Scaeva pyrastri

USS GHWB back in the Solent - I'm guessing its the largest ship ever to have anchored here.

Just one juvenile Marsh Harrier, a few distant Buzzards and still four or more Kestrels. Two distant Great-crested Grebes appeared to have two young on the back of one adult. Lots of Common Darters along the sunnier part of the boardwalk and this Southern Hawker, one of two, kept its distance. Two V.inanis and one V.zonaria all on Hemp Agrimony but precious little else.
No sign of any SR-eD on the cafe pond.

South Scrape was virtually birdless with just one Common Sandpiper and a single Teal amongst the other young or moulting quackers.

PHP

About 125 mixed martins, mostly House and a couple of Swifts, quite a few Chiff and Blackcap;  Reed Warblers still singing. Still plenty of diptera on umbellifers but few hovers just plenty of M. florea(below) and Syrphus and a few Noon Flies (also below).

A half-hearted spin round the usual park route produced just one P. hemiptera. Masses of unidentifiable diptera, hymenoptera etc on virtually every piece of umbellifer but pretty much zero on Hemp Agrimony and Ragwort. Best was Chrysotoxum festivum which flew in, landed and was gone before I could get the camera up to the eye - a year first.
Eriothrix rufomaculata and Common Blue.

Little and large

Johns first visit

Good to see John back after seven week absence after his fall - he seemed in good spirits.

On the north side just 350+ Sand Martins, ten Swifts and a handful of Buzzards.

On the south side this small Grass Snake on the usual stump and elsewhere two much smaller individuals. A distant perched Emperor and a Common Darter but again virtually no hovers or diptera. Still two very unfledged Common Terns and another handful of Buzzards. Kingfishers were calling distantly and no sign of yesterday's GWE. A Sharp-angled Peacock was on the wall.

Back home in windy conditions, the Hemp Agrimony now looks pretty dried out so no V.z for the first time in weeks; just the male V.inanis in that area plus two each of Holly Blue, Speckled Wood and Red Admiral.

Insects galore

At Heath Pond just 30+ House Martins, single Swallow and Heron - first day with not a single Sand Martin nor Swift. I'm guessing tomorrows poor weather may drop a few in. Two Phasia hemiptera and Conops quadrifasciatus (male) and lots of common hovers. No Bee wolf but Small Coppers and Common Blues plus this disturbed Blood Vein (above) and a Silver Y.

At the park no birds, a couple of Silver-washed Fritillary and a few Brimstones, another ten P.hemiptera, two Gymnosoma rotundatum, Figwort Sawfly and these hovers. So Syrphus spp (many hundreds), Episyrphus balteatus (many hundreds), Sphaerophoria spp (few), Myathropa florea (dozens), Cheilosia illustrata (dozens), Cheilosia spp (20), Syritta pipiens (2), Platycheirus spp (10), Meliscaeva auricollis (10), Meliscaeva cinctella(30), Dasysyrphus albiostratus (4), Scaeva pyrastri (4), Pipiza spp (1), Eristalis pertinax (100), Melangyna spp (umbellatarum? 1), Chrysogaster solstitialis (3), Eupeodes luniger (5 females), Eupeodes spp (10).

No photos here due to flat battery/no charger.

At Chi stil at least two very noisy juvenile Peregrines chasing each other around the cathedral skies.

Back home still three female V.zonaria on the same patch of Hemp Agrimony today joined by a male V.inanis a few common hovers and some bees and wasps awaiting id; (Cerceris rybyensis above, Andrena flavipes, Lassioglossum albipes (?) and Lasioglossum spp).

Not so attractive but Sarcophaga flies, as above, are always quite photogenic. Speckled Wood, Red Admiral and a couple of Holly Blues, this posing one being pretty worn.

A Cettis was calling just yards away.

Couple hours at TH

Nice start weather wise with blue skies and a light breeze but deteriorating towards midday. Just one Harrier, still all five Kestrels 40 godwits, one sp Dunlin and fifteen mixed plumage Turnstones and a Common Sandpiper. Eleven Acres is now just bone-dry cracked mud. A few Common Darters along the boardwalk but no other odonata.
Two Slow Worms and a small Grass Snake on the east side. Hover-wise Leucozona laternaria (above) at east side entrance and four Eristalinus sepulchralis (above) near Darters Dip.

Also ichneumon type wasp (above) possibly Apechthis compunctor as per FB.

Good numbers of Tufted broods including nine very well grown youngsters in front of the hide. Lots of Sand Martins (300+) and noisy begging Common Tern fledglings. Little else of note.

Insect wise pretty much nil but a few moths on the building (but curiously no covered trap). Black Arches, Pebble Hooktips, Brussels Lace, Beauty spp, Dingy Footman(several) and a few micros. Brambleshoot moth, curiously, on bramble!!