Garden Critters

November Hovers

2011-12-11T19:45:00.003-01:00

November this year will be remembered for its very mild and dry weather. This meant that there was still a lot of insect activity in my garden, especially on the flowers of my Hedera colchica 'Paddy's pride' Ivy. This photograph was taken on 13/11/11 and shows a hoverfly from the Eupeodes group. I'm pretty sure the species is Eupeodes luniger as they can be found exceptionally early and late in the season, and is very common in south-east England.
The Ivy flowers were also attracting many wasps and several species of flies and really must go down as one of those must have plants for anyone interested in entomology.

Scarlet Tiger Moth

2011-06-22T17:25:00.005-01:00

The photograph taken above in my garden on 19/05/11, shows a pair of Scarlet Tiger Callimorpha dominula Moths mating. What is so satisfying for me is the fact that I raised one of these from a Caterpillar through to a Pupa, which then hatched into this beautiful Moth on 18/05/11. I released the Moth in the late afternoon of the 19th and then literally within the hour found these two mating. I cannot prove that one of the Moths was mine, but knowing the strength of the pheromones that they give off, I'm pretty sure mine found a mate almost instantly.
I have found another pair mating today on 22/06/11.
I'm pretty sure that I now have a thriving colony of this species as I seem to have many of the larval foodplants. These include Common Comfrey, Hemp-agrimony, Common Nettle, Honeysuckle and Meadowsweet. I have noticed the local Great Tits often diving into the Comfrey searching for caterpillars.

Large Red Damselfly

2011-05-01T21:08:00.016-01:00

The unseasonal warm weather we have been enjoying this spring, has led to the early emergence of many Dragonflies and Damselflies. The Large Red Damselfly, pictured above, is invariably the first species to emerge, and in my garden was seen on the 21st April. This compares with other years as follows:
2005 - 27th May.
2006 - 17th June.
2007 - Not recorded.
2008 - Not recorded.
2009 - 29th April.
2010 - 15th May.
2011 - 21st April.
The photograph above is probably of an immature male as the stripes on the side of the thorax (known as antehumeral stripes) appear to be yellow and the anal appendages at the tip of the abdomen appear to have claspers for mating. Males emerge slightly earlier than females and mature in about 12 days compared to 16 days for females.

The colour of the eyes are often an important identification feature of Dragonflies and Damselflies, and the photograph above clearly shows that ours are Red. Also, the legs are Black, which also confirms that this is a Large Red rather than a Small Red Damselfly.

On the 1st May, I took this photograph, which shows a mating pair around my pond. There were 4 Large Red Damselflies present, which is a record for my garden, and to observe two of them mating was also a first.

Early Mining Bees

2011-04-04T18:50:00.006-01:00

I was thrilled to see this bee in my back garden, basking in the early morning sunshine on 12/03/11. This is a type of solitary mining bee and my first of the year. This bee is from the Genus Andrena, of which there are 67 species nationally.

It is extremely difficult to narrow this family of bees down to species level, but because of the date seen it could well be Andrena clarkella. The white hairs on the face indicate that this is a male. It is associated with sallow blossom and sometimes appears as early as mid-February.

They nest in the ground, and hence they are more commonly known as 'mining bees'. Although strictly solitary, females of many species of the Andrena group nest in dense aggregations and a few species have communal nest entrances.

This bee was observed basking in the early evening sunshine on my shed ivy on 27/03/11. Again extremely difficult to identify down to species level, but looking at other internet photographs, it could possibly be Andrena carantonica, which is a very common mining bee found between the end of march and mid July.

RSPB Garden Birdwatch 2011

2011-02-08T21:44:00.009-01:00

Each year after participating in the RSPB Garden Birdwatch, I always like to do a comparison on the four main seed eating visitors. Of the four, I would say that the Goldfinch is the most frequent visitor with totals up to 15 sometimes recorded (only 6 during the birdwatch). This is certainly due in some part to the two Nyger seed feeders, and also the state of the weather. On damp days numbers increase quite substantially compared to dry days and it must be due to natural seed bearing sources remaining tightly shut under these conditions. The BBC Wildlife magazine pointed this fact out in reply to a question on Siskins visiting garden feeders in damp weather.

Unfortunately, there were no Greenfinches seen this year, and since 2004 they have become conspicuous by their absence. House Sparrow numbers are just about holding up as are Chaffinches (only 1 during the birdwatch) - normally 5 or 6 are seen.

The highlight of the birdwatch this year was when my wife Bron said there were several Starlings on a TV aerial in the distance waiting to come down to the garden for their usual suet treats. On closer inspection I could see that these Starlings had grown crests on the back of their heads and were in fact Waxwings. This is a first for us to actually see them from the kitchen window (all 32 of them), but sadly we cannot count them as technically they did not come down to the garden.

Here is the submitted list seen on Sunday 30/01/11 between 10:20 and 11:20:

Blackbird - 2, Blue Tit - 2, Chaffinch - 1, Collared Dove - 1, Dunnock - 1, Goldfinch - 6,

Great Tit - 1, House Sparrow - 6, Pied Wagtail - 2, Robin - 1, Song Thrush - 1,

Starling - 11, Wood Pigeon - 4.

13 Species, 39 Birds.

Garden Moth Review 2010

2011-01-28T18:31:00.003-01:00

A new species for the garden in 2010 was the Pyrausta despicata, which was found in my Moth trap on 20/08/10. This is rather a plain micro moth, but it is unusual in as much as it is normally found on dry calcareous soils, cliffs and downs. Why it should turn up in my garden on clay soil is one of lifes great mysteries.

On with the review. For my 60th birthday on January 1st, my two children, Paul and Jenny gave me a wonderful 125W Robinson moth trap. This replaced my home made ‘Skinner’ type of trap and enabled me to increase my catch quite substantially.
New species recorded for 2010 only increased by 12 giving me a garden life list of 164. The year by year tally is shown below:

2005 Life list = 51.
2006 Life list = 81. New species = 30.
2007 Life list = 104. New species = 23.
2008 Life list = 125. New species = 21.
2009 Life list = 152. New species = 27.
2010 Life list = 164. New species = 12.

The number of species was down slightly at 75, but the number of individuals caught increased quite dramatically to 322. Below is a yearly breakdown of the number of species recorded and the number of individuals:

2005 Species = 51. Individuals = 99.
2006 Species = 50. Individuals = 142.
2007 Species = 53. Individuals = 161.
2008 Species = 68. Individuals = 178.
2009 Species = 79. Individuals = 229.
2010 Species = 75. Individuals = 322.

The list below shows my top 10 most abundant species for 2010 (actually 11 moths).
The biggest surprise is the Small Quaker at No.1 which increased from 8 in 2009 to a staggering 53 in 2010. This is quickly followed by another huge increase at No.3 for the Common Quaker, up from 3 in 2009 to 26 in 2010. I think this is partly due to the Robinson type trap and it will be interesting to see what happens in 2011.

1. Small Quaker Orthosia cruda = 53.
2. Heart & Dart Agrotis exclamationis = 34.
3. Common Quaker Orthosia cerasi = 26.
4. Dark Arches Apamea monoglypha = 15.
=5. Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba = 12.
=5. Shuttle-shaped Dart Agrotis puta = 12.
7. Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana = 11.
8. Vine's Rustic Hoplodrina ambigua = 10.
=9. Common Rustic Mesapamea secalis = 8.
=9. Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica = 8.
=9. Lesser Yellow Underwing Noctua comes = 8.

Overall since I have started mothing in 2005, the Light Brown Apple Moth is the most abundant species found in the garden with a total of 110, followed by the Heart & Dart with 83.

Leaving the garden for a moment, my life list now stands at 227.

Anyone seen the sea?

2010-12-19T16:11:00.009-01:00

The photograph above was taken on 18/12/10 in my back garden, and shows a Black-headed Gull Larus ridibundus. This seems quite unusual to find a gull on the back lawn, but I'm regularly getting a flock of about 15, pinching the suet pellets that I put out for the Starlings. It must be due to the extreme cold weather we are having driving the gulls away from frozen water in search of garden titbits.

This specimen has brown wing markings and a black tail without white spots which makes it a juvenile in its 1st winter plumage. In the summer, this bird will develop a dark chocolate coloured hood, which often looks black, and it is from this that gives the bird its name. The orange blob below its bum is actually a biscuit (in case you were wondering).

An even rarer bird that has given me a new garden tick is shown below.

This is a Common Gull Larus canus, and appeared with the same flock of Black-headed Gulls. It landed on the lawn once during observation, but I was unable to get the required photograph. Instead, it spent most of its time up on my neighbours roof watching the other birds get their fill. The word common is rather a misnomer in this case as the Black-headed Gull and Herring Gull are the more likely species to be seen.

The Wags are back in town

2010-11-27T11:38:00.007-01:00

The image above is of a male Pied Wagtail Motacilla alba yarrellii and was taken on 21/11/10 on my back lawn. Compare it to the image below which shows the female.

