Bombus hypnorum at Moor Copse

In the afternoon I decided to head out to one of my favourite local nature reserves – Moor Copse.

Despite being pestered by clegg flies (Haematopota sp.) I managed to see some really nice insects – most notable of which was Bombus hypnorum, a recent visitor to the UK. The only problem was accidentally setting my camera to ISO-1600 so the resulting photos were rubbish … the selection below is a testament more to PhotoShop than my ability as a photographer!!

There weren’t many tachinids – just a few very tatty Zophomyia temula, the very distinctive shiny-black, spikey fly with yellow wing bases. This species has been on the wing for at least a month and seem to have become much commoner in the last 2 years.