Monday 28 September 2009

Hornets Doing Well


I have heard on various e-mail groups that hornets appear to be having a good season and are being seen quite widely. Living next to a wood, I see hornets every year, as this is the habitat that they like, but I would have to say that they do seem to be seen more frequently this year.

One of the downsides to moth trapping by light during late summer is that occasionally wasps and hornets are attracted into the box. Hornets especially, can cause havoc by rampaging through the box and grabbing any unwary moths in its path. It is not uncommon to find in the morning that if a hornet has been trapped, that you are left with many moth wings rather than moths in the bottom of your box! This has certainly been the case this year, when several of my traps have also attracted hornets - luckily they are quite docile in the cool morning and can be removed fairly easily. I have attached a picture of a hornet on an egg box from the trap.

Another interesting hornet sighting from September 20th relates to an individual that I watched from the back patio during the afternoon. It had located a bush cricket that had fallen prey to one of the myriad of Garden Spiders around the garden. I watched it fly up to the cricket several times and actually land on it, but I was not sure whether it was stealing a crafty snack from under the eyes of the spider or whether it was trying to release the cricket from the web to take for its own. Either way, it departed without the cricket after a couple of minutes.

Raven and Late Swift

Flushed with my success in seeing the Marsh Harrier, I continued to watch the skies to see what else might be on the move.

On September 14th at 2:30pm, I heard the familiar 'cronk' of a Raven and watched one fly over from east to west. This is my first Raven record of the year and they are still a good record despite their apparent increase and spread across the region. My first garden record was as recently as September 2007, which was followed by a further 4 records in 2008, so I was hoping that they might be becoming more regular - alas no! September appears to be a good month to see them, so my records might relate to dispersing local breeders.

Later in the afternoon, at 4:30pm (I hadn't been birding for all that time!) I glanced out from the lounge window and noticed the familiar shape of a Common Swift quite high in the sky. I grabbed my bins and watched the bird fly around the valley with the local House Martins for some 10 minutes before it departed southwards. Common Swifts breed here in the summer and start to depart their breeding grounds in late July, with most having left the country by the end of August. It is always nice to see a Swift in September, so a bird on the 14th is quite late and certainly my latest record for many years.

Sunday 13 September 2009

Migrating Raptors

The weather system over the UK from about September 9th brought a change to local conditions, with high pressure and north-easterly winds. This is classic weather for drift migrant birds on the east coast and gives potential for inland Honey Buzzards migrating south from Scandinavia.

With this in mind, I spent about an hour during the early afternoon on both September 10th and 11th looking skyward in the hope that I might be lucky and catch a sight of one of these magnificent birds. I actually saw fewer raptors than normal on both these days, with the resident Red Kites and Common Buzzards seemingly less visible than normal - maybe the fairly stiff winds were not to their liking.

The best bird on the 10th was an adult Hobby that circled southwards at 2:40pm. However, the 11th was a bit of a red letter day, as at 1:40pm I watched a Peregrine circling and drifting south west. This is a garden tick, so I was quite chuffed. Then at 1:55pm, I picked up a distant raptor flying more or less east to west and quite high up. I managed to get this in the 'scope and saw a generally dark, chocolate brown, long winged and long tailed raptor with a pale head, showing slight pale patches at the base of the under primaries - Black Kite came to mind briefly, but closer inspection revealed a round-tipped tail and cream coloured head markings - a female/imm Marsh Harrier. At one point it fanned its tail, which from below looked quite pale reddish brown, but it wasn't hanging around and after about 20 - 30 seconds of viewing it disappeared westwards. This is the third consecutive year I have had Marsh Harrier fly over the garden in the autumn - it just goes to show that you never know what is flying over!

