Waskerley Wander

 On Sunday morning half a dozen members of the Rainton Meadows photography group met at Waskerley Station for a mooch about, with the potential of Adder and Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. It was a macro-photography theme for most of us, and of course I do little else these days.


The first things to catch my eye were a couple of hoverflies. The first picture is Sericomyia silentis, which was nice find as it's the first time I've photographed it. The second is....Well let's just say it's one of the Syrphini, possibly Dasysyrphus venustus or pinastri, but I can't be anywhere near certain from this one photograph.

 A Tetragnathid spider posed for a nice view of its underside...

 

 We found several Small Pearl-bordered Fritillaries (Boloria selene), which were quite active and struggling with the breeze, but once landed they were relatively easy to approach for photography. The species is subject to a biodiversity action plan in Durham (http://www.durhambiodiversity.org.uk/smallpearl.htm), and was a new species for me.

 Another first was the highly elusive and well-camouflaged Tortoise Beetle. Of the common UK species, I suspect this is Cassida rubiginosa.

 I missed any photos of the only Adder of the day, though I at least saw it, which is always a joy.
 There was some compenstaion though in the form of another reptile, the Common Lizard (Lacerta vivipara). I startled a couple of these before I spotted one that I was able to approach for a photo or two. Not the best pics, as there was foliage in the way, but it was just nice to see it. I'm not an expert, but this looks like a gravid female to me.

New Longhorn / One-horned Longhorn

I took a stroll around Low Barns LNR at Witton le Wear, and wasn't too optimistic about finding much to photograph. It was quite a cool day, with the threat of rain, and very breezy. Breeze is the enemy of the macro-photographer. Even with flash to assist, it's often impossible to even get focus on some tiny creature clinging to a swaying leaf.

I was over the moon therefore, to find these longhorn beetles on a magically sheltered hawthorn.

 

This is Rhagium mordax, one of the larger longhorn beetles, the female here would be getting on for an inch in length, nose to tail. Despite it being a common species, they've always eluded me, so it was good to finally see them and get a few decent shots. Apparently they're a fast running species, known as the "barklöpare" (bark runner) in Sweden, so I was lucky to find this pair concentrating on something other than running about.

They soon separated, but the male posed for a few more photos before flying off. I later realised that he had lost an antenna, making him a one-horned longhorn.

 

Buzz, Whine or Hover Under The Influence of Heat

There's (an imaginary) prize for anyone who understands what the title of this post alludes to...

However, this entry finds me slightly outside of my stated geographical patch. 
I was in the Lake District, on Keldas at the southern end of Ullswater. There's a small rocky 'turret' there with vegetation on top, and I found a good number of Sericomyia lappona buzzing about. There must have been a few dozen individuals present on an area of raised ground just a few yards across.

This is actually the first time I've (knowingly) encountered this species of hoverfly, so I began happily taking photographs, but soon became aware of a high pitched whining noise, somewhat like a mosquito. I soon realised that this was being made by the flies. When landing on the rocks and vegetation they were in an 'open winged' position, but upon closing the wings, they began emitting the high pitched sound.
The flies were very active, rarely landing for more than 30 seconds, but several times I witnessed the stationary 'singing' ones being approached by others flying. They would then embark on a brief paired flight, before separating.
The whole scene was fascinating. The flies had gathered in a very small area (I saw none at all anywhere else, even just a few feet further down the slope), and assume it was connected with courtship activity.

Cuckoo Bee & Fever Fly

Another lunchtime stroll today, and there were a couple of these cuckoo bees in the area near to the nests of the Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva). These are kleptoparasites, laying their eggs in the nests of Andrena species, where their larvae steal the food supply of the host species own.

These Nomada species are notoriously difficult to identify from photographs alone, but I think this is probably Nomada flava, from the broad red stripes on the thorax, the red colouring on tergite 1, red antennae, etc.
If anyone has any better ideas, please let me know.

Next is a fly of the Bibionidae family. I don't know how many species are represented locally, but this is most likely Dilophus febrilis, commonly known as the fever fly. This male is pictured clinging to the tip of a nettle leaf.

