Dartmoor wooded valleys, much going on in them at the moment. This male Pied Flycatcher catching inverts for a brood of chicks. Blue Ground Beetles Carabus intricatus found at night climbing trees looking for mating opportunities and for slugs to eat. Thanks John Walters for the introduction.

Spotted Flycatcher down in the bottom of the quarry at Berry Head this morning. It was a little warmer and sheltered down there and no doubt there were plenty of flies and midges. I've not noticed before how black its legs are.

Brown Argus Aricia agestis, two of them at Miltor Mator, Ipplepen today, also seen: Swollen-thighed Beetle Oedemera nobilis on buttercup and Dropwort Filipendula vulgaris one of the prettiest of spring flowers and a favourite of mine.

Black Kite circling over the town centre of Biarritz a few days ago. No doubt looking to scavenge anything it can spot. We saw two in the week we were there.

We've been holidaying for a week in Biarritz with daughter Laura and were surprised to see quite a few Yellow-legged Gulls. They have been breeding here on offshore rocks since 2001, and are doing well, supplementing their diet in the season with baguettes, paninis and ice creams etc.

Black Mining Bees Andrena pilipes building nest burrows in a very soft and crumbly cliff at Mansands. Much of the cliff has already slumped onto the beach. Pic 4 is a dead Black Mining Bee on the beach.

I am leading a night walk looking for the rare Blue Ground Beetle Carabus intricatus on Dartmoor at the Bovey Valley Woodlands on Thursday 14 May 2026 www.trybooking.com/uk/events/la...

Small Blue Butterflies Cupido minimus, half a dozen or so flying by the quarry hill as were lots of Green Long-horns Adela reaumurella. These were "dancing" fairy-like over the shrubbery.

Berry Head quarry yesterday: Singing Whitethroat at the top of the hill. One of the Goldfinches from a large flock. Fulmar zooming around the headland.

Small Blue Cupido minimus, very fresh, in the quarry at Berry Head. First I've seen this spring, this one was down in the bottom of the quarry by the metal gate.

Cetti's Warbler in the marsh at Mansands. Normally a very skulking bird they can suddenly and unexpectedly become more visible but you gotta be quick! Their song is always explosively loud.

A dozen or so Crossbills at Venford this morning. They were feeding in a Birch until unsettled by an overflying Cuckoo. The Siskin was pecking at a cone on the grass next to the car park.

Long Wood, Noss on Dart a very fresh Green-veined White on Bluebell and Bombus pascuorum Common Carder Bumblebee on Ajuga. Sanicle - pink/white flowers. Medieval cure-all for faster wound healing and an anti inflammatory. "He who has Sanicle needs neither physician nor surgeon" Might save the NHS?

Water Stick Insect Ranatra linearis in the pond at Bovey Heath. Aggressive predator of small pond life. Rainbow Greenclock Poecilus versicolor in the marsh at Challacombe. Paul D Brock in Britain's Insects describes as: Metallic coppery, green blue to pinkish brown. Marsh Violet Viola palustris.

Opatrum sabulosum a wonderfully "sculptured" beetle - lives in dry sandy habitats. This one found by the footpath coming up from Soar Mill Cove onto Bolberry Down, South Devon. Nationally scarce but not red listed.

Berry Head this morning - Rabbit Lawn area: Cirl Bunting m. not easy to see in Hawthorn. Two Shelduck flying round to what may be a daily feeding area in the quarry ponds. Honewort found only at Berry Head, Avon Gorge + in Somerset. White Rock Rose found only at Berry Hd + N Somerset.

Pearl-bordered Fritillaries now showing well in the sunshine along the footpath going upstream from Newbridge. Seen mainly on Dandelions and Violets.

Green Long-horn Moths Adela reamurella, seen on Oak trees in Long Wood, Noss on Dart, today. In sunshine, from April to June, they can be observed in hundreds "dancing" gracefully over the Oaks.

Great Green Bush-cricket Tettigonia viridissima (nymph), Berry Head. Tawny Mining Bee nests being finished and sealed. Female lining the burrow with waterproof secretion. 5-10 brood cells stocked with pollen/nectar, topped with soil. Panzer's Nomad Bees looking for Tawny nests to lay their eggs in.

These mining bees emerge from our grassy areas at home: 1+2 Grey-patched Mining Bee Andrena nitida and, 3 + 4 Ashy Mining Bee Andrena cineraria These are very welcome in our garden every year.

Orange Tip Anthocharis cardamines (f) at Berry Head. Snake in the grass, a dark Adder pretty well hidden.

Dotted Bee-fly Bombylius discolor nectaring on Forget-me-not in our garden.

Clouded Yellow this morning in the quarry at Berry Head, South Devon. Amazingly this is the second seen on this headland in the last couple of weeks and this is probably a good 2 months earlier than ususal. Its said that they are unable to survive a UK winter.

Triungulins, larvae of the Violet Oil Beetle on L. Celandine. 3-clawed feet used to attach themselves to female bees, probably mining bees. Once in the bee's nest they will eat the bee's food store and larvae, after pupating they will emerge in spring as Violet Oil Beetles Meloe violaceus (pic 3)

Minotaur Beetle (m) Typhaeus typhoeus on a Devon Heath. Nest burrows up to 1.5 metres deep with side chambers prepared and stocked with dung for the larvae to eat. New adults will emerge in autumn. Lots of Rabbit droppings in the area and its possible that this is being pushed into the nest.

Common Dolphin and Calf sticking close together as they and the pod get into the fish at the end of Berry Head.

