Boxy
The beetles and bugs have been surprisingly slow to come out this year, despite a fortnight of temperatures that have been closer to June’s than to a normal English April. Today that weather began to break, and my scorched aucuba … Continued
Common Carder
My day began well, with a productive invertebrate hunt while the morning was still cool after overnight frost. Then things went badly awry, when I decided to tidy up the little free-standing container pond on the patio, and discovered that … Continued
Ploughing her own furrow
When I saw this bee I said “YES!!”, because I thought I’d found a female Orange-legged Furrow Bee (Halictus rubicundus) – a species I’ve only recorded here a couple of times previously. This was shortly followed by “Aaargh – NO!!”, … Continued
Multitasking
I was impressed with the casual way this Hairy-footed Flower Bee used his front feet to clean some of the pollen from his proboscis as he flew from one aubretia flower to another. I sometimes eat while on the move, … Continued
Bedraggled
This Peacock was one of three I saw on the blackthorn in the hedgerows near the house this afternoon. It was probably the most damaged of the trio – and certainly far more worn and torn than the individual I … Continued
Living dangerously
Concert day is always hectic, so I was grateful that this trio gave me an easy photo opportunity in the garden this morning – especially after yesterday’s pond dipping experience, which has left me somewhat sore, and still slightly discombobulated. … Continued
Wild swimming
There was a bit of an incident chez nous this afternoon. When we first installed our little wildlife pond we used to net it in the autumn, so that the huge number of leaves that come down from all our … Continued
Beauty and the beast
I went for a walk around the village this afternoon, more in hope than expectation of finding something interesting, but it turns out that it’s been an unusually good winter for Peacock butterflies. This was the third one I found, … Continued
Blossom time
Bee-flies and blossom: what could be nicer? Blackthorn is flowering in all the hedgerows in the village (though sadly not in our own little wildlife hedge, which isn’t yet mature enough), and the early emergers among the season’s nectar feeders … Continued