Nifty noon fly
Why are we featuring a fly and where are the cattle?
This is a noon fly, beautifully jet black in colour with golden wings. Noon flies lays their eggs in cow dung – actually it lays ONE egg each in a total of five cow pats. Each egg contains one completely formed larva, which hatches within an hour. The carnivorous noon fly larvae then eat the larvae of insects like dung flies.
This noon fly was photographed sitting on a grass snake survey tin in our off-show area we call “The Triangle”. We have moved the beautiful Highland cattle to this spot, as our Wet Grassland has become too wet for grazing.
Lots of laying opportunities for noon flies there, now!
Wed 23 Oct
Ramsar & Sand Martin hide Large Lagoon: 1 kingfisher, 2 little egrets, 4 cattle egrets, 2 great white egrets, 2 water rails.
Scrape hide: 22 mallards, 12 shovelers, 9 gadwall, 2 Canada geese, 1 wren
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 1 pochard
Wetland Discovery: 1 pochard
Woodland loop: 1 coat tit 1 firecrest
Entry reedbed: water rail heard, common darter dragonflies, southern hawker dragonflies.
Tues 22 Oct
Ramsar & Sand Martin hide Large Lagoon: 2 great white egrets, 1 mute swan, 2 kingfishers, 4 black-headed gulls, 1 male shoveler, 2 cattle egrets, 1 little egret, 4 cormorants, 1 tufted duck, 75 Canada geese, 35 greylag gees, 19 mallards, 2 water rails, 2 coots, 4 gadwall, 36 lapwing
Scrape hide: 1 great white egrets, 12 gadwalls, 8 shovelers, 1 kingfisher
Pelican Cove: 3 pochards.
Sun 20 Oct
Arun Riverlife: 2 pochrad
Ramsar & Sand Martin hide Large Lagoon: 36 lapwing, 84 Canada geese, 4 cattle egrets, 2 little egrets, 2 kingfishers, 58 common gulls
Wetland Discovery: 17 mallards, 2 tufted ducks, 2 gadwall, 2 mute swans
Scrape hide: 2 mandarin ducks
Sat 19 Oct
Arun Riverlife lagoon: 31 mallards, 7 tufted ducks, 2 Canada geese, 1 grey wagtail, 1 wren
Ramsar & Sand Martin hide Large Lagoon: 1 kingfisher, 2 snipe, 3 cattle egrets, 1 great white egret, 1 Egyptian geese, 1 water rail, 20 common gulls, 20 lapwing, 1 Cetti’s warbler, 1 chiff chaff
Fri 18 Oct
Ramsar & Sand Martin hide Large Lagoon: 1 great white egret, 19 cattle egrets, 21 lapwing, 1 kingfisher, 1 little egret,
Woodland Loop: 3 moorhen, 2 mallards, 2 wood pigeons, 3 blue tits, 3 goldfinches, 1 robin, 3 chaffinches, 1 mistle thrush, 1 pheasant.
Thurs 17 Oct
Willow sphere: 4 mallards, 1 coot
Reedbed boardwalk: 5 mallards, 1 moorhen, 1 blue tit, 3 great tits
Ramsar & Sand Martin hide Large Lagoon: 81 Canad geese, 1 snipe
Scrape hide: 1 water rail
