Great Crested Newt: Triturus cristatus on Flickr.

This may not be the greatest of photographs but I do not have an underwater camera (yet!). This is, however, something of a special picture for me as this is the first time in over thirty-five years of nature watching that I have seen (let alone photographed) a Great Crested Newt. They are found at various sites in Dorset and I chanced upon this one in a pond on the north Dorset ridge near Okeford Hill.

This is a female laying eggs on vegetation around the edge of a pond. Being the female she lacks the ‘Great Crest’ of the male but has the diagnostic silvery sides of the head. This species is somewhat larger than either smooth or palmate newts and as this one was over 4” long it really does not leave any doubt as to species.

In this particular pond there were several, the females laying eggs whilst males swam around keeping an eye on procedings. As far as I could tell there were at least twelve different animals in the small part of the pond I could actually see so, in all, there were probably many more overall.

A rare species in much of the country and one to be treasured.

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at www,natureofdorset.co.uk

St Marks Fly: Bibio marci on Flickr.

St Marks day is the 25th April and it is about then that this fly emerges as an adult and can be seen in woodland across Dorset. That is where it gets its name from, St Marks Fly or Bibio marci.

It is quite a common insect of the spring and quite often will be seen in large numbers. They are quite distinctive when in flight as their legs hang down and when the weather is cooler or shady they rest on leaves as they await for the warmth of the sun to get them going again.They are jet black with big brown eyes and, overall, have a glossy appearance.

They are only active for about three weeks and then they are gone. They lay their eggs in leaf litter and rotting vegeatation and this is where the larva spends its life, helping to break down the leaves on the woodland floor.

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at www.natureofdorset.co.ukSt Marks Fly

Bumblebee: Bombus hypnorum on Flickr.

Nature is always changing. The population of some species are rapidly declining (the cuckoo for example) whereas as others are expanding (like the little egret). We have new species colonising our countryside which are a concern (the harlequin ladybird) and others that are a welcome addition to our fauna. This bumblebee is certainly one of the later.

Bombus hypnorum has steadily expanded its range across Europe in recent years and was first recorded in the United Kingdon in 2,000 (perhaps we should call this the Millenium bee?). It seems to have an affinity to urban areas and woodland habitat of all kinds and it is expected to become widespread and common across the whole country in time which is a refreshing change as some species of bumblebee are now considred extinct in the United Kingdom.

I saw these for the first time in Puddletown Forest (May 2012), an area I would not rate highly for wildlife interest and yet there were several of them so they seem well establkished there. Now I need to look out for them elsewhere.

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at www.natureofdorset.co.uk

Hoverfly: Platycheirus albimanus on Flickr.

Spring is a peak time of year for Dandelion and Daisy flowers and it seems nearly every Dandelion has a small, dark coloured insect feeding on it. Closer inspection shows these to be hoverflies, many of them this species, Platycheirus albimanus.
This is one of the most numerous of hoverflies and occurs throughout the British Isles and will be found along woodland rides and margins, hedgerows and in gardens however, because it is so small and almost insignificant it is just not really noticed by anyone other than the enthusiast. It is also one of a range of similar species and identification can be difficult without actually catching a specimen and examining it under a microscope. I can’t bring myself to do that so if I have wrongly identified this species I apologise.
Occuring all through the spring and summer months but is especially numerous and, therefore conspicuous in late April and early May.
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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at www.natureofdorset.co.uk

Solitary Wasp: Mellinus Arvensis on Flickr.

Everyone is surely familar with the common yellow and black wasp species, Vespula vulgaris; a social wasp, living in colonies and extremely aggresive if disturbed or threatened. However, there are many other species of wasps, not all of which are yellow and black, and most of which live a pretty solitary life. This species, Mellinus arvensis, is one of those solitary wasp species.
Also known as one of the ‘digger’ wasps, this species excavates a burrow by digging with her mandible and legs. She then finds a spider (or may be more than one deppending on the size of the spider) and paralyses it with her sting and then drags the spider in to her burrow where she then lays her eggs inside the spider. The eggs hatch and the larva eat the spider before pupating and over wintering to the emerge as adults in the spring.
A bit gruesome may be but this sort of thing is going on, usually unseen, in the natural world all the time.
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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at www.natureofdorset.co.uk

Dotted Bee-fly (Bombylius discolor) on Flickr.

