Less is More

There are obvious similarities between bug watching and bird watching, the tactics are the same, either chase the quarry or sit down in a likely spot and wait for it to come to you - simple.

So today, having read all the sea watching reports on SOS with great envy, I set up shop in the back garden to attempt to capture more photographs of insect life -  birding will have to wait.

Just like bird photography there are those subjects who are the fast movers such as wasps, hoverflies and bees, then there are those more sedentary bugs like ladybirds and beetles - both of which featured today. The chase is the same - a Red Mason Bee hove into view and I desperately wanted to get it in my viewfinder, fat chance, I chased it all over the garden, tripod and camera in hand but he wasn't going to settle long enough for a shot.

This is a whole new world and identification is somewhat difficult, I will update as I go along. For my three readers there is a new Flickr site called "The Small World of Aaron Aardvaark" where I will place my insect photos.

Hawthorn Shield Bug, Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale

Box Bug, Gonocerus acuteangulatus

Box Bug, Gonocerus acuteangulatus

  

Fourteen spot Ladybird, Propylea 14-punctata

Hawthorn Shield Bug, Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale

Hawthorn Shield Bug, Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale

Sawfly, Abia sericea??



Gooden's Nomad Bee Nomada goodeniana

Gooden's Nomad Bee Nomada goodeniana

 

Stating  the garden was bare of birds was a bit hasty, today we had a stream of visitors including Peregrine and Sparrowhawk over, male Blackcap, Goldcrests and Long-tailed Tits looking for a snack plus all the usual suspects.



Crow in power dive

About three gardens away there is a very large cedar type tree, well battered but looked after as it has a preservation order on it. It is home to innumerable species of wildlife. I suspect it was planted about the same time as Ilex Way.There were lots of mature trees in Goring until the "Great Gale" of 1987 when many elderly specimens were snapped off - destined to become firewood. This tree has been home to a pair of Carrion Crows since we have been here, the nest is always in the same place and the parents are very protective of their young. We also have a resident population of Herring Gulls nesting on the rooftops of several houses, though there are fewer this year. The close proximity of the two species normally results in a spectacular diving display from the crows to drive away the gulls. However, today the crows got it completely wrong as they attacked a Great Black Backed Gull in transit to the beach and had to beat a hasty retreat as the gull responded ferociously.

The innocent intruder