The Lockdown Garden - Week 23, 1st to 7th June, 2020

This week has been a funny old week! It started off with hot sunny weather, with windows open and fans on, trying to keep cool. By Wednesday it was cloudy and windy and somewhat cooler, and by Friday it was wet and cold enough to close all windows and turn the central heating on and wear warm winter fleeces. The rain, however, has been most welcome after a dry May, and has been torrential at times. The downside is that it has been a week with very little almost no garden photography.

Monday, 1st June

The trail cams showed much activity by one or more Hedgehogs (it's often impossible to tell them apart!) and, unusually, a Grey Squirrel taking a drink just before daybreak, as shown in this video clip.

We had 14 species of bird visit the garden that day, with nothing of paticular note, although 14 Starlings was a rather noisy experience, and the pair of Bullfinches was still with us. I attempted some shots of the female, and only put one on here because, otherwise, this blog post will be extremely short of images! I know I have commented on this before, but Bullfinches are the messiest eaters I know in the avian world. This shot was taken from my study window.

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (female) - garden on 01/06/2020

That afternoon I went out on another dragon hunt to a location I have not visited before - more on that in a few days time.

Tuesday, 2nd June

It had been a warm night, and the trail cams revealed nothing but cats visiting the garden.

In the morning it was hot and sunny, and I went out to the same location as on the previous afternoon to see if it was as good at a different time of day. By the afternoon it had started clouding over.

Before I went out, a Red Admiral butterfly visited. It didn't stop long and my brief attempt a photography was fruitless.

I came home to find a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly on the Hebe beside the front door. It was only when I looked at my photos that I realised just how pretty the tiny flowers of the Hebe are when seen close-up.

Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) - garden on 02/06/2020

Just 13 species of bird were seen to visit that day - it might have been more if I had been at home all day.

Wednesday, 3rd June

The trail cams witnessed the return of the Fox in the night, and also at least one Hedgehog.

It was an unpleasantly windy day, but we still managed to record 13 species of bird visiting. Fortunately, the sound of the high winds drowned out the racket from the 23 Starlings that arrived. Five juvenile Blue Tits arrived with their parents.

Thursday, 4th June 

On the trail cams the Fox showed again, and two Hedgehogs had a bit of a disagreement. 

We were up to 15 species of bird visiting, although we still didn't see anything unusual - it's been a long while now since we had a WOW! visitor. I don't usually like to post photos of birds on feeders but when one gets something as cute as a tray full of young Blue Tits, I feel an exception must be made. A fifth one had departed from the tray before I managed to take this shot.

Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) (juveniles) - garden on 04/06/2020

Friday, 5th June

We had two Hedgehogs visit that night, plus the Fox. In the clip below you can see a Hedgehog trundle past the Fox without too much of a care.

It was my birthday this day, and in the morning I went to our daughter's house to deliver some birthday cake for her and our granddaughter. However, Lindsay had fetched my present from her a few days earlier so that I could  open it on the morning of my birthday. Although not wildlife, it had a wildlife theme, so I'll post an image here. She had spent weeks crocheting these two cushions to her own design. I think they're fabulous!

my birthday present from our daughter, Melanie

It rained all afternoon, which was a blessing as the garden desperately needed it, but it did mean that there was no photography that day. We did, however, managed to record 13 species of bird visiting the garden.

Saturday, 6th June 

An uninspiring wet day, with nothing on the trail cams, but we did manage 15 species of bird visiting us. 

Sunday, 7th June

I have not reset the timers on the trail cams lately so, now that the days are longer, they are still running after dawn. Lately I've been getting the occasional shot of Blackbird on the cams, as they are early risers. However, this day I managed to capture the Fox in daylight. It appears to be a bit bedraggled after the wet day!

We had 12 species of bird visit the garden, with nothing remarkable to report on.

It had been eleven days since the moth trap was last deployed, due to a lack of time to sort thing out, and then bad weather. On an impulse, I made a last minute decision to put the moth trap out as the forecast was for little rain that night, but wet nights for a while thereafter. It was already nearly dark when the trap went out and, as it was a cool night, I didn't anticipate much of a catch.

In the event I did better than expected, with 14 moths of 8 species. In fact I did MUCH better than expected! I am in my third year of moth trapping, and have only ever had a hawk-moth on three occasions. Each time it had been an Elephant Hawk-moth - a spectacular moth as featured in my last Lockdown Garden blog post. However, this night I managed my first ever Poplar Hawk-moth - a supposedly common moth, but the first one I have ever seen in the flesh! These moths can have up to a 90 mm wingspan, and a body that could feed a family of four for a week. 

Here are a few from the trap that night. -  N.B.  it is accepted practice when overnight trapping moths, that the recorded date of sighting is that on which the trap is deployed, rather than retrieved, so these moths were not discovered until the following (Monday) morning.

Believe it or not, these next two are of the same species. No wonder some people, including me, find moth ID difficult at times!

Ingrailed Clay (Diarsia mendica) - from garden on 07/06/2020

I usually see this next moth on rough ground beside water.

Straw Dot (Rivula sericealis) - from garden on 07/06/2020

And here's the prize one of the night. I'm sorry about the framing of the middle image - the subject was very much on the move, and only just in frame! I was surprised to see that the antennae are cream on top, but red underneath.

Poplar Hawk-moth (Laothoe populi)  - from garden on07/06/2020

That brings me to the end of the week. In all, we had just 16 species of bird visit and it occurs to me that, perhaps, I should let you know which. They were (with weekly maxima) :- Blackbird (4), Bullfinch (2), Chaffinch (4), Dove, Collared (5), Dove, Stock (1), Dunnock (2), Goldfinch (5), Greenfinch (3), Magpie (2), Robin (1), Sparrow, House (9), Starling (23), Tit, Blue (7), Tit, Coal (3), Tit, Great (4), Woodpigeon (4).

I'm expecting to publish my next blog post in two days time and it will, yet again, feature mainly dragons!

Until the next time take good care, stay safe, but do your best to connect with, and look after,  nature - it's a great boost to one's sanity!