Day 48: Angle Shades Moth

Moths are insects I must learn more about, being much more familiar with their butterfly cousins. Both are in the same order of Lepidoptera, meaning 'scale-wings' and both have equally fascinating life-cycles, colours and habits. This moth, which I rescued from inside our garage, hiding it under a rose leaf, is an angle shades, identified with the help of a friend. I think this must be a particularly fresh individual as, apparently, the green bands quickly fade to a 'dirty brown'.

Although this is a common species, I can't say that I have knowingly seen one before, and I think the patterning is rather beautiful. The folded wings when at rest are to give the impression of a dried leaf and when in flight, these moths favour the flowers of grasses. The caterpillars will feed on a range of herbaceous plants, including nettles and brambles.

References:

Chinery, M (2005) Collins Complete Guide to British Insects, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/angle-shades (accessed 09/05/2020)

Day 47: Great Diving Beetle

This great diving beetle is perching on the floating leaves of brooklime, clearly deciding our wildlife pond isn't the right place for it. After watching this large beetle for some time, I became aware of a high pitched buzzing noise, a little like the sound of water escaping through a small hole (which is slightly concerning when sat next to a new pond...). Eventually, a few seconds after taking this photo, it took off in a rather sudden and bumbling manner, making me jump backwards. 

A diving beetle has been present in our pond since almost a week after we made it, whether this is the same individual or not, I do not know, but it was lovely to watch it surface and dive to the bottom. We are still awaiting our delivery of oxygenating plants, as none survived in the previous pond, so I wonder whether the oxygen levels have depleted enough to make it uninhabitable for this species of still water. Hopefully, once they do arrive, more diving beetles and other species will colonise to make it a small oasis for wildlife.

References:

Chinery, M (2005) Collins Complete Guide to British Insects, HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

Day 46: Field Forget-Me-Not

Amongst the daisies, common vetch and Germander speedwell is a single spike of field forget-me-not. Its pale blue, five-petaled flowers reminiscent of a clear summer sky, where faint puffs of white cloud gather around its yellow centre. Its unopened flower buds covered in pale hairs, when they go to seed the seedpods will stick to clothing and drop off to germinate elsewhere.

These dainty flowered-plants are very common on roadsides, so I'm sure more specimens will appear in out little patch as a symbol of love of the natural world, rather than a token to be worn to not be forgotten by a lover.

References:

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/forget-me-not-common (accessed 09/05/2020)

Day 45: Common Daisy

The common daisy certainly lives up to its name, but isn't it a glorious sight to see an otherwise boring green lawn come alive with these fallen stars of white and yellow? An even more magical sight when they become pink tinged because 'the faeries sit on them' when they close up at night.

Interestingly, researchers have studied daisies in Africa and have discovered that those which close at night produce cryptic colouration on the lower surfaces of their 'petals' to camouflage them from herbivores. Whether or not this applies to our native common daisy, I am not sure, and they have only studied one plant family so far.

A single daisy head isn't, in fact, just one flower, it is a composite of many tiny flowers which make up the bright yellow centre and the white ray-florets which appear like petals. Daisies are perennial herbs, so they will keep popping back up year after year, providing a valuable nectar source for bumblebees, honeybees and hoverflies. 

References:

Rose, F (2006) The Wild Flower Key, Penguin Books Ltd.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/08/190830112819.htm (accessed 09/05/2020)

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/daisy (accessed 09/05/2020)

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/common-daisy (accessed 09/05/2020)

Day 44: Germander Speedwell

Another gorgeous wildflower that is growing well in our 'wildflower meadow' is the Germander speedwell. Clusters of pale blue flowers with dark blue veins that look as thought they could have been painted. The four blue petals surround a yellow and white centre, with two long anthers and a stigma emanating out like whiskers.

This plant is widespread and common in verges and hedgerow, so are relatively easy to find. Even so, these 'cat's eyes' are a colourful addition to our little wild patch amongst the fresh green leaves of those yet to flower. 

References:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/germander-speedwell (accessed 07/05/2020)

Day 43: Common Vetch

These beautiful magenta flowers belong to the common vetch, a plant that is growing in abundance in our 'wildflower meadow'. The leguminous plants are scrambling and climbing over each other to create a lovely display of fresh green foliage with, from afar, polka-dots of pink. Close up, these flowers look like miniature sweet peas, so it is unsurprising that both are in the pea, or legume family. Their climbing habit has caused this patch to become a small jungle of leaflets and delicate flowers, creating a wonderland to peer into from the undergrowth. 

