Garden Visitor of the Toad Kind

 

This magnificent toad gave us quite a surprise yesterday when we squeezed round the side of our house, looking for butterflies on the Buddleia. 

I suspect he or she possibly had an even greater surprise when we appeared, but s/he simply stayed still and looked up at us through those mysterious copper eyes. 

The photo below was taken by David as soon as he realised there was a toad by the step. This shot from above shows off the pale speckled skin on the legs, which I suppose adds to the creature's camouflage. 

I gather toads like to eat ants; only two days before, we had noticed a lot of large winged ants springing up from an anthill in our long grass. Toads also like beetles; I don't know if 4cm-long stag beetles would see these amphibians biting off more than they can chew!

 

The Return of the Insects: Ants and Wasps in Suffolk

 

I have been in the CEV Covid-19 category and in receipt of government letters so have hardly left the house for a year. However, I am now fully vaccinated and able to enjoy a little more of the world beyond my window. We took a trip to Sutton Hoo today to see the bluebells (ah, bluebells! how I missed them last year), and while we were there, encountered this tiny ant laboriously moving a large white bundle from one place to another over the scrubby heathland floor. The bundle looks a bit cocoon-like. We have posted David's photo (the top one) on iSpot, but do leave a comment if you know what is going on. 

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The photos below were taken just up the road from Sutton Hoo at Sutton Heath. I am guessing the black insect with red abdominal stripes is a sand-wasp of some variety. I will add an ID if I can find one!

P.S. Update on the two Sutton Heath photos immediately above. 

Thanks to one of the kind people on iSpot I now know that this is a Black Banded Spider Wasp (Anoplius (Arachnophroctonus) viaticus). There is more information here. I love it when I see (what is to me) a new species; the sandy heathland here in Suffolk produces unusual surprises like this from time to time. 

A(nother) Flying Ant Day in Suffolk

I have been keeping my eye on a number of ants' nests in our wild garden for some days. There appeared to be little activity until yesterday afternoon. We were having a cup of tea and a slice of chocolate cake when we noticed plumes of insects rising into the air. A few minutes later our regular garden birds, especially the Blue tits and Blackbirds, started swooping and fluttering for the airborne ants. It was quite a spectacle to watch.  

David made a short video recording which you can view here:

#FLYINGANTDAY (Flying Ant Day, 2016)

Yesterday was the day of the ants.

Our garden was bristling with movement. Ants were everywhere. Apparently we were rather behind schedule here in Suffolk, as others have already experienced the annual ant explosion.

You can see a large Queen in the centre of the photo above. This is the season when male ants prepare to mate with these Queens, who subsequently shed their wings and turn their attention to nest building in our sandy soil. The males are very active until they have mated, but once this key airborne activity has taken place, it is only a matter of days before they die.

The Royal Society of Biology, in association with the University of Gloucestershire, is asking for sighting records so I shall be logging mine here. 

This is my poster, which I shall tweet with the hashtag, #flyingantday ...

... and if you see flying ants, you can post one, too!

Tree Following - July to August 2015

Welcome to my Tree Following post for July and early August.

These tree posts form part of a wider project run by Lucy Corrander from the Loose and Leafy blog. I am based in Suffolk, UK, where I am following an Acer negundo (aka a Box-leaf Maple). I am also continuing to keep an eye on my Silver Birch, B. pendula.

You will find the other Tree Follower links on the Loose and Leafy blog ... so do take the chance to catch up with happenings in the arboreal world!

The Acer negundo is growing at a rapid rate. It is largely the foliage, of course, at this time of year; but the tree seems to be spreading out in most directions. I have to confess that I am still trying to find a way to 'connect' with this tree. Perhaps this is the poet in me rather than the citizen-scientist, but it certainly helps when there is more than a clinical interest! I wish I could find more insect or avian life in, on or around this tree. The only thing to mention is that there were (possible) hedgehog droppings underneath it. I would love to have hedgehogs in the garden again: I have not seen a live one for over a year, and that was in the grounds of the Cathedral of the Isles on Great Cumbrae, off the Scottish coast!

Acer negundo, summer 2015

Acer negundo seed keys

I have no idea whether the following observation is of any significance in relation to either the Acer negundo or the Silver Birch, but since Sunday there has been a crescent trail of mushroom-like toadstools, almost linking the two trees. Is this a sign of early autumn (I hope not!). More investigation is required.

