A while since my last blog post and a slightly different format for my report on events in our garden - a little less formal than previously.
The level of avian visits was disappointingly low for the two weeks, although not without its highlights. However, there were a few compensations in other spheres.
Tuesday, 28th July
A briefly visiting Sparrowhawk - the first for a while - created a bit of a stir and left empty-taloned, but was not photographed.
Wednesday, 29th July
We'd not been seeing many butterflies for a while, but things started improving on this day. We had two Gatekeepers visit - a species that we do not usually see in our garden, but have been making frequent (daily) visits since this date. This one was a male, as can be seen by the dark 'brand' across the forewing.
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| Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) (male) - garden on 29th July, 2020 |
Saturday, 1st August
This day, for me, was notable for two reasons. The first was that we had the largest number for the year, by far, of House Sparrows visitng the garden - 18! This was a very welcome sight as the decline of this species is cause for concern. The second was when I found a caterpillar munching the Swiss Chard, got my camera, took a few photos, went back inside to look at them, decided I needed to do better - and found a totally different caterpillar in its place (although not with a taste for Swiss Chard)!
I was unable to identify the first caterpillar, so consulted caterpillar expert and the UK's top insect illustrator, Richard Lewington, who kindly informed me "Odd angles but it looks like a Silver Y" - I'm more than happy to go with that observation.
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| Silver Y (Autographa gamma) - garden on 1st August, 2020 |
The second caterpillar will be covered at the tail-end of this blog post.
Whilst in the garden with the camera I had a look around for other subject matter and came up with just a Greenbottle fly.
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| Greenbottle (Lucilia sp.) - garden on 1st August, 2020 |
We were sitting in the conservatory after lunch, when a Grey Squirrel came to raid the peanuts. I know people have mixed feelings about these creatures, but we are rather fond of them.
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| Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) - garden on 1st August, 2020 |
Sunday, 2nd August
The most notable thing this day was a visit by the local Carrion Crow which, for a change, actually landed in a place where it was not almost totally obscured by branches!
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| Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - garden on 2nd August, 2020 |
Monday, 3rd August.
By far the most exciting thing this day was looking out of my study window just after sunset and seeing a bat flying around the garden. Lindsay and I watched this spectacle for a good five minutes or more - it was almost as if it was confined to the garden boundaries by an invisible forcefield - before it departed, never to be seen again, in spite of a few evenings sitting out at dusk and being attacked by midges!
At one point in the day, Lindsay spotted something lurking by an electrical socket in the lounge. This turned out to be a Vine Weevil - a species that is noted as being sometimes tempted into houses in cold weather, but nothing was mentioned about hot humid weather! I transported it out to the edge of the pond for a few photos - it was not keen to stay still!
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| Vine Weevil (Otiorhynchus sulcatus) - garden on 3rd August, 2020 |
This is of the typical weevil shape, and I'd always assumed that the eyes were in that blob that the antennae are attached to. I now see that I'm very wrong, with the eyes being close to the thorax - another benefit from venturing into macro-mode.
Wednesday, 5th August
Lindsay and I were sitting in the conservatory enjoying a coffee at around half past four in the afternoon when Lindsay exclaimed that there was a Hedgehog! It was making its way up the path beside her. I immediately grabbed the camera as it is unusual to see a Hedgehog in daylight, and it usually means that it is in trouble. It obviously knew the set-up as it made its way directly to the water dish at the Hedgehog feeding station, and drank for quite a long while before going into the station and taking food. It eventually emerged and headed behind the undergrowth along the back fence. We both agreed that it looked well and that it had possibly been disturbed from its sleeping location by somebody tidying their garden or, maybe more likely, been let out after accidentally finding itself trapped in a garage or garden shed, which would explain its keeness to drink and eat. Here are a few shots - you can see that it was a rather large specimen when compared to the size of a house brick!
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| Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) - garden on 5th August 2020 |
After it disappeared I took a couple of shots of the Dunnock that had been taking great interest in the Hedgehog.
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| Dunnock (Prunella modularis) - garden on 5th August, 2020 |
I then noticed the Hedgehog was showing in another corner of the garden.
