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Tuesday 26 May 2020

The Lockdown Garden - Week 21, 18th-24th May, 2020

This week has been a very quiet week in the garden  - or perhaps I should say it would have been if it wasn't for the Starlings, but more on that later. However, this week I'm appending a section on a wildlife exercise walk that was extremely profitable!

Monday, 18th May 

The trail cams revealed that there had been plenty of Hedgehog action overnight, but no encounters. The Red Fox was back.
We had just 13 species of bird put a foot down in the garden, but this did include at least 33 Starlings. They were with us for much of the day, and the noise was deafening! I remarked to Lindsay that, at this rate, we'd have a visit from a Sparrowhawk, and I was right. However I don't think it (a male) was lucky.

The only photos I took that day were of a Small White butterfly, which was the only butterfly species seen. 

Small White (Pieris rapae) - garden on 18/05/2020
Tuesday, 19th May

A morning inspection of the trail cams showed plenty of Hedgehog activity overnight, but the Fox was absent for the first time in a week.  

I was not particularly observant of the garden that day, and only noted 9 bird species visiting. However, the garden was somewhat more peaceful as we peaked at just 12 Starlings.

Butterflies were showing well, with four species seen - Small White, Small Tortoiseshell, Orange-tip (m & f), Peacock.

However, the only sensible photos taken were of a Buff-tailed Garden Bumblebee (thank you Conehead54 for the correction) on the Rhododendron -  look at that tongue in the second shot!


Garden Bumblebee (Bombus hortorum) - garden on 19/05/2020
That night, the garden moth trap went out and came up with a good catch for our garden - 31 moths of 13 species, including 4 'new for garden' records. Here are some of the more interesting ones.

Iron Prominent (Notodonta dromedarius) - from garden on 19/05/2020
Rustic Shoulder-knot (Apamea sordens) - from garden on 19/05/2020
Cabbage Moth (Mamestra brassicae) - from garden on 19/05/2020 (new for garden)
Buff Ermine (Spilosoma lutea) (male) - from garden on 19/05/2020
Scalloped Hazel (Odontopera bidentata) - from garden on 19/05/2020 (new for garden)
Mottled Pug (Eupithecia exiguata) - from garden on 19/05/2020 (new for garden)
Flame Carpet (Xanthorhoe designata) - from garden on 19/05/2020 (new for garden)
Wednesday, 20th May

The trail cams again showed thet we'd had plenty of Hedgehog action but, disappointingly also showed we'd had a large Brown Rat which was eating the spilt sunflower hearts.

Visiting birds were of 11 species.

The only butterflies noted were 2 Small White.

That day I had a short trip out for some exercise on a fine sunny day. My report on this very successful excursion is at the end of this blog post.

Thursday, 21st May

The trail cams showed very little Hedgehog action and, thankfully, no return of the Brown Rat.

We had 11 bird species visit, with nothing of particular note.

Lindsay called me to a Small Magpie moth which had found its way into the kitchen. This resulted in my only photo for that day. For some reason, this moth is classified as a micro-moth

Small Magpie (Anania hortulata) - from house on 21/05/2020
Friday, 22nd May

There was a little more Hedgehog action seen on the trail cams with, probably visits by two hogs.

It was an extremely windy day, and visiting bird species amounted to only 10.  

No photos were taken

Saturday, 23rd May

Another very windy damaging day, with nothing seen on any of the trail cams from overnight. In spite of the wind, we did get visited by birds of 14 species, one of which was indeterminate - I will explain! We have in the area a solitary Rook and a solitary Carrion Crow.  The Rook is a youngster, and still has a rather dark bill, although that now seems to be getting paler.  The Crow has an unusually slender bill, but it does have a good curvature to the culmen. It makes them difficult to tell apart unless one can get a good view with binoculars. On this occasion, one of the two birds briefly settled in our Rowan, but departed again before I could get a good look at it! It was another day without photography.

Sunday, 24th May

The wind had dropped significantly and the trail cams revealed that, as well as a couple of Hedgehogs, we'd been visited by the Fox again - its first visit since the Monday.
We had 13 species of bird visit the garden, including a pair of Bullfinch, which was exciting as they had been absent since the last day of April.

There was further excitement, however, when I found that the ovipositing Orange-tip butterfly on 9th May, mentioned  two blog posts ago, had resulted in caterpillars on the Garlic Mustard. The next two images show the largest, and then the smallest of the three I found. In the second image you can just detect the shed skin of this tiny caterpillar.


Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (larvae) - garden on 24/05/2020
Today (25/05) I have found a further 2 tiny caterpillars - one is less than 3 mm long!

Garlic Mustard has previously been removed from our garden as far as possible each year as an 'invasive weed'. However, having learned this year that it is a food plant chosen by Orange-tips, I have decided to let it grow. It seems to have paid off.