The female has a lighter grey back and less of a black bib than the male, and they often come down to feed together which would indicate that they are already paired up for next spring.
They always seem to return to the garden in the autumn and stay through the winter months. I have been recording the dates when they first appear each autumn and examples are as follows:
2003 - 21st October.
2004 - 21st December.
2005 - 2nd October.
2006 - 14th October.
2007 - 13th December.
2008 - 21st November.
2009 - 9th November.
2010 - 7th November.
Their diet consists of insects, insects and more insects, which in winter are in short supply. In the late autumn, they tend to leave their traditional feeding grounds and favour more urban areas where they can often be seen on warm rooftops, which might just house a few remaining goodies.
In my garden, they do seem to like suet or finely grated cheese, and this may just make the difference between survival and death in prolonged frosty spells.

On leaving the Madejski football stadium tonight after another goal shy performance by our well paid heroes, my son Paul noticed there were a lot of birds flying about between the trees that fringe the car park. On closer inspection they appeared to be Pied Wagtails, and they must have been looking to roost there after the crowd dispersal. In days gone by, there was always a Pied Wagtail roost in the old sewage works, just down the way from the stadium. This has now disappeared, but perhaps the wags still like this end of town and decided to stay put. My guess is that the two wags that visit my garden every day commute backwards and forwards from the Mad Stad.

Humming-bird Hawk-moth

2010-09-17T19:34:00.007-01:00

Finally, another sighting of this magnificent creature - the Humming-bird Hawk-moth Macroglossum stellatarum. This is a frequent immigrant from southern Europe and north Africa and I haven't recorded this moth since 23/09/07. From the photograph above, the moth is feeding on Salvia microphylla ‘Wild Watermelon’ , a must have plant for any nature enthusiast. It has one of the longest flowering periods of any plant in my garden, attracts numerous bees (as well as the moth above), and is very easy for taking cuttings.

Please visit the following website and record any sightings of this moth :
http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/sightings/1096/hummingbird_hawk_moth.html.
It is very interesting to see if anyone else in your area has seen this moth using the interactive map on this website. Somebody in Thatcham saw one on the same day as me (09/09/10), and of course you start to wonder if it was the same individual.
Note the picture on the website! It also shows the moth feeding on a type of Salvia - Buy one to increase your chances of attracting this enigmatic species.

Hoverfly Influx

2010-08-14T11:00:00.006-01:00

This summer has seen an unsual abundance of hoverflies in my garden. The species that I have been able to identify have their numbers boosted enormously by the influx of migrants. The one in the photograph above is very easy to spot as it is black and white and is known as Scaeva pyrasti. The white markings on tergites 3 & 4 of the abdomen have a very characteristic shape and should be checked so that they reach much forward at their inner ends (centre of abdomen) than at their outer ends. It is believed that this species is not a permanent resident but arrives here as a migrant and then breeds here.

Another instantly recognizeable species is Sphaerophoria scripta shown above. This is another species that is boosted in numbers by migration and is easily identified by the body being much longer than the wings (males only).

Finally, the easiest to identify and most abundant species in my garden at the moment is the Marmalade Hoverfly Episyrphus balteatus. It is the most frequently recorded species in Britain and Ireland and is recorded in all months in most years. No identification help is required with this species as it cannot be confused with any others.

All the above photographs were taken around the 28th July, and I'm waiting to here in the press if 2010 is the year of the Hoverfly migration.

Wasp Nest

2010-07-11T10:02:00.007-01:00

23/05/10 - I noticed with some trepidation that this Common Wasp Vespula vulgaris had started to build its nest in my garden shed. However, after a few days it seemed to seal the entrance hole up and then disappear without trace as shown below.

Wasp nests are initiated by a fertile female (queen wasp) during late spring. The initial nest is about the size of a golf ball (the size above) and contains a small piece of comb in which the queen rears her first brood of worker wasps. The workers are sterile females. Their role is to gather food that they feed to the larvae, to gather chewed up wood fibres for constructing the combs and enlarging the nest (melon sized), and defending the nest against intruders. Male wasps and next year’s queens develop in late summer.

Social wasps are important predators of insect pests such as caterpillars and other small soft-bodied insects. The insects are fed to the wasp larvae, and in return the larvae exude a sweet substance to feed the workers. In autumn, when the queen stops producing eggs, the workers no longer have their food, forcing them to search for replacement sources of sugar. Normally, this would be found on rotting fruit, but the abundance of sweet human foods such as jam encourages them to invite themselves to our tables. This explains why wasps are generally only a nuisance in the autumn.

The photo above was taken on 09/06/10 and I have not seen any more activity in the shed. Perhaps the workers hatched out and gave the nest up as a bad job as I had sealed up some rather large gaps between the floor and the sides of the shed. Alternatively, maybe the workers just did not hatch out for some reason. In a way I'm rather sad that I was unable to observe the building of a complete nest, but glad that my son will still come to visit me. He has a phobia about wasps like so many other people.

Caterpillars and Parasites

2010-06-25T20:57:00.005-01:00

The above Caterpillar was found in my back garden on Knapweed on May 15th this year. I have identified it as the larva of the Double Square-spot Xestia triangulum Moth. It did not seem to be moving very much or interested in eating, and on closer inspection, the reason becomes clear. Looking at the top right hand end of the larva you can just make out some tiny white blobs. I have tried to enlarge this in the photograph below.

Here you can see some tiny white eggs laid by a parasite of some kind. I decided to keep the Caterpillar in my rearing tent to see what would happen. On May 31st, the eggs hatched out and I was rewarded with many tiny Parasitic Wasps - see photograph below.

I have no idea what species of Wasp this is, but will do my best to find out. I will then update this blog.

I saw a fly

2010-05-06T21:01:00.005-01:00

This is quite an unusual insect that I found by chance on my Ivy Hedera helix growing over a dead tree stump. It is a type of Sawfly. At first I was convinced the species was Abia sericea as the metallic green body, brownish edge to front of wings and the purple thorax seemed to fit the indentification features. However, after posting this picture on http://www.ispot.org.uk/ I have been advised the species is Zaraea lonicera due to the black antennae and the habitat being a better match. It feeds on Honeysuckle (and Snowberry) and is often found in gardens. If the antennae were entirely reddish brown or orange then it would more than likely have been Abia sericea. The fattish body indicate this is a female.

What is strange about this group of insects is the name sawfly. It does not belong to the True Flies: Order Diptera group (two wings), but instead it is from the Bees, Wasps, Ants and Related Insects: Hymenoptera group (two pairs of wings). They get their name because most females have a saw-like ovipositor, although in some species it works more like a drill.

I photographed this specimen on the 23rd April and must thank Martin Harvey for identifying this for me as none of my insect books have any reference to Zaraea lonicera.

Danger Mouse

2010-04-19T21:02:00.008-01:00

This little chap showed up in the front garden this month on the 10th April, and is a juvenile Wood Mouse Apodemus sylvaticus. It could easily be mistaken for a Bank Vole due to the blunt nose, but the long tail is the giveaway. The tail would be 50% of the head and body length in a Bank Vole and almost the same as the head and body length in a Wood Mouse.

This mouse did not appear to be very street wise as it was meandering around in broad daylight, even allowing me to get up really close for this photograph. It did appear to have some mates who were behaving quite differently. They were scurrying about under the tree stump ivy, keeping well out of sight.

Unfortunately, as expected, we have not seen this chap again. Presumably, one of the many feline killing machines in the neighbourhood has had a free lunch, or even the local Sparrowhawk Accipiter nisus (as photographed below)

First Moths of the year

2010-04-02T09:35:00.002-01:00

On the 1st January this year, my two children, Paul and Jenny, gave me a Robinson type Moth Trap for my 60th Birthday present. Since then, I have been putting it out twice a month on suitable dry nights at weekends. It wasn't until the 27th March that I caught my first Moths of the season. These were as follows:

Small Quaker - 5 : Hebrew Character - 1 : Lead-coloured Drab - 1

The Lead-coloured Drab (Orthosia populeti) is shown above, and is the first time I have recorded this species in the garden. The Clouded Drab is far more commoner than the Lead-coloured Drab, and is the more usual species to be recorded in a Berkshire garden. However, the forewing looks round tipped and there appear to be black marks on the inner edge of the outermost cross line, which almost certainly make it a Lead-coloured Drab.

Unexpected Garden Visitors

2010-03-08T19:54:00.008-01:00

The picture above was taken a couple of weeks ago on the 21st February, and it shows two Redpolls on my Niger seed feeder. These birds are members of the finch family and have been split into three species - Lesser Redpoll Carduelis cabaret, Common or Mealy Redpoll Carduelis flammea and finally Artic Redpoll Carduelis hornemanni. This is somewhat confusing as the Common is rarer than the Lesser in this country.

So which species is it in the picture? The Lesser does breed in this country but is more of a winter visitor to Southern England. The Common does not breed here but is a winter visitor, particularly to the East coast. The Artic is extremely rare in this country and can be ruled out.
The Lesser is smaller than the Common which is not much help here! The Lesser has two distinct pale wing bars and has buffier undertail-coverts than the Common. The Common is altogether paler than the Lesser with less buff wash on the flanks and breast, and has broader whiter wing bars.

The facing bird above seems to have darker wing bars than the lower bird, but maybe it just light and shadow playing tricks. Could the facing bird be a Lesser and the lower one a Common?

Perhaps readers to this blog could tell me their suggestions.

There is a very comprehensive description of the identification difficulties of these two birds on the Worcestershire bird site - www.worcesterbirding.co.uk/redpolls_58.html

Meanwhile here is another closer photograph of the Lesser or is it Common Redpoll?