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| Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) - garden on 5th August 2020 |
I waited for half an hour before coming to the conclusion that it had found somewhere behind a buddleia bush to go to sleep.
I sat out during the late evening to see if it would emerge again, and a hedgehog eventually showed as it was getting dark at 21h00. This time it drank at a different location - although I can't be certain that it was the same hog as this one seemed to be smaller.
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| Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) - garden on 5th August 2020 |
Thursday, 6th August
This day's highlight was a visit by a Willow Warbler. I failed to get a shot of it when it was in our garden, but managed a distant shot of it from my study when it was on next door's garage roof.
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| Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) - next door's garage roof on 6th August, 2020 |
Saturday, 8th August
This night, the moth trap was put out for the first time in nearly two weeks. I was not expecting, or even hoping for, a large catch as I was rather busy and did not want to spend much time sorting out the catch the next day. In the event, the catch was somewhat more than expected, and contained a couple of moths that I was delighted with. Here are a few from the catch. My previous catches of Knot Grass have been rather dark specimens - I had two somewhat paler ones on this occasion, and I rather like the face that I can see on this one!
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| Knot Grass (Acronicta rumicis) - from garden on 8th August, 2020 |
I've had Marbled Beauty before, but this one had me foxed as it appeared rather different to my previous two. It was, however, verified by @MothIDUK.
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| Marbled Beauty (Cryphia domestica) - from garden on 8th August, 2020 |
This next little beauty might easily have been missed as I found it on the shed door near the trap. It was a 'lifer' for me.
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| Sallow Kitten (Furcula furcula) - from garden on 8th August, 2020 |
Also in the trap was a beetle. At first, I thought it was a Common Sexton Beetle, as I have had Black Sexton Beetles in the moth trap before, and knew of the Common Sexton as being similar but with the orange markings. However, the orange tips to the antennae and the hind tibia being concave on the inside edge identify it as Nicrophoros vespillo, which does not have a common name. One handles these creatures with care as they can emit a foul smell which is difficult to get rid of!
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| Nicrophoros vespillo - from our garden on 8th August, 2020 |
Sunday, 9th August
Just a couple of butterflies photographed on this day.
I had been getting a little worried about the dearth of Small Tortoiseshells over the past month or so, but suddenly they seem to have burst onto the scene, it not being unusual to have up to five at one time in the garden.
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| Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) - garden on 9th Auguat, 2020 |
The Gatekeepers were still visiting daily - weather permitting.
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| Gatekeeper (Pyronia tithonus) (female) - garden on 9thAugust, 2020 |
That ends my roundup of the garden highlights for the two weeks - apart from:-
NELLIE!
I mentioned, above, that on 1st August one caterpillar had been usurped by another at the Swiss Chard. My surprise, when I went out to take more shots of the Silver Y caterpillar, was to find an early instar Elephant Hawk-moth caterpillar, only about 30 mm long. It was instantly recognisable by the 'eyes' on the body, although more brightly coloured than any that I had seen before with its pink 'eyes'. However, all of these previous sightings had been of much larger specimens. According to my caterpillar field-guide they are green until their fourth instar, so this one must have been at least that.
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| Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) (larva) - garden on 1st August, 2020 |
I watched this develop over the days and, yes, being the softie that I am, it got given the name of Nellie!
Three days later than that last shot, Nellie was somewhat larger, although still had a similar colouration, as shown here in its typical head-down resting position.
Another three days and the caterpillar was much larger. I think that it had just had a moult as the pink colouration in the 'eyes' had now turned white, and the colour below and in front of the 'eyes' now seemed much brighter, although this could be due to the main body colour now being almost black!
By 10th August Nellie was rather large, and the colour had faded a little.
My last sightings of Nellie were on 12th August. It seems that the caterpillars of this species reach a length of approximately 9 cm, and Nellie had achieved that size. The first shot, below, was taken at just gone 8 in the morning while Nellie was feeding well - note the large amount of huge frass around! The second shot was my last ever of this wonderful caterpillar and taken just before 5 in the afternoon - still munching away!
