More Signs of Spring in the Garden

 

We had a cold and blustery weekend, but I noticed these insects moving around in a sheltered corner when the sun peeped out for a brief spell. We spotted a few of these bugs last year in March. I posted photos on iSpot at the time, and the consensus ID was Rhyparochromus vulgaris, a ground bug that is a fairly new arrival to the UK.

 

We have enjoyed checking the card in the trailcam. The feline below is our latest 'capture'; we have no idea who s/he is or where s/he lives.

The female Blackbird with the white marking on her head has been named 'Star' since she is frequently caught on camera.

Our nettle patch was pathetic last summer so I am hoping for better growth this year. Nettles provide good habitats, and the signs so far are promising. 

Our small daffodils withstood the storm pretty well, but our crocuses became so droopy that I doubted they would pick up again. Remarkably most are now standing once more. A large Buff-tailed Bumblebee swooped down to investigate.

I was delighted to find this little Violet in the shady corner that used to be our 'wildlife patch' in the days before we turned virtually the whole garden into a home for wildlife. I don't ever recall seeing Violets here before and this discovery has made me think I will try to record species of wildflowers as they appear.  

This is my fledgling list for 2021:

1. Daisy

2. Violet

I hope it will continue to expand. 

P.S. I saw my first Grey Squirrel of 2021 this afternoon, and two Buzzards flew overhead.

Wasp Spiders and Other Garden Matters

 

Those who follow this blog will know that last summer we encountered Wasp Spiders in our Suffolk garden for the first time. We also noticed four of their extraordinary egg sacs. I read this morning in the latest issue of The Suffolk Argus, the magazine of our local Butterfly Conservation branch, that 'Suffolk County Council has just agreed a biodiversity plan to protect species such as the Wasp Spider'. I see this development was reported in our local paper, the East Anglian Daily Times (EADT), back on 5 December 20212. 

 

We took advantage of a break in the cloud and enjoyed an hour in the garden. I confess I was not the one digging, but it was good to recycle some earth from last year's tubs. We came across a few insects waiting to emerge ... and ensured that these woodlice were covered up again.

We had a second visit from the female Blackcap, but failed to take a photo this time. I hope she will reappear. We are still enjoying our bulbs, and looking forward to our first tulips ...

P.S. It seems we are in agreement over the presence of the mouse on our Trailcam photo. Thank you to those who took a careful look!

Fun with the Trailcam

 

The Blackbirds seem to be the stars of our Trailcam show so far, at least during daylight hours. However, we think we may have caught a mouse on camera. I will post the photos below and you can decide for yourselves. The pictures are not very clear, I must admit, and it is quite possible that we have exercised rather too much imagination! 

Since the mouse is, or would be, so tiny and possibly fairly hard to spot at the best of times, I have done a little cropping on Photoshop and have also indicated not only the (query) position of the mouse, but also the (side and frontal) view of it that we think we may see. 

The camera shows that it was just below freezing when the camera clicked twice at 3.51 early this morning. It also definitely shows spots, which may or may not be eyes; and, of course, something must have triggered the camera in the first place while we were definitely indoors. It will be interesting to hear your views if you care to leave a comment! Alternatively you can cast a vote on my Twitter poll over the next 24 hours.

 

Great Spotted Woodpecker (and Chaffinch)

We were drinking mugs of coffee this morning when this magnificent Great Spotted Woodpecker alighted on one of our coconut feeders. We see these birds occasionally, but usually through binoculars when they are high up in one of the trees on the edge of the local nature reserve. My thanks to David, who grabbed a camera and took the first four photographs.

 

The photo below shows the red nape of the male Woodpecker's neck, and the last photo is a record shot of our first 2021 Chaffinch, a species we seldom see in the garden.

 

I haven't checked my visitor stats for a long time, so thought I would post up the current chart. It's interesting how visitors from the UK and visitors from the US are pretty evenly matched. Thank you all for visiting my virtual corner of Suffolk, UK!

