Beltane Tawny Owl
Don't often get to see a tawny owl in a garden, but here it is. I looked for the reason the blackbirds were kicking up such a racket nearby, and here is the guilty party
resting Tawny owl in the fading eveing light
St Mark's fly
I came across a swarm of insects on a visit to the Oak Tree Community farm to look for wildlife. I assumed the menacing dangling thing was either an ovipositor or possibly a sting. These were the same sort of thing that had been bugging me walking along north wall of Minsmere a week ago, but I didn't come away with any bites. They followed me around in a small cloud along that stretch of the reserve. The appendages were neither sting nor ovipositor, simply long back legs, St Mark's flies otherwise known as Hawthorn flies are a little bit early this year for St Mark's Day 25th April. St Mark's Fly Bibio marci Mating - the larger female with smoky wings is above Phil Gates has some fascinating detail of the large eyes on his cabinet of curiosities blog , which differ between males and females, the males have a visual system adapted to both hover and locate females, whereas the females have a simpler visual system without the fine hairs between the...
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