Small White bagged

It was still windy but sunny so I thought I would try for some butterflies after work. I chose the hedge and grassy bank that catches the late afternoon sun by the side of the South Burn wood.  Once I was there, and more so after 10 minutes of nothing, I began to have doubts, but then a Peacock, followed by a couple more, then a Small Tortoiseshell made an appearance. A couple of more Peacocks, a Comma and at last, a Small White appeared. In total I counted -
10 Peacock
4 Small Tortoiseshell
1 Comma
2 Small White
Not a bad little haul

Birdwise it was very quiet, only two singing Chiffchaff and a Willow Warbler and a Willow Tit on the way back.

On the way back I decided to have another look at the Tawny Mining Bee colony. There were now seven digging or hanging about the entrance to their 'mines'. I checked around to see if there were any Oil Beetles but no luck. Earlier, I was told that Buglife (The Invertebrate Conservation Trust) are organising a survey of Oil Beetles this spring and as they can hang around Mining Bee colonies I had signed up to take part. There are only two species up here and they are noticeably different so identification shouldn't be a problem.  They are described as big, bold beetles with a lustre that would put any oil droplet to shame. Sounds good. So now all I've got to do is find some.