This has provoked quite an interesting discussion on Ispot. Most people seem to go with Lesser Redpolls, however the lower bird could possibly be a Common Redpoll. Have a look at the following:

http://www.ispot.org.uk/node/22532

Garden Butterfly Review 2009

2010-01-25T20:21:00.014-01:00

2009 will probably go down as one of the most memorable years ever for garden butterflies. Not because of the weather, as the summer was generally unsettled, with low pressure dominating, but because of the record numbers seen in my garden of Painted Lady Vanessa cardui, Peacock Inachis io and Large White Pieris brassicae butterflies.

During May and June there was a massive invasion of Painted Ladies which then bred in this country. The result of which was large numbers of home grown 'Ladies' seen on my garden Buddleia bushes, Verbena Bonariensis and Knapweed flowers around the end of July and beginning of August. Peak counts as follows:

23rd & 25th July = 5 & 9 respectively.

2nd & 6th August = 7 & 14 respectively.

Also, during the end of July and beginning of August, there was another immigration, this time of Large Whites. These are notoriously difficult to count as they don't tend to nectar long on one flower, and almost always fly with Small Whites. Peak counts in the garden were as follows:

25th July = 3.

2nd August = 5.

Finally, there was an unusually high number of Peacocks seen on the garden Buddleia bushes at the end of July and beginning of August. This must have been due to a very successful overwintering/hibernation year for this butterfly, as the offspring emerge in July.

23rd and 25th July = 4 on both dates.

2nd & 6th August = 6 & 8 respectively.

Two other species that produced records for my garden this year were Comma Polygonia c-album and Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria, as both these species were recorded in 5 different months.

One of the highlights for me this year occurred on the 27th June, when a Large Skipper Ochlodes venata was seen for the very first time in the garden. This helped to swell the lifetime number of species seen to 19, of which, 15 of these were seen in 2009. Year by year breakdown as follows:

2003 = 9.

2004 = 12.

2005 = 12.

2006 = 12.

2007 = 12.

2008 = 13.

2009 = 15.

Finally, I must mention the Small Tortoiseshell Aglais urticae. For some, this ubiquitous butterfly would not warrant a second glance as it was once so widespread and common. It then went into serious decline and hadn't been seen in my garden since 2004. I am happy to announce that it was recorded in 2009 during 3 different months - 8th June, 31st July and 2nd August (I realise the latter two dates were probably the same individual). The picture at the top of the blog is the individual seen on the 8th June.

New Bird added to the garden list

2010-01-19T21:09:00.004-01:00

On Tuesday 5th Jan, it started snowing during the evening and by the next day the depth in the garden was measured at 35cm. On Sunday the 10th, the snow still hadn't shifted, and being housebound I was keeping a close eye on the garden birdlife. It was then that I noticed a strange bird in the garden eating the cut up apples that I had put out for the Blackbirds and Song Thrush. I couldn't believe my eyes, but I recognised it straight away to be a Fieldfare Turdus pilaris. This bird turned out to be a real bully as the Blackbirds and Song Thrush could not get a look in. Even when it was full up it would go and perch on the garden fence and guard the apples, and woe betide anyone else who had the cheek to take a bite. The snow had disappeared by the 17th and so has the Fieldfare. The Blackbirds are back and it is now their turn to chase away the Song Thrush.

Bumblebee in December!

2010-01-09T20:58:00.002-01:00

I was very surprised to see the above Bumblebee gathering nectar from my Potato plant Solanum, which remarkably is in flower in December (picture taken on 20/12/09).

Due to its size, I think it must be a worker of either a white- or buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus lucorum or Bombus terrestris. If anyone has any ideas on the species ID then please let me know. The temperature on the 20th was barely above freezing and I cannot remember ever seeing a bumblebee when it has been that cold.

According to the BBC Wildlife magazine for January, there are some nests that are active throughout the winter, which must account for my observation. The magazine does point out that in warmer weather, the larger queens of the two mentioned species will also be prospecting for new nest sites. With the current ongoing freeze and 35cm depth of snow on the ground, it could be sometime before the first queen turns up in my garden.

Garden Moth Review 2009

2010-01-01T14:35:00.007-01:00

The picture above shows the Omphaloscelis lunosa or Lunar Underwing Moth. This species appeared in my top 10 most abundant garden species this year (more about that below).

My garden moth list continues to grow with the help of 27 new species in 2009. I started recording seriously in 2005 and the grand total now stands at 152. Here is a year by year tally:

2005 = 51.
2006 = 81. New species = 30.
2007 = 104. New species = 23.
2008 = 125. New species = 21.
2009 = 152. New species = 27.

This has been my most successful year yet with 79 different species recorded and a total moth count of 229 individuals. Here is a yearly breakdown of number of species recorded and the number of individuals:

2005 Species = 51. Individuals = 99.
2006 Species = 50. Individuals = 142.
2007 Species = 53. Individuals = 161.
2008 Species = 68. Individuals = 178.
2009 Species = 79. Individuals = 229.

The list below shows my top 10 most abundant species. Surprisingly, the Light Brown Apple Moth has been replaced at the top by the Heart and Dart. Last years number 2 and 3 were Dark Arches and Brimstone Moth respectively, but this year they are no where to be seen! The surprises this year are the already mentioned Heart and Dart which increased by 20 and Setaceous Hebrew Character which increased by 11. The only migrant species recorded was the ubiquitous Silver Y with a total of 4, and disappointedly there were again no Humming-bird Hawk-moths seen.

1. Agrotis exclamationis Heart and Dart = 28
2. Epiphyas postvittana Light Brown Apple Moth = 23
3. Xestia c-nigrum Setaceous Hebrew Character = 14
4. Orthosia cruda Small Quaker = 8
5. Omphaloscelis lunosa Lunar Underwing = 8
6. Chloroclysta truncata Common Marbled Carpet = 7
7. Agrotis puta Shuttle-shaped Dart = 7
8. Noctua pronuba Large Yellow Underwing = 6
9. Agriphila geniculea = 5
10. Peribatodes rhomboidaria Willow Beauty = 5

Leaving the garden for a moment, my life list now stands at 202. Considering a total of 789 species have been seen in Berkshire this year (up to 13/12/09), then I have a long way to go.
http://upperthames-butterflies.org.uk/moth_sightings.html

Vapourer comings and goings

2009-10-12T14:26:00.016-01:00

On the 23rd August, Bron and myself decided to give our sick Pyracantha bush a severe pruning (I think it is suffering from Fire blight). We noticed attached to one of the prunings a small Pupa, probably belonging to a moth. Also, we found a caterpillar chomping away on the Pyracantha leaves, and this we identified as the larva of the Vapourer Moth, Orgyia antiqua. Both the pupa and the caterpillar were placed inside our insect rearing tent.
After feeding the caterpillar on fresh leaves every day, it mysteriously escaped from the tent (approx. 4th September). We think it was through the zip as it is now difficult to do up properly after all the constant use this summer. However, it did not travel very far as can be seen from the photograph below. It stopped on the outside of the tent and span its cocoon there and then.
Meanwhile, on the 11th September, the small unknown pupa hatched out into the beautiful male Vapourer Moth as shown below. I was unable to get a really good photograph as it quickly flew away once outside the rearing tent.

This is where the story starts to get really interesting. On the 18th September I came home from work and glanced at the cocoon as I walked through the garage, and did not see anything interesting. I started working in the garden as one does with the front and rear garage doors open. A short time afterwards I passed through the garage again and this time noticed a male Vapourer Moth sitting exactly where the cocoon was. I couldn't believe my eyes, and at first felt gutted that I had missed an actual hatching of a moth from a pupa. I went to fetch my camera, and on returning found that the male Vapourer had flown. However, this time on closer inspection I noticed that on top of the cocoon was what looked like some sort of bug. After consulting the bible "Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland", I could see that it was a female Vapourer Moth that had hatched from the pupa, and not a male as first thought. The female had given off such a strong pheromone that she had attracted a male from inside the garage. Whether it was our male that hatched on the 11th September we will never know. Below is the picture of the female taken at 15:44.

Within minutes of the mating, the female Vapourer began laying eggs as the photograph below shows taken at 16:19. She had already laid 10 eggs at this stage.
The rate at which she was producing these eggs was phenomenal as can be seen from the next photo taken at 17:00.From the final photo, taken on the 24th Sept at 07:42, there appear to be approx. 180 eggs. You are welcome to count them! The already mentioned field guide indicates that she would lay several hundred. After this the unfortunate Moth dies, as mine certainly did. Remember this Moth hatched from its pupa, remained on its cocoon, mated almost instantly, and then started to lay eggs on its cocoon. During this time it did not eat or drink. What a remarkable Moth!These eggs will now overwinter and then hatch into larvae from May onwards next year. I must now work out how to transfer the eggs from the outside of the rearing tent onto the Pyracantha bush to ensure a healthy population next year. If anyone has any ideas then please let me know.

Another Parasite

2009-08-31T18:19:00.010-01:00

Regular readers of this blog will know that my wife Bron and I grow a couple of Cabbages in our garden purely for the much maligned Large White Pieris brassicae butterfly. This has been a bumper year for this butterfly and there have been plenty of eggs that have hatched out into tiny caterpillars. Some of these we have transferred into our insect rearing tent for observation purposes.

