Day 21 #30DaysWildCreativity: Paying Close Attention

This is a post in response to #30DaysWildCreativity, organised by Dr Miriam Darlington.

With the exception of my shielded 'exercise path', we are not mowing our garden this year. It has been very interesting to watch the weeds and wildflowers that have grown up in areas that would normally be lawn, albeit of a rather dry sandy-soil variety. 

The first plants to emerge unexpectedly were Ox-eye daisies (you can see my post here), and the second was the Common Knapweed you can see in the collage above. For several days now I have kept the Knapweed under close surveillance to see what insects it might attract. I think you will agree that with everything from Skipper butterflies to Thick-legged Flower Beetles and Red-tailed Bumblebees, I have had plenty to watch. I have found the ideal way of doing this is by placing an outdoor chair by the plant and waiting, trying to use not only my eyes but also my ears. 

In the scheme of things, the tiny ant was just as valuable a find as the showy Skipper, and I know I have benefited from these 'close observation' projects I set myself. The next stage on is not only to recognise the 'usual suspects' but to find out more about each species, and, as ever, I often turn to the kind folk on iSpot for a bit of help. 

Day 9 #30DaysWild - Further Knapweed Developments

Those who have followed this blog for the last couple of days will know that I have been keeping a close eye on a Common Knapweed plant which has sprung up in our unmown garden. There is still only one flower, but it is keeping the insects busy. Today I noticed this bee collecting pollen.

I am not sure what tiny insect this might be at the end of my white line above. We have Mint Moths in the garden at present, but it didn't seem to be one of those, and I was unable to get a better picture. I'm not sure what the black staining is: do let me know if you do. Perhaps it is something to do with the Blackfly?

No prizes for recognising the ant. 

This small fly in the photo above was in a particularly tricky part of the plant to reach. I am not entirely sure what it is, but I think it may be a species of Tephritid fly.

I apologise for the quality of some of today's photographs: I think the lack of good light was a factor and in some cases the small size of the insects. Perhaps I changed settings on the camera inadvertently. In any case, you will still be able to see that there are at least three species in the photo above. Three of yesterday's green larvae had disappeared (and I am still waiting for an ID from iSpot). I don't know whether their disappearance was due to predation: we have about 20 young Blue tits in the garden at present, along with a Great Spotted Woodpecker, nesting Blackbirds and hungry Great tits. You can see the remaining caterpillar at the end of line 2 above. I feel sure that the rimmed Pine Ladybird (line 3) was heading for the Blackfly (line 1).

 

I took a last daylight 'look around' at about 6pm. There were five 7-spot Ladybirds on the Knapweed. I went out one last time once it was almost dark to watch the Cockchafers zooming round the Acer and Silver Birch. 

I wonder what tomorrow will bring. I am longing to see more butterflies in the garden, but it has been too cold this week for more than a single sighting.

#30DaysWild, Day 8: Knapweed Surprise

I seem to have been preoccupied with correspondence during the last 36 hours, so, with some reluctance, I will pass over Dr Miriam Darlington's tempting #30DaysWildCreativity meme offered today by her guest, Sarah Acton, though I would like to try it at some point. 

Instead I have opted for this morning's discovery which follows on perfectly from yesterday's post about the new Knapweed plant in our wild garden...

Look! Caterpillars at last! 

I am pretty excited, particularly since they were not there yesterday, and I'm not entirely sure I know whose larvae they are (I had wondered Angle Shades since the moth had been in the area, but I am not sure the pictures match). I am in the process of trying to find out, but do leave a comment if you can help. 

In yesterday's post I wrote about what insects the Knapweed might attract, little thinking that by this morning there would be at least four hungry mouths feeding on the plant. The weather has not been particularly bright or warm, but, as they say, what a difference a day makes...

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UPDATE, August 2020

Having guessed these were moth larvae, I am now wondering if they might be Hoverfly larvae. The reason is the photo in the pop-up window labelled 'Hoverfly larvae' on this UK Safari page. Other suggestions from kind folk on iSpot are both types of Orthosia; O. gracilis (Powdered Quaker) and O. gothica (Hebrew Character) and

#30DaysWild, Day 7: Knapweed, a New Plant on the Block

I have still to finish my Monarch butterfly picture so I am doing a relatively short post today. Once again it has been grey and potentially stormy here in our part of Suffolk. The Great Spotted Woodpecker has visited our coconut feeders, along with a huge brood (or two perhaps) of recently fledged Blue tits. I would say they are just beyond the semi-fledging stage, to use Michaela Strachan's term. 

We have had a small 'wild patch' in our suburban garden for some years, but our unmown 'wild garden' is a new experiment for us this year, and we are keen to see what surprises lie in store. The grass was beginning to look very dry before this weekend, and I hope the rain showers will perk it up a bit. I have had my eye on the Knapweed plant above for some weeks now. I imagine the seed was deposited in what used to be lawn as is now a micro-meadow by a bird or perhaps in a gust of wind. I noticed yesterday evening that one of the tight flower buds had opened, revealing the colourful thistle-like head you see in the photo above. My hope is that as soon as the sun comes out and the temperatures rise, it will attract bees and possibly butterflies and moths. 

I think the plant may be Common Knapweed, but I am not very sure so do correct me if you know otherwise.