Are you thinking that there’s no wildlife worth looking for now that September is here? All the good stuff has migrated or is starting to hide itself away? Rubbish. There’s a very special little bee that you might like to look for right now…
Insects
A Dronefly & Early Bats
I know, I know! I don’t post for ages and now I’m posting again. I just had to tell you about my exciting sightings today.
Death in the Garden but Life Goes On…
In September when the sun was shining (remember that day?) I went to check on the garden wildlife and managed to photograph a white Crab Spider eating a Honeybee on one of my Michaelmas daisies. This alone was amazing to see but not as amazing as seeing a small Bumblebee land on the very same flower at the same time!
► Watch out! watch out! there’s an Ivy Bee about!
I’ve been known to hack down the ivy that determinedly climbs my garden trees, every year it’s all out war but not any more. I now have an excuse to let it grow.
> An Unwanted Visitor
First I heard a loud buzzing sound. I thought it was a power tool outside and ignored it. Then it sounded like the power tool was banging itself against a window. Strange…
> Last Gasps of Summer : Hello Autumn!
So it looks like summer is well and truly over. October arrived with northerly winds and Summer 2008 waved goodbye and got on the next plane to Florida. Depressed? At least we had a couple of weeks of sunshine and the insects managed to have a final feed.
> Worn-out, Balding Bumblebees
I’m not going to apologise for writing another post on bees so quickly. It’s not going to be long before their buzz will have completely disappeared from our gardens and we will have to wait for 2009 to see them again.
Sniffing Bumblebees
On Friday I had the pleasure of accompanying Stuart Roberts from BWARS on a survey of Upton Heath in Dorset (also in the parish of Corfe Mullen) for bees and wasps.
New pond, new stunning dragonfly…
At last – this week the sun has appeared and with it a load of different insects have descended on my garden. Bees, butterflies and hover-flies of all types are now busy buzzing round the flowers. However, this afternoon we had an unexpected but seemingly-friendly visitor.
The secret world of wasps, bees & ants
If I say the word “wasp” or “bee” what do you instantly imagine? An annoying wasp buzzing round your burger at a BBQ? a hairy bumble-bee bumping it’s way round your garden flowers? What about this beauty below? a bee, wasp or ant?
My first hairy stag…
I had forgotten that I hadn’t told you about my “visitor” from the other night.
Day-dreaming about Moths!
In the winter I wrote a post called “Day-dreaming about Flycatchers“. When I wrote it I was dreaming of sunny summer days in July and Flycatcher chicks. Well the Flycatchers are back but so, unfortunately, is the rain.
Today the Met Office issued several severe weather warnings in the South of England. It has rained NON-STOP all day, even my new pond is flooding. So I’ve come up with a novel idea for feeding my hungry Flycatchers…. at night!
Spring into action
A lot has been happening in the garden over the past few days.
Chasing Toads & Peacocks
I can’t begin to explain how tired I am tonight. It’s a long time since I’ve been this knackered. So where have I been? Absolutely nowhere. Today, with the sun shining and the birds singing I decided to stay in my own garden.
Don’t look up!
Today I needed to do some food shopping in Marathon about 10 miles away, and thought I’d pop into Crane Point Nature Centre (which is conveniently opposite the supermarket!). We have a lovely neighbour on Conch Key called Jacquie who had already offered to let me borrow her pass to Crane Point, so with pass in pocket I was all set.
Spiders of the Smiley Spiny Kind
Anyone who knows me will know that I don’t like spiders (other than Spider Pig). However, mainly due to the macro photography of spiders by my friend The Black Rabbit at Blue Grey I seem to be slowly overcoming my aversion – I even managed to photograph one on Grassy Key the other day!
Blue Butterflys and Red Digger Wasps
After a cloudy and breezy start, the day brightened into a warm sunny day. At about 4pm I decided to take a walk at the nature reserve before it got dark.
Wildlife News
I seem to “collect” wildlife news stories. Here are a few I have been hoarding for a while, ranging from fungi to deer!
A bit of sunshine
I wandered around my garden late this afternoon. There wasn’t much colour to speak of, leaves needed raking, and weeds were growing, but there was something to cheer me up.
Damselflies on a summer breeze
What does it feel like to walk through a cloud of glittering damselflies? or to watch them delicately laying eggs on a sunken leaf?
URBAN EXTENSION 