The photograph above shows that one of these now fully grown caterpillars has several yellow grubs emerging from it. This happened at 10:13 on the 10th July.

At 11:47, the tiny yellow grubs are now in the process of spinning cocoons as seen above.

At 12:08 the cocoons are complete (the caterpillar is still somehow alive at this stage)

We have now decided to separate the cocoons and transfer them into a bio viewer to await the outcome.

Eight days later on the 18th july, the cocoons have hatched out into small black wasps.

Finally the photograph above shows one of these wasps in more detail. It is the Braconid Wasp Cotesia glomerata. The female wasp is capable of injecting about 80 eggs into a caterpillar and the tiny grubs feed, avoiding the vital organs, and emerge just as the host prepares to pupate. It is an important controller of Large White butterflies and, as such, is considered a gardeners friend.

Leaf-cutter Bee

2009-07-16T19:35:00.025-01:00

29th June - I noticed for the first time some activity around my homemade solitary bee nesting box. A Leaf-cutter Bee Megachile centuncularis, has started to build a nest in one of the bamboo cane chambers.
As regular readers of this blog will know, I have had considerable success with my purpose built nest box which is South facing (See Mason Bee blog - April 2008).
The homemade nest box is East facing and uses tatty old bamboo canes cut off to similar lengths as the purpose built one. The Mason Bees do not seem to like this one.

2nd July - The chamber has been completed as can be seen from the green leaf plug at the entrance.

3rd July - A second nest hole is now being worked on.
Whether this is the same female or another one, I cannot be sure. As the dates are so close together I'm assuming it is the same female. Within the bamboo cane the leafcutter bee collects fragments of leaves to construct individual nest cells. Within each cell the bee lays an egg and provides nectar and pollen for the developing larvae. The cell is then sealed with another leaf and the finished cell somewhat resembles a cigar butt.

3rd July - The second nest hole is near completion. The female caps the nest hole with a solid plug made of cemented leaf pieces.

3rd July - The female is just completing the finishing touches. A completed nest tunnel will contain a dozen or more cells in a tube 10cm to 20cm long. My tubes are 15cm long. The adult female can lay between 35 and 40 eggs and live up to 2 months. Therefore, it is even more likely that the same female has so far used two tubes.

4th July - 2 nest holes now completed. Once finished, the female will desert the nest and leave nature to take its course. The eggs hatch into larvae, consume the pollen ball and enter hibernation. The following spring, the larvae pupate and turn into adult bees.

Nature can seem unkind

2009-07-04T12:59:00.016-01:00

21st June.

I found this rather beautiful caterpillar on my Variegated Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia punctata 'Alexander'.

My wife Bron, who is very good at identifying caterpillars, tells me this is the larva of the Light Knot Grass moth Acronicta menyanthidis. What confused me was the two white marks on the last two Abdominal Segments.
The foodplants of this moth are Heather, bog myrtle, bilberry, birch, sallow and other plants! Therefore, as this was found on Yellow Loosestrife, then I guess this counts as the 'other plants'.

I have never recorded the Light Knot Grass moth in my garden, therefore I have transferred the caterpillar to my rearing tent, along with some fresh leaves.

27th June.

Alas, as this picture shows, two small white larvae have emerged from the caterpillar, which now appears to be dead.

Perhaps it has been parasitised by Ichneumon wasps, which I do see regularly around the garden.

If anyone has any idea on the species of parasite, then please let me know.

Garden Springwatch continued continued!

2009-06-25T21:18:00.019-01:00

Following on from the last blog....
19th June - 3 very contented chicks almost ready for the big wide world as shown above.

20th June - The nest was empty! After hunting around the garden, I found one of the fledglings hidden in my overgrown meadow as shown above.

Assuming that the 3rd egg hatched on the 8th June, and the other two hatched on the 7th June, then it took 13-14 days before they fledged.

25th June - Unfortunately, there are no sign of any of the fledglings.

Garden Springwatch continued

2009-06-25T21:05:00.008-01:00

Following on from the last blog....
7th June - 2 baby Blackbirds in the nest.

8th June - My guess is that there are now 3 babies in the nest.

14th June - 3 baby blackbirds were seen being fed. Clearly the other two eggs were not going to hatch. (I could just see one of the eggs still in the nest).

17th June - The picture above was taken, and shows 3 healthy babies filling up the nest nicely.
To be continued ....

Garden Springwatch

2009-06-18T21:01:00.006-01:00

19th May - I noticed a female Blackbird furiously ripping my pond plants apart to find suitable nesting material. The foolish result was a nest built in the climbing Hydrangea anomala shrub, against my back fence, approximately 1metre high.

20th May - A Carrion Crow was perched above the nest, presumably checking it for eggs. After I scared it off I checked the nest, but there were no eggs.

23rd May - I checked the nest and there were 3 eggs which were not being incubated.

24th May - She was back on the nest in the morning.

29th May - 5 eggs in the nest.

From the above, it looks like one egg is laid per day (21st - 25th) and incubation doesn't start until all the eggs are laid. Presumably, this is to ensure that they all hatch together.

7th June - 2 baby Blackbirds in the nest, one of which conveniently posed for the photograph above.

Assuming the 25th was the start of incubation, then our eggs took 14 days to hatch.

To be continued ....

Painted Lady irruption

2009-05-26T18:56:00.014-01:00

It appears that we are in the midst of an extraordinary naturalistic event. We are currently witnessing an irruption of the beautiful butterfly above, called the Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui. The Painted Lady is not a British butterfly but arrives here on migration.

We had three of these butterflies nectaring in our garden during the unusual hot weather this past bank holiday weekend. Two arrived on the 23rd May and three were seen on the 24th May.

What was particularly unusual was the flower they appeared to favour - the perennial wallflower Erysimum 'Bowles' Yellow'. I had practically given up with this plant as it does not seem to attract any wildlife, even though it is one of the longest flowering plants that one could ever wish to have.

Here is a list of the first sightings of this butterfly in my garden:
2009 - 23rd May.
2008 - Not observed.
2007 - 15th Sept.
2006 - 26th July.
2005 - Not observed.
2004 - Not observed.
2003 - Not observed.

This year has already broken the record for this species, and for me really gets my pulse racing! One cannot help wondering what on earth is going to happen next.

While we are on the subject of migrants, I also saw my first Silver Y moth in the garden on the 25th May. The earliest I have seen this moth before was on the 22nd July 2006.

For a full report on the irruption please have a look at the links below.
http://upperthames-butterflies.org.uk/butterfly_sightings.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8068050.stm

Siskin conundrum

2009-05-06T19:15:00.008-01:00

This pair of Siskins Carduelis spinus, arrived in our garden on the 3rd April and were seen together until the 13th April. Since then, and up until today, we have seen on a daily basis just a single Siskin. The male is the more yellower one with the black cap and the other one is presumably the female, or though it could be a juvenile as it is quite difficult to distinguish between the two. The single Siskin still visiting the feeders could be the female/juvenile above, or of course a totally different bird altogether.

Update - 3 seen on 18th May - they all look like juveniles.

2008 - 2 Siskins were seen on the 1st and 24th March, and a single one (female/juvenile) on the 12th and 25th March. 3 Siskins were seen on the 18th May (they all look like juveniles).
2007 - No Siskins recorded.
2006 - 2 Siskins were seen on the 16th April.
2005 - No Siskins recorded.
2004 - 1 Siskin on 28th Feb. 5 Siskins on 15th March.
2003 - 2 Siskins on 2nd Jan.
2002 - 2 Siskins on 24th Feb.

Siskins can be seen in the UK all the year round, as around 350,000 pairs breed here. During the winter we get migrants from Scandinavia and the continent coming over, but these don't necessarily return until late April or even early May. Therefore it is difficult to tell whether the Siskins in my garden are resident or migrants. If anyone has any ideas, then please leave a comment.

So much in love

2009-04-03T20:38:00.003-01:00

This picture of Romeo and Juliet or a pair of Collared doves Streptopelia decaocto, was taken in my garden on 29/03/09. They have a habit of devouring the food on the bird table which is pigeon proof but not dove proof, and then sitting in there whispering sweet nothings to each other.

This species did not arrive in Britain until 1953, and bred for the first time in 1956. Due to its long breeding season (March - October), it was quickly able to colonise the whole country.

They are said to mate for life and pairs become inseparable. The eggs are incubated by the female during the night and by the male during the day. Therefore don't get too worried if all of a sudden your pair of doves becomes one, as it may simply mean they have started nesting.

Early Thorn

2009-03-23T17:15:00.006-01:00

I ran my garden Moth trap during the evening of 20/03/09, and managed quite a good catch for this time of the year. The list was as follows: Small Quaker = 6 Common Quaker = 1 Hebrew Character = 1 Early Thorn = 1

The star moth of the evening was the Early Thorn Selenia dentaria as shown above. Although this is a common species, this was the first time I have recorded it in my garden. There are several different species of British thorns, but this one can easily be identified by the resting positions of the wings. It resembles a butterfly with its wings held up over its back and pressed together.

The first Hoverfly of the year

2009-03-11T17:30:00.007-01:00

The photograph above was taken on 21st February this year, when the temperature was 7.7'c at 09:45. It shows a Hoverfly Eristalis tenax, which can often be mistaken for a Honey bee, basking on the back wall of my house in the morning sunshine.