As I watched, several common carder bees were visiting the flowers, seemingly favouring them over other nearby blooms. Looking closely, many of the leaves have also been nibbled, so they are hopefully hosting some caterpillars or other animals. The common vetch also has other uses, being in the pea family, it is a nitrogen producer, so can be used as green manure and can be grown as livestock fodder.

References:

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/common-vetch (accessed 06/05/2020)

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/wildflowers/common-vetch (accessed 06/05/2020)

Day 42: Bugle

Like an ethereal wood-sprite who only appears in your peripheral vision rather than being in focus when you look directly at it, this, the first flower spike on either of my bugle plants refused to allow me to focus fully on the uppermost open blue flower each time I pressed the shutter. The dark green-purple foliage spreading like slowly creeping arms to fill the bare ground below the winter honeysuckle, where I can make nothing else grow, is now throwing up thick, hairy purple spikes where these little blue veined flowers bloom. Their shape reminds me more of fairy-tale creatures, of fairies disguised as flowers, or as one with flowers, possibly more than any other in my garden, reminding me of days of poring over Brian Froud's fantastical books. 

This perennial woodland plant is also much loved by bumblebees and is a good early nectar source for green-veined white and orange-tip butterflies. The wild flower, native to most of the British Isles, is Ajuga reptans. The two I have, Ajuga reptans Braunherz, are cultivars of this and are easy to grow under almost all conditions.

References:

Thomas, A. (2017) Gardening for Wildlife, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/bugle (accessed 03/05/2020)

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/89313/Ajuga-reptans-Braunherz/Details (accessed 03/05/2020)

Day 41: Red-tailed Bumblebee

The luxuriously black, velvety thorax and abdomen, finished with a deep orange-red tail make the red tailed bumblebee a wonderful insect to see. This is the second queen of this species I have spotted in the garden, but the first was far too fast too photograph. This individual seemed content to sit on the sunny fence to have a spruce up, diligently cleaning her antennae as pictured. 

Queens of this species are partial to gorses, dandelions and various Prunus species, amongst others, whereas workers love, for example, clover, birds-foot trefoils and St John's wort. Another reason to let lawns flourish with dandelions and clovers. 

We do have an abandoned mouse nest in the 'lawn', and as this is a ground nesting species who often use old burrows, I wonder whether we will be lucky enough for a queen to decide that our little garden is the place for her to nest? If so, the colonies can grow to contain 300 workers!

References:

Falk, S. (2015) Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/bees-and-wasps/red-tailed-bumblebee (accessed 03/05/2020)

Day 40: Garden Snail

The last few days of wet weather has certainly awoken the snail and slug population that lurks under pots, leaves and rocks in our garden. This garden snail (which I'm hoping I've correctly identified, it seems there are more species of snail in the UK than I realised...), whose shell does look rather battered, was making a break for it across our patio. Admittedly, like most gardeners, I get cross if my plants get obliterated by snails and slugs overnight, but have come to accept that this is just a part of gardening for wildlife. They are also providing a food source for the hedgehogs, and, since the hedgehogs arrived in the garden, there has certainly been less damage to plants. 

This group of molluscs are also interesting in their own right, whether it be the foot they move upon with its rippling muscles visible through glass, or their toothed radular they use to eat, or the fact they are hermaphroditic 

I left this snail be to carry on with its journey, whether that be to munch on my heuchera leaves, as often happens, or whether it ends up as a midnight snack for our hedgehog visitors.

References:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/other-garden-wildlife/insects-and-other-invertebrates/worms-slugs-spiders/garden-snail/ (accessed 02/05/2020)

Day 39: Dandelion

The golden dandelion, lighting up lawns, verges, pavements... any where it can lay its roots. Time and time again, we are told how pollinators use these much maligned wild flowers as an essential source of nectar and pollen, and yet time and time again, gardeners and councils try to obliterate them where they dare to shine. John Clare described them as "fallen stars in a green sea of grass" in his poem A Rhapsody, so why can't more of us see the dandelion in this light? Those awful adverts still appear on TV where they depict 'evil' cartoon dandelions being heroically removed by a gardener with weedkiller, but surely it is time we stopped showing these misleading roles. What is the worst thing a dandelion is going to do if growing in a lawn, park or playground? 

Worryingly, in trying to search for a paper I read some time ago that suggests dandelion pollen lacks certain nutrients and may be poor quality if fed to bee larvae alone, I came across a slogan that stated 'Save the Bees, Remove Dandelions'. Whilst it may be true that dandelions alone won't save our dwindling insect population, we do need to include them in a more diverse ecosystem that we can encourage in our gardens and parks. Using pesticides of any sort is certainly not going to help, due to the many, now well documented effects many have on the nervous system of pollinators. Caterpillars of some butterfly and moth species will use dandelions as a food plant, so we must also consider insects other than pollinators (or at least different stages of their life cycle).