Female Blackcap, Latest Species at the New Feeder

David's photo

David's photo

David's photo

I have been keeping a close eye on our new upright feeder to see which species are making the most of the food (fatballs and seeds) we are offering. We were thrilled today to find a female Blackcap. We both had our cameras at the ready, and took the photos you see behind our double-glazing. I see from my record that we had a Blackcap sighting in the garden in February 2020, so perhaps a pattern is beginning to form. 

The list so far looks like this:

1. Long-tailed tit
2. Blue tit
3. Robin
4. Great tit
5. Blackbird
6. Wood pigeon
7. Starling
   
8. Blackcap 
9. Jay (seen and added 21 March 2021)
   

Happy St David's Day!

First Go with TrailCam and a Mixed-Bag of Garden Sightings

The top photograph shows David installing our new TrailCam in the hope that we might be able to record a few night visitors over the coming weeks. We have never used one before, but spurred on by reports from a couple of friends who have recently set up these cameras, we thought we would buy a fairly basic model and see what happened. I have a good idea of the creatures who visit our garden by day from the Homepatch Species List I have been keeping for the last few years, but little idea of what happens after dark or when we are inside. 

The second photo shows a kind of tunnel between the ivy and the fir tree. We have often seen cats in that area, but two of the regular felines have now moved elsewhere with their families, and we rarely see a cat in the garden. 

36 hours on and we uploaded the film. There are no great revelations to date (and thankfully perhaps, not even a rat), but the camera had been triggered several times, mainly in the dark, once yesterday morning in thick fog, and a few times in the daylight. 

The Blackbird below is the first identifiable creature to be caught on camera. Watch this space!

We have checked the garden for more ladybirds, and have located more 7-spot and Pine varieties. We have also seen a couple of bees . . .

 

. . . and a hoverfly (below), complete with shadow.

The 7-spot below is definitely keeping company with what are probably spiders, though I haven't been able to count their legs with any accuracy. I had wondered if they were Dock bug nymphs as we get a lot of Dock bugs in this part of the garden, but I don't think they are a good enough match.

We have had wasps' nests in the garden the last couple of years (well, one in the shower vent, so perhaps more in house than garden), so it was no real surprise to see this insect inspecting last year's nest site, which, thankfully was definitely in the garden and not in the house. I am fascinated by most insects, but do not get on well with ticks or the Common Wasp. I shall post this picture on to iSpot.

It has been a joy to see our Crocus, Miniatire Iris and other bulbs opening in the sunshine. We have a good show, albeit a miniature one, of Tête-à-têtes, in readiness for St David's Day (though these may technically be more Narcissus than Daffodil ... I wonder if you know).

Back to our mix of ladybirds again ...

 

 

 

And finally for now, a rather gruesome photo of what seems to be some kind of (perhaps beetle or weevil) larva demolishing an earthworm. A tiny corner of roofing felt came adrift from the old shed and this is what was underneath it ... I am hoping the folk on iSpot can enlighten me as to what exactly is going on.

 

After some fairly dormant months in our home patch, it suddenly seems as though there is a lot of activity even if I am still awaiting my first butterfly sighting!

Largely Ladybirds

There was a faint hint of hazy sunshine this morning, and over on the border covered in ivy, we found twelve tiny Pine Ladybirds and two 7-spots. Some were moving around; others were stationary. The ladybird in the top photo seems to have a significant dent on its elytra: I hope it can still fly. According to Bug Guide, this kind of damage usually occurs in the pupal phase of metamorphosis. I think you will be able to see the rim, so characteristic of Pine Ladybirds.

I think there may be at least one spider, probably four

I hope this means our Pine Ladybird population is on the increase!

Our first miniature Daffodil opened today!

We have had few birds at our feeders the last few days. We were having a mug of coffee this morning when I saw the reason why ... yes, a Sparrowhawk, perching on our back fence. We have sporadic visits (see here, for example), but this was a first sighting for 2021. Those of you who follow this blog will know that, unlike Chris Packham, these are not my favourite birds, though I acknowledge their highly efficient biological design! But I am really waiting for my first sighting of a butterfly ...