This afternoon my husband spotted a Stag Beetle in flight in our garden in Upminster. He called me over and we both watched it for a short while. We think it was not a big male, but possibly a female, or a small male, or a male of the Lesser Stag Beetle. It made the typical rattling sound of its wing covers as it flew about in a verticla position, and we saw only smallish horns. The long flying-wings were a dark reddish colour. We have not seen anything like a Stag Beetle in our garden for around 40 years, we think. We do have some long-dead wood at the bottom of the garden, hidden under Hawthorn trees.
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The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more
The weblog below is for naturalists to use to report interesting sightings, ask questions, report on field meetings and generally post pictures and any information or questions generally relevant in some way to the wildlife and geology of Essex. You will need to register and be logged-on to post to the forum, and you need to upload pictures first, for use in posts. Find out more