A trail of fungi, August 2015

The Silver Birch continues to fascinate and delight me. The sap has continued to rise (and fall, by which I mean drop), but I have not seen any more Cockchafers or Stag Beetles. The other birch, a Downy Birch just a few metres away, has dropped a lot of sticky sap on the cars. This has been a honeypot for wasps to the extent that I began to think that we must have a nest.

Silver Birch, summer 2015

It is not only sap that has been falling. We have watched the Silver Birch 'raining' its showers of seeds (and pollen, I think) in the wind. On one occasion I stood underneath the boughs with a sheet of paper.

These Silver Birch seeds landed on my sheet of paper

The coconut feeders on the Silver Birch have been much appreciated by family groups of Long-tailed tit (my favourites), Blue tit and Great tit. There have been times when all three have come at once.

Apologies for photo taken through glass! 

I was having coffee one day when a streak of silver caught my eye. It was a juvenile Grey Squirrel. It scampered up the bark and leaped on to the coconut. It clung on there, despite swivelling round and round, for about fifteen minutes. Having been disappointed on our recent Scottish holiday that we only saw one Red Squirrel, I am not sure how pleased I should be about the arrival of this Grey one ... but it was a joy to watch.

I didn't have my camera to hand, so a here's a Squirrel pic from earlier in the year!

There have been so many Woodpeckers out and about in Suffolk recently, but, alas, I have not seen (or heard) the ones that frequented our garden earlier this year. The Wood Pigeons are out in force, and the Blackbirds come and go.

We have had some wonderful Marmalade Hoverflies, but their presence may have more to do with the Gazanias. I should like to think my new des res insect hotels have played a part! On the strength of these sightings, I have joined the Hoverfly group on Facebook. We saw one Dragonfly, but it was too quick for us to identify. There have been no Damselfly sightings to report around either tree ... as yet. Large White butterflies are frequent visitors at the moment. 

This is the fifth sunny day in a row, and I, for one, am doing my best to cling on to summer. There are a few brown leaves on the Silver Birch, but you have to search for them. A colony of Winged Ants took centre stage two weeks ago, but their presence was part of a national irruption that happens each summer. There have been several 7-spot Ladybirds around the Silver Birch: I have just voted for this insect in the Royal Society of Biology (UK) insect poll. If you are UK-based, you might care to cast a vote, too. You can read about the selected insects here (and I love their allocated epithets!).

As you may know, I always enjoy keeping an eye out for similar trees on my travels. Last week we were at NT Dunwich Heath, where the Silver Birches were attracting a particular butterfly. I believe it is a Grayling (and a first sighting for me, although there were several about that day). These butterflies frequent coasts and heathland and are often - or usually - seen at ground level on sandy soils. Perhaps these butterlies were taking advantage of the sap. Graylings hide their forewings behind their hindwings when they are stationary. It is often possible to make out the 'eye-spot' wing marking when a butterfly first comes to rest: you can see this spot in my photo below. The species is listed under the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).

Grayling on Silver Birch at NT Dunwich Heath

Next month we will begin to think about the season of mists, but for now I hope the summer suns continue to glow. Oh, and don't forget to see if there are any Perseid meteor showers above your trees in the days to come.


Silver Birch Sighting Update


Avian sightings (on, in and around the Silver Birch, seen at any time since I began Lucy's Tree Following project over a year ago) are shown in pink.

I have marked the 'wild things' seen during this last month in yellow.

To date, the only birds seen on the Acer negundo are TFb13 Goldfinch and  TFb19  Chaffinch .   

• TFb1   Great Spotted Woodpecker 
• TFb2   Great tit (several, often on feeder) 
• TFb3   Long-tailed Tit (large family, including juveniles)
• TFb4   Blackbird
• TFb5   Song Thrush   
• TFb6   Blue tit (several frequently on feeder)
• TFb7   Robin (frequent appearances)
• TFb8   Magpie (about three frequently around below the feeder)
• TFb9   Wood Pigeon (up to ten perching around the feeder area)
• TFb10 Dunnock (two frequently below feeder)  
• TFb11 Starling
• TFb12 Carrion Crow (one every so often)  
• TFb13 Goldfinch (a small charm)
• TFb14 Jay
• TFb15  Green Woodpecker
• TFb16  Wren 
• TFb17  Bullfinch (a pair)
• TFb18  Sparrowhawk
• TFb19  Mallard
• TFb20  House Sparrow
• TFb19  Chaffinch

Mammal sightings include ...