I have been wildlife watching now for many, many years and I always work on the principle that statistically I am likely to see common things when I’m out rather than rareties but equally one should always expect the unexpected. In spring the Bee-fly is a fairly common site around spring flowers and especially Primroses and Ground Ivy, it has a brown furry body, long probosis and appears to hover when taking nectar from these flowers.
I happened upon a bee-fly that did not look quite right somehow. It was a bit bigger than usual and had light markings along the side and on closer inspection the wings were dotted. Thinking this was odd I took a photograph and so was able to look it up when I got home. There was nothing like it in my field guide but a bit of digging around and I discovered we actually have twelve species of bee-fly in this country although most are uncommon or rare.
I soon had an idenfication for this one, a Dotted Bee-fly, not rare but certainly uncommon and an interesting find. Yes, always expect the unexpected!

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at www.natureofdorset.co.uk

Orange Underwing (Archiearis parthenias) on Flickr.

Some insects seem to break all the assumptions we make about nature. Moths fly by night? No, not true. Several species fly by day and the Orange Underwing is one you can find on bright sunny days. Moths are summer insects? Again, not true. There are moths that can be found in the middle of winter as they have a form of ‘anti-freeze’ in their blood and the Orange Underwing is found in March and April. Moths are drab coloured insects? Again, totally untrue. Many species disprove this but even the drably coloured top wings of the Orange Underwing part slightly, to reveal the most glorious golden orange on the underwings. Orange Underwing for good reason!

The Orange Underwing is widespread and locally common in Britain but is, perhaps, not seen that often as it likes to fly friskily along woodland rides quite high up and at a level where the casual observer might not see them; I was lucky to find this one at rest on the ground so was able to photograph it.

They favour birch but also visit sallow blossom and late March is certainly the time for that.

Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella) on Flickr.

Thirty years or so ago a walk on the rolling southern hills of Hampshire or Dorset would have soon yielded a familiar, thin sounding bird song from a nearby hedge or tree; the ‘famous’ “Little bit of bread and no cheeeeese” of the Yellowhammer. Sadly, along with so many other farmland birds this is now quite a rarity as the population of the Yellowhammer has plummetted.
The bird in this photograph was not singing that song, of course, as this is the female; a yellowish brown on the back rather than the bright canary yellow of her mate. Nonetheless, still a very attractive little bird and always a joy to see.
As a member of the bunting family the Yellowhammer eats seed in the winter and the lack of fallow ground and spilt seed from pre-intensive farming times means that winters are now very hard. I find that I encounter them most now on the heaths around Moreton, Puddletown and also at Holt with occasional sightings from the Purbeck coastal cliffs but they are not the common bird of farmland that they one were. Such a shame.
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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at www.natureofdorset.co.uk

Early Dog Violet (Viola reichenbachiana) on Flickr.

It may be just me and the way I use my camera but I always feel that it never does anything coloured purple justice! This Early Dog-violet looks decidedly blue and not its true deep violet colouring.

The Early Dog-violet certainly comes out early in the year being in flower in March and is a few weeks ahead of its close cousin, the Common Dog-violet which is more prevelent in April and May and it really that timing that I base my observations on as I find them exceedingly difficult to tell apart., The ‘early’ has a narrower flower than the ‘common’ and the ‘early’ has a darker centre with ‘common’ being yellowish in the centre. Both species grow in open woodland, on hedge banks and verges; the ‘early’ preferring shade whereas the ‘common’ can be found in more open areas and can occur on pasture and grassland too.

Tricky chaps, dog-violets, I hope have got this one right!

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at www.natureofdorset.co.uk

Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) on Flickr.

Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus)

The rocky limestone of the Purbeck and Portland coasts is home to a good number of Rock Pipits. Not a common bird nationally but not uncommon here in Dorset in the right places.

Pipits are all much the same really, streaky brown back with a ‘thrush-like’ spotted front and telling Rock Pipit from Meadow Pipit and Tree Pipit can be a bit daunting until you realise that you find the Rock Pipit on rocks, Meadow Pipit in grassland habitats and Tree Pipits in trees! If only it were that simple for some other species and their allotted English names! Garden Warbler in a garden for example, I don’t think so …

Like other pipits the male Rock Pipit has a lovely ‘parachute’ display, flying up and then gliding down, making a piping sound as it descends to a prominent roack and you can see them doing that from late March through until mid-May.

The Rock Pipit and the Water Pipit, although named as separate species are considered to be almost one and the same but Water Pipits are usually found in land and sites where there is water present, such as watercress beds.

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Find out more about the nature of Dorset at www.natureofdorset.co.uk