Red-footed Falcon

There were reports of two different Red-footed Falcons up on the Downs north of the Shoreham and Portslade areas. This is not a bird that I get to see very often so having given it a couple of days for the initial rush to die down I went up to have a look on Thursday morning. I parked up just before 06.30 and headed off over Beeding Hill.

It didn't look at all promising. There was a light drizzle and a mix of low cloud and mist that was reducing visibility. Decent photographs looked unlikely but I was still hopeful. I just wanted to see the bird and be able to add it to my meagre year list.

There was no problem in finding it. A couple of people were already up on the hill watching it as it hovered in the wind searching for food. I have to be honest, if I had not known that it was in the area I would have just dismissed the distant sighting as a Kestrel and moved on. It was only when it drifted a little closer and you could get a decent view in the bins, that you could pick up the different markings and in particular the large white collar.

Red-footed Falcon emerging from the gloom

As expected picture quality was poor. I took a couple of hundred shots but even then had difficulty finding any to use in the blog. The one above being washed out by the mist and the one below not much better.

I felt as though I had missed a good opportunity so there was only one option and that was to go back the next morning for another go. The weather had improved and although not perfect did at least offer some promise. I had the place to myself, no people and unfortunately no bird but I did eventually find it a little further east down in the valley.

A few people turned up and the falcon gave occasional views and flyovers but no real picture opportunities. People came and then drifted away and eventually I had the bird to myself again. It makes all the difference.

I picked my spot and waited and eventually he flew in close and appeared to be checking me out. He obviously didn't see me as a threat and commenced hunting in the grass along the fence line close by. He probably just had me down as a funny coloured sheep and paid very little attention to me.

I took another couple of hundred shots during this time. The ones with him on the fence came out well although they all looked very similar and are a little soft due to a very light mist in the air. Most of the ones of him flying down into the grass didn't really work. The shots below are from this period.

Earlier in the morning I had taken a few shots of the bird hovering and flying past. Most where silhouetted against the sky and looked like rejects but I had some free time so decided to see if I could rescue them in Photoshop. I was quite pleased with the outcome. I have lost the sky but the colours on the bird are close and if I added a sky as a backdrop they would come out well.

Overall a couple of interesting and unexpected mornings birding. The bird is, I think, a second calendar year and is in moult so it was never going to look perfect in the pictures but I am happy with the results.


The Red-footed Falcons really do seem tolerant of people. I have only ever seen three and two of those have given very close views. The shot below is of the Barcombe Mills female back in June 2015. In that case she flew in and sat in a nearby tree seemingly to observe us. I have seen hundreds more Hobbies but have never managed to get close to any of them.

female Red-footed Falcon taken at Barcombe Mills June 2015

Lets hope the Beeding Hill bird comes back next year in full male breeding plumage and completes my set of pictures.

Thick-legged Hoverfly

There have been a few different hoverflies through the garden over the past two or three weeks, including four that were new to me. The first of those is the Thick-legged Hoverfly Syritta pipiens. As with many of the hoverflies I am finding, they are said to be widespread and abundant. Maybe so, but I cannot recall seeing this one before. It is yet another example of wildlife all around me that I am failing to see.

Three found basking in the sun on the Heuchera. They were around for a couple of days but then disappeared. The field guide suggests occasional mass occurrences that may be the result of immigration (across the channel I assume) so I may get more passing through as the season progresses. Great hoverfly and takes a nice photograph.

Thick-legged Hoverfly -  Syritta pipiens

Thick-legged Hoverfly -  Syritta pipiens

Next up Rhinga campestris, another common and widespread species but again new to me. Like the Thick-legged above it has the benefit of being both photogenic and of being easy to identify. A good combination.

Rhingia campestris

The next one is not so easy. I did get a couple of other shots looking down on the hoverfly but they were out of focus. The markings on the abdomen suggest a female of the genus Melanostoma and the length of the body suggest scalare but I cannot be certain. Again the field guide says widespread and abundant.

Possible Melanostoma scalare but could be mellinum

To complete the quartet of new species I have Sphaerophoria scripta. Often found with yellow bands rather than spots. However colouration is influenced by the temperature at which the larvae develops and early specimens will often exhibit this darker colouration and spots instead of bands.

This one seems to be common and widespread in Southern England and Wales but not further north so slightly rarer than my first three.

