Never seen so much

The Safari got to Patch 2 a few minutes earlier than usual this morning – it wasn't really worth the rush; not a lot doing Grey Seal and small flock of 12 Dunlins shooting past. The trawler was still working and had attracted a large mob of gulls but nothing more exciting was with them.

A break from the desk saw us drift outside in the sunshine to look at the wildflower (ignorantly known to the public as 'weeds') area where we saw a Tree Bee! By the time we legged inside for the camera it had gone...not having a lot of luck with them :-( But yet another new site for this spreading species.

We were due a meeting with the new Fylde BeachCare Project Officer and she found us camera in hand lurking in the flower bed. A few snaps later and we’d digitally bagged one of the several Silver Y’s, but there was no sign of the Tree Bee, 

Note the tongue on this one that almost got away.

and a lunchtime trip to iSpot revealed two new species for the Fylde, the hoverfly Broad Centurion (Chloromyia formosa)

 And the ‘Thick Headed’ Fly  (Sicus ferrugineus)

Not the best of pics..but hey ho...

At lunchtime the big tide combined with plenty of water coming down the river meant there was more driftwood than we’ve ever seen before – some looked like seals, some like an Otter, some like Basking Sharks, some like a porpoises, a few looked like submarines’ periscopes and one even looked like a Narwhal!  A few had resting terns on board and two were smothered in lost fishing nets. A couple of Small Tortoiseshells flitted around the planted area near the Mirror Ball.

Another look for the Tree Bees was unsuccessful although now the ripening Dandelion and other Compositae seeds had attracted a few Goldfinches and House Sparrows. We keep checking the large flocks of starlings that probe the lawns just in case a juvenile (or even an adult) Rose Coloured Starling is hiding in their midst...they never are...not yet anyway.

Later in the afternoon we had a visit from our local RSPB officer (and fellow blogger)  who’d not had a shuffy round the Solaris Centre before so we had a look in the garden and saw another Broad Centurion but no Tree Bees...by eck they’re teasers! And you can’t beat a bit of Tommy Bolin...why did he have to die so young?

Where to next? More patch 2 mularky.

In the meantime let us know what's new to you in your outback