A key identification feature of this species is the dark front tarsus (the last part of the leg, just above the foot), and this shows up quite well against the mortar line of the brick wall.

This is one of the few hoverflies that is possible to see in every month of the year and is widespread and abundant.

The 21st February is now the earliest date that I have recorded a hoverfly in my garden.

Garden Moth Review 2008

2009-02-04T19:12:00.008-01:00

My photograph above, shows a Light Brown Apple Moth Epiphyas postvittana, which was the last species attracted to my garden moth trap in 2008, on the 23rd December. This is known as a Micro moth and is from the family Tortricidae or tortrix moths (leafrollers). The colouration can be extremely variable, but the form above seems to be one of the most typical found in my garden. This species of moth has been the most common seen in the trap during the last three years with 27 in 2008, 19 in 2007 and 28 in 2006.

Other species that did well were:
Dark Arches Apamea monoglypha - 14
Brimstone Moth Opisthograptis luteolata - 10
Large Yellow Underwing Noctua pronuba - 9
Heart and Dart Agrotis exclamationis - 8
Heart and Club Agrotis clavis - 7
Lesser Yellow Underwing Noctua comes - 7
Square-spot Rustic Xestia xanthographa - 6

Species that did not do so well were:
Shuttle-shaped Dart Agrotis puta - 2 (16 in 2007).
Elephant Hawk-moth Deilephila elpenor - 0 (5 in 2007).
Small Quaker Orthosia cruda - 3 (8 in 2007).
Hebrew Character Orthosia gothica - 2 (6 in 2007).
Marbled Beauty Cryphia domestica - 1 (5 in 2007).

Alas, there were no Humming-bird Hawk-moth's Macroglossum stellatarum in 2008.

Here is a breakdown of the number species seen and the total number of individuals for the years 2005 - 2008.

Year - Species - Individuals
2005 - 51 - 99
2006 - 50 - 142
2007 - 53 - 161
2008 - 68 - 178

This probably only reflects the fact that my identification skills are improving.

The species richness of my garden is now 125 (104 in 2007).

RSPB Garden Birdwatch 2009

2009-01-25T13:42:00.008-01:00

This weekend, I did the RSPB Garden Birdwatch on the Saturday and the Sunday at different times, to see if this had any effect on the totals and number of species seen.

Sat between 09:10 & 10:10.
Total = 34 birds, Species = 10, Weather = Frosty

Sun between 10:15 & 11:15.
Total = 45 birds, Species = 11, Weather = Drizzley

Clearly, the later start was better, and maybe the warmer damper conditions were a help also. In previous years, I seem to have had the best counts between 10:15 and 11:15.

As regards my species comparison chart above, it shows the following interesting points:
a) A record year for Goldfinches (9)
b) A welcome return for Greenfinches (3)
c) Chaffinches still on a gradual increase (4)
d) House sparrow numbers holding up (7)

Highs and Lows:
This is the first year that I have recorded a Coal Tit, but not recorded a Dunnock during the birdwatch.
If I had combined the two days then I would also have seen Blue Tit (2), Great Tit (1) and Woodpigeon (1), making a grand total of 14 species. Mind you later in the day on Sunday, there were actually 7 Woodpigeons on the lawn!

Beauty or Beast?

2008-10-23T20:41:00.022-01:00

This picture captured on the 20th September, shows the lovely black tips to the wings of the Large White butterfly Pieris brassicae.

It is very difficult sometimes to tell the difference between the Large White and Small White butterflies as there can be an overlap in sizes. However, the black markings at the apex of the forewings are always more extensive in the Large White and generally follow a boomerang shape.

This butterfly is hated by most gardeners due to the destructive nature of their caterpillars on cabbages and other brassica plants. So to compensate for the annual mass genocide of this species, my wife Bron plants a few cabbages in pots and also a few nasturtiums around the garden to help them on the way.

Covering the target plants with horticultural fleece or fine netting should prevent the butterflies laying their eggs in the first place. Netting should be held away from the leaves and not draped over them otherwise the butterfly may reach them. This has the additional benefit of protecting from Pigeons which will also feed on brassicas. If no netting is available, then inspect the leaves of the host plants in July when adults are seen, for eggs and small caterpillars - crush by rubbing with a finger. They are usually around the outer edges where the female probably has a better grip while she places them in clumps. The eggs are very obvious as shown in the photograph below.

Finally a use for Ground Elder

2008-09-19T22:24:00.004-01:00

I found this Ichneumon wasp on 23/06/08 in my back garden. It is feeding on the umbel flower of the diabolical weed - Ground elder. I have identified it as Amblyteles armatorius.

These insects are parasitoids and most species attack the caterpillars of butterflies and moths. The ichneumon usually pierces the host with its ovipositor and lays its egg or eggs inside the host body, but some species merely lay their eggs on the outside of the host.

The ichneumon larvae concentrate on the non-essential organs of the host at first, draining its reserves but allowing it to go on living. When the ichneumon grubs are nearly fully grown they turn their attention to the essential organs of the host and kill it. They then pupate in little silken cocoons.

My son Paul will be pleased to know that these wasps are actually stingless.

Mason Bee Emergence

2008-04-28T19:49:00.008-01:00

This sequence of photographs, shows the emergence of the Mason Bee Osmia rufa from the purpose made nesting box on the back of my garden shed. I had noticed that several of the mud filled holes had pieces missing from the centre of them, and also there were quite a few Mason Bees buzzing around them. On further investigation, I put my ear close to the holes, and sure enough I could hear a clicking sound coming from one of them. The centre bamboo cane in the picture above suddenly lost a piece of mud and at this point my heart started to race.

A pair of antennae can just be seen at the entrance to the hole.

Finally, the Bee emerges. At this point, the Bee did not fly off as some would have expected. It merely dropped to the ground in front of me.

On the ground is the newly emerged Mason Bee, which now has to wait for its wings to fully harden and expand before taking its maiden flight.

The Garden Blackcap Phenomenon

2008-03-27T22:05:00.004-01:00

The Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla is always a welcome visitor to the garden, and this photograph shows the male, which was digiscoped on 21/03/08. The male and the female differ from one another by the colour of the cap. Black in the male and rufous-brown in the female.

This species is normally migratory, visiting the UK between April and September, and wintering in Spain, Portugal and North-Western Africa. However, there are an increasing number now over-wintering in the UK, which have arrived here from Northern and Central Europe. These birds steal a march on the Iberian and African migrants by returning to their summer breeding grounds two weeks earlier, and hence getting the pick of the best breeding sites.

The Blackcap is from the warbler family and its diet is pre-dominantly insects. It is able to survive the winters here due to the increasing mild weather and its ability to change its diet to berries and other natural woodland food, and then when this runs out, moving onto food available in garden feeders. This will explain why they tend to move into gardens from late December through to March.

I have recorded this species in my garden on the following dates:
20/01/01 – female
27/01/02 – male
11/01/03 – male
07/01/04 – male
21/02/04 – 2*males
27/11/04 – male
12/01/08 – female
18/03/08 – male. Stayed until 24/03/08.

Garden Butterfly Review of 2007

2008-03-10T20:32:00.003-01:00

This is one butterfly that I can quite confidently say will never turn up in my humble garden. It is the enigmatic Brown Hairstreak Thecla betulae. It is probably our least observed butterfly as it spends most of its life out of sight above a 'master tree', which is normally an Ash. This is another species that we have managed to almost destroy by hedgerow destruction and idiotic hedgerow management. Who ever invented the tractor-mounted mechanical flail would give the Royal family a run for their money as the champions of nature haters. This butterfly has the misfortune to lay its eggs on young twigs of Blackthorn.

As far as the garden was concerned, and despite the generally poor weather last summer, I still managed to record 12 species of butterfly for the year. This is the same number as 2004, 2005 and 2006, although the 12 species do vary from year to year. July is normally the predominate month whereby 8 or 9 species are normally recorded, however due to the dire weather, only 4 species were seen in 2007. August came out on top with 7 species, one of which was the Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta, which was the most observed butterfly throughout the year, seen in 5 of the months. As in 2006 it was the last observed butterfly of the year with the last sighting on 2nd November. The first butterfly to be seen was the Peacock Inachis io, observed on the 28th March. The record so far is held by the Brimstone Gonepteryx rhamni seen on the 18th March in 2005.

Winners last year as far as I'm concerned was the single occurrence of the Common Blue Polyommatus icarus seen on the 26th August. I have also had single occurences of this species in 2004 and 2006, but am unable to explain why! Losers were again the Small Tortoiseshell Agais urticae, as this has now not been seen since the 18th July 2004.

The RSPB Garden Birdwatch

2008-02-12T18:15:00.001-01:00

The RSPB Garden Birdwatch day usually occurs on the last weekend in January. As the survey method has remained the same since 1979, the results gathered provide vital scientific data and are an extremely valuable record of garden birds in the UK over the years.

