Just one of many Common Darters seen at RSPB Otmoor on 13th November - a wonderful unexpected surprise! Som eof them were still looking pristine, but this one had tattered wings! Happy Wing Wednesday everyone!
Tags: Wing Wednesday Happy Wing Wednesday Fence Perching Darter Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum Tattered Wings RSPB RSPB Otmoor Oxfordshire Otmoor Autumn November 2016
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A fuzzy bottomed fly enjoying some winter sunshine which has given it shimmering wiings! Happy Wing Wednesday everyone!
Tags: Fly Winter November 2016 Bark Wing Wednesday Happy Wing Wednesday Hanningfield Reservoir Hanningfield Reservoir Nature Reserve Downham Essex Essex Wildlife Trust Shimmering Wings! Sunbathing
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A Canada Goose in St. James's Park in London with its beak tucked under its wing! Happy Wing Wednesday everyone!
Tags: Wing Wednesday Happy Wing Wednesday Canada Goose Tucked Under The Wing! St James's Park London Branta canadensis January 2017 Winter
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A sunlit starling for Wing Wednesday! Happy Wing Wednesday everyone!
Tags: Starling Sturnus vulgaris Sunlit Starling! Perch Perching Bird Maldon Essex Wing Wednesday Happy Wing Wednesday January 2017 Winter
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A Dark-edged bee-fly for Wing Wednesday! Happy Wing Wednesday everyone!
Dark-edged bee-flies (Bombylius major) have a long, slender proboscis, furry brown body and patterned wings. They are most common in Southern England, the Midlands and the Welsh lowlands but have also been expanding northwards in recent years as far as north Scotland.
Dark-edged bee-flies are bee mimics, but are actually flies. Their larvae are parasitoids of the larvae of mining bees which usually nest in colonies in soil such as woodlands or even flower beds and lawns. Female bee-flies hover a few inches above mining bee nesting areas and flick eggs onto the ground with a rapid twist of the body. They collect fine dust in a little chamber at their rear end just prior to this, as the eggs need to be dust-coated before they are laid.
Once a bee-fly egg hatches the larva crawls into the underground nest cell of a host bee. Once the host grub is sufficiently large, the bee-fly larva attaches itself and starts to suck out the body fluids of the host species!
- See more at: www.buglife.org.uk/bugs-and-habitats/dark-edged-bee-fly#s...
Tags: Dark-edged bee-fly Bombylius major Fly Insect Invertebrate Spring April 2017 Wing Wednesday Happy Wing Wednesday Kent Holly Hill Woodland Ivy Leaf Litter Shadow
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