Connaught Gardens [March 2023]


 Connaught Gardens

25th March 2023

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On my walk ... the marmalade hoverfly

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  Distinguishing between some species of hoverfly can be a real challenge, some species can only be told apart by examination under a microscope but that means capturing and killing a specimen and I am not about to do that. Mine is a hobby project not a scientific study. Some species, however, are distinctive enough to be identified even from a distance and this one [ Episyrphus balteatus]  being only 10mm or so in length is one of those more easily identified specimens. It is a slender insect with a quite distinctive shaped abdomen and has a unique pattern of markings on its back. Usually orange and with three alternate pairs of thick and narrow black bars it has earned the nickname of the marmalade hoverfly but you probably will not find it referred to as that in reference books. This particular insect caught my eye as it has three grey bands and I wondered if it was something other than 'balteatus' but upon reference to my 'bible' on hoverflies I find the markings ca...
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On my walk ... the turnstone

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  One of my favourite encounters as I walk along the seafront in Sidmouth is with the small flock of turnstone that can frequently be seen on the beach or on the rock sea defences. There are about twenty in the group and in autumn and winter they certainly flock together being birds of a feather. Turnstone are what are termed 'waders' and are distant relatives of the sandpiper family but although they are 'waders' you never see them wading. They are very much a bird of the shoreline resting on rocks and walls at high tide, scouring the beach when it is available to them and then, at low tide, examining rock pools and exposed seaweed.  The turnstone gets its name, of course, from its distinctive feeding habit of turning stones over to raid any grubs that might be hiding underneath but they also are adept at turning over seaweed and can often be seen rummaging around the tide line where drying weed and debris attract flies. On the beach in Sidmouth they run around between...
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