Not everyones favourite type of wildlife, but Horseflies are remarkable creatures and, as anyone who has been out walking recently, this is their time of year. The females are on the lookout for a blood meal, but the males feed at flowers. Most species have bands or patterns on their eyes. This species has simple bands but some have cloud-like patterns in shades of black and green.
Two views of Ivy Lake, above from the SE corner looking NW from the screen, probably the best place to see the Common terns on the rafts. If you click on the picture to get the bigger view you can see the four rafts, each one of which has terns nesting on it, in all about 15 pairs this year.
This view is from the northern screen on the Rockford path, looking towards the Ivy North hide
The latest count of Common Tern chicks made yesterday revealed at least 27 chicks with three adults still sitting, either on eggs or very small chicks. The ages of the chicks vary quite widely, with some starting to grow real feathers and one brood just hatched. This reflects the protracted arrival of adults this spring, many did not arrive until the second week of May, by which time a few of the early arrived pairs were already nesting.
Not everyones favourite type of wildlife, but Horseflies are remarkable creatures and, as anyone who has been out walking recently, this is their time of year. The females are on the lookout for a blood meal, but the males feed at flowers. Most species have bands or patterns on their eyes. This species has simple bands but some have cloud-like patterns in shades of black and green.
Two views of Ivy Lake, above from the SE corner looking NW from the screen, probably the best place to see the Common terns on the rafts. If you click on the picture to get the bigger view you can see the four rafts, each one of which has terns nesting on it, in all about 15 pairs this year.
This view is from the northern screen on the Rockford path, looking towards the Ivy North hide
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