Panzer's Nomad Bee (f) Nomada panzeri seen entering the nest burrow of a Tawny Mining Bee (f) Andrena fulva at Berry Head. Panzer's Nomad are cleptoparasites of Tawny Mining Bees (pic 4). Their grub will feed on the egg/grub and food store of the Tawny host. Thanks John Walters for the ID.

Quantities of Octopus still caught and sold through Brixham fish market. 1st week of May was the earliest I have seen Risso's Dolphins off Berry Head. Risso's have already been seen off W. Cornwall, so it may not be long before they're off S. Devon to feed off Octopus, as they did last year.

Kestrel in hover over the cliff edge at Berry Head. This pair of Shelduck like visiting the brackish pond area in the old quarry.

Goldfinches, lots of them, on Berry Head. First sighting this year of a very fresh looking Wall butterfly.

Berry Head this morning: Whitethroat next to the S. Fort gate just where Bill MacD said it would be. A Linnet amongst a flock on the way to N. Fort. Down in the quarry a male Wheatear had just flown in. The Raven was on the edge of the cliff waiting to be fed.

Fast running, fast flying, very aggressive and having mouthparts described by AI as "large sickle shaped and razor sharp mandibles for grabbing, slicing and crushing prey" Green Tiger Beetle Cicindela campestris can inflict a painful bite on humans if picked up. Seen on Bovey Heath.

I stopped by the pond at Bovey Heath and saw this Adder moving down the path and through some rushes so that its head was by the pond. It was a hot day 20deg c and I guess the Adder was taking in a little water. It stayed still as in pic 2 for 10 mins. before turning back into the heath.

Tree Pipit at Bovey Heath this morning giving voice to a song now and again. Siskins in the trees in Yarner Wood also this morning always a delight to see.

Brimstones Goneptteryx rhamni flying in Yarner wood this morning. A wonderful sunny day reaching 22c.

1. Chocolate Mining Bee Andrena scotia f. thorax and abdomen covered with brown hair. 2. Mourning Bee Melecta abifrons - black abdomen with white lateral spots. Cleptoparasite of Hairy-footed Flower Bees. 3. Female Hairy-footed Flower Bee Anthophora plumipes on Borage.Host to above Mourning Bee.

Yellow-legged Mining Bee Andrena flavipes - an aggregation in the soft cliffs at Prawle Point. Dotted Bee-fly Bombylius discolor, a cleptoparasite of Andrena species. Painted Nomad Bee Nomada fucata is a cleptoparasite of Yellow-legged Mining Bees and was found flying close to their nest burrows.

Manx Shearwaters pictured on a pelagic trip a couple of years ago and more Manxies feeding off Berry Head today at some distance. There were at least 100 of them.

Cliff Mining Bee Andrena thoracica on the cliff top at Prawle Point. With its shiny black abdomen its not easy to confuse with many other species. The soft cliffs at Prawle offer ideal nesting opportunities for these bees.

Hedgehogs aren't always sweet creatures like Mrs Tiggy-Winkle from Beatrix Potter. They can tussle over territory and food supply or even another hedgehog of the opposite sex. They both came back later to feed separately in peace.

Hairy-footed Flower Bee f. (Anthophora plumipes), shiny and industrious. Berry Head. Cms. away (pics2+3) Common Mourning Bee (Melecta albifrons) has emerged,a cleptoparasite, she will lay an egg in a Flower Bee's nest cell. The resultant larva will destroy the host egg/grub and eat its food store.

Berry Head quarry this afternoon - a female Kestrel hunting from the rock face. Three of four Red-throated Divers leaving Torbay and flying south. Manx Shearwater passing an incoming trawler and lastly a Gorse Shieldbug Piezodorus lituratos. Thanks Judah B for the ID.

An Ichneumonidae (Darwin Wasp) I found in dead wood near Greenway NT this morning. Obsidentify gives me Lymantrichneumon disparis which is a newcomer to southern UK (since 2013). @johnwalterswildife.bsky.social What do you think John?

Clarke's Mining Bee Andrena Clarkella, the only one seen at their nest aggregation. It was torpid in a freezing wind. Site near Newton Abbot. None seen on the willows. A kleptoparasitic Early Nomad Bee Nomada leucophthalma (Clarke's are their host bee) emerged from a Clarke's burrow.

Only a few Yellow-legged Mining Bees Andrena flavipes seem to have survived the cliff collapse at Mansands. This slow motion slump took pretty well all of their nest burrows into the sea. A few survivors are trying to make the best of things on unpromising remaining cliff face.

Four singing Cettis in the marsh at Mansands. This one has been ringed. The soft cliffs on the north end of the beach have slipped dramatically wiping out most mining bee aggregations and giving cause for concern for the Commmon Wall Lizards. Some have survived, these v. high up, spotted by Paul A.

Black Oil Beetle Meloe proscarabaeus, f digging a nest burrow in the footpath on Southdown near Mansands. She lays as many as 1000 eggs which will hatch into larvae called triungulins which will attach themselves to foraging bees and go on to parasitize their nests. I've not yet seen triungulins.

Manx Shearwaters north of Berry Head this afternoon. Possibly three dozen of them feeding in the lee of the headland where they were partially sheltered from a strong sou'westerly wind.

1. Tawny Mining Bee Andrena fulva (male). Not as colourful and showy as the female but easily picked out with its white hairy face. 2. Tapered Dronefly Eristalis pertinax very numerous on Alexanders at Berry Head. 3+4. Buff-tailed Bumblebee Bombus terrestris a large Bumblebee 2-2.2cms v. common

Tawny Mining Bees Andrena fulva, females, newly emerged from ground nests at Berry Head and looking like burning hot embers in the afternoon sun. Further along the coast a Yellow Dungfly was found eating a small fly, probably ambushed on a pile of dung.