Tenthredo maculata

Lade - cool, cloudy, sw 2 - First thing this morning the weather followed on from the gloom of yesterday, but soon perked up with the sun breaking through by noon. The local patch was well up to scratch with Slavonian Grebe, Smew and Great White Egret the highlights on south lake, two Marsh Harrier, Kingfisher and a flyover Bittern on north lake. Duck numbers were similar to Sunday`s WeBS count.

                                Slavonian Grebe, Lade

                                Tenthredo maculata, Greatstone

Dungeness - An hour at the fishing boats this afternoon delivered typical wintering fare on the sea comprising mostly Guillemots, Kittiwakes and Gannets, plus a couple of passing Red-throated Divers. On the beach a 1st winter Caspian Gull was in a gull flock by the Fish Hut. 
  Regular visitors to Dungeness will be pleased to learn that a brand new estate road surface (a pukka hot-roll asphalt job) is being laid and is almost complete, so dodging the pot-holes will be a thing of the past!
  We called in at the Kerton Road Café on the way home where a wasp-like sawfly found in a Greatstone garden today was identified as Tenthredo maculata. Adults are only supposed to be active during the summer months, but it was warm enough once the sun broke through which probably enticed it out in the open to hunt, a smart little critter indeed.