A ladybird life cycle

It takes a year to go round but I found every stage of the 2-spot ladybird's life cycle all together last month. I think this isn't turning out to be the best year for ladybirds - drought means drier plants, fewer aphids and less for larvae to eat - but these were doing well in an aphid-infested elder bush.  In truth the eggs aren't identifiable to species but I think they were probably from 2-spots because everything else was.

These are 2-spot larvae.

And a pre-pupa, a larva getting ready to pupate.

Then a pupa.

And an adult.

There were at least half a dozen pupae.  I brought them home to observe emergence as part of a study of parasitism organised by the UK Ladybird Survey.  The survey is looking at the prevalence of parasitic wasps and flies targeting ladybirds.  Over the next six days all six emerged and all were 2-spot ladybirds form typica, so no parasitism of these.  Here is one just emerging.  The pronotum has its full colour but the elytra (wing cases) are pale.

Soon after emerging the ladybird extends its wings so they can expand and harden to turn transparent.  Once that has happened they are folded under the elytra until the ladybird flies.

Over several hours the colours start to develop.

The new adults were released and will hibernate over winter, and mate and lay eggs next spring and summer - the cycle will then be complete.

Staking a claim on RoebuckCam

The rut may be over but the bucks are still putting themselves about.  Although the young buck is not old enough or strong enough to hold a territory he is still keen to make his mark.  The first video shows him scent-marking.  He has glands between his hooves that leave a scent when he paws the ground and scent glands on his neck and cheeks and at the base of his antlers which he rubs on the tree.

As you saw, he ran off at the end, perhaps aware that the dominant buck was nearby (and followed him a couple of minutes later).  The older buck returned after 20 minutes to check out the younger one's message.  He's a full "six-pointer", probably 3-5 years old and in his prime.  It is interesting that he didn't attempt to leave his own scent, something an otter would always do.

Here's another video of the older buck, this time running and barking an alarm call.  I didn't see what had spooked him because nothing else appeared on the camera.

Until recently I didn't think much of roe deer as subjects for trail cameras as all they ever seemed to do was wander past, occasionally stopping to nibble the vegetation (the twins a few years ago were a notable exception).  The last few weeks have proved me wrong and have produced some memorable videos of more interesting behaviour.  Let's hope the deer can keep up the interest as we move away from the rut.

The buck stops here

The roe buck has been busy with the rut in the past few weeks but he now looks as though he is due a rest.  Although the cameras have been in the same positions for a few weeks he looked a bit suspicious at first when he saw this one.

After standing for a few minutes he decided it was safe enough to lie down and was flicking his ears as he was bothered by flies.

Most of the time was just chewing the cud.

At one stage he was so relaxed he fell asleep, although his ears show he was still alert.

He also had time for a bit of grooming.

Eventually it was time to move on, almost an hour after he lay down.

He was back the next day but didn't have time to stop.

News from StoatCam

If like me you have a couple of dozen wood mice and voles in the freezer and have been wondering what to do with them, this may be the answer.  Since the excitement of seeing ten stoats in the garden a few weeks ago the cameras have been picking up only one at a time, although not always the same individual.  I noticed they have a particular liking for a space under a stack of large paving stones leaning against a sycamore at the end of the wall and were using it as a larder.  On one occasion a stoat went off to fetch a chunk of something, either rabbit or squirrel, and took it into the larder.  Three hours later it (or another stoat) returned and took the prize off elsewhere.

I had seen similar activity there as well so I put in a frozen vole and a couple of days later a stoat found it.  It brought the vole out and then returned to see if there was another one.  I think because stoats (and weasels) are used to raiding small mammal nests and bird nests they are always hopeful there will be more than one item of food.  This time there wasn't so it took the vole back in and either ate it there or took it out the back door as it didn't reappear.

Expecting this might become a habit I put in a mouse but no stoat returned.  Instead a magpie found the mouse and it certainly remembered and came back several times to see if I had left another one, which I hadn't.

