Last week was somewhat of a disturbing week in the garden, although there were uplifting moments too. The weather went from mediocre to glorious, and then suddenly cold and windy with an overnight Saturday/Sunday drop in daytime temperature from 24°C (max) to 9°C (max).
The catch-up section at the end of this post features some birds from 16th March to 19th April.
The catch-up section at the end of this post features some birds from 16th March to 19th April.
Monday, 4th May
A day without any photography.
I recorded just 13 species of bird put a foot down in the garden, little knowing at the time that this would not be achieved again during the week.
A Hedgehog was seen on the garden trail cams in the early hours.
Tuesday, 5th May
There was some excitement when the trail cams were examined in the morning as we had at least two Hedgehogs visit, probably three, and possibly four! The definite two spent almost exactly one hour going through the mating ritual, albeit at a great distance from the camera. The noise that would have accompanied this would quite possibly have drawn other males to the scene, but it was not possible to determine whether this was the case.
This was obviously thirsty work!
In addition, we had a Red Fox visit briefly that night.
The downside on this day was when a pair of Magpies decided to attack a recently fledged Dunnock. It was frightening to behold the intelligence exhibited by the Magpies as they trapped the Dunnock, which had tucked itself in behind a dense shrub against the fence, by a pincer movement - one approaching from each side. I'm not certain as to what the outcome was, but there was a residue of downy feathers and a few flight feathers after the attack.
I have also seen Magpies diving into the ivy where Blackbirds have nested and believe that they have already predated three nests in the past couple of weeks.
Just 11 species of bird visited the garden that day.
A Grey Squirrel also visited for food.
Being short of photographic subjects, I found myself photographing some flowers in the garden. I am neither plantsman nor botanist, so cannot, with any certainty, identify one or two of these flowers.
 |
| Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) - garden on 05/05/2020 |
 |
| Spanish Bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica) (white variety) - garden on 05/05/2020 |
 |
| California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) garden on 05/05/2020 |
 |
| no idea - garden on 05/05/2020 |
The Rhododendron in our garden had just started flowering when I took these next shots - it is much more densely covered in flowers as I write this, and looks an absolute picture! Until I took these shots, I'd never noticed the exquisite orange markings on the petals.
 |
| Rhododendron hybrid - garden on 05/05/2020 |
I photographed this small bee on the Rhododendron. I do not know what species it is, but suspect that it's one of the mason bees.
 |
| bee sp. - garden on 05/05/2020 |
Wednesday, 6th May
The trail cams showed just one Hedgehog visiting.
Bird species remained at 11, but of a slightly different mix to the previous day. The most notable event was three Blackbirds (two male, one female) thrashing around together on the ground in a fight that I felt it necessary to break up!
It was a warm sunny day and Lindsay and I had coffee out on the patio. I'd taken the camera with me so was able to get a shot of this Alder Fly when it landed on the ground beside me. I have only ever seen these close to lakes before!
 |
| Alder Fly (Sialis lutaria) - garden on 06/05/2020 |
Whilst there I also took a shot of a female House Sparrow - got to do something to keep the trigger finger exercised!
Later, from my desk, I took some shots of Goldfinch.
Thursday, 7th May
Trail cams showed visits by a Hedgehog, and a Red Fox.
A warm sunny day brought us one butterfly - a Green-veined White - and a Cinnabar Moth settled briefly in the garden - I failed to photograph either of them!
There was a slight improvement in bird visits, with 12 species recorded. Here are some shots from this day:-
 |
| House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) (female) - garden on 06/05/2020 |
 |
| Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - garden on 06/05/2020 |
Trail cams showed visits by a Hedgehog, and a Red Fox.
A warm sunny day brought us one butterfly - a Green-veined White - and a Cinnabar Moth settled briefly in the garden - I failed to photograph either of them!
There was a slight improvement in bird visits, with 12 species recorded. Here are some shots from this day:-
 |
| Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) (female) - garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) (male) - garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) (male) - garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Dunnock (Prunella modularis) - garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Blackbird (Turdus merula) (female) - garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Great Tit (Parus major) - garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| (hoverfly) Rhingia campestris - garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Chocolate Tip (Clostera curtula) from garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Bee Moth (Aphomia sociella) (female) - from garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Brimstone Moth (Opisthograptis luteolata) - from garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Cinnabar (Tyria jacobaeae) - from garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Green Carpet (Colostygia pectinataria) - from garden on 07/05/2020 |
 |
| Waved Umber (Menophra abruptaria) - from garden on 07/05/2020 |
An unremarkable day for bird sightings, probably due to me spending much time on garden maintenance, which tends to keep the birds away. We had 11 bird species visit.