Tawny Owl Uses Pond

On the evening of August 31st at about 11:30pm, I was standing on the back patio watching the moth trap (seems perfectly normal to me!), when I heard a splashing coming from the garden pond. In the light from the trap, I could see a Tawny Owl take off from the pond into nearby trees - it had obviously been bathing. I guess that this is not too unexpected, as most other garden visitors visit the pond at some stage for a drink and a wash, but it is nice to confirm that the local owls do too.

Thursday 10 September 2009

Hoary Footman - 3rd for Bucks





A bit of excitement on the evening of August 25th - I had decided belatedly to run the moth trap and put it on after dark at about 9pm. About an hour later, I went to have a look and see what sort of activity there was and noticed almost immediately a footman that had alighted on the lounge window adjacent to the trap. I had a feeling that this pale moth was quite interesting, so I caught it in a pot and took it indoors for a closer look. Lo and behold, I was looking at a Hoary Footman, a silky silvery grey member of the family. I knew that the first record for Bucks was as recent as September 2008 in Chorleywood, which isn't too far from here. The second record was from the same site earlier in August this year, so my record constitutes the third and second site record for Bucks. The status of this moth appears to be a nationally scarce resident in south-west coastal localities, but also a suspected immigrant. In the morning, I had also trapped another new species for the garden, a rather battered Six-striped Rustic, which is a common species.

Friday 4 September 2009

Hobbies Passing Through

It is not just warblers and flycatchers that are on the move in August. As can be seen from my earlier post on Whimbrels, waders are also flying south and if you're lucky, you might also see some migrating raptors. August is one of the best months for seeing Hobbies from the garden. It is difficult to say whether these birds are just dispersing local breeders or genuine migrants, as the views do not often allow you to ascertain whether you are seeing the same or different birds. However, the following birds were observed during August:

2nd - 1 high over south
16th - adult over west
22nd - juvenile over west
24th - 1 over south west
28th - juvenile over west - this bird had a distinctive pale forehead and unusually flew at tree top height over the garden. I would say it was a different juvenile to the bird on the 22nd.

Another Hummingbird

As I was walking in to the house after work this evening (August 20th), my wife pointed out a Hummingbird Hawkmoth nectaring on purple verbena just by the front door. Although these moths are fairly regular, I always enjoy watching them hovering next to the flowers they are feeding from - it is not surprising that these little gems have been mistaken for Hummingbirds in the past.

Migrating Warblers

August is the month when migrant warblers start to appear, usually mixed in with roving tit flocks. I always hope that I might see flycatchers too, as my only records of Spotted Flycatcher and single record of Pied Flycatcher have all been in August. August 17th saw a little flurry of warbler activity, with 2 Blackcaps (fem/imm), 3 Chiffchaffs and a single Willow Warbler seen (not all at the same time!)

Another Generation of Hawkers


Reinforcing my belief that Southern Hawker dragonflies are taking over the pond, today (August 17th) I watched a female egg-laying on logs around the pond's edge. This is the only species of dragonfly that I have observed egg-laying this year, although both Large Red and Azure damselflies continue to breed. Female Southern Hawkers often lay their eggs on logs or vegetation around the pond and also carry this out without the presence of a male. You can watch them working their way around the pond, clinging to logs and constantly dabbing the end of their body onto the log to lay the eggs. The other dragonflies I have seen ovipositing are Common Darter and Broad-bodied Chaser, which both lay straight into the pond whilst flying in tandem with the male. Female Emperors, like Southern Hawkers, lay without the presence of a male and tend to lay straight into the pond, but usually on submerged vegetation. The attached photo is from a previous year, but replicates the sighting.

Thursday 20 August 2009

New Moth - Migrant or Local Breeder?


