![Common cluster fly resting on a leaf in the autumn sunshine](/sites/default/files/styles/scaled_default/public/2023-11/Untitled%20design%20%2850%29.png?itok=Lmd3mZMZ)
Common cluster fly resting on a leaf in the autumn sunshine
Photo by Alan Wright
After a couple of colder days I wasn’t expecting much insect action at Heysham Nature Reserve, although our knowledgeable reserve manager Reuben told me speckled wood butterflies had been seen only a few days before my visit. I was determined to see one.
My first sighting was a nursery web spider sitting on a bramble leaf in the sunshine. It soon moved when it detected my presence but I could see it watching from under some greenery. A common cluster fly was showing off its golden hairy back in the sunlight, not worried about my presence.