I have been taking part in the Garden Birdwatch since 2001 and this chart shows a comparison between 4 species during that time. The Greenfinch has shown the most decline as it has not been recorded in the last 3 years, and the Goldfinch wasn’t recorded this year either. One of the reasons could be due to the disease caused by a Trichomonas parasite, which has been seen in some species of finch. Whilst greenfinches and chaffinches are the species that have been most frequently affected, other finch species and house sparrows are also susceptible to the disease. I have actually seen both a Greenfinch and a Goldfinch suffering with the disease and it is very distressing. They try to take a sunflower seed but are unable to swallow it. I clean and disinfect my feeders regularly and change the birdbath water almost daily.

On a more positive note, the small population of House Sparrows appear to be in fine fettle.

Anything about guv?

2008-01-24T20:11:00.000-01:00

Well what a start to the New Year! It just goes to show that you never know what will turn up in your average suburban garden.

This is a Grey Wagtail (Motacilla cinerea) that I digiscoped in my back garden on the 1st January. It stayed and fattened itself up until the 6th, before moving on, hopefully to its normal habitat.

It is more usually associated with fast flowing streams or shallows in rivers and lakes. Although resident here in the winter, numbers are swelled by migrants from Northern Europe. I think this bird possibly just arrived and was tired and very hungry.

It seemed to be drinking a lot and fed on suet and grated cheese. My policy of putting out food for the ground feeding birds as well as the normal hanging feeders has certainly paid off. Plant pot saucers filled with water are also very important for the birds' welfare.

Even though the Grey is the largest of our three British Wagtails, this particular bird was constantly bullied by our resident winter Pied Wagtail. However, it didn't deter her/him as it kept returning for the tasty morsels on offer.

Damselfly Metamorphosis

2007-09-05T19:03:00.000-01:00

I noticed my first garden damselfly of the season on 02/06/07 as shown in the first photograph. This shows a freshly emerged immature adult, which is also known as a teneral. They are characterised by their shiny wings and the light pigmentation of their bodies.

The species name is Enallagma cyathigerum or the Common Blue Damselfly.

The following day I counted 8 of these damselflies in and around the garden, the majority of which were on my Carex grass, which is growing in the pond.

My wife, Bron, did a further investigation on the lower stems of the grass as they emerge through the waters surface. She noticed several shed larval skins known as the exuvia (plural exuviae). This is perfectly illustrated in the second photograph.

When the larva leaves the water, it is essentially no longer a larva as it is undergoing metamorphosis into adulthood. The metamorphosed larva climbs the stiff stems of emergent plants at the water's edge. When the insect is ready, it pumps fluids into its body causing it to swell and the larval cuticle to split. Emergence normally takes one hour for a damselfly, but it may be several more hours before the wing muscles are warm enough for the adult to take flight.

Sex mad beetles

2007-07-10T19:43:00.000-01:00

This horrifying picture shows two Lilioceris lilii beetles trying to make babies, so that they can cause further destruction to my cherished Lily plants.

I took this picture on the 22nd April at 17:33 and believe it or not they were still locked together when I released them the next day in the afternoon.

The Lily Beetle is considered a real pest, but as it is one of natures most colourful of critters, it is so hard for me to cause them any harm. I therefore released this pair back into the wild where they have probably found some even more delicious lilies than mine to lay their eggs on.

It is possible to confuse this species with the lovely Cardinal beetle but as you can see from my photograph the Lily beetle has dimples on the wing casing and also has a much rounded body. The antennae of the Cardinal beetle appear to be saw toothed, which is another diagnostic separating feature.

The real interesting feature of this beetle is that it squeaks when it is distressed. Therefore the next time you find one, and before you relocate it safely to another site, listen out for the squeak. Isn't nature wonderful?

The larvae have a delightful habit of disguising themselves as a pile of bird droppings by covering themselves with their slimy black poo. This picture illustrates the phenomenon perfectly.

Mason Bees

2007-05-08T19:44:00.000-01:00

This picture was taken on the 15th April and shows a female Mason Bee or Osmia Rufa entering her nest hole in my Bee and Ladybird Box. They are a solitary bee (no hive or queen) and every female is fertile and makes her nest usually in holes abandoned by a variety of wood borers.

In the deepest part of the hole they form an egg chamber, collect a loaf of pollen and nectar, lay an egg on the pollen and then creates a partition with mud. They repeat this process until the hole is full of egg chambers. Female -destined eggs are laid in the back of the chambers and male eggs towards the front. She then plugs the entrance to the tube with mud.

These hard-working little bees only live for up to eight weeks in the spring from the middle of March to the middle of May. By the summer, and after moulting 4 or 5 times, the full grown larvae has consumed all of its provisions and begins spinning a cocoon around itself and enters the pupal stage. The new adults form in September and remain in the cocoon until the following spring when the new generation of adults emerge. The males are the first to come out and they remain near the nests waiting for the females. When the females emerge, the first thing they do is mate. The males die and the females begin provisioning their nests, and the cycle begins again.

These two pictures show the state of the nest box on the 15th April and the 19th May. It can clearly be seen that between the two dates, 15 of the holes have been sealed up with mud. It will be interesting next spring to see how many of these holes are opened and whether the same ones are ever used again.

Has anyone else observed this Hoverfly?

2007-04-06T22:06:00.000-01:00

The main picture here shows the Hoverfly Eristalis pertinax taken on the 28th March.

This is a common species found in gardens wherever there are suitable flowers. It is very easy to spot at this time of the year even if you are unable to get close enough to identify it. This is because the male hovers at about a 1 metre height, seemingly away from any flowers, where it vigorously defends its territory of a few square metres. Periodically it then seems to suddenly jerk up into the air anything up to 5 metres high before returning again to its original position. Another curious phenomenon that I have noticed with this species, is that it apppears to have its landing gear permanently at the ready.

It appears to be very curious with us humans, and if we enter their territory they come quite close and have a gander. Please have a look now in your garden on a sunny day and tell me if you spot the same behaviour patterns.

Out of interest, I have been able to identify this particular Hoverfly from 3 observations shown in these photographs.

1. The main picture shows tergite 2 with triangular orange markings. The rest of the tergites are black. (The Tergites are segments that appear on the abdomen. The number of visible segments depend on the subfamily).

2. The second picture shows the front leg with the tarsus entirely orange, even on the last two segments.
(The Tarsus consists of five small segments). The black section in the picture is the Tibia.

3. The third picture shows the strong downwards loop in the centre vein. For interest, this is referred to as vein R4+5.

A Jewish Moth!

2007-03-14T20:17:00.000-01:00

I ran my moth trap on the night of 10/03/07 and caught this little beauty. It is the Hebrew Character or Orthosia gothica. The name is derived from the black mark which looks like an angular letter c (or the Hebrew letter Nun).

This moth has one generation between March and early May in southern Britain and a little later in the north and Ireland.

It comes readily to light and sugar, often flying very late in the night, even in cold conditions and feeds at sallow catkins.

It is a resident and common moth, so please look out for it at this time of year.

The Cricket World Cup has started and Bumble has emerged

2007-03-14T19:21:00.000-01:00

Spring must be here (10/03/07) as I found this Bumblebee emerging from hibernation in the garage. In fact I nearly trod on the poor critter but just managed to avoid it and place it in the sun where it quickly warmed up from its dopey state and flew off to find some much needed nectar.

This time of the year gives us an excellent chance of identifying Bumblebees. This is because they are all Queens emerging from hibernation and looking for nest sites. The Queen normally gives us clearer colours, especially around the tip of the abdomen and the size is very relevant. Later in the season when the workers and the males emerge from the nest, these two factors can vary quite considerably.

So what should we be looking for?
1. Firstly, note the number of yellow and black bands on the thorax (above the waist line), and the number on the abdomen (below the waist line).
2. Secondly, note the colour of the tail.
3. Thirdly, note the size.
4. Lastly, if possible have a look at the head shape and try and note if the face is as long as it is wide or whether it is longer than wide etc.

In the two photos shown here, the top one clearly shows one yellow and one black stripe on the thorax. The lower photo is not clear on this point, but there is also one yellow and one black stripe on the abdomen. However, it is clear that the tail is orange. I remember that the size was quite small as compared to most Queens at this time of the year. Therefore I think this is a Bombus pratorum or Meadow/Early Bumblebee.

Another why is it not green?

2007-02-26T09:52:00.000-01:00

I ran my Moth Trap on the night of 17th February. No Moths turned up but when my good wife, Bron, did her usual check of the surrounding vegetation near the trap, she found this beautiful specimen. It is the Green Shieldbug or Palomena prasina.

What is interesting about this bug is that the adult changes colour to a dark reddish-brown in winter, as shown by this picture, returning to green again in spring.

There are now pictures of this critter on this site showing summer adult, winter adult and larvae hatching.

Garden Butterfly Review 2006

2007-01-29T20:43:00.000-01:00

I have been recording the Butterflies that I see in the garden each year since 2003. The method I use is to write down the first day of each month that a particular species is seen and then enter the data onto a spreadsheet for year-to-year comparison.

Highlights this year must be the first ever sighting in the garden of the Lycaena phlaeas (Small Copper), which is pictured here nectaring on the wonderful Verbena bonariensis plant.

Two other records of note were as follows:
1. Pieris rapae (Small White) was seen in 6 consecutive months between April 22nd and Sept 4th.
2. Vanessa atalanta (Red Admiral) was seen in 5 of the months including Oct 1st, Nov 3rd and even Dec 30th. Surely this will never happen again !!!