I ran my moth trap for the first time in over 2 weeks overnight on August 17th and caught a rather uninspiring 75 macro moths of 30 species, of which 23 were Large Yellow Underwings. New year ticks were Orange Swift, Pretty Chalk Carpet, Dusky Thorn, Pebble Prominent, Flounced Rustic and Old Lady. Surprisingly, 1 Old Lady actually entered the trap (they tend not to, usually being seen somewhere nearby), 1 ended up in the lounge and the other flew off! However, best of all was a White-point, which is a new addition to the garden list - picture attached. White-point is a migrant moth, which appears to have established itself on the South coast, so it is interesting to speculate on the origins of this moth. It does appear quite fresh, which might point to a locally bred moth. The first Bucks record was in 2005 and there have been a few more since, but I think that there are still fewer than 10 county records.

Wednesday 19 August 2009

Butterflies Continue to Arrive

2009 has been a great year for butterflies. The buddleia is unfortunately going over and numbers of Painted Ladies have fallen away, but on August 16th, I observed 5 Small Tortoiseshells nectaring. This is particularly pleasing for two reasons - firstly, this is not a butterfly that I have seen very often in the garden, so a multiple occurrence is very unusual; secondly, this butterfly has seen a drastic national decline over the past couple of years and this year appears to be showing a reversal in its fortunes - long may it continue.

Yet another Silver-washed Fritillary was seen today (August 16th). I watched it sailing up and down the back garden, before it eventually alighted on the patio table to sun itself. This allowed me to identify it as a rather worn male.

On the avian front, an adult Hobby was watched flying westwards over the garden mid afternoon. Adults show red 'trousers', whereas juveniles do not.

Silver Ys

The evening of August 6th found me on the back patio trying to emulate the previous evening's migrating Whimbrel - no such luck! However, what was obvious was the arrival of quite a few Silver Y moths. These moths are migrants and have obviously appeared in large numbers this year. I watched them bombing about between the trees and then descending to nectar on the patio flowers.

Migrant Flock of Whimbrel

I enjoyed a rare birding event on the evening of August 5th - I popped out into the garden to enjoy an unusual dry evening and was sitting on the bench when at 8:50pm, I noticed a flock of birds in fairly rigid V formation flying south down the valley, slightly to the east of me. Unusually, I had left my bins inside the house, but was able to retrieve them fairly quickly and get on to the birds as they were just past me. They were obviously large waders, although I couldn't get anything on the bills. They were all similarly marked, brown above, brown necks and pale underwings, with no wing bars. They had to be Whimbrel - and then one bird called to clinch the ID. They had disappeared past a neighbour's house at this stage, so I ran through the house and down the drive from where I can see some distance down the valley. I picked up the birds again and tried to count them - I got to 22! They seemed to be following the valley bottom.

Recovering from the shock of the sighting, I texted Alan Stevens who lives to the south of me (the birds would have been long gone by then) and asked if he had seen or heard the birds. Remarkably, he phoned back to say that his wife had picked up a large flock of birds from the garden and he had caught them disappearing in the direction of Little Marlow GP.

Having subsequently read about Whimbrel in 'The Birds of Buckinghamshire' and 'The Birds of Bedfordshire', it appears that large flocks of Whimbrel of about this number are seen on occasion at this time of year and often tend to migrate either at dusk, night or dawn, so not unprecedented, but a great garden record!

Butterfly Numbers Increase


The buddleia bush is in full flower and has been attracting an ever increasing number of butterflies. On August 2nd, another Silver-washed Fritillary made an appearance, unfortunately it was too brief to allow identification to gender. The most obvious increase in numbers has been Peacock and Painted Lady, with Large White also appearing in impressive numbers. I suspect that the end of July and beginning of August saw the emergence of Painted Ladies resulting from the invasion in June. The peak counts, also on August 2nd, were 15 Painted Ladies and 20 Peacocks.

I saw my first Migrant Hawkers of the year on August 2nd, when 2 flew over the back garden and performed aerial circuits for a while. These rather small Hawkers are usually quite obvious because of their size and also their habit of flying in circuits at quite a height above the ground, say 20 feet.

Another Volucella inanis was observed feeding on bramble outside the kitchen window on August 3rd. I thought it was a male, but inspection of the attached photo appears to show a female.

