I'm going to try and keep this blog post a little shorter than my last one - I wonder if I'll be able to! Herewith, an account of my lockdown week.
Monday, 25th May
Examination of the trail cams showed visits by at least one Hedgehog that night, but there was no sign of a a visit by the Fox.
A quick check of the Garlic Mustard revealed that there were now five caterpillars, although two were so small that I might have missed them the previous day!
We observed 13 species of bird visiting our garden, but nothing out of the ordinary was seen.
The only photos that were taken were of a tiny beetle on a plant that seems to have arrived in our garden, and will remain there as it is loved by insects. I have no idea what the plant is!
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| beetle (Oedemera lurida) - garden on 25/05/2020 |
Tuesday, 26th May
The trail cams revealed visits by a Hedgehog, and the Fox.
We recorded visits from 15 species of bird. One of these was the Rook/Carrion Crow that I now have increasing doubt about the identity of. This bird is exhibiting a Rook-like peak to its crown, and a slim bill. However, the bill now seems to be staying relatively dark (no pale base) and showing a shallow curve to the culmen, suggesting to me that it is possibly more likely to be a Carrion Crow with an exceptionally slim bill than a juvenile Rook. Calls heard seem sometimes to be Rook, sometimes Crow! It might sound a bit bizarre, but do these two species ever hybridise? Any views would be very welcome. I've not yet managed a profile shot of this bird in our garden, but here's one taken with it on the roof behind the garden. My friend and mentor, Marc Heath, has now identified this as a Carrion Crow, and I'm happy to go along with that.
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| Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - from house on 26/05/2020 |
I couldn't help but try to get some shots of the Bullfinches that visited again this day. Sadly, I only achieved record shots.
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| Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - garden on 26/05/2020 |
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| Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (female) - garden on 26/05/2020 |
The number of Orange-tip buterfly larvae found on the Garlic Mustard was slowly increasing with the discivery of this tiny individual - probably only about 6mm long.
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| Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (larva - early instar) - garden on 26/05/2020 |
The most excitement was created by two 'firsts' for the year. While we we were having lunch in the conservatory a Small Heath butterfly landed briefly on the grass, soon followed by a teneral female Blue-tailed Damselfly which bumped into the conservatory glass beside me. The butterfly disappeared before I could rise from my seat, and I couldn't relocate the damselfly, in spite of an extensive search and a now-cold lunch.
The only other item photographed that day was a 14 Spot Ladybird - this one seemed to be exceedingly small, and I only had a few seconds with it before it flew and was lost to sight, resulting in another record shot.
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| 14 Spot Ladybird (Anthocharis cardamines) - garden on 26/05/2020 |
Wednesday, 27th May
The trail cams witnessed the Fox once more, but no Hedgehog.
Just 12 species of bird were recorded, with nothing of particular interest seen, although we did have three Bullfinches (2 x male, 1 x female). Just to maintain an avian content, here are a couple of some of the more common of our visitors.
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| Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) - garden on 27/05/2020 |
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| Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) - garden on 27/05/2020 |
I noted that the number of Orange-tip larvae on the Garlic mustard had increased to six but, by the end of the day, the two largest had disappeared. I did not know whether they had been predated or had wandered off to pupate. Here's the largest one.
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| Orange-tip (Anthocharis cardamines) (larva) - garden on 27/05/20 |
From the antennae, I believe this next item to be a hoverfly rather than a bee, but cannot fathom it out. I'm hoping that Conehead54, or some othe knowledgeable person, will see this blog post the lavae of which feed on the bulbs of daffodils, narcissae, and bluebells and advise! - Now identified as a Narcissus Bulb Fly, with thanks to Conehead54!, the lavae of which feed on the bulbs of daffodils, narcissae, and bluebells
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| Narcissus Bulb Fly (Merodon equestris) - garden on 27/05/2020 |
I spent a couple of hours or so in the morning at a local dragonfly spot, but more about that in another blog post.
There was more excitement when a Large Red Damselfly bumped into the conservatory window beside me as I was having lunch - another cold lunch, and the damselfly not located.
That night, the moth trap went out. It resulted in 22 moths of 17 species which is one of the better results for my simple trap in my small suburban garden. Here are some of those caught, none of which are at all rare.
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| Ingrailed Clay (Diarsia mendica) - from garden on 27/05/2020 |
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| Common Wainscot (Mythimna pallens) - from garden on 27/05/2020 |
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| Double Square-spot (Xestia triangulum) - from garden on 27/05/2020 |
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| White Ermine (Spilosoma lubricipeda) - from garden on 27/05/2020 |
I'm including two images for the last one featured as my good friend, David, has said he prefers to see them on a more natural-looking background. I can fully sympathise with this view, but sometimes the plain background is less distracting to the eye, and reveals the true beauty of the subject itself - as, I believe, in this case. It might be a common moth, but it is truly fabulous to behold!
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| Elephant Hawk-moth (Deilephila elpenor) - from garden on 27/05/2020 |
Thursday, 28th May
A Hedgehog was seen on the trail cams overnight, as well as a mouse drinking from the Hedgehogs' bowl.
We had 15 species of bird visit again, including the Rook/Crow, but nothing out of the ordinary visited.
No photos were taken that day, so it was a relatively uninspiring day.
Friday 29th May
One of the trail cams caught a short altercation between two Hedgehogs, and another caught a Grey Squirrel drinking in the bird bath.
We had just 11 species of bird seen to visit our garden. Here are a couple of them, including a somewhat better shot of a Bullfinch, although there's a lot of room for improvement!
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| Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) (male) - garden on 29/05/2020 |
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| Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) (male) - garden on 29/05/2020 |
The only other photos I took that day were of a Red-tailed Bumblebee - this time on a flower of our Welsh Onions. It was sporting very full pollen sacks.
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| Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) - garden on 29/05/2020 |
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Saturday, 30th May
The trail cams showed just one Hedgehog, and the Fox.
I recorded 14 species of bird visiting the garden, including our only Stock Dove of the week.
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| Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) (female) - garden on 30/05/2020 |
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| Collared Dove (Streptopelia decaocto) - garden on 30/05/2020 |
The Crow didn't visit our garden that day, but I did take some shots of it in our neighbours' tree.
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| Carrion Crow (Corvus corone) - from garden on 30/05/2020 |
Lepidoptera-wise, we had yet another visit from a Cinnabar moth. I don't recall ever seeing them in our garden before this year, but they seem to be showing up regularly now. I was surprised to see a rather tatty Holly Blue in the garden at this time of year. I suspect that it was a female.
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| Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) (probably female) - garden on 30/05/2020 |
Sunday, 31st May
The trail cams on the last day of the week revealed visits by a Hedgehog and the Red Fox.
In spite of me spending the morning away from home, dragon hunting, we noted 14 species of bird visiting with an unusually large number of Goldfinch (7) for the garden at this time of year. The noise from the 'at least 9' Starlings was getting a bit intrusive.
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| Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) (juvenile and adult) - garden on 31/05/2020 |
Thus ended the week. We'd noted just 17 species of bird in the garden, 2 species of butterfly, and an exceptional 2 species of damselfly. Sadly, by the end of the week, all the Orange-tip butterfly larvae had disappeared. At first it was the largest of them that went, and I thought that they might have wandered off to pupate. However, the last three were quite small when they vanished, so I expect that it was the Blue Tits and Great Tits that found them.
With two visits out dragon hunting this week, I have decided to do a separate blog post on those visits in a few days time. I have now got around two thousand shots of dragonflies and damselflies to process, taken on four trips out in the past six days - it's great to be getting out again!
Take great care, and stay safe!