These caterpillars have a habit of wandering away from their feeding sites and pupating on, or in, the ground, before emerging as a moth the following summer, and I believe that this is what happened with this one. Having got rather attached to it I shall now be concerned about disturbing it or damaging it in its resting place.
My next blog post will probably be about my excursions from home in the above period.
Thank you for dropping by. Until the next time, take good care and stay safe. It's not over yet!
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| Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) (larva) - garden on 4th August, 2020 |
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| Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) (larva) - garden on 7th August, 2020 |
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| Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) (larva) - garden on 10th August, 2020 |
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| Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) (larva) - garden on 12th August, 2020 |
My next blog post will probably be about my excursions from home in the above period.
Thank you for dropping by. Until the next time, take good care and stay safe. It's not over yet!
Pretty impressed by your garden visitors Richard, and KT will be equally impressed by the Hedgehog. We have them visit nightly, the best count being three, we think they rest up during the day in a hut we built for them tucked away behind the greenhouse. We also have had up to 30 House Sparrows in the garden with at least your count of 18 daily. I'm amazed with the variety here Richard.
ReplyDeleteStay Safe. Pete.
Thank you, Pete. I know for certain that we have two hedgehogs visiting most nights, but suspect it could be as many as three or four. However, we are now down to two hedgehog houses, and neither of those are being used by the hogs at present. I think we may have one 'sleeping rough' in one of our borders but am not prepared to risk disturbing it.
DeleteAbsolutely delighted to hear how many House Sparrows you're getting.
Take great care - - - Richard
Plenty to look at in your garden Richard, like a mini nature reserve. A lovely set of photos too.
ReplyDeleteI do my best with the garden, Marc, but age gets the better of me at times! Stay safe - - - Richard
DeleteYour garden is turning out to be a veritable oasis, Richard. Perhaps COVID has been a good thing in a perverse sort of way, having driven you to spend more time in the garden and pay more attention to it. Miriam was delighted to see the hedgehogs and the hawk-moth caterpillar is a sight to behold. House Sparrows seem to be holding their own here, but I have read several times that they are on a downward spiral in various parts of Europe.
ReplyDeleteI'm in agreement with you, David, that an increase in interest in the garden has been one of the positive outcomes of Covid. There were a few other positives too, but I fear we are already losing them.
DeleteI suspect that the state of the House Sparrow population is due in large part to the fashion for having sterile concrete spaces for gardens.
My word Richard your garden is turning into a magical place. Fabulous photos and I love the last series of the Elephant Hawk-Moth larvae, wonderful photos, it looks quite snake like! The hedgehog looks huge to me and again an excellent series of photos. Love the moths, you really get some very pretty ones in the trap that you probably would never notice otherwise. Good news about the sparrows, Nigel came in yesterday and said he was counting up to around 50 on our lawn at one time. I think we are the only people around here that feed (although not that much in summer) but the word obviously gets out to the all the sparrow neighbours! The squirrel is cute but I am glad that we only have red squirrels here. As for the eyes of the weevil, fascinating that you can see them clearly in your macros.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week, stay safe and very best wishes to you both. Diane
Wow, Diane, around 50 sparrows on your lawn at one time is more than a little impressive! I'd rather have Red Squirrels than Grey Squirrels, but not much chance of that I'm sorry to say. I think that the nearest ones to me are about 130 miles away near Thetford, Norfolk. I'm delighted to say that the garden has been getting rasther a lot of much needed rain over the past couple of days. However, it has limited the photo opportunities.
DeleteThank you for the note about your lens - I shall have to look at one next time I need a replacement.
Tske care and stay safe - - - Richard
What incredible diversity you have in your garden!
ReplyDeleteOf course, all of your photographs are wonderful, but I especially like the Gatekeeper and Tortoiseshell. Lovely! The beetle with no common name is pretty special, too.
Fascinating images of the Hawk-Moth caterpillar. The first observation you make next year of an Elephant Hawk-moth will have you exclaiming: "Nellie!"
All is good here. Regular thunderstorms each afternoon. Fall migration actually beginning with a couple of warblers noted this past week. Gini and I hope you and Lindsay have a fantastic new week!
I'm sure that the diversity has been in our garden all along, but it's only in the past few years that I've started to observe it mere closely, Wally. I am also doing my best to encourage and support wildlife in a world where so much is being lost.