New Micro Moth



I ran my moth trap for the first time in 2 weeks on August 1st. Conditions weren't great and I only trapped 75 macro moths of 29 species. Of these, Lesser Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing and Straw Underwing were new year ticks, whilst Barred Hook-tip, Mocha, Small Waved Umber and Lesser Swallow Prominent were my first of the second generation. I have attached a picture of a rather peculiarly marked Maiden's Blush, showing a dark terminal band that as far as I can gather is not something that is often seen. A rather pretty micro moth, Nemapogon clematella, was new for the garden list - thanks to Martin Albertini, the county moth recorder for identifying this one. It is a notable species, but probably under recorded, whose larvae feed on tree fungi.

July Bits and Pieces

I found the first Common Darter of the year, a male on July 25th flying around the pond. This year does not seem to have been a particularly good one for the variety of dragonflies using the pond - I suspect that Southern Hawkers may have taken over!

On July 28th, a male Volucella zonaria hoverfly was seen feeding on Oregano flowers at the bottom of the drive. I do not often observe the males of these hoverflies, most of my sightings have been of females. This male seemed to be much more wary than the females I have seen and was quick to fly off if I ventured too near. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera on me at the time.

Monday 20 July 2009

Two New Moths



Two more macro moth species were added to the garden list on the night of July 18th to take the total to 259. They were Large Twin-spot Carpet and Purple Clay, neither of which is unusual, in fact, Purple Clay is quite common. Unfortunately, the Purple Clay specimen was a bit battered and had probably been on the wing for several weeks.

Another Large Hoverfly




A previous post mentions the largest UK hoverfly, the hornet mimic, Volucella zonaria. In the same family, but not quite as large is Volucella inanis, which infiltrates wasp nests as opposed to hornet nests. This species also had an historic distribution centred around the London region, but has also undergone a range expansion both north and west. I don't see this hoverfly as often as Volucella zonaria, maybe because I'm not really looking for them and zonaria is more impressive. Anyway, I found a female today feeding on oregano and marjoram flowers, which seemed totally unconcerned with me and remained on a few plants for quite some time, which allowed the attached photos to be taken.

I know very little about hoverflies and only identified the few Volucella species I know by looking at google. However, another more common member of the Volucella family was present on the buddleia today, Volucella pellucens, which basically has a bulbous black abdomen with a broad white band across it.

Buddleia Magnet



We have a wild buddleia that we leave to grow near the front of the house, because of the butterflies and other insects that it attracts. My last post talked about the Silver-washed Fritillaries, but today and yesterday (19th and 20th July), I have also seen a Hummingbird Hawkmoth (the attached photo is a bad attempt from a previous year - my camera is not good enough to capture a sharp image of their whirring wings!) and Volucella zonaria. Both species are often seen on this buddleia. Butterfly numbers should increase, but we are seeing Painted Lady, Peacock, Red Admiral, Comma, Meadow Brown, Large, Small and Green-veined White.

Another strange sight from today was a Silver Y moth, a regular migrant. I thought it looked odd just hanging down with its wings open and upon investigation I realised that it had fallen prey to a spider, a type of crab spider I think. The photo shows the moth and the spider's legs around its head!

Silver-washed Beauties!




On July 18th, whilst leaving the house to go to a friend's BBQ, my wife informed me that a Silver-washed Fritillary was on the front garden buddleia. I arrived to find a rather smart male and then also a rather tatty female (males and females have slightly different wing markings). I only managed a record shot of the male, as he was quite flighty and I have also attached quite a smart female from 2006. This is the third year in the last four that Silver-washed Fritillary has been recorded in the garden and I suspect that there is a small population in the adjacent woodland, although in good years, of which this is apparently one, they do tend to wander. Funnily enough, at the friend's BBQ about a mile and half down the road, I observed another female Silver-washed Frit on their buddleia!

