The Scottish hoverfly

Lake Vyrnwy RSPB Reserve, Tuesday 5th June 2018

Five of us made our way to Lake Vyrnwy on a cloudy day. We met with our hosts for the day and discussed what sort of habitat we would like to visit.

Moorland was agreed. We returned to one of our cars and the RSPB land rover and made our way along the western shore of the lake then taking the Dinas Mawddwy road. We were joined for the first part of the trip by a Rhagionid fly, probably Rhagio scolopaceus, which clung to the window of the car.

The road to the moorland took us alongside the Eunant Fawr and passengers in the car had a splendid view of the stream as it tumbled down the valley and over the waterfall. The drivers on the other hand needed to keep their eyes firmly fixed on the road ahead.

We climbed steadily until we reached the slopes of Waun Drawsfan where we parked.

It was at this point that our hosts declared that the Land Rover had "pinged" indicating low fuel. Fortunately it was downhill all the way back so no panic ensued.

This excellent aerial photograph show the area we were in.

Photpgraph; Bob Kemp

We forded the Eunant and made our way onto the moorland.

The moorland was dominated by heather and common heath and latticed heath moths flitted about. However it proved surprisingly difficult to find a lot of things of interest.

A Bilberry bumble bee, Bombus monticola, was spotted on several occasions

Photograph: David Williams

We managed to find a couple of moth larvae

An Autumnal rustic

Photograph: David Williams

And an Oak eggar.

Photograph: David Williams

And an adult Mother Shipton moth named after the hag-like profiles that can be made out in the wing pattern.

Photograph: David Williams

This lack of invertebrate activity gave us plenty of time to catch up with old friends in wonderful scenery.

Photograph: David Williams

We continued to clamber over the heather and gain altitude passing small clumps of cranberry.

Sorry not the best photograph but as good as I could manage.

Eventually we reached an area where the ground descended slightly into a very wet area. Here the ground was bouncy and it was easy to step from comparatively dry land into a boot overlapping puddle.

The clouds had cleared and the sun was beating down. Just the time and place for lunch.

We felt isolated from the world.

Lunch over we return to the cars. As always the area around where we parked proved to be of interest. A pair of mating picture wing flies were photographed.

Photograph: David Williams

As we returned the flies to a thistle head a large click beetle was seen - Ctenicera cuprea.

Photograph: David Williams

The Bog beacon fungus was found. This is a fungus that occurs infrequently in very wet places.

Photograph: Bob Kemp

It was time to move on. We followed the Land Rover as it descended down the lake shore then a little way further until we came to a parking and picnic area shown as Llechwedd-dû on an OS map. There was a splendid view across the lake.

Photograph: David Williams

But it was not the view that we had come to see, it was the meadow on the other side of the road.

This area was cloaked in lush vegetation; a complete contrast to the moorland. Invertebrate life was far more abundant. 

Two species of Sericomyia hoverflies were recorded

Sericomyia silentis

Photograph: David Williams

And S. lappona.

Photograph: David Williams

The area was so well vegetated that lichens and plants took advantage of any outcrop.

Parmelia sulcata and Usnia - Photograph: Bob Kemp

Photograph: Bob Kemp

It  was getting late; time to move on but not before reproducing a tourist leaflet photograph of the dam wall.

Photograph: David Williams

My thanks to the RSPB at Lake Vyrnwy for giving us the opportunity to survey on their site and to Sue Loughran for making the arrangements and providing excellent cake and tea when all the refreshment options of the site had closed. As always my thanks to David Williams and Bob Kemp for their excellent photographs.

Haughmond Hill, Wednesday 6 June 2018

The following day found us at a more local site - Haughmond Hill. After gathering in the car park we set off on the gentle but lengthy ascent to the viewpoint pausing every now and then to check out the vegetation bordering the path for invertebrate life.

An early find was a pair of mating Woundwort shieldbugs.

Photograph: David Williams

The sun was shining and it was hot making the ascent seem endless.

An insect we do not see very often is a snakefly.

Photograh: David Williams

This is Xanthostigma xanthostigma one of a few species that make up the snakefly family in Britain. I assume the term snakefly comes from the extended head and thorax.

A sawfly larva was photographed

Photograph: David Williams

We have no idea what species this is which is a pity as such a brightly coloured larva deserves to be identifiable. If you know what it is please let me know.

A sweep of some dry sparse grassland captured a Bishop's Mitre.

Photographer: David Williams

It was well past our normal lunch time when we arrived at the viewpoint. So we immediately sat down and consumed our refreshments whilst enjoying the view.

Lunch over we made our way to the north west of the viewpoint to see if the "Scottish hoverfly" was still in residence.

In 2011 I photographed on Little Hill a foothill of The Wrekin what I thought was a bee. It turned out to be a hoverfly. And not just any old hoverfly but one that is was known only in the Caledonian pine forests of Scotland. The hoverfly was Callicera rufa.

It was then found on Haughmond Hill and Nesscliffe. Each of these sites has been checked each year since to ensure that the colonies are surviving and, I am happy to report, they seem to be.

This is the tree on Haughmond Hill on which you may find them.

On this occasion we found a couple, possibly three. Whilst we watched two seemed to spend their time fighting each other, resting a short while on the trunk then resuming their scrap.

I managed an indistinct long distance photograph which is good enough to confirm that one of them was Callicera rufa.

We mooched around the area for a while finding a Wall butterfly, a sand wasp identified as Ammophila sabulosa.

Photograph: David Williams

And a Mottled grasshopper nymph.

Photograph: David Williams

After all this excitement we decided a cup of something was in order so we made our way back to the car park where a café is situated.

My thanks to The Forestry Commission for giving us permission to do what we enjoy doing and to David Williams for allowing me to use his excellent photographs.