Perhaps if we shifted views to seeing dandelions as a wild flower, rather than a weed? Or perhaps if we shifted the obsession so many of us still seem to have with keeping a perfect lawn? Or at least try to become more tolerant of allowing the boundaries to blur between a 'perfect garden' and 'nature'. Indeed, my perfect garden would encourage as much wildlife in as possible, and I try to.

References:

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/plant-fungi-species/dandelion (accessed 02/05/2020)

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2019/07/what-do-caterpillars-eat/ (accessed 02/05/2020)

Day 38: Starling

The starlings arrived today, Wednesday 29th April. I'm always happy when these colourful characters return, even if the photo above doesn't do them justice, taken through the window, in the rain, as it was. Like a few other of our avian garden visitors, a small flock of starlings arrive in spring, stay with us whilst they breed, often bringing fledglings to the garden with them, then disappear again come the summer. On our daily walk, we also heard one calling in its clicking-whistling voice and, having not heard them here for almost a year, couldn't place it until we spotted in sitting on a roof.

These birds have a clown-like side to them, and when they turn up in a gang, which they inevitably end up doing, they squabble and bicker and make such a racket. This one, however, visited alone today, probing the wet grass for worms and other delicacies. I think it turned up a slug in the picture above, and happily flew away with its prize. According the the RSPB, they are still one the most common birds found in gardens, so I'm not quite sure why they don't stay with us throughout the rest of the year. However, I look forward to their antics for the couple of months we have the pleasure of them for.

Day 37: Erigeron karvinskianus 'Stallone'

Between rain showers, I snapped a few photos of the Erigeron, or Mexican fleabane, that has suddenly burst into flower in our front garden. I find the flowers of this wiry plant rather cheerful as I approach the house, especially on rainy days like today. Daisy-like in appearance, the petals start out pale pink and become white as they mature with bright yellow centres. As the season goes on, these flowers will again become pink, even close to magenta, in colour.

Not native, but branded with the 'plants for pollinators' logo by the RHS, I find this plant a good nectar stop-gap. It will flower almost continuously from now until autumn, providing nectar for a range of insects. The type of insect I see visiting most often is hoverflies, but I have also seen small bees use the flowers too.

This particular variety is supposed to only grow to a height of 20 cm and spread of 45 cm, but this plant has already exceeded these measurements. It is recommended to cut Erigeron back to ground level in autumn, but I never have with this one, and it still seems quite happy.

References:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/32487/Erigeron-karvinskianus/Details (accessed 30/04/2020)

Day 36: Blueberry

A new addition to the 'kitchen garden' this year, a blueberry shrub planted in a large pot on our patio, alongside the other fruits and vegetable we try to grow. I enjoy blueberries, but have never attempted to grow them before. It might sound strange, but I hadn't thought about, or realised what blueberry flowers looked like at all. Barely noticeable individually, these sweet white tiny flowers, a little smaller than a fingernail, form in groups. They are similar to small bells, with the stamen visible in the centre, surrounded by the crimped petal edges.

I have seen various bumblebees visit the flowers, but the common carder bee seems to favour it the most. Fingers crossed for lots of fruit later in the summer.

Day 35: Jay

This photo won't win any prizes, but we had an unusual garden visitor on day 35, this colourful jay tucking into a fat cake. These corvids have been very active when on our daily walks and they can often be seen gliding and screeching their way between the large oak trees nearby, but they very rarely visit the garden.

There always seems to be something special about seeing a jay, more so than other members of their intelligent family, perhaps it is their colouring, or perhaps it is just that we see them less frequently. Finding a jay feather, with the various shades of blue sported in its wings, is always a treasure worth keeping.

Occasionally, we find oak saplings growing in our front garden, and I often wonder whether these are thanks to the jays or squirrels forgetting part of their winter hoard.

Day 34: Himalayan Cranesbill

Today. the first of my cranesbills began flowering, Himalayan cranesbill 'Gravetye' or Geranium himalayense 'Gravetye'. The blue petals with prominent veins, beginning as cream then merging to deep pink as they sprawl from the centre of the flower caught my eye last year, although I must confess that I had completely forgotten I had bought and planted them.

There are many varieties of cranesbill, or geranium, that are absolutely loved by bees. Some are native species, like the gorgeous meadow cranesbill that can be found along road verges and in meadows, others are not. Neither of the varieties I have are native, but they are still an absolute hit with bees of all shapes and sizes, none the less.

