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WHITLINGHAM: July counts and a new hoverfly

6th July 2019

The July WeBS count fell early in the month, and I headed to Thorpe Marshes first. There was very little on St Andrew's Broad, but I did see two new species that I was very pleased about, the hoverfly Chrysotoxum verralli and a Lesser Earwig - the first time I've seen any earwig species other than Common Earwig.



Then it was round to Whitlingham, where there was much more wildfowl, but nothing unusual. Selected counts below:
Mute Swan: 108 (2018: 114)
Geylag Goose: 91 (2018: 72)
Canada Goose: 71 (2018: 9)
Egyptian Goose: 31 (2018: 8)
Mallard: 83 (2018: 83)
Tufted Duck: 2 (2018: 2)

Some nice synchronisity about the duck counts compared to last year and the Canada Goose count was of note as there were no 50+ counts in 2018.

Having counted both sides I didn't really have the time to look for insects, but the bug Deraeocoris flavilinea was a new one for me. Walking back through the car park I noticed that a new bike shelter had a 'green roof' and lots of drilled holes in wood to attract bees. This struck me as a nice touch, and hopefully next year there will be some new bee records generated from it.




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