Gill Smart visited the Falls of Clyde earlier this year in order to record the hoverfly species on the reserve. Here she shares some of the highlights from her visit.

“Hoverflies like a bit of sunshine so it was with some trepidation that I headed out to look for them at Falls of Clyde on a dull September morning.  Luckily, they also like flowers and the carpet of field scabious in the tree nursery was bustling with drone flies (Eristalis tenax), the big fly that looks a bit like a honey bee, hence the common name.  Also abundant here and elsewhere on the reserve was Rhingia campestris (pictured).  Its bright orange body and long snout make this one of the easiest of our very common hoverflies to identify.  The black line on the side of its body separates it from the much rarer Rhingia rostrata.  Ancient woodland is known to have a particular range of unusual hoverflies so I hope to re-visit Falls of Clyde when hunting conditions are better.”