The only butterfly seen and identified was a Speckled Wood, and a Hedghog was observed from the trail cams.
No photos were taken that day
Saturday, 9th May
Again, much time was spent in the garden, and just 10 bird species were seen to visit.
A single Hedgehog was seen on the trail cams.
Butterflies included Small White, and Orange-tip (which was ovipositing on Garlic Mustard). A blue butterfly was observed, but not identified - almost certainly a Holly Blue.
 |
| Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (female, ovipositing) - garden on 09/05/2020 |
A well-predicted exceptionally cold breezy day after a hot end of week. The birds had the garden to themselves for most of the day, and 12 species were noted as visitng, including the local immature Rook, which I have still failed to photograph.
The weather meant that no insects were observed, and the Hedgehog didn't visit either.
No photos were taken that day
Thus ended the week, with a total of bird species visiting being a rather uninspiring 14. Five species of butterfly were seen with only four being positively identified. With a very cold dull week forecast, I don't hold out much hope for an improvement for week 20.
Birds - 16th March to 19th April
This first shot is cheating really as the bird was not in our garden but on next-door's garage roof. The shot was taken whilst sitting at my desk.
 |
| Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) - from my study on 28/03/2020 |
 |
| Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes) - garden on 31/03/2020 |
 |
| Woodpigeon (Columba palumbus) - garden on 02/04/2020 |
 |
| Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) - garden on 06/04/2020 |
 |
| Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) (female) - garden on 08/04/2020 |
Until the next time - take great care, and stay safe.
Hi Richard! Absolutely wonderful posting!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. I hope that all is well with you - - - Richard
DeleteLove the Orange Tip photos. They really are quite lovely. Keep busy and stay safe.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marc. No problem keeping busy - but it doesn't mean that things get done!
DeleteTake good care, and keep showing us your wonderful dragons - - - Richard
Lovely photos. The fly is the hoverfly, Rhingia campestris.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words and the ID. Text duly modified!
DeleteBest wishes - - - Richaed
No problem with the moths, Richard! Great that you are able to identify them. As for the Magpies carrying out their attacks, it is perhaps a little disconcerting to view these dire aspects of nature taking place, but as we all know everything is something else's lunch. Sometimes we wish they would not do it right in front of our noses! I remember well a woman on a tour in Ethiopia complaining about Marabou Storks gobbling up some small songbirds (cute ones of course) but she merrily ate her lamb chops for dinner! A Great Blue Heron here once took care of an entire brood of Mallard Ducklings and I think it was actually contemplating whether he could get down the mother too! Hope you are able to venture out soon. Best wishes to you both. David
ReplyDeleteAs you say, the realities of the natural world can seem a little harsh at times, David, and I fully accept that, although sometimes I wish such events didn't happen in my back yard! I've just come in from the garden where I found a whole bird's worth of feathers on the lawn - I suspect that the Sparrowhawk, seen for the first time in many weeks yesterday, has taken one of the numerous juvenile House Sparrows frequenting the garden at the moment.
DeleteLooks like I may be leaving the premises for the first time in a couple of months tomorrow. We're now allowed to go out, although with many restrictions, and I intend to go for a 10 minute drive just to see what the world looks like out there. I'm expecting it to look very different!
My best wishes to you and Miriam - - - Richard
Richard, enjoyed seeing your moth collection, must get started with a trap one day. Also your hedgehog encounters with the trail cam, one of which I also need to get as we have hedgehog visiting our garden nightly. And the Magpies and now resident Carrion Crow are all threats to our young birds at the moment.
ReplyDeleteStay Safe Richard/Lindsey.
Hi Pete. Delighted that you liked seeing the moths. I use a trap that our County Moth Recorder makes and sells at a very reasonable price, but he's had supply difficulties during the Covid crisis. I've only been doing it for a couple of years and still have a lot to learn. It can be quite time-consuming at first, due to ID difficulties, but I'm getting better at it - thanks to two excellent fieldguides.