• TFm1 (?Wood) Mouse
• TFm2 Bat ... first 2015 garden sighting 7 May 2015 [Apr/May 2015]
• TFm3 Shrew
• TFm4 Grey Squirrel

 

STOP PRESS

TFm5 Stoat !!! (As I looked out through the window yesterday morning, 5 August 2015, towards the Downy Birch at the front, I noticed a creature outside the front door. I waited and to my astonishment it ran back and forth twice more before heading into some undergrowth. At first I thought it might be a rat, but it did not have a rat's tail and was quite a different shape and colour to the rats I have seen in the past. I wondered if its short tail had perhaps been severed partway along, but it is possible that this was just the point at which the normal fur turned into the black tip. Of course, if the juvenile was still very young, its tail may have been very short. It looked incredibly like these kits here in the top photo. We live in a suburban area, but we back on to a nature reserve. I am guessing it was a youngster, who had perhaps taken a wrong turning after a fright. I have seen stoats before, but never SO close to home!)


Insect sightings include ...

• TFi1 Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly [March 2014]
• TFi2 Buff-tailed Bumblebee [March 2014] 
• TFi3 Brimstone Butterfly [April 2014]
• TFi4 7-spot Ladybird [April 2014] [October 2014] [Apr/May 2015] [Jul/Aug 2015]
• TFi5 Skipper Butterfly [July 2014]
• TFi6 Meadow Brown Butterfly [July 2014] [Jul/Aug 2015]
• TFi7 Large White Butterfly [July 2014]
• TFi8 14-spot Yellow Ladybirds [July 2014]
• TFi9 Small White Butterfly [May 2014] [Apr/May 2015]
• TFi10 Orange tip Butterfly [May 2014]
• TFi11 Harlequin ladybird [May 2014]
• TFi12 Garden Chafer (Phyllopertha horticola) [June 2014] 
• TFi13 Ruby-tail Wasp [June 2014] [May/June 2015]
• TFi14 Blackfly [June 2014] 
• TFi15 Marmalade Hoverfly [July 2014] [Jul/Aug 2015]
• TFi16 Shield bug [July 2014] [Apr/May 2015]
• TFi17 Migrant Hawker dragonflies [July 2014]
• TFi18 Unidentified Damselfly [August 2014]
• TFi19 Comma butterfly [August 2014]
• TFi20 Red Admiral butterfly [August 2014] [October 2014] [Jul/Aug 2015]
• TFi21 Peacock butterfly [August 2014] [Jul/Aug 2015]
• TFi22 Green bottle flies [August 2014] [May/June 2015]
• TFi23 Ants [August 2014] [Apr/May 2015]  [May/June 2015] [Jul/Aug 2015]
• TFi24 Squashbug aka Dock Bug, Coreus marginatus [August 2014]
• TFi25 Birch Shieldbug (late instar?) [September 2014]
• TFi26 Lacewing [October 2014] (about fifteen) 
• TFi27 Harlequin Ladybird [October 2014] 
• TFi28 Moths (though not so many in December) [Nov/Dec 2014] [Feb/Mar 2015] [Jul/Aug 2015]
• TFi29 Cereal Leaf Beetle [Apr/May 2015]
• TFi30 Hawthorn Shieldbug [May/June 2015] 

Arachnids

• TFa1 Zebra Spider (about ten) [Apr/May 2015] [May/June 2015]
• TFa2 Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus) [May/June 2015] 

MY PREVIOUS TREE FOLLOWING POSTS

• June to July 2015
• May to June 2015
• April to May 2015
• March to April 2015
• February to March 2015
• January to February 2015
• November to December 2014
• October to November 2014
• September to October 2014
• August to September 2014
• July to August 2014 
• June to July 2014
• May to June 2014 
• April to May 2014
• March to April 2014
• February to March 2014

Previous post ... my words on the RSPB Minsmere leaflet

Tree Following - June to July

Welcome to my Tree Following post for June and early July. I have been away so am running late with this post. Consequently I have not had much time for observations this month, but I look forward to sharing the few things I have noticed.