Lunchtime Safari

I don't like to sit in the office at lunchtime. Only the very worst conditions will keep me behind the desk, so in some fine but breezy weather I set out for a stroll at lunchtime to see if anything was about. It didn't look too promising until I headed for a sheltered spot on the edge of a patch of woodland, where a combination of full sun and flowering shrubs meant that a few insects were gathering.

Initially I spent a good few minutes chasing a couple of Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) butterflies around the clearing. Though landing frequently, they were very flighty and active, but I managed a couple of reasonably useful shots. 

An obliging bee provided the next subject. I'm calling this a Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva), though the colouring is paler than I'd expect, being more gingery than red. Maybe an older, faded specimen, or another Andrena though. If anyone can confirm or identify, please let me know.

Lacking the 'pollen basket' of the bumblebees, notice how the pollen is stored among the bristles of the hind legs.

Finally, I found some Xylota segnis sunbathing on sycamore leaves. This species is probably among the most familiar hoverflies, though perhaps not commonly recognised as such. I never seem to see the doing much hovering anyway. They're quite a large fly, with a wing length of 7-9.5mm, and the combination of size, colouring, and the large hind femur can make them look somewhat menacing. Like all the hoverflies though, they're harmless.

The genus Xylota is represented by about a half dozen species in the U.K., but this is the most frequently encountered. 

This photo isn't the best, but conditons were getting breezy, and even using flash I was struggling to keep things looking still, so there's a bit of 'judder' in this one.

Smiddy Shaw

  Today began with a vague idea of a snake hunt (armed only with camera of course) in the area of Smiddy Shaw reservoir. Without any experience of finding adders, it was always going to be down to pure luck, and despite much quiet and careful tip-toeing around, I failed to locate any basking reptiles.

  Fortunately, the day was turning out warm and fine, and quite a few invertebratres were in evidence. Time for the macro gear! I'm still getting to grips with the Opteka RL600 macro flash, a bargain-basement twin (as opposed to ring) flash in conjunction with the perennial favourite Sigma 105mm lens.

  The first creature I was able to get close to was a Common Heath moth (Ematurga atomaria).

  This is a typical upland moth associated with heathers. This was the best photo I got of this flighty species. I have to admit that I thought it was a Latticed Heath until I got back and checked the field guide, where I learned that of the two species, only male Commons have 'feathery' antennae, which show quite well in this shot.

  The next species to pose for the camera was the Green Hairstreak butterfly (Callophrys rubi). I must have been walking around with my eyes closed for the past 40-odd years, because this was the first time I'd ever even seen this species, let alone photographed it.

  I was delighted with these very colourful butterflies, and there were a good number of them flying about the heather. I used some fill flash for this shot, as with the Common Heath, and I was worried that it may have added some false colour to the wings, but I think it turned out okay, as I noticed from observing them that the iridescence of the scales is such that they tend to vary in colour depending on which angle you view them from anyway!

  The last insect, other than a couple of rove beetles, that I managed to get any decent shots of was one of my favourites - a Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela campestris). Anyone who managed to stay awake through my recent slide-show at Rainton Meadows may be aware of my enthusiasm for these.

  In the past I've spent ages chasing these fast, flighty, and easily-spooked predatory beetles, usually with little to show for it. They're hunters, as you can tell from the large eyes, so they're very alert and aware and therefore hard to sneak up on. Strong fliers, they usually take wing whenever I get near enough for a photo. 

  I was in luck here though, because this one landed right in front of me and grabbed some hapless creature (an ant?), and was then so pre-occupied with crunching up its prey that I was able to lie down and get some decent face to face photos, which show its terrifying jaws in action

  This made the day for me. I've got my best-so-far photos of Tiger Beetles, seen a new species, and the Opteka has worked out very nicely (possibly even out-performing my old Nissin flash with directional diffuser made from cardboard, kitchen foil and plastic milk bottles!).

Since I mentioned the Rainton Meadows photo group earlier, I'll close this entry by saying thanks to all who attended and stifled yawns earlier this month, and especially to Ian H, for his hospitality, and for kindly providing all the technology on the night.

  It was a sad evening with the news about Gerry. As a relative newcomer to the group, I didn't get to know him very well, but from the outset he was one of the more friendly and approachable members (and in a friendly and approachable group throughout, that's something). His enthusiasm, skill, and experience will be missed.

Ian B