The following day, a male and female were seen again. The male appeared to be behaving quite aggressively and would feed occasionally on the buddleia, but would also harass other 'orange' butterflies, namely Painted Lady and Comma. When the female SWF put in an appearance, she was parried into a bedroom window with a thud and they both tumbled off.

Hobby and Harlequin


A Hobby flew south through the valley this morning (July 11th) and was my first garden sighting of the year. They tend to be seen more in late summer/autumn, especially after the young are on the wing, but there are only ever a handful of sightings each year.

On July 12th, my wife and daughter found a Harlequin ladybird on the same patch of irises that I had previously found a Harlequin pupa, so very possibly the emerged adult. It was quite distinctive, being black with two orange spots, but they are a highly variable species. The attached photo even shows me reflected in the wings! I have seen some hundreds of adults locally this year, generally in large nettle beds, so they are obviously spreading very quickly.

Friday 10 July 2009

Two's Company....


I've attached quite an interesting picture of multiple Southern Hawker exuvia. It is not uncommon to see one exuvia clinging to the back of another, I guess because of the limited pond foliage, larvae invariably choose to climb up the same stem occasionally. However, I have never before seen three exuvia together like this! I counted 28 Southern Hawker exuvia on Saturday 4th, so this is obviously the most numerous dragonfly species living in the pond at present.

Friday 3 July 2009

Marbled Magic


The first Marbled White butterfly of the year was seen at lunchtime. Unusually for this garden, it didn't just fly straight through, but nectared on the patio bedding plants (lobelia) for a few minutes. Marbled White is a scarce visitor to the garden, probably annual, but only one or two sightings per year and normally about July. It is a beautifully marked black and white butterfly and the attached photo shows this well, although this is not from the garden, but was taken locally.

Yesterday (2nd), my wife saw a Small Tortoiseshell, which alighted briefly on a patio lavender. Surprisingly, this was only the second garden record, although this species has undergone a population collapse. 2009 does appear to be seeing a welcome revival in its numbers.

To date, 21 species of butterfly have been recorded in the garden, with Silver-washed Fritillary and Purple Hairstreak being two of the more unusual visitors.

Thursday 2 July 2009

Mid Summer Stag and Dragons



The first stag beetle of the year whirred through the garden yesterday evening, always nice to see. I only see these huge beetles on a few days around mid summer and they are generally flying over at 15 to 20 feet, so I have yet to get close enough to one for a photo. The larvae of stag beetles live in rotting wood for 6 to 7 years before they emerge as adult beetles and there is certainly plenty of that in the largely unmanaged woodland adjacent to the house.

After watching the stag beetle, my attention was drawn to the pond, where I could hear faint dripping. I then noticed some pond foliage moving and was delighted to see a Southern Hawker larva climbing up a stem, where it eventually found its final resting position. Slightly beyond this was another larva that had begun its transformation into dragonfly. I was able to watch the dragonfly begin to emerge from the skin through a small slit just below the head. It was about half emerged before the light faded and will no doubt have flown by early morning. The only time I have seen semi-emerged dragonflies in the morning is when the weather suddenly turns wet, as this seems to delay the process. I have attached a couple of photos of just such an instance when an Emperor Dragonfly had emerged, but was still drying out its wings. This was taken in 2005, but it gives you an idea of what I saw this evening.

Monday 29 June 2009

Hornet mimic hoverfly returns



On the evening of 28th June, I found a female Volucella zonaria resting on ivy leaves. This is one of our most impressive and I think our largest hoverfly species and one that I have recorded in the garden annually for some years. It is a hornet mimic and uses hornet nests to raise its offspring - there are certainly plenty of hornets in the vicinity. Indeed, the first time I noticed one resting on a purple verbena, I thought it was a hornet until closer inspection revealed otherwise. Initially, I had to look this one up on google as I am no expert on hoverflies, but I do enjoy seeing them each year. They were originally centred around the London area, but are undergoing a range expansion. The attached photos are two different females from previous years - the females are identified by the fact that their eyes do not meet and have a yellow line separating them. In fact, I generally record females and to date have only seen one male.