DeleteI'd not want to be without my trail cams. I currently deploy three each night. My current ones are of three different makes - of these, the Crenova seems to be the best, and you can buy one from Amazon for £75.
Take great care, and don't let the frustration of this Covid virus get you down - we'll get our freedom back one day! - - - Richard
The most pleasure on see your blog, it's fantastic. I love the Hegdehog, but, and there was surprise, that there was a Fox, beautiful. I love all of them , birds, butterflies and Moths.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bob. I'm so pleased that I am lucky enough to have a garden to keep my interest alive while this virus is playing merry-hell with the world out there!
DeleteTake great care and stay safe - - - Richard
Hi Richard,
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have far more in your garden than I have. I like the surprises you get from infra-red cameras.Stay safe.
Mike.
My garden focus has, for many years, been to attract wildlife. There have, however, had to be some compromises from time to time - for example, my wife has a frog phobia, so no wildlife pond - yet!
DeleteI've been a trailcam addict for a few years now, Mike. They go out every night, and my firsrt job most days is to check what shows on them. If one ever fails - and they do from time to time - I have to replace it as soon as possible!
Take good care - - - Richard
Interesante y completo post, todas las fotos y los vídeos del erizo y el zorro me han encantado. Las urracas tienen que comer, así es de cruel a veces la naturaleza, jejeje. Enhorabuena Richard, he disfrutado mucho con todo lo que nos has enseñado. Un fuerte abrazo desde el norte de España.
ReplyDelete¡Saludos, Germán! Estoy encantado de que haya disfrutado esta cuenta de mi semana de encierro. Sí, la naturaleza es a menudo cruel, y no siempre es agradable de contemplar, pero es, después de todo, la naturaleza, y la vida continúa.
DeleteMis mejores deseos desde un centro bastante fresco de Inglaterra: ¡el verano ha vuelto a estar adentro! - Ten mucho cuidado y mantente a salvo - Richard
It has also been very cold here and very little activity of any kind in the garden. Friends of ours actually filmed a magpie killing a house sparrow last week and carrying it off!! We have never had them here other than the odd visit but there is a pair that seem to have now moved in which worries me!!
ReplyDeleteLove all your photos and I especially like the Cinnabar and Brimstone moths.
Keep well and take care. Best wishes to you both, Diane
Hi Diane. I'm not sure if I have had a Cinnabar in the garden before this year, but we've had four sightings in the past month, including one today. They do come to light, but they are usually seen flying in daylight.
DeleteAs David observes, many of the world's creatures live by preying on somthing else, us humans included (unless vegetarian) - it's just nature, which is not always pleasant to observe!
Take great care, and show us more of your super photography soon. Best wishes to you and Nigel - - - - Richard
Hello Richard, fantastic all those birds, insects, Fox, Hedgehogs, that come to visit or breed in your garden. Sad to read that nest are predated but that is nature for you, as they say. Still sad to think all the effort the parents have made to find their young end this way their short life.
ReplyDeleteThe moths are most beautyful and who knows you will like more plants and flowers now that you are confronted with them this way.
Well stay healthy and enjoy Spring in your garden.
Roos
Thank you, for your visit and kind words, Roos. Lindsay and I are working hard to try and make our garden even more wildlife-friendly. We have had a couple of false starts in this direction, but are getting there. We now have many self-seeded wild flowers that we are allowing to grow, and the result is very colourful and much-loved by insects. I have a small garden pond on order which I hope to install next month - Lindsay's birthday present to me (although it's not my birthday!). This, I hope, will attract wildlife too.
DeleteWith my very best wishes - take great care and stay safe - - - - Richard
Hello Richard
ReplyDeleteit really gets going in your garden, take everything conveniently from the study, very nice :-))
Thank you for showing me
Regards Frank
Hi Frank. In these last two months, I have been really pleased that I have a garden that is relatively wildlife-friendly. I has helped keep me sane - if I am still sane?!
DeleteMy best wishes to you. Stay safe - - - Richard
Hi Richard,
ReplyDeleteThis blog is also very beautiful and also a nice variety. Nice videos and the birds are super and also nice and sharp
You really see a lot of moths? Are they all in your own garden or were you just a block away? Very nice to see
Stay safe and healthy. The orange tip is super.
I had to laugh at the great blue heron hahahaha ..... but I took a nice picture.
The other birds are also so much fun and a bathing pigeon is something different hihi
Greetings, Helma