This one is for Kevin
Firstly humble apologies to my 7 readers for being so tardy in producing part 4. When we started self isolation I thought it would be a doddle, just photograph stuff in and over the garden. Well several weeks in and new material has become hard to find, the birds have thinned out looking for breeding sites. The long staying female Blackcap was joined briefly by a male and now both have melted away. One Jay is still visiting, no longer to cache peanuts but now on the prowl for the chance of eggs or nestlings. Our resident Blackbird pair, who have nested in the dense Bay tree next to the patio had a ding dong set to with the Jay and were struggling to drive it off, a rap on the patio door resolved the situation but I fear only temporarily. Jays are persistent nest robbers. In the front garden, two Robins have set up home, the male sits atop an ornamental birch tree and informs the world that this is "my patch".
Another bonus of lockdown is that traffic noise has virtually disappeared and now I can hear birds that are much further away. The Wren who shares his presence over about six gardens was loudly proclaiming his ownership of the territory and was being answered by at least two other birds. In the garden the other day I suddenly came up short as I realised I was listening to the faint far off strains of a Skylark - god knows how far away that would be as the nearest suitable habitat has to be at least a mile away.
The butterfly list has been extended by Large White, Brimstone, Holly Blue and several off course female Orange Tips. Speaking of off course - I was summoned by Liz to view a large butterfly sunning itself on one of the large plant containers on the patio. As always, I grabbed the camera but as I arrived the subject went airborne, did a lap of the garden and disappeared over the fence into my neighbour's extensive patch. My first UK Large Tortoiseshell. I stood in the garden ruing the fact that I had missed a shot when lo and behold the said butterfly reappeared, did another circuit of the garden and without pause disappeared forever. It would appear that there has been an influx of Large Tortoiseshells on the warm southerly winds, plenty of reports from Sussex to Suffolk.
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| Holly Blue |
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| Comma |
Plenty of Bees about, especially Grey-patched Mining Bees. The problem with photographing insects is that it takes fractions of a second to record the subject and several hours poring over the books to come up with, what in the end, is a best guess. Of course you could take the easy way out, stick it on Twitter and ask for an ID, sort of bypasses the reasons for having the book and adds little to your knowledge.
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| Grey-patched Mining Bee, Andrena nitida |
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| Grey-patched Mining Bee, Andrena nitida |
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| Grey-patched Mining Bee, Andrena nitida |
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| Another Andrena?? |
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| Hoverfly - a Platycheirus?? |
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| Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris |
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| Buff-tailed Bumblebee, Bombus terrestris |
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| Dark- edged Bee Fly, Bombylius major |
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| Eristalis pertinax |
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