Two new moth species



I ran the moth box again on Friday 26th and Saturday 27th, as it was hot and dry. I managed to catch 340 macro moths of 61 species, which is a good catch for me. Even better, I added two new species to the garden list, to take it to 257. The first on the 26th was a Scarce Silver-lines, a lovely bright green moth that I had been hoping to catch at some stage, as they should like the local habitat. The second, the following night, was rather unexpected in the form of a Golden Plusia, one that I had to look up. Apparently common all over Britain, but not known before the late 1800s. I think the total of 36 Light Emeralds on the 26th was a new record for that species and there were quite a few year ticks.

Harlequin Ladybird breeding



Harlequin Ladybird is another species that has recently colonised Britain and is now seen with some regularity. They are very variable in terms of coloration and spotting, but are quite distinctive and fairly easy to identify from our native spotted species. I have seen a few adult Harlequin Ladybirds in the garden over the last few yeras, but not in any great numbers. Last week, I noticed a Ladybird pupa on an ornamental iris leaf and with help from the local BMERC yahoo group was able to identify it as a Harlequin Ladybird pupa, so there is evidence of breeding in the garden. The attached photos are not too good and a bit blurred, but show the black and white hairs at the front of the pupa, which is diagnostic. Curiously, when threatened, the pupa raised its back end as a form of defence, I guess to make itself look bigger.

Monday 22 June 2009

More Bombus hypnorum sightings

Having seen a worker nectaring on bramble flowers outside the kitchen window again over the weekend, I noticed a queen and two further workers nectaring on a doitsia at lunchtime today, so there must be a nest somewhere nearby.

Two new moths



I ran the moth trap on both Friday and Saturday night (19th and 20th) and whilst numbers are still low for the time of year, I did manage to trap two new moths for the garden - one on each night. First was a Haworth's Pug, a rather small, fairly non-descript moth with a distinctive red/orange base to the abdomen. Second was a Broom Moth, which I needed some help to identify as it was rather battered, but it shows quite a pretty red and orange base colour to the wings. A probable Freyer's Pug was also trapped, but this was not identified 100% and needs further examination for confirmation - unfortunately, I no longer have the moth, so it will not be added to the list. Eyed and Poplar Hawkmoths were nice to see, the Eyed only the second adult recorded here, though I have seen a caterpillar as well.

Increase in bird activity

After the quiet spell in late May, bird numbers have picked up considerably bolstered by the new arrival of juveniles. The bird feeders are once again a hive of activity and are being emptied at quite a rate. Over the weekend, many juvenile blue, great and coal tits were seen, along with my first juvenile robin and great-spotted woodpecker of the year. Young greenfinches and chaffinches are also much in evidence. Two female blackbirds are gathering nest material again, presumably for second broods, whilst my two fledgling tawny owls can still be heard 'squeaking' in the adjacent wood.

This morning, June 22nd, a female blackcap flew through the garden, which is an interesting sighting, as there are no singing males on territory in the vacinity.

Friday 19 June 2009

Southern Hawkers Emerge


I noticed three Southern Hawker exuvia (larval skins) in pond vegetation this morning, which are my first of the year, though I haven't seen any dragonflies as yet. This is probably the commonest dragonfly larva in the pond, though Broad-bodied Chaser used to be quite numerous. Common Darter is present in smaller numbers and Emperor only breeds erraticly. I only get two breeding damselflies, Large Red and Azure.

A Bombus hypnorum (Tree Bumblebee) worker was nectaring on bramble flowers outside the kitchen window at lunchtime.

Further to my earlier post on Broad-bodied Chasers, a male was seen last Saturday (June 13th) and looked to be territorial, which is great following a blank year. Although he was around for some hours, he has not been seen since.