I might have to wait a long time for any chance of butterflies from these larvae as I have read that these over-winter as pupae - sometimes for as long as four winters! The success rate is also rather low, mainly due to predation.

While photographing the caterpillars, I noticed a moth on the fence just beyond them. This has been quite a common moth in our garden.

Garden Carpet (Xanthorhoe fluctuata) - garden on 24/05/2020
As I came away from the caterpillars I took a few other photos. The first one is of a bee species which seems to love the flowers of the Chives (as shown in the photo) and the Welsh Onions.

Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) - garden on 24/05/2020
Last year we sowed a patch of garden with seed that was supposed to produce a low-height flower meadow. Sadly, the grasses that came up (which, to date, have been all that came up) were far too high for the location, and so were removed again. However, I missed a few and the flowers on the grasses (if flowers is what they are) are quite beautiful. I can see these as being the inspiration for a design for ladies ear-rings! That 'flower', below is about 1 cm long.

grass flower - our garden on 24/05/2020
We ended up the week with just 16 species of bird, 5 species of mammal ( I hadn't mentioned the mouse!), and just 4 species of butterfly.


A Visit To Heather Lake  - on Wednesday, 20th May

My visit to Heather Lake on Friday, 15th May to look for dragonflies and damselflies had resulted in briefly seeing just one departing teneral damselfly, and no visible evidence of emergences of others. There had been a change in weather since then and this was a warm sunny day with little breeze. This seemed like a good day to have another look at Heather Lake.

It is a walk through a woodland ride that takes me from where I park my car to the lake. I saw nothing of interest en-route. As I arrived to the area of the lake, there was a Grey Heron sitting on a man-made raft in the lake about 180 metres away. 

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - Heather Lake
I soon realised that there had been a major change since my last visit, with large numbers of damselflies around. Most of these were tenerals (newly emerged and flying for the first time, not yet having developed their full colours), but there were also many damselflies that had matured. With just a few exceptions, these were Common Blue Damselfly, but I did find two other species of damsel too.

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (teneral male) - Heather Lake
Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (teneral female) - Heather Lake

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male) - Heather Lake
Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) (teneral male) - Heather Lake
Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) (male) - Heather Lake
Part-way down the eastern side of the lake I stopped to look at a displaying Coot. I don't remember seeing a Coot displaying like this before.

Coot (Fulica atra) (presumably male) - Heather Lake
The Grey Heron, a very nervous species of bird, had taken off as I'd  drawn a little nearer, and had landed atop a distant tree. Although these birds nest high up in trees, to my mind they always look incongruous when high in a tree!

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - Heather Lake
At the south end of the lake, I found a Blue-tailed Damselfly, but didn't get very close before it departed and was lost to sight when I was distracted by movement in the foliage beside me.

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) (male) - Heather Lake
I looked down and found a dragonfly climbing up a stem behind some reeds. It was a teneral Four-spotted Chaser - my first dragonfly of 2020! It was in a very awkward position for photography, and I chanced trying to move some obstructions to my line of sight - at which point it took off and sailed up into the sky and over the trees. Oh well!

Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata) (teneral male) - Heather Lake
A short way further on, I stopped to photograph a pair of tiny blue beetles.  These flea beetles are about 5 mm long and feed on Great Willowherb. They are very common in these parts.

Altica lythri - Heather Lake
Returning on the west side of the lake I spotted a pair of Common Blue Damselflies in tandem. The female was of the blue form of this species.


Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male+female) - Heather Lake
Further along, I noted a newly emerged damselfly playing peek-a-boo. It was a bit far out for any reasonable photography, but it was interesting to watch for a while. Sadly, I didn't have time to watch it fully develop and find out what species it was as it was getting towards time that I'd told Lindsay I'd be home by 'at the latest'. It seems to be a male.



newly emerged damselfly - Heather Lake
A little further on and I had even more excitement when a dragonfly flew right past me and landed on a branch about 10 metres away. Because of intervening brambles there was no chance of a sensible approach, but at least I managed to get some unobstructed distant shots!



Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) (immature male) - Heather Lake
Shortly after this, I found a pair of Common Blue Damselflies working on the next generation. This time, the female was of the drab coloured variety.


Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) (male+female) - Heather Lake
As I approached the northern (inflow) end of the lake, a pair of Coot drifted by, seemingly unconcerned by my presence, which I found to be a little unusual.


Coot (Fulica atra) - Heather Lake
Just before leaving this area, this small beetle caught my eye. This species is a bit of a favourite of mine! This is a male, as the females do not have the 'swollen green thighs'.


Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis) (male) - Heather Lake
I was now in danger of being back late, and potentially causing concern to Lindsay, so set off homeward. As I walked through the woodland ride, I had the added pleasure of seeing a flying Silver Y moth which landed in a bush. I just managed to find a relatively clear shot before it departed again. This species is an annual immigrant visitor to UK, but they usually arrive in large numbers. This one's for you, David - a moth in its totally natural surroundings!


Silver Y (Autographa gamma) - near Heather Lake
I'm pleased to say that I was home some three minutes before my self-imposed deadline. It had been a really uplifting trip out, with some excercise in vitamin-D rich sunshine, and my first dragon sightings of the year. I was also glad that I'd taken the 50-500 zoom lens and not the 150 macro, as  a number of these shots were taken at the full 500.

The header which accompanies this blog post, while current, is of a male Common Blue Damselfly, taken during my visit reported on above.

I'm really looking forward to my next dragon hunt - possibly tomorrow?!


I apologise if this has been a rather long blog for you. This has largely been due to my enthusiastic reaction to my excursion on the Wednesday. Next week, I'll try and be a little more selective - or I might just resort to two blog posts per week.


Take great care and stay safe - it appears that things are starting to get easier for most of us, but it's not yet time to throw caution to the wind as so many people seem to be doing now.

27 comments:

  1. I'm impressed by the number and quality of moths in the trap. We have the same 'trouble' with good numbers of Starling daily in the garden, and attracting the local Sparrowhawk.

    Excellent post, with a decent selection of wildlife for you to record, by far more active than our humble little garden.

    Stay Alert Stay safe Richard/Lindsay.

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    Replies
    1. My moth trapping numbers are not nearly as impressive as other moth-ers in the county, Pete. Some of them are trapping on most suitable nights and regularly catching over 100 moths of a large number of species. I tend to only trap once a week, weather permitting and, as a novice for whom the ID process is quite time-consuming, I'm quite pleased that I'm not dealing with that sort of quantity!

      Ours is a quite small garden (approximately 10x7 metres, according to Google Earth), Pete, but I do spend an inordinate amount of time searching for photographic subjects in it!

      Take great care - - - Richard

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  2. So you have joined the party and in good style too. A good range of species and a few photos too. Bet you feel a bit better now? Take care.

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    1. It was wonderful to get out, Marc, and very confidence-boosting, unlike yesterday when the place I was at starting filling up with people in small groups and I lost the ability to concentrate on photography, so came away. Did get some new species for the year, however - Red-eyed and Azure, damselflies, but no dragons.

      Stay safe - - - Richard

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  3. Even I feel refreshed after enjoying "your" walk, Richard!

    The garden continues to impress Gini and I greatly. Thank you for so many beautiful photographs of your flowers and the creatures which enjoy them.

    Very impressive photographs of the Odonata! I'm very jealous of your damsel images. Now I'm determined to try harder.

    We're getting some much needed rain the past few days which should provide a plethora of wildlife activity once it ends. Can't wait to get out and about!

    We know you and Lindsay will do all you can to remain well and we hope your opportunities for more Vitamin D intake (of the natural variety) continue to increase.

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    1. Hi, Wally

      Just spent a while formulating a reply to your kind comments and hit a wrong key and blew it all away, so this is my second attempt!

      Can I start by asking you if you would kindly send some of your rain our way. After an incredibly wet winter giving rise to many serious problems in UK, we are now experiencing a period of drought. I can't remember when we last had rain but suspect it was about a month ago. Although we've had some cold spells, they've been accompanied by strong, drying, winds.

      Lindsay and I are both starting to spread our wings a little more, keeping within the regulations, but concentrating on staying safe. As the regulations relax, we're tending to stay way behind the permitted activities until we get a feel for how these are working (or not working!). Sadly, it seems that people in UK are increasingly abandoning all caution, ignoring the regulations and advice, and thereby putting others at risk. From what we're hearing here, you are experiencing the same sort of behaviour over on your side of the pond.

      Must go now and do some internet research on 'rain dancing'. Please, both of you, look after yourselves and stay safe - - - Richard

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  4. Plenty of variety in your work Richard, I wish I had that much on my patch. Stay safe. Mike.

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    1. Thank you, Mike. My garden is increasingly focussed on wildlife attraction and decreasingly on tidiness - so far, the neighbours haven't complained!

      Best wishes - take good care - - - Richard

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  5. Lovely photos & some great moths. I think the bee labelled Buff-tailed is a Garden Bumblebee, Bombus hortorum due to the very long face + the extra band at the rear of the thorax.

