Mating Grass Snakes, Rambur's Pied Shieldbug and Nomada Bees - Marshside 29/05/21

With being unable to do much walking for the next few days I paid a visit to Marshside to see what I could see from the road. Overall it was quiet for birds but I enjoyed seeing what insects I might be able to find in some of the sheltered areas. Small numbers of Azure Damselflies were in each area that I looked but I did not see any sign of Variable Damselflies today.

male Azure Damselfly

male Azure Damselfly

I couldn't see the pair of Little Owl today but the air was full of the song of Whitethroat, Skylark and Blackcap. Unusually enough I did not hear a Cetti's Warbler during the visit. A male Scorpion Fly landed briefly before heading off again.

Scorpion Fly

A Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina was resting up. They may be common but they are always an impressive sight. 

Green Shieldbug Palomena prasina

I caught sight of what I thought, at first, was going to be a Pied Shieldbug but I was pleased to see that it was actually a Rambur's Pied Shieldbug Tritomegas sexmaculatus. It was a little beauty.

Rambur's Pied Shieldbug Tritomegas sexmaculatus

Rambur's Pied Shieldbug Tritomegas sexmaculatus

Rambur's Pied Shieldbug Tritomegas sexmaculatus

Rambur's Pied Shieldbug Tritomegas sexmaculatus

Despite being right by the road the patch of vegetation was proving to have a good selection of insects. An attractive female Nomada panzeri was also sunbathing.

Nomada panzeri

Nomada panzeri

Nomada panzeri

I also came across another Nomada bee which I think  is a female Nomada signata but I only saw it briefly and did not get great photos so cannot be 100% sure. It appears to have the necessary identifying features for signata, both the pattern of the transverse yellow bands and the pair of yellow markings on the propodeum, both identifying features of which can be seen in the photo even if not very well. As I am not sure that it normally occurs in our area I could be wrong and will need to look into it further.

? Nomada signata

A large German Wasp Vespula germanica was very active.

German Wasp Vespula germanica

German Wasp Vespula germanica

A pretty little Liocoris tripustulatus was on one of the nettles and a 14-spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata caught my eye as it made its way along. For such a small Ladybird it certainly has an impressively long Latin name.

Liocoris tripustulatus

14-spot Ladybird Propylea quattuordecimpunctata

At one of the bridges over the dyke I looked down into the dyke and got a real surprise when I saw a pair of mating Grass Snakes on a piece of floating polystyrene. Now that I really wasn't expecting and it was an absolute privilege to be able to witness it and also is the longest view of Grass Snake I have ever had. Normally I have only seen them as they are swimming away. The female was longer and thicker in girth than the male and though he was missing the end of his tail he still would have been shorter than her. The parts of their bodies that were intertwined were in constant motion under water the whole time while their upper bodies remained relatively stationary. 

male and female Grass Snake

male and female Grass Snake

The female did not have any yellow in her collar. She only had the black unlike the male which I think means that she might be an older female as apparently older females are sometimes missing the yellow colouration of the collar.

female Grass Snake lacking yellow in collar

male Grass Snake

male and female Grass Snake

Towards the end the male slowly moved back along the females body but with them still firmly intertwined. He continued moving back until his head was level with hers, at which point she started to move towards him.

male Grass Snake

male and female grass snake

That appeared to be his cue to leave and once separated he made his way rapidly to the other side of the dyke while she made her way to the opposite side, both disappearing into cover in opposite sides of the dyke. What an incredible experience to be able to watch them.

male Grass Snake

male Grass Snake

After they had disappeared from view I had a look at the nearby vegetation and could see a few Azure Damselflies were resting up nearby and Common Vetch flowers were a vivid splash of colour amongst the greens.

male Azure Damselfy

Common Vetch

A somewhat scruffy Dunnock was searching for insects and as I came back up to the bridge and a Blue-tailed Damselfly was resting up.

Dunnock

Blue-tailed Damselfly

I had a peep from the bridge again as I came back over and the female Grass Snake had returned to the piece of polystyrene and was sunning herself. She certainly was an impressive length.

female Grass Snake

I came across more Azure Damselflies at the next stopping point but, once again, there was still no sign of any Variables.

male Azure Damselfly

female Azure Damselfly

A Common Nettle-tap Moth Anthophila fabriciana contrasted well against the yellow of a Buttercup and though very common they are lovely little moths.

Common Nettle-tap Anthophila fabriciana

During the visit I had seen several pairs of Spotted Crane-fly Nephrotoma appendiculata mating with them flying in tandem if disturbed before resettling.

Spotted Crane-flies Nephrotoma appendiculata

I finished an enjoyable visit as I started with some more Azure Damselflies one of which had a kink in its abdomen which didn't seem to affect its ability to catch prey.

male Azure Damselfly

female Azure Damselfly

On the way home, the rabbits in the horse paddock were surrounded by a profusion of daisies and the strong sun light shining through their ears was highlighting the blood vessels within.

Rabbit

Rabbit