Thursday 18 June 2009

Moths




Since moving here in summer 2003, I have run a moth trap (Skinner with 125W bulb). I am, however, rather erratic with its use, dependent on weather, work and family commitments. To date I have logged 253 macro species and about 70 micro, although many of the micros are a bit of an after thought and heavily reliant on local expert Peter Hall. I have a photo record of almost all moths species seen. Last weekend, I ran the trap on the nights of June 12th and 13th and had a rather disappointing cumulative catch for the time of year of 140 moths, but of 53 macro species - nothing unexpected! I have attached 2 photos of rather nice moths, a Mocha, which is a Notable b species, but regular here and a Blotched Emerald. Both were first for the year and the Mocha was one of two caught.

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Bombus hypnorum - Tree Bumblebee


Just seen a Bombus hypnorum worker resting on a Magnolia on a rather damp afternoon. This very distinctive recent colonist from Europe was first noted in the garden last year when a queen appeared for a few weeks in May. She would disappear through a hole in the mortar of the house brickwork and I assume she was looking to nest, but nothing came of it, although workers were seen nectaring on bramble flowers later in the summer. This spring, another queen appeared early in the year and kept going through an external air brick and finding its way into the lounge - after three or four times of this happening, I decided it was best to relocate her. The attached photo is the queen from 2008 sunning itself on the house wall.

Sunday 7 June 2009

Broad-bodied Chasers




June 1st saw a female Broad-bodied Chaser sunning itself in the lilac for almost one hour. I had seen a Broad-bodied Chaser fly over the previous day. When the pond was first built 5 years ago, Broad-bodied Chaser was one of the first dragonflies to visit and they were regular for about 3 years, with emergent larvae seen. However, none visited last summer, although teneral dragonflies were seen to fly off, so I wonder whether the one yesterday and today were from my pond or not. I have read that this species is fond of new ponds, but can then depart, so I wonder if any will return again to breed. The attached photos are a teneral and a male on territory from previous years.

Saturday 6 June 2009

Notable Cranefly







On May 31st, my wife found a rather attractive Cranefly sitting on a leaf in a flowerbed. After posting a picture to the BMERC e-mail group, it was identified as a female Ctenophora pectinicornis, a Nationally Scarce species with larvae developing in dead wood - there's plenty of that in the adjacent wood! There are at least seven previous Bucks records, but it's not common. It held its ovipositor in a strangely upright position. Also seen in the afternoon was a Lesser Stag Beetle - seen most years.

Painted Lady Invasion


On May 25th, I witnessed a small part of the biggest Painted Lady invasion into the UK for a generation. The first butterfly seen was from the lounge, as one briefly descended to a flowerbed and then flew off south (?) over the house. Later in the garden, ones and twos were observed at tree top height flying over roughly every minute in a North to Northwesterly direction - fantastic. The attached photo is not from the garden, but from a local walk a few years ago.

Tawny Owls Fledge















Since moving here 6 years ago, a female Tawny Owl has used the garden as a regular winter roost. We put up an owl box in the lone oak tree, which has been used as an alternative roost, usually in inclement weather. Last year the box was used as a nest site for the first time and although one fledgling was seen in the entrance, a badly timed holiday meant nothing else was seen that year. Fortunately, this year the box was used again. The first of two fledglings appeared towards the end of May and was joined by its younger sibling shortly afterwards. They appeared side by side for several days. On the evening of May 28th, I watched an adult feeding the pair slow-worms, it was bringing in one every few minutes from the wood and it was quite comical to see the owlets trying to wolf down the wriggling reptiles. On this evening the elder owlet made its first jump to a nearby branch and could be seen walking around and flapping through the branches. The following evening, the second owlet made the same jump for a branch, but missed and fluttered down to the ground. The adult female was on guard for the remainder of daylight and fortunately, the youngster could be seen back up in the branches the following day. They have now both departed to the wood and can still be heard calling for food.