DeleteI shall be lucky if I see an Elephant Hawk-moth next year as they are by no means a 'given'.
They have been threatening severe thunderstorms for days now, but none so far. However we have had some much-need rain. We too have been having regular visits from warblers in the garden. It might be the same Willow Warbler that keeps coming in with a mixed tit flock, but I suspect not as the mix of the tit flock is changing on a daily basis.
I hope that all is continuing to be good there - stay safe - - - - Richard
Lovely photos of great destinations;-)
ReplyDeleteMaybe something got lost in translation, Anne, but there is only one destination featured here, and that is my garden - no part of which is further than 15 metres from my back door!
DeleteHello Richard, again so much to see that is living in your garden. Insects, birds and Hedge hogs. So good to see they have indeed a safe haven in your garden. The Elephant Hawk-moth caterpilla is a great crature and master of disguise . Nature at its best. The Small Tortoiseshell is beautyful. I have not seen one this year. I find it a bad year for butterflies. Is it because of the drought we are having this year and the last two summers? But my favorites are the Hedge hogs. Your photos are again super. A joy for the eye.
ReplyDeleteTakee care,
Regards, Roos
Hi Roos. Small Tortoiseshells have suddenly started doing well in our garden. I counted twelve of them a couple of hours ago. However, I know that in other parts of the country they are worried about the low numbers of this species. It has been a strange year so far in so many ways. Overall, I think that invertebrate numbers are decreasing alarmingly, but a few species seem to be thriving and having a very good year.
DeleteI am very fond of the Hedgehogs that visit us, but I usually only see them on the trail cams. When David and Miriam visited us a few years ago, Miriam sat out in our garden one night to wait for the Hedgehogs, and one walked right past her feet! Miriam was, I understand, a little late to bed that night!
Thank you for your kind word - stay safe - - - Richard
Hi Richard, Thats a nice busy garden you have. Well cared for no doubt. Lovely hog pictures, wish mine would call in daylight hours. Stay safe. Mike.
ReplyDeleteHi Mike. I hope that all is OK with you - you have not done a blog post for a while!
DeleteI would never describe our garden as 'well cared for' as it is always a bit scruffy. My gardening efforts are primarily towards looking after the wildlife, rather than keeping it tidy. The result is that what some people would consider weeds are often left in situ if they are insect-friendly.
Be thankful that your hogs don't regularly visit you in daylight as it usually means that they're in trouble!
Take great care - - - Richard
Hi Richard, beautiful photos of all the animals in your garden. Greetings Caroline
ReplyDeleteThank you, Caroline - have a great time in Denmark! Best wishes - - - Richard
DeleteHello Richard
ReplyDeleteEither way, there is something good about Corona, I also occupy myself more intensively with my own garden, and yes it is not tidy either ..., squirrels are also one of my favorite animals so small and cute ... and of course they are two hedgehogs on one the 345 spike is black at the tip .. ;-))
great report
Greetings Frank
Thank you for your visit, Frank, and your very kind observation. You have taught me something, and that is that I should look more carefully at the spines of Hedgehogs. However, I am amazed that you could detect from my photographs that the first Hedgehog had black tips to the spines and the second did not! I had to look at the original photos at 100% to confirm that detail!
DeleteTake great care and stay safe - - - Richard
Whahahahahaha .... you call yourself a softie hahahaha ... but that is not too bad. It's not new that you give a caterpillar a name hahahaha .... but it is very nice :-) It is a very nice caterpillar.
ReplyDeleteI also really like the pictures of the hedgehog. It is fun to see these during the day. Just a few more weeks and then the hedgehogs will go into hibernation again ;-)
The beetles are also as beautiful as the butterflies. Wonderful to be able to enjoy nature in this way.
Greetings, Helma
Thank you for your visit and kind words, Helma. It is not unusual for Hedgehogs to keep going until around Christmas before hibernating. I have two Hedgehog houses all reay and waiting for them, and a third will be set up in the next week or two. I also have two Hedgehog feeding stations in operation.
DeleteTake great care and stay safe - - - Richard