These tree posts form part of a wider project run by Lucy Corrander from the Loose and Leafy blog. I am based in Suffolk, UK, where I am following an Acer Negundo (aka a Box-leaf Maple). I am also continuing to keep an eye on my Silver Birch, B. pendula.

You will find the other Tree Follower links on the Loose and Leafy blog ... so do take the chance to catch up with happenings in the arboreal world!

The Box-leaf Maple (Acer negundo) is in full leaf, adding a bright splash of lime-green to the view from my window. It contrasts beautifully with the deep magenta of two other acer specimens that sit either side. You can see the large winged seeds (so unlike the tiny Silver Birch seeds, which resemble midges!) in the photo below. The birds still seem to show little interest in this tree and I continue to wonder why that should be the case.

Acer negundo in early July

The Silver Birch (like the nearby Downy Birch) is also big and bushy at present. The Downy Birch has been shedding leaf after leaf - not to mention vast quantities of a sticky sap. You could be forgiven for guessing that my car had been parked under a lime tree ... I have no recollection of the copious amounts of sap at this time last year, so perhaps it is due to the extremely high temperatures that we had a few days ago.

A year ago I wrote the following words:

'The Silver Birch is still a mass of green leaves, though shades of brown have crept in among them, reminding me that the longest day is now well and truly behind us. I keep reminding myself that most schools in England have yet to break up for their summer vacation!'

When I read these old observations this morning, I took them at face value and assumed that the brown referred to the dead leaves that I see all around (there was even one on the stair carpet!). But when I read on, I discovered that last year's 'brown' referred to the female catkins. It seems that (some) early leaf fall is earlier than usual in 2015.

A fallen leaf. I wonder about the mottled appearance ...

The catkins are largely green at this point, but I can see at least one brown one ...

The photo below shows what I found on the ground about a metre away from the Silver Birch yesterday. It is a male Stag Beetle, and unfortunately it was dead and lying upside down with its legs at the top. You can read about Stag Beetles here.

Apparently the south-east is the UK's stronghold for this species and most records submitted (about two-thirds) are from suburban or urban gardens. High temperatures in this part of the UK are thought to play a part, and there is a theory that these beetles can feed off sap runs.
 
The male Stag Beetle appears to have 'antlers', which are in fact the lower mandibles. The larvae feed off dead or decaying wood. I suspect this male had climbed up the Silver Birch trunk before launching itself into the air and flying around the leaves. It probably crashed into our french window. These beetles are protected by law and classed as 'Nationally Scarce'.

A Stag Beetle survey (1998, carried out under the auspices of the University of Kent) found that these insects were associated with 103 species of 'tree and shrub', so while I have learned through my observations that these creatures operate around my Silver Birch, I now know that this is only one of many, many leafy plants that they favour (unlike my Acer negundo). The Silver Birch is one of the trees, according to the survey, that is associated with every stage of the Stag Beetle's life.

We have had a lot of recent Magpie activity around the Silver Birch, and it is possible that this could be linked to the beetles, which they like to eat. Do beetles eat ants, I wonder? There has been a steady stream of large black ants climbing the trunk. They were very lively, but here's one I caught on camera.

Last night we kept the curtains open until it was completely dark. We have had quite a few moths (including a magnificent pale yellow Swallow-tailed Moth), but the Silver Birch was attracting something rather different. There was a constant flurry of slightly slow, stilted fluttery things, too small even for a pipistrelle. My first hunch was that they were more male Stag Beetles, but they returned in good numbers at about 9 pm this evening, flying in their clumsy manner around the Silver Birch (yes, just the Silver Birch), and I am pretty sure they are Cockchafers, which feed on the leaves as they zoom around.

A Cockchafer on the carpet (one I saw earlier, in mid-July 2013!)

Next month I hope to return to my usual lists, but it has been fun and rewarding to learn about the Stag Beetle! And I shall, of course, be submitting my record to the Survey for Stag Beetle Distribution in Suffolk.

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MY PREVIOUS TREE FOLLOWING POSTS

• May to June 2015
• April to May 2015
• March to April 2015
• February to March 2015
• January to February 2015
• November to December 2014
• October to November 2014
• September to October 2014
• August to September 2014
• July to August 2014 
• June to July 2014
• May to June 2014 
• April to May 2014
• March to April 2014
• February to March 2014