I got an e-mail from a lady called Nicola Devine who sent me a photograph of a Red-tipped Clearwing that she'd found in the Trap Grounds near Port Meadow.
 |
| Red-tipped Clearwing |
I went down to take a look for myself and managed to photograph a Clearwing myself. Though mine is much more poorly marked and very dark you can just make out some red in the tips of the wings so I assume that mine is a Red-tipped as well. I'm not sure how rare they are but I was certainly pleased to see it.
 |
| You can just make out the red-tips to the wings... |
 |
| ...and you can see the red abdomen stripe on the underside at least |
Hi Adam, I'm sure many of the clearwings don't deserve their 'notable' status and are more common than the numbers of records might suggest, mainly due to the fact that they are day-flyers and are particularly hard to find without resorting to pheromone lures. Getting the opportunity to photograph an adult like this (without the aid of pheromones) is a rare event!
ReplyDeleteMany readers won't know where Trap Grounds or even Port Meadow are. They are on the east bank of the Thames to the south of Wolvercote in north Oxford.
Thanks for an interesting post - may I add that the Friends of the Trap Grounds - trap-grounds.org.uk - are an excellent and very lively group and Nicola Devine does some lovely photography for them. All best M
ReplyDelete