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Exactly - very unexpected here. And appreciated all the more for it!

No! My next-door neighbour has a small pond but I think that’s dried up this summer and I don’t suppose it’s very sandy. There’s a bigger lake 600m away but not sandy. I’m a couple of miles from some gravel pits which might be suitable?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Why are gritters are being deployed in hot weather?As road temperatures reach 50C during the heatwave, surfaces can start to melt.www.bbc.co.uk

Is that first one a Mandarin?

Looking west, no?

Hi Rob, have another look at the position of vein RMCV. I’m pretty sure this will be a Wesmaelius (probably nervosus). Some Hemerobius are roughly similar but micans has plainer wings and is generally more orangey.

Lovely - I’ve not seen Jersey Tiger yet, though they’re starting to appear in Norfolk so it probably won’t be long. I think the grey is Eudonia mercurella (Garden Grey) but they’re tricky!

I think the ones on bindweed are Honey Bees. I’m not great on bees though.

Fabulous! The second one is a Small Red-eyed Damselfly (more extensive blue on sides of each end of the abdomen compared to Red-eyed). I was hoping to look for Dainty Damselfly while I was down there but sadly there wasn’t enough time, so I’ve still never seen that.

Ah, ok 👍 Keep trying - you’ll get Yellow-legged eventually!

Ah, that is a bit unlucky then. I wonder if you might have some cross-contamination with the lures or their cages maybe? Raspberry (and Dusky and Sallow) are the ones I keep trying for with no success!

Better - they’re Raspberry Clearwing!

I think the carousel is a BlueSky feature that kicks in when you post more than four photos. Personally I don’t like it - I like to be able to see thumbnails of all the photos as I scroll down my feed so I know which ones I want to look at more closely.

Yeah there’s a really useful set of keys for beetles from Mike Hackston here: sites.google.com/view/mikes-i... . Beetles can be hard though, and you usually need specimens under a microscope. Mike also has keys for quite a few other taxa so a good place to start.

Mikes Insect Keys - Keys for the Identification of British Beetles (Coleoptera)Equipping the next generation of entomologistssites.google.com

Yes, Choreutis nemorana (Fig-leaf Skeletoniser). Only found in the UK since 2014 and Norfolk since 2021 so won’t be in older books. Now widespread and common where there are Fig trees. I’ve still not seen one though, despite checking a Fig tree in a friend’s garden.

Yeah, I noticed that with the key and wondered if it was because some individuals lack the black Sc or can be unclear - but then he still includes that character again in the second couplet. Great record - they seem to have a very limited distribution here in Norfolk.

I seem to only catch these in even-numbered years - not sure if that’s others’ experience too or if it’s just coincidence. Have had a few this week though they’re often dead in the bottom of the trap by morning (unless they’re just playing…).

Interesting that it doesn’t seem to have black vein Sc as dorsalis normally has. I think the thickness of the lateral stripe on the thorax may also support the dorsalis ID but did you check the claws too or just rely on head pattern?

@pamdragons.bsky.social

Thanks, and sorry - I hadn’t appreciated how very dusky juvenile Ruddy Shelducks can be for a short period. Seems I was wrong and this is as you described, not a hybrid. Well done for capturing such an instructive bird so well.