Social Distancing Week 2, Dark-edged Bee-fly

This little creature cheered me up last weekend. The bee-fly is one of my favourite heralds of spring and 22 March is the earliest I have seen one. It was a bit like seeing my first swallow a week before it was expected. However, unlike the swallow, the bee-fly won’t be around until September, it has usually disappeared by June. I found this one locally in a garden feeding on a nice patch of heather but it seems that this will be off limits after the recent lockdown rules.

Over the past few years the bee-fly has got a lot of publicity in the press and I think it is one of the few flies that people recognise. I know from a previous post here that Mark calls them ‘flying noses’, from the long proboscis. This, combined with the furry body and distinctive wing pattern make it easily recognisable. Also its habit of hovering, whilst feeding among flowers, make it catch the eye.

There is a national scheme called Bee-Fly Watch where you can log your sightings. This gives valuable information about emergence times in different parts of the country and also may reveal the gradual spread northwards of the species. You can find it here.

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