In a splendid year for butterflies the major disappointment for me was the absence of Aglais urticae (Small Tortoiseshell). This is the second year running that this beauty has not been seen in the garden. In fact, I have not seen it anywhere in this locality, which surely is an indicator of impending doom. However, while walking Hadrian's Wall in July, this did seem to be one of the commonist species around, which may mean this butterfly is moving steadily northwards with climate change. Only time will tell.

Garden Moth Review 2006

2007-01-08T21:18:00.000-01:00

As there are few critters about at the moment, I thought this would be a good time to review my 2006 garden Moth list. Most of the Moths that I observe are caught in my home made Moth trap, which I religiously put out in the back garden at least once a month throughout the year.

In 2006, I saw a total of 142 Moths with a species count of 50. This compares with 2005 when I saw 99 Moths with a species count of 51. The most abundant Moth was Epiphyas postvittana (Light Brown Apple Moth) with a count of 28 individuals.

One interesting point, which could be a good indicator of climate change for the future, is the number of different migrant species seen.
This year 4 different species were noted and these were as follows:
Nomophila noctuella (Rush Veneer).
Macroglossum stellatarum (Humming-bird Hawk-moth)
Autographa gamma (Silver Y)
Plutella xylostella (Diamond-back Moth)

The Diamond-back Moth is pictured above and 2 individuals were noted in the trap on the 16th June. This tiny moth is well-known for its migratory tendencies. Sometimes many thousands can appear during the night at coastal migration watch-points. Two or more generations occur between May and September, and the larvae feed on the leaves of certain types of vegetables as well as weeds.

Why is it not green ?

2006-12-29T20:29:00.000-01:00

I found this lacewing on the wall outside the bathroom during the evening of 27th December. I wasn't expecting to find any more insects in 2006, and therefore I think this was a belated Christmas present from Santa.

For the beginner amateur naturalist like myself, this insect has an interesting identification feature. The books will tell you that there are green and brown lacewings and on first glance this one looks like a brown type. However, Chrysoperla carnea is a pale green lacewing that prior to hibernation becomes flesh-coloured and often enters our houses. It is one of the few lacewings that pass the winter in the adult state. This one measured 15mm from head to wingtip, which again clinches it and is very common in gardens.

Adults and larvae feed mainly on aphids and therefore this is another ally of the keen gardener. Anyone who received an insect sprayer for Christmas should put them up for sale now on ebay and let these wonderful little critters do the work for you.

I have checked my records for previous sightings of this species in the house and have noted the following:
14/03/05, 20/03/05 & 06/03/06. Presumably, in March it is coming out of hibernation, and therefore this is the first time I have noted it prior to hibernation.

Yellow Spectacled Ichneumon

2006-12-12T21:34:00.000-01:00

This picture was taken in the conservatory on the 3rd December and shows that with the continuing mild weather, there are still insects to be found.

On first inspection of this creature, I mistakenly thought that this was some sort of sawfly due to the saw-like ovipositor (the elongate structure located at the tip of a female insect's abdomen).

However, sawflies do not have a distinct waist between the thorax and abdomen. In my picture you can just make out a narrowing of the waist, which makes this an Ichneumon fly. What makes this group of insects interesting is that they are parasites. The ovipositor is used to lay the egg or eggs inside the body of another victim. The host is selected by scent and, although many ichneumons are active at night, they can often be seen searching for hosts in the daytime. They fly low over the vegetation or scuttle about on the plants with their antennae waving vigorously to pick up the scent. Most species attack the caterpillars of butterflies and moths.

It is very difficult to get a positive identification of this group of insects, as there does not appear to be any identification guides available, and the best that I can come up with is Tromatobia oculatoria. The main identification feature for me is the yellow band that surrounds the eyes, and therefore I'm going to give this my own name of the Yellow Spectacled Ichneumon. If I'm correct with the identification, then this little chappie is actually a parasitoid of particular spiders.

Friend or Foe

2006-12-06T16:51:00.000-01:00

Picture this scene!

On Sunday the 26th November, I'm in my son's bedroom counting and recording the birdlife in the back garden. There were approx. 15 House Sparrows busily feeding and preening and generally having fun as only these wonderful birds can. As the little darlings were lined up on my garden fence, I thought it would be a good idea to have a go at digiscoping. I therefore set up my telescope, opened the window and started experimenting with the settings on my camera.

By the time I had worked it out, all the sparrows had departed. Anyway, I left the scope up and the window open (freezing by now) just in case they returned. In the meantime I started surfing on the internet while cursing my luck at missing out on a great picture. However, the next time I glanced out of the window, imagine my surprise when I saw this magnificent raptor perched on the fence where the sparrows had been. My heart rate went through the roof as I fumbled with the camera and tried to get the telescope in focus.

This bird of prey is the Eurasian Sparrowhawk or Accipiter nisus. The barring on the front is brown-grey in the female and rufous in the male. The female is also much larger than the male and has a white stripe over the eye. From my photograph the white stripe can just be seen which makes this one a female.

House Sparrows have declined by over 60% in the last 25 years and are now on the RSPB red list. Some people blame predation by the Sparrowhawk as one of the causes. The number of Sparrowhawks in an area is naturally restricted by food availability and the number of suitable nesting sites. If songbird numbers increase, Sparrowhawk numbers increase. If songbird numbers go down, so do Sparrowhawk numbers.
This very close and sensitive link between Sparrowhawks and their prey make the hawks a monitor of the health of the ecosystem. The very presence of Sparrowhawks is evidence of a healthy environment with strong populations of songbirds.

The cause in decline of urban and suburban populations of House Sparrows is, as yet, unknown but early evidence from research has pointed to a lack of native plants and associated insect food causing a reduction in chick survival. Do not tidy the garden in the autumn. Delay pruning trees and shrubs, and cutting back dead herbaceous stems until late winter. This will provide birds with food throughout the winter, from seeds and the insects found hibernating in the stems of plants. Stacking woody stems in a partially shaded area of the garden provides habitat for insects, which in turn may provide a source of additional food.

Hoverflies are still active

2006-11-26T11:56:00.000-01:00

This photo was taken on the 18th November and shows a lovely specimen of the Melanostoma scalare hoverfly.

Just like the Tephritis formosa gall fly below, it was found on the flowers of the "Paddy's Pride" species of Ivy. I cannot stress enough the importance of having Ivy in the garden for the benefit of our dwindling insect life.

In the first image, if you look carefully, there appears to be a lime green blob just above one of the legs where it joins the body. This in fact is the haltere, and they are often green or blue/green, which can often be an identification clincher for this particular species.

Hoverflies belong to the group of insects called Diptera, meaning two winged insects. Virtually all other insects have four wings even though the hind pair are often small and at times may be covered by the larger front pair (bees and wasps). The hind pair of wings in the Diptera have become reduced to tiny drumsticks called halteres.

In the second image, there are clearly triangular yellow/orange spots of distinctive orientation, which indicates a female of this particular species.

This species is found between April and November. Widespread and common in grassy situations throughout Britain, but not normally found in mountainous or moorland locations.

Woolly Bears

2006-11-17T19:21:00.000-01:00

It's remarkable that this engaging little guy is considered a domestic pest, particularly in southern England. Why a pest? Well this critter requires a protein diet and likes to munch its way through carpets, furs and all kinds of woollen textiles.

This is the larvae of the Varied Carpet Beetle or Anthrenus verbasci and are more commonly known as Woolly Bears.

The adult carpet beetle has attractive black wing casing mottled with patches of white and pale yellow, is up to 4mm long and is found outdoors from spring to early summer feeding on pollen and nectar before moving indoors to lay its eggs. An adult female will produce up to one hundred creamy white eggs and deposit them in cracks and crevices. Within four weeks the eggs hatch and the emergent woolly bears embark on a continuous feeding binge and moult several times before pupating.

I have checked through my records and I noticed one of these guys on 23rd November last year, 17th September this year and finally 9th November this year (this photo). Therefore now is the time to be vigilant and get the magnifying glasses out, stop watching Eastenders, get down on your hands and knees and find a woolly bear.

Fruity little devil

2006-11-06T21:58:00.000-01:00

I found this little gem of a fly on the insignificant flowers of my Paddy’s Pride variety of Ivy. I say insignificant, but in reality they provide food for many pollinating insects, such as wasps, green bottles and honey bees during September and October. The flowers are also important to the survival of queen wasps during November and December. [Contrary to popular opinion, large amounts of ivy growing on trees will not cause any harm as ivy is not parasitic].

This photograph was taken on the 5th November on a lovely sunny afternoon when amongst all the wasps, I noticed this fruit fly. The wings are heavily patterned with dark areas and hence they are sometimes called picture-winged flies.

This critter belongs to the Tephritidae (gall flies, greater fruit flies) family and the species name is Tephritis formosa. The larvae live in fruit and other parts of plants and often induce gall-formation. Although the family is called "Gall Flies", only a minority of species have larvae, which actually cause galls. The rest are internal feeders in fruits, stems or leaves.

The larvae of Tephritis formosa are associated with the following plants:
Perennial Milk-thistle, Prickly Sow-thistle, Smooth Sow-thistle and Marsh Sow-thistle.

