Steve "Whistling Joe" Everett
@whistlingjoe.bsky.social
Wildlife guide, photographer and Safari driver at RSPB Minsmere
Summer may be over but there's still plenty to see at RSPB Minsmere
Ants dragging away an abandoned Honeybee along #DiggerAlley at RSPB Minsmere
Ammophila Sandwasp having a hard time with its caterpillar prey. Don't think I've seen one with such a hairy caterpillar before! #DiggerAlley @rspbminsmere.bsky.social
When we replaced the deck leading to Main hide on #HavergateIsland Mrs WJ used a few offcuts to make a simple bee hotel. Checking things over today before the Discover Havergate trips this coming weekend, we took a look at it. Over 40 holes filled!
Not something you'll see very often - Hedychrum rutilans, one of the Jewel Wasps. Extinct in the UK up to a handful of years ago, now popping up in the southeast. A specialist cuckoo on the Beewolf - this one spotted by Mrs WJ just off #DiggerAlley @rspbminsmere.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social
Ammophila Sandwasp burying her caterpillar along #Digger Alley @rspbminsmere.bsky.social @waspwoman.bsky.social @cintiaoi.bsky.social
A Hummingbird Hawk Moth has been hanging around my garden recently
Minsmere (and Dunwich) have obviously been in the news these past few days for all the wrong reasons, so I thought everyone would like to see the shieldbug hunting digger wasp Astata boops keeping busy along #DiggerAlley @rspbminsmere.bsky.social last weekend
It was time for a big build today at RSPB Minsmere. The result is Bugingham Palace 😃 Credit for the name to a young visitor impressed with our previous Minsmere Mansion effort!
Ham or jam - can't beat a bit of citizen science 😃
Seirian Sumner@waspwoman.bsky.social · 2mo agoAre wasps feeling the heat this summer? Be kind to wasps at your picnic this summer: share your meal & tell us what they're after. Is it Ham (protein-rich)? or Jam (sugary) @uclnews.bsky.social @theconversation.com @femi-benny.bsky.social @cintiaoi.bsky.social theconversation.com/where-have-a...
Young Avocets are striding around the Scrape at RSPB Minsmere @rspbminsmere.bsky.social
Pantaloon Bee and a Burrow Watcher fly along #DiggerAlley at RSPB Minsmere @rspbminsmere.bsky.social youtu.be/EHQN_9VNOTs
Pantaloon Bee and the Burrow Watcher
YouTube video by Steve “Whistling Joe” Everett
youtu.be
We've been seeing this little bee flitting around #DiggerAlley at RSPB Minsmere, thinking it looked a bit like a little Sandpit Mining Bee (tho a bit late). It finally sat on Mrs WJ's finger for a pic - I think it's a Small Sandpit Miner 🙂
Ammophila Sandwasp filling in her burrow along Digger Alley at RSPB Minsmere @rspbminsmere.bsky.social #DiggerAlley youtu.be/RrnmTeGfnwA
Ammophila Sandwasp
YouTube video by Steve “Whistling Joe” Everett
youtu.be
The delightful little digger wasp, Oxybelus uniglumis along #DiggerAlley @rspbminsmere.bsky.social doing her best to deplete the local fly population (sorry Erica!) @flygirlnhm.bsky.social @waspwoman.bsky.social youtu.be/bG2kn4scuuQ
Oxybelus uniglumis
YouTube video by Steve “Whistling Joe” Everett
youtu.be
Green-eyed Flower Bees are getting busy along #DiggerAlley at RSPB Minsmere now @rspbminsmere.bsky.social youtu.be/iozRq4r-KRU
Green Eyed Flower Bee
YouTube video by Steve “Whistling Joe” Everett
youtu.be
Here's one we haven't seen before - pretty sure it's a Small Velvet Ant, Smicromyrme rufipes, along #DiggerAlley at RSPB Minsmere 😃 @rspbminsmere.bsky.social @waspwoman.bsky.social
Ringed Plover on the beach in Northumberland. They wiggle their feet in the sand to disturb insects just like Egrets wiggle in water to disturb fish youtu.be/Jm2b56D0OOE
Ringed Plover
YouTube video by Steve “Whistling Joe” Everett
youtu.be
Rock Pipit on the beach along the Northumberland coast
There was an unexpected, shrill buzzing along Digger Alley @rspbminsmere.bsky.social - sure enough, the Green-eyed Flower Bees are starting to appear 😊 #DiggerAlley @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social
Not sure what species this little digger wasp is, likely a Crossocerus of some kind. Spotted along #DiggerAlley @rspbminsmere.bsky.social youtu.be/VKfpk_lg1Hk
Digger Wasp
YouTube video by Steve “Whistling Joe” Everett
youtu.be
One of the little cuckoo wasps spotted along #DiggerAlley at RSPB Minsmere - not too sure of the exact species. It's certainly very small!
Coot chicks are now appearing on the RSPB Minsmere Scrape @rspbminsmere.bsky.social
Muntjac Deer having a bit of a disagreement in the woods at RSPB Minsmere @rspbminsmere.bsky.social youtu.be/Uq178n7lOC8
Muntjac 3 Fight
YouTube video by Steve “Whistling Joe” Everett
youtu.be
Sedge Warblers are marking out their territories in the RSPB Minsmere reedbed @rspbminsmere.bsky.social @rspb.bsky.social