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    1. Thank you so much, Conehead54, for your much appreciated correction with reasoning, and your kind words too. Stay safe - - - Richard

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  6. What a great set of photos, some of those moths are really quite beautiful. You are so good at ID with all these little creatures. I am afraid bees just remain bees with me, it is very rare that I can actually say which one is which. Apart from successfully trapping the moths I am amazed that you can also get such good photos of them. Have you seen my latest email? Keep safe and stay well Diane

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    Replies
    1. Hi Diane. I'm not that good at ID, and often rely on the input of others in order to get it right, as you will see with the correction to my first Bumblebee ID in the above post. Will come back to you soon on the damsels and dragon.

      Best wishes to you both - take great care and stay safe - - - Richard

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    2. You are much better than I am at ID, and thanks for all your help, so appreciated. Diane

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    3. My pleasure, Diane - happy to help where I can.

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  7. Thanks for the moth on the leaf, Richard! It looks right at home there. I am sure it feels VERY good to be rambling again, and I would imagine you are anxious for the next adventure. Keeping close to home, and having relatively short excursions sounds like the perfect way to do it. The past couple of days here have been a tad warm for comfortable walking. We have gone from snow two weeks ago to 33 degrees yesterday! Yesterday Miriam and I went for a drive through the countryside, which is so green and beautiful now, and had a very exciting find. More about that in my next blog post. Stay well and stay safe. All the best, David

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    1. I thought our temperature fluctuations were wild enough, David, but yours are just amazing! It must be very difficult to get acclimatised to such a difference. One can't help but wonder how wildlife, which doesn't have the ability to make the artificial adjustments to their surrounds that we do, copes with such situations.

      Looking forward to learning what your exciting find was.

      Look after yourselves, and stay safe - - - Richard

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  8. Hello Richard, I am so glad for you you were able to go out and take photos of the Damselflies, and Dragonflies. And what great finds you had the photos are so wonderful! Love the nightly visits of the Hedge Hogs and Fox. The photo of the grass however is one peace of art! A big print on the wall will not be a bad idea. And not to forget all that lovely birds that love your garden as you can tell by the numbers that frequent your garden.
    Well enjoy the coming days and weekend and stay healthy.
    Regards,
    Roos

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    1. It is great to be getting out, Roos, but I am having to be very careful as it seems that many people in UK are being extremely stupid and totally ignoring the social distancing regulations and advice. The place I went to yesterday I had to come away again at around mid-day because the number of people arriving in groups was getting too dangerous. Let us hope that a solution (vaccination or cure) will be found soon.

      Thank you for your kind words. In the meantime take great care and stay safe - - - Richard

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  9. Thanks Richard for the vast amount of species in your garden, and night vision of the Fox, excellent.

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    1. Thank you, Bob. I'm always trying to improve the garden for wildlife, but a bit limited by time, and this darned virus - not to mention trying to make sure I don't upset the neighbours!

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  10. You need to get out! And you did:) Your damselfly pics are awesome. I tried to get one but they are super difficult to get all in focus, specially in the hot desert temps. I think I took a pic of a Violet Dancer unsuccessfully. Even if things didn't meet expectations, you got out of the house and I think did well. I hope you get out more and have some more adventures. I'm here trying to clear space on my iphone. Apparently , I have too many photos and videos on it from the past 4 years! It's a 108 degrees today and I'm locking myself up in this house until the sun sets. One endless day into another. Take care, Chris

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    1. Getting the whole damselfly in focus is something that I rarely achieve, Chris. A trick that I try to practice when possible is to move one's position around slightly (but slowly) whilst taking a multitude of shots, in order to stand a chance of getting the attack angle correct. I'll often take 20 or 30 shots of the same subject. You might call it 'the scatter-gun' approach to photography.

      Managed to get out twice this week - things are definitely looking up!

      I don't have a problem with photos on my phone as I don't keep them there. However, I've got something approaching 20 years worth of photos all stored on hard-drives on my PC, all indexed by species and date, with location noted too - plus back-up drives too.

      Stay safe, Chris - - - Richard

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  11. Hello Richard
    wow a lot of pictures, such a large selection, you can not decide which should be the better photos, interesting description and as always very educational garlic mustard, never heard of it in my life :-))
    Regards Frank

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    Replies
    1. Garlic mustard sounds like something you could have with a currywurst, Frank, but it is a tall wild plant with small insignificant flowers. I'm sure that you will have it there but under a different name. Its scientific name is Alliaria petiolata.

      My best wishes to you. Stay safe - - - Richard

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  12. Hi Richard,
    I am really impressed by the beautiful variation you show here in this blog! Beautiful moths, caterpillars, damselflies and dragonflies, grass flower, birds and special beautiful nature! Really great to see. This is maximum enjoyment of all the beauty that nature gives us. I really enjoyed these beautiful and sharp photos. Class.
    The Oedemera nobilis is a really beautiful beetle.

    Greetings, Helma

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