The female abdomen is pointed and ends in a rigid, telescopic ovipositor while in males it is blunt or round-ended. From my photograph it is difficult to see the tip of the abdomen, but I think it just about shows a slight point.

A Gardeners Friend

2006-10-28T20:15:00.000-01:00

The daytime temperatures for the first half of October were well above average and therefore there were still plenty of Hoverflies about. This picture was taken on the 14th at 14:48 on a pleasant sunny Saturday afternoon.

My identification skills for Hoverflies are still at the beginners level, but I'm pretty sure this species is a female Eupeodes corollae. The male has rather quadrate spots and the female more crescent shaped or lunulate spots.

This is one of the commonest hoverflies in open habitats and can be abundant in some years, particularly when numbers are boosted by a migration or mass emergence in midsummer. It can be found from March to November, peaking in July and August. Therefore there is still time to spot this endearing critter.

One interesting statistic that I have found for this species is that a single E. corollae larvae can devour more than 800 aphids - wow!

Strange goings on in the Conservatory

2006-10-19T19:56:00.000-01:00

This picture is of the adult Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina), taken on the 7th October. I noticed it crawling up the outside window of my bedroom, and I think it must have been looking for somewhere to hibernate. Most shieldbugs over-winter as adults and this species changes to brown during the winter, but quickly regains the green colouration when it becomes active again in spring. It is very common and widespread in southern and central England, Wales and Ireland, becoming more scarce further north. It is found in woodlands, hedgerows, parks, gardens and waste ground.

What is interesting for me is this picture, taken on the 29th May. There was a cluster of eggs attached to my conservatory wall, which I had noticed earlier in the month. I checked them every day and imagine my surprise and delight when I saw that they had hatched out into these beautifully decorated little rascals. At the time, I had no idea that they were the larvae of the Green Shieldbug, until I obtained the wonderful book "A Photographic Guide to the Shieldbugs and Squashbugs of the British Isles" by Martin Evans and Roger Edmondson. The larvae normally hatch out between June and early October, therefore mine were a couple of days premature probably due to the heat in the conservatory.

Rhodo Soulmate

2006-10-05T07:09:00.000-01:00

I noticed this engaging little chap on my one and only Rhododendron plant on the day after my lovely daughters (Jen) wedding (24th Sept). Funnily enough it is called the Rhododendron Leafhopper or Graphocephala fennahi.

I went away for a few days bird watching to recover from the festivities and stopped at Dysons nurseries near Sevenoaks in Kent. These nurseries are situated in the Great Comp gardens and are well worth a visit, especially later in the summer when the Salvias are in full bloom. It was here that I also noticed several of these same leafhoppers, and so I guess these little critters must be fairly common. Please go and check your Rhodos and let me know if you find any.

This unmistakable leafhopper was introduced from N.America and is now found on Rhododendron leaves all over southern Britain from June to October.

According to the RHS, this naughty little chap is a real pest and causes bud blast.
The symptoms are such that many rhododendron buds fail to open although they remain on the bush looking silvery. Later in spring they become covered with black 'bristles'. The leafhopper lays its eggs in slits in the flower buds and so provides a point of entry for the fungus Pycnostysanus azalae. All good gardeners only use non-chemical control and so the best way of removing the source of the infection is to pick off and dispose of the infected buds. Do not add them to the compost heap.

While I was busy observing this critter, I noticed it projecting missiles out of its rear end. Whether these were eggs or not I would be delighted know. However from the description above it sounds as though the egg laying process is rather more precise than the haphazard action I was witnessing.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

2006-09-21T20:28:00.000-01:00

No summer can ever be complete without seeing this beautiful creature in the garden at least once, and this year sure didn't disappoint. So far I have recorded it on 28th July, 21st & 28th August and most recently on 19th September.

It is of course the Hummingbird Hawkmoth or Macroglossum stellatarum. This is principally a day flying moth preferring to fly in bright sunlight, however, it will also take to the wing at dawn, at dusk or at night; in rain, or on cool, dull days.

This moth is an immigrant, which can arrive from southern Europe and north Africa anytime between April and December. It is now considered to be a suspected breeding resident in south-west England where it hibernates in small numbers.

This species is very strongly attracted to tubular flowers yielding plentiful supplies of nectar, such as Jasminum, Buddleja, Nicotiana, Tulipa, Primula, Viola, Syringa, Verbena, Echium, Phlox, Salvia, Red Valerian and Stachys, hovering in front of and repeatedly probing each bloom before darting rapidly to the next. Apparently, this species also has a fine memory, as individuals return to the same flower-beds every day at about the same time. In my garden, I have noticed it feeding on the Buddleja 'Lochinch' (photo above), Verbena bonariensis and various Salvia varieties (obtained from Dyson nurseries). Varieties include - Salvia microphylla 'La Foux', Salvia ‘Maraschino’ and Salvia microphylla ‘Wild Watermelon’.

The Swiss Bug!

2006-09-14T20:12:00.000-01:00

This little fella was found basking in the sun on one of my Phygelius plants. It is a plant bug of which there are approx. 7000 species! I'm pretty sure it is the Lucerne Bug or Adelphocoris lineolatus.

You will note that there is a prominent triangular area known as the cuneus, just in front of the membrane, and it often differs in colour from the rest of the wing. Clinchers in identifying this particular species should be two black pronotal spots on the thorax (above the white triangular area) and very long tibial spines. Both these features cannot be easily seen from my photograph. I will of course be out in the garden searching for this lovable little character again as soon as possible.

It can be found between July and October mainly on lucerne, clover and other leguminous plants in both wet and dry grassland. It is sometimes a pest of garden flowers! I have examined the leaves of my Phygelius and there are many with huge chunks missing.

I have looked up the definition of Leguminous plants: A large group of pod-bearing plants (including acacia, peas, beans, alfalfa and clover) whose roots contain nodules with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and are thus able to absorb nitrogen from the atmosphere and converted into a form useful to plants. I'm not sure how Phygelius fits into this category and I cannot find any pests or diseases related to this plant.

Who said Crabs only live in the sea?

2006-09-06T18:12:00.000-01:00

Walking around the garden this evening, I noticed at least 5 of these tiny spiders lurking about minding their own business (or so I thought). I then found a sixth one in the process of immobilising this poor hoverfly.

The species name is Misumena vatia and is more commonly known as the Crab Spider. They are normally found between May and August, however as the weather is unseasonably warm for September (26'C today) they seem to be still thriving.

These crafty little devils sit motionless on a flower, which they often resemble, simply waiting for insects to visit. They are able to change colour slowly to match the background, within the range of white, yellow and green.
When another insect comes in range it is grasped and quickly paralysed. It is widespread and common throughout, except for the far north, in warm flowery places.

Please have a careful look at your flower heads in bloom and see if you can spot any of these crafty little creatures. The female is easier to spot, as its body length is 10mm, however the male (all 6 of mine) are only 4-5mm.

The poor hoverfly that has met an undignified end is the Syritta pipiens (male above). It is an engaging little fly, not easily disturbed by a human presence, and hence it is an ideal subject to study. On close inspection, always look at the hind femur, which is very strongly swollen.

They like nothing best than to chase other flying insects, and leap on resting ones, even bumblebees! This behaviour has been interpreted as territorial defence, but it may be that males approach every insect as a female Syritta until they find to the contrary. Females appear to play no role in the courtship, and the behaviour of males has been termed 'rape'.

They are widely distributed throughout Britain and Ireland though scarcer in the more remote parts of Scotland. They can be found between April and November, and so there is plenty of time to spot them.

Biggles

2006-09-01T18:57:00.000-01:00

I caught this cheeky little devil in my moth trap on the night of 27/08/06.

Its species name is Abrostola tripartita and is more commonly known as Spectacle - I love it when it looks exactly like the name on the tin.

This moth is common and is found in gardens, hedgerows, ditches, rough pasture, fens, woodland edges and disturbed ground.

In most regions there is one generation, except in southern england where a partial (or occasionally full) second generation occurs in late July-early September.

It feeds on the Red Valerian flower (have got) and cultivated Sage.
Red Valerian is a must have plant for butterflies and moths and as well as the Spectacle, Hummingbird Hawkmoths have been seen laying their eggs on it.

Don't just admire the garden in the daytime, as it's amazing what's out there at night.

Bristly Bum

2006-08-30T20:31:00.000-01:00

This hairy monster of a fly has become a recent common visitor to my garden in Tilehurst (Berks).
I have also noticed it at the school that I work for in Twyford.

It became very accommodating and landed on my one and only Hollyhock as if to say "Do I look good on this".

At first I mistakingly thought that this was some sort of Hoverfly, but on closer inspection of the wing veins, it can be seen that vein 4 bends sharply towards vein 3 and meets at the wing tip. In Hoverflies this vein meets before the wing tip.

Its species name is Tachina fera and it can be found between April and September, mainly in damp places. It is strange that I have only just noticed it and have never seen it around my pond.

Seen 0n 22/08/06 and 26/08/06.

My garden and its wildlife

2006-08-26T12:23:00.000-01:00

As my main hobby is observing and learning about wildlife, I thought it would be interesting to study and record many of the creatures that visit the garden throughout the seasons.

The garden is constantly evolving and I am always looking at new ways of attracting different species by habitat creation.

I recently purchased a digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 7900) and would like to try my hand at photographing some of the visitors/residents.