10 October 2019

After a week of inclement weather, there were no butterflies seen in the breeze on a brief visit to the lower slopes of Mill Hill. Occasional Ivy Bees were seen on the Ivy amongst the scrub.

20 September 2019
There were scores of Ivy Bees, Colletes hederae, where the soil was exposed on the lower slopes of Mill Hill

16 September 2019
There was over a dozen nests and scores of Ivy Bees, Colletes hederae, where the soil was exposed on the west facing (TQ 20960 07373) lower slopes of Mill Hill in the afternoon. Ivy was seen in flower as I returned by the uneventful ridge route in humid conditions.
Ivy Bee National Records 2019
 

1 August 2019 Ichneumon Wasp on Mill Hill. Lissonota sp, Jaswinder Boparai: I would say either L. cruentator or L. histrio.  on UK Bees, Wasps and Ants  facebook

17 June 2019 A small predatory flying insect entered minute holes in the soil on the middle slopes of Mill Hill. It was less than 15 mm long and difficult to spot (smaller than a Marmalade Fly). Digger Wasp It must be one of (ten uk species) the smaller Ectemnius Wasps Or one of the three species of Crabro

6 June 2019 A handful of small long-tailed Ichneumon-like Wasps Gasteruption sp, all skulked over the flowers of the ground-hugging Creeping Cinquefoil.

28 April 2019 Wasp Beetle, Clytus arietis, on an Elm leaf, by the footpath by Frampton's Field, at the top of The Street, Old Shoreham. Adur Beetles

 

23 April 2019 A small bee was occasionally seen on the lower slopes of Mill Hill,  small and rather distinctive in yellow and black barring: I think this was a Nomada species, most likely Nomada goodeniana. 22 April 2019 A small bee on Oxford Ragwort, Widewater flood plain. (illustrated) Lasioglossum  ??

2018
 
 

10 September 2018 Again this year, there were the colonies of Ivy Bees using bare earth ramparts on the lower slopes of Mill Hill.

31 August 2018 Small Lasioglossum bees on Burnet Saxifrage Lower slopes on Mill Hill

29 August 2018 A predatory sawfly Tenthredo species was spotted in the top meadow of Mill Hill on a cloudy afternoon.

11 April 2018 Small bee on Green Alkanet at Cuckoo's Corner, Coombes Road.

 

2017
 
 

21 May 2017 Daisy Bee Possibly Lasioglossum calceatum which is named the Common Furrow Bee PS: ID may be incorrect as the bees are meant to emerge in July.   Therefore Lasioglossum albipes  ??? Mill Hill Lasioglossum List

4 May 2017 Andrena  Mill Hill   Andrena Mining Bees

12 April 2017 Andrena nitida  Waterworks Road, Old Shoreham Andrena Mining Bees

Some identifications are questionable, beware.
 

2016
 

30 September 2016

Small bee on Hoary Ragwort on the Downs Link Cyclepath

It could be Lasioglossum calceatum

Stephen Boulton:  or Lasioglossum albipes, I don't think they can be separated by photo ID.
 

                                                                                                   Mill Hill

23 September 2015 Ivy Bee, Colletes hederae on Mill Hill

13 August 2015 Digger Wasp Ectemnius sp on Hogweed with Hoverflies on Buckingham Cutting (south). Ectemnius Wasps (BWARS)

27 June 2015 Lasioglossum calceatum, wing venation (curved basal vein) and various characters of the abdomen rule out Andrena Old Shoreham, by the cyclepath

1 May 2015 Gold-fringed Mason Bee (probable)  Osmia aurulenta Horseshoe Vetch on Mill Hill not Andrena nigroaenea

2014
 
 
 

16 September 2014 Nearer the northern end of the lower slopes of Mill Hill, and sometimes near the path, there were small cliff edges of exposed soil and these were used by congregations of the Ivy Bee, Colletes hederae. Colletes species Small Bee landing on Ragwort

8 August 2014 A Digger Wasp Ectemnius sp on Hogweed in the shady wooded bit at Buckingham Cutting (south).  Crabroninae Wasps Ectemnius Wasps (BWARS)

16 April 2014
 

	Nomada fucata Top of Chanctonbury Drive

2013

6 October 2013
 

The congregations of small solitary bees, the Ivy Bee, Colletes hederae, were again observed. There were over a hundred holes but not so many bees. Their habitat may have been helped to be created by the activities of Rabbits or by human disturbance.