Stoat sightings are intermittent at the moment but here's an example of what the cameras do see.

One of the cameras in the new wetland in Gosforth Nature Reserve is also seeing a stoat regularly although it is suspicious of the camera and doesn't hang around.  It is only a mile away so it could be one of the recently dispersed youngsters from here.

Close Encounter

I had gone looking for an 11-spot ladybird so I had only a camera with a 90mm macro lens. When I first saw the kestrel sitting on a fence post I assumed I wouldn't be able to get a worthwhile photo but as I moved closer the bird didn't react.  It kept looking up at me but most of the time it was scanning the ground.

Eventually I was standing only one fencepost away, a distance of about 2m, and I was able to take these photos using the ladybird lens.

I thought the bird was looking for small mammals, although there probably wouldn't be any in the parched grass, but then it suddenly dived towards me and caught and ate a black beetle right at my feet, too quick and too close for a photo.  In the time I was watching it caught half a dozen beetles, each time returning to a fence post and each time allowing me to move close again.  I even had time to record some video.  The video has a different aspect ratio from the photos so I found I was too close and had to move back to get the bird in the frame.

You'll see my reactions aren't quite as quick as those of a kestrel!  It is also better at hunting beetles than I am as I never did find the ladybird.

Eventually, after about half an hour, some people came along with a dog and the bird was gone in a flash.  I don't know why it was so comfortable with me standing so close but I felt enormously privileged.

News from OtterCam

The otter cameras are in a quiet phase at the moment.  The previous cubs left in early May and I hope that the female may have given birth to new cubs last month.  Time will tell.  The dog otter was missing for a couple of weeks, probably travelling elsewhere in his territory.  That's him in the photo above, wandering past a camera.

On a camera set up to look for deer one of the otters appeared making an unsuccessful attempt to catch a mallard.  The video was recorded at dusk but the camera was still in daylight mode and the resulting noisy picture has been put through a denoise programme resulting in a rather "soft" image.

It was interesting to see the otter try.  I suspect it was surprised to see the ducks fly off, perhaps hoping that the target was a duckling not yet able to fly or an adult in eclipse.  Mallards, in common with other ducks, and geese and swans, moult all their flight feathers in one go and are unable to fly for three or four weeks, usually in July.  The drakes develop a drab female-type plumage to make themselves less conspicuous.  Here is a photo taken in this week in a previous year showing a drake mallard in eclipsed plumage.  You'll see he has lost his normal colours to be in camouflage and has a row of pins where his new flight feathers will grow.

Perhaps the otter just got the timing wrong.  Also from the past week here is a drake testing his newly regrown feathers.  He'll soon get back his handsome plumage as well.

When the otters do appear on camera they are usually just wandering by.  On this occasion the dog otter spent nearly ten minutes rolling on the moss but I have edited it down to just over a minute.  This was also at dusk and the camera changed to infrared towards the end.

Three hours later the female came and did the same so they are still very aware of each other even though they probably rarely meet.

The roe deer rut

The roe deer rut takes place from mid July to mid August so is now at its peak.  The bucks are busy trying to intimidate each other and impress the does.  The first video shows an older buck chasing off a younger one.  There was an element of good fortune in this video because the bucks are travelling much too fast to trigger the camera in time.  However, a few seconds earlier a kid had appeared at the side of the frame to start the recording but then disappeared, perhaps because it heard them coming.  The slow motion replay is at 1/8th speed.

Although mating occurs now the pregnancies won't begin until January after delayed implantation, so the young will be born next May.  This year's kids are now about two months old and must be wondering what all the excitement is about.  Here a doe runs off to avoid the younger buck, leaving him and her kid looking rather puzzled.

The bucks follow the does around to show their interest and to be ready when the doe shows hers.  Here the older buck was trying to look cool as he followed the doe through the woods but he misjudged a jump and fell in the water.  Let's hope she wasn't watching.

In a couple of weeks' time it will all calm down again so we'll hope for a bit of excitement from something else on the trail cameras.