Sphaerophoria scripta

Then comes one I cannot identify. I can get it down to genus Eupeodes and I would have liked to call it a female luniger  but it is missing the Y shaped dust marking on the fons that I would need to confirm it.

Eupeodes sp

I have other examples of Eupeodes, one that looks more like luniger and one that is definitely not. However I am pushing the limits of my knowledge here.

Showing faint Y shaped dust markings on the fons so probably luniger

Male with the top of the fons showing an angle of greater than 90°. For luniger it should be less than 90°

To finish I have two examples of the most populous hoverfly in the garden Episyrphus balteaus the Marmalade Hoverfly.  The first, a tiny female specimen, dwarfed by a Clematis flower. The second a much bigger male with a deeper orange colouration. Again the colour variations are the result of temperature during the laval stage.

Marmalade Hoverfly - Episyrphus balteatus

Marmalade Hoverfly - Episyrphus balteatus

It would be a lot easier to just take the picture and add the caption of here is another pretty hoverfly but researching, even at this basic level, does at least give me something to do during lockdown!!!

Wingless Bee

Travel restrictions seem to be gradually easing and I am looking forward to being able to get out birding a bit more in the near future. Up to now I have been trying to play by the rules, so my photographic efforts are still very much based around the insect life in the garden. There is a lot to learn and as always identification is an issue. I have done my best to put names to the pictures but treat them with a degree of caution and let me know if there are any that are obviously wrong.

The first few shots are of Bumblebees and these are not an easy subject. Their tendency to adopt a curved shape when nectaring, with head and tail buried in the flower, makes it is very difficult to get the front and back end detail into one picture. They also move very fast and vibrate a lot so you need a high shutter speed to stop the action. However, the biggest problem I have is the type of plants in the garden. We planted a lot of bee friendly flowers but being bee friendly does not make them photographer friendly. Most are bell shaped or tubular so that the bees land head first and disappear into the flower leaving only their bums sticking out the back. They also reverse out at speed giving you no chance of a picture. You really need daisy type plants where the bee sits out on top of the flower head and then has to spend time gathering nectar from the multitude of tiny florets.

The first of my Bumblebees is not too difficult.  Bombus hypnorum the Tree Bumblebee, is unique in having a ginger  thorax, black abdomen and white tail.

Tree Bumblebee - Bombus hypnorum 

Tree Bumblebee - Bombus hypnorum - showing the white tail

Next up Bombus terrestris the Buff-tailed Bumblebee. It has a white tail but can be separated from that species by the narrow buff band between the white tail and black of the abdomen.

Buff-tailed Bumblebee  -  Bombus terrestris

Even more interesting is this wingless Buff-tailed Bumblebee. I suspect born without wings probably as a result of the Deformed Wing Virus rather than lost its wings to a predator. The bee seemed well adapted to its way of life. I first spotted it travelling at great speed across the patio and out onto the lawn to feed on the clover flowers. I found it again the next day following a similar pattern.

There are a lot of Buff-tails in the garden at the moment but I am not sure where their nest is. It would be interesting to know if this individual is still part of the collective. Does it return to the nest or is it is now forced to live the life of a solitary bee? It seems to be healthy and fit and could live for weeks, possibly months, but its survival raises all sorts of issues. I think I need the help of a bee psychologist.

Wingless Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus terrestris

Another view showing the deformed/damaged wings on its left side. There is no wing structure on its right side.

Wingless Buff-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus terrestris

So far so good but what about the next two. Very similar colour patterns but in both cases there is a yellow patch, or part band, between the black and white on the abdomen. It is much thicker than the fringe on the Buff-tailed above. This suggests Vestal or Gypsy Cuckoo Bees and if I am on the right track probably Vestal as it is more common in the area I live in.

Vestal Cuckoo Bee  -  Bombus vestalis   ???

Vestal Cuckoo Bee  -  Bombus vestalis   ???

The next one is not a Bumblebee but as the picture was so good I had to include it.

Honey Bee  -  Apis melifera

The last shot is of a Heath Sand Wasp. There were some good clues to help identify this one, such as it was found on a Sussex Heath and it was just disappearing into a hole in the sand. 

There is always something new to learn. I am now intrigued by how it can construct a narrow tunnel into the sand that does not collapse as it enters and reverses out.

Heath Sand Wasp  -  Ammophila sabulosa

I have also gathered a few more pictures of Hoverflies but these will be in the next blog.