2 October 2013
 

Nearer the northern end of the lower slopes of Mill Hill, and sometimes near the path, there were small cliff edges of exposed soil and these were used by congregations of the Ivy Bee, Colletes hederae.  Colletes species

This small bee was seen on its own on Devil's Bit Scabious on the northern part of the lower slopes of Mill Hill. It is a Halictus sp. male.  ID by bleu.geo

27 August 2013 A small bee in my front garden in Corbyn Crescent, Shoreham, on a Greater Willowherb flower. The antennae are shorter on this bee than the ones seen earlier in the month.

19 August 2013 The small bee skulking around the lower slopes of Mill Hill was thought to be a Nomada kleptoparastic (cuckoo) bee.

13 August 2013 Chalk Furrow Bee Lasioglossum  fulvicorne ID by Josh Nelson  Ispot Mill Hill

6 May 2013 Red Mason Bee, Osmia bicornis (= O.rufa), on Green Alkanet Waterworks Road ID by Janet on the official forum of the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society (BWARS)

2012

4 October 2012
 
 

   Small bee on Mill Hill, possibly a Lasioglossum

5 July 2012

A Leafcutter Bee carefully selected Rose leaves and then cut them up and carried them away in Ray Hamblett's south Lancing garden. The whole process of cutting took about ten seconds.

16 April 2012  Small bee on Mill Hill. Nomada fucata ?

2011
 
 
 

4 July 2011 At Buckingham Cutting

17 April 2011 Small bee on Mill Hill. Lasioglossum calceatum ?

12 April 2011 Andrena species ? on the Pixie Path (south-north section) Andrena cineraria ?

2010

3 November 2010
Three medium-sized Yellow-footed Solitary Bees, Lasioglossum xanthopum, visited the flowers of the Musk Thistles on a cleared patch on the lower slopes of Mill Hill above the path.
Adur Solitary Bees
 
 

1 August 2010 A worker Saxon Wasp, Dolichovespula saxonica, on the Buckingham Cutting area (north of Buckingham Park). PS: originally identified as the Tree Wasp, Dolichovespula media.  New ID by    Wasp ID Guide

A terrier dog barking attracted my attention to the Wasps Nest high in a tree at the top of Buckingham Park, Shoreham. It is the papery nest of the Tree Wasp, Dolichovespula media.  ID by Stuart Roberts on the BWARS Yahoo Group It is now thought to be the Saxon Wasp, Dolichovespula saxonica. It is a dark brown and yellow wasp, intermediate in size between the Common Wasp and German Wasp and the Hornet. It is a recent colonist of Britain, having spread across England since the mid 1980s. The highly active workers need mainly only carbohydrates. So the adults collect nectar from flowers. For the queen and to feed their young larvae, they hunt many kind of insects like flies and other wasps.

2 July 2010 Unidentified Parasitic Wasp (not a sawfly ?)

2009

21 June 2009
On a breezy mostly overcast day the most interesting observation were twenty or more small bees on the flower heads of the Musk Thistle on the side of the path as it runs past the Reservoir on the southern part of Mill Hill.
 

Perhaps a Megachile sp.	Musk Thistle

21 May 2009 This small bee is a male Nomada species seen on a Dandelion on the Coastal Link Cyclepath.  Probably (but not certainly) Nomada flava.    ID by Stuart Roberts on Flickr Wild Bees of Europe

This bee was identified as such from its antennae. A male Osmia bicornis. ID by Stuart Roberts on the official forum of the Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society (BWARS)

A female Andrena cf. carantonica  Now Andrena scotica ID by Stuart Roberts on the BWARS Yahoo Group Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Society (BWARS)

14 April 2009 This small bee was spotted at the extreme southern end of the Coastal Link Cyclepath. It is an Andrena species. It looks like Andrena carantonica Suggested ID by Stuart Roberts Common Andrena web page

Bees > 2008