A quick point about cranesbills, geraniums. They should not be confused with pelargoniums, often sold under the name of geraniums, that are completely different and not particularly beneficial for wildlife at all.

References:
Thomas, A. (2017) Gardening for Wildlife, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.

Day 33: Water avens

The delicately nodding apricot flowers inside deep red sepals belong to the subtle and beautiful water avens, Geum rivale. The dainty flowers sit upon tall, red, hairy stems and above green, neatly lobed leaves. It took me a while to find this native variety in a garden centre, and I was caught out by what I assume must be more vigorous hybrids that were incorrectly labelled, but this one now lives happily in the margins of our pond.

This is the first of this year's flowers, and it looks like it will be a promising year for this lovely plant. It happily grows in a shady area of the garden, perhaps receiving just two to three hours sunlight each day. The flowers will be visited by bumblebees once they have learnt its whereabouts.

References:
Thomas, A. (2017) Gardening for Wildlife, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.

Day 32: Red Mason Bee (female)

It has taken a little while for more of the red mason bees to emerge, we only had the three males that had emerged when I wrote my last blog about theses bees (here!) for a good while, but they are now very busy!

The first female we saw emerge from any of our nesting areas was on 11th April, and was promptly grasped by the male shown to the left. Seeing them together really makes their distinguishing features more obvious, especially the females much more robust looking head and jaws.

Of course, she needs these jaws to be able to grasp mud to line and seal her nest with. Most likely not the same female, but I did spot one taking wet mud from around the garden pond.

I have been watching just one female visiting the new bee nest boxes we put up this year and, today, she capped the end of the first nest! The bee shown below is a male investigating possible places a new female may emerge from.

I am hoping, now more males have emerged, more females soon will too, and we'll have many complete nesting chambers.

Day 31: Holly Blue Butterfly

Only my second recorded butterfly that has landed in the garden so far this year, this little holly blue caught my, it's pale wings catching the morning sun.

I'm not completely sure, but it appears to have it's proboscis extended. I had recently watered the garden, so could it be 'drinking'?

The holly blue is the earliest emerging blue butterfly, and is the most likely blue butterfly to be spotted in gardens. The caterpillars of this butterfly feed on holly in the spring, and ivy in the summer, although they may use other plants too. We don't have either of these species in the garden, but there is plenty nearby. We should soon have plenty of nectar-rich plants available for the adults, so hopefully we will see more as spring continues.

References:
https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/holly-blue (accessed 22/04/2020)
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/invertebrates/butterflies/holly-blue (accessed 22/04/2020)

Day 30: Blue tit

Probably my favourite garden bird, these colourful characters have so much attitude. If I am in the garden, and 'in their way', the individuals we currently have visiting will happily sit and shout at me from the fence. The variation of calls they make is wide, with the very sweet, high pitched calls the pair make to each other, to the loud 'shouty' call we so often hear.

We have been trying to persuade them to nest in the garden since we put up the bird box, pictured below, three years ago, and we think we may have success this year. Originally, we had the box on an East facing wall. but as our garden is a bit of heat trap, we think it probably got too hot. We have since moved it to a North facing wall, but no success last year, and finally placed a large potted shrub in front of it. This final thing seems to have done the trick.

A pair, with a particularly brightly coloured and bold male, have been prospecting the nest box since early January, and, over the last week, the action has really built up. We have seen them taking in nesting material and they seem to have chosen the garden gate as a favoured place to repeatedly copulate.

Hopefully, they will stay and I will be able to report fledglings in the not too distant future.

Day 29: Feral pigeon

I have always associated feral pigeons with city centres and had assumed we were a little too far away from the city for them to be interested in our garden. However, what started as infrequent visits to the area, then eventually our garden, by one bird (the speckled one at the front), soon became two birds, then four, then five. It seemed this one had 'told' all of its 'friends' about the free food on offer. They can now regularly be seen queuing on the surrounding roofs either for us to put food out, or for us to go back inside so they can feed in peace. They have also now learnt how to balance on the hanging feeders.

Feral pigeons are derived from rock doves, the ancestor of all domestic pigeons. The wild rock dove is now only found on islands, the north and west coasts of Scotland and on Northern Ireland coasts. However, feral pigeons breed almost everywhere.

I wasn't sure how I felt about these visitors turning up originally, but have come to accept them as part of our garden wildlife, and think they are just as deserving of a free meal as all the other birds are.

References:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/rock-dove/ (accessed 22/04/2020)