it was the go-to publication but I have only just got round to buying a copy to give me an alternative source if I get stuck. The two I use most are, firstly the excellent Wildguide to Hoverflies of Britain and Ireland by Stuart Ball and Roger Morris. This builds on the keys used in the Stubbs one and the third addition uses photos and diagrams to identify many of the British species. I say many because not all can be done from photos as we will see later in this series. My other go-to is now the Hoverflies of Britain and North West Europe by Sander Bot and Frank Van de Meutter.           ...