Monday 30 April 2018

Andrena scotica

Here is another bee that lives in a wall.  This is Andrena scotica, also known as the chocolate mining bee, presumably because of its colour.  Although it is a solitary bee, the females nest close together in an aggregation and several in a group share a common entrance to their nests through a gap between the stones.  The first bees I saw on cool morning were males, just hanging around outside.



A few females were popping in and out, ignoring the males and looking as though they were already busy nest building, although none was carrying pollen.  The females have a characteristic black and white scopa (pollen brush) on their back legs.


Like most solitary bees, Andrena scotica is parasitised by cuckoo bees, in its case mostly Nomada marshamella.  This is a female.  I have yet to see a male.

Saturday 28 April 2018

A walk round the pond - week 17

After a couple of warm days last week the weather has reverted to what the forecasters call "normal for this time of year", which means cold and windy.  I had a thick coat on to visit the pond and still needed wellies, although the water level has dropped in the past week.  When I arrived a grey heron was fishing and a roe deer was browsing but both vanished when they saw me.  The little grebes have built a nest and one of them was sitting on eggs.

Mrs C-G is still incubating.  Incubation of Canada goose eggs takes 28-30 days so they should hatch within the next week.

Also on the pond were two pairs of tufted ducks



plus a pair of coots and a pair of moorhens.  Here is one moorhen exploring the abandoned swan's nest.

The willows have now all gone over but there are now plenty of dandelions so the bumblebees have moved onto those.


I saw a reed bunting, a swallow, and house martins flying over the pond and two linnets on the hedge.  Singing nearby were a willow warbler

and a shy sedge warbler (it's right in the centre).  I don't take a very long lens with me as it would be too much to carry.

The find of the week was this beautiful female tawny mining bee (Andrena fulva) foraging on blackthorn.





I also completed my April BeeWalk for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust.  Because of the weather there were fewer about than last week but I did see four species, which was four more than last month.

Friday 27 April 2018

Eyed ladybird

When I first saw this ladybird I thought it might be a harlequin ladybird* because of its size.  However, it turns out to be an eyed ladybird (Anatis ocellata), our largest native species.  It is about 8mm long and has characteristic yellow-orange haloes around its black spots.  It lives on pines, birches and poplars and eats mainly pine aphids.



* The harlequin ladybird (Harmonia axyridis) is a non-native invasive species which arrived in the uK in 2004 and which is a threat to our native ladybirds.

Wednesday 25 April 2018

Hungry vixen

This vixen has been turning up in the garden before it is completely dark.  She is obviously suckling cubs and may well be the heavily pregnant vixen I saw in the garden a few weeks ago.  She was already gleaning the sunflower hearts below the feeder when I came to put out the peanuts.  I waited until she had gone but she was back 10 minutes after I put the food out.  I expect it is difficult to find enough to eat when she has cubs to feed.







The pictures are rather soft and grainy as they were taken through the window in very low light.  The camera is right at its limit with ISO 12800, f/4 and a shutter speed of 1/30s.

Monday 23 April 2018

Basking in the sunshine

I took advantage of the recent warm weather to visit the snakes again.  When I arrived, shortly after sunrise, it was already 12℃.  At first there were no snakes to be seen and I wondered if they were already warmed up and I was too late.  However, the second time along the bank I found an adder so maybe they were just having a lie in.

A short distance farther I found a slow worm hidden in the grass.

A bit farther still and there was the smallest snake I have ever seen, thinner than my little finger.  It had orange eyes, paler than the red eyes of the adults.  The red thing underneath it is a red velvet mite (Trombidium sp.).  Although you might think this is the sort of thing a baby adder eats for breakfast, the red colour is a clue to the fact that it is toxic and should be avoided by predators.  In this case the adder ignored it and the mite got away.

Then another adder, mostly hidden in the leaves.

And another slow worm.  When it stuck out its tongue you can see it has a lizard's tongue and not the forked tongue of a snake.

The next adder was a bit easier to see.  While I stood and watched it occasionally shifted its coils so that all the parts were warmed by the sun.



Then a paler snake, also adjusting its position from time to time.


This was the last one I saw, not moving and seeming to be fast asleep.

Saturday 21 April 2018

A walk round the pond - week 16

The weather has been crazy recently.  After a record low spring temperature only a few weeks ago we have just had the hottest April day in my lifetime so we can expect the natural world to be a bit confused.  Good news was that when I arrived I saw my first swallow of the year, although as Aristotle said, one swallow doth not a summer make (although he said spring and said it in Greekμία γὰρ χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ).

As soon as I approached the pond the male Canada goose came over to check me out.

He didn't get out of the water but I can see he is going to be trouble once the chicks are out and about.


The female is still brooding the eggs.

Also on the ponds are a pair of coots, a pair of little grebes and at least one pair of moorhens, although all these keep their nests well hidden.  The swans' nest looks abandoned and there was no sign of them so I am sure they have given up.  I don't know if that was anything to do with the Canada geese.  Other birds I saw and heard included chiffchaff, blackcap, willow warbler, buzzard and curlew.

I don't know a lot about willows but there appear to be several different sorts on the site.  The flowers on the two trees in full bloom last week have gone over and others have come into bloom so the bees have moved.

The first bee I saw was this one.

You can see she has dark wings and no pollen baskets on her hind legs

so she is a cuckoo bumblebee.  I am pretty sure this is Bombus vestalis, the vestal cuckoo bumblebee.

Other bees I saw were buff-tailed, red-tailed and early bumblebees, and common carder bees such as these.    When you see this you can see why pollination works.


This one shows the proboscis between the two maxillae.

There were several peacock butterflies about.

There were lots of flies and hoverflies as well but fortunately I haven got into hoverfies (yet).  One insect I did recognise was the bee fly, Bombylius major.  It is a bee mimic and is a parasite of solitary bees and wasps.

The long spike at the front is just a proboscis for collecting nectar, which it does while hovering like a hummingbird. This photo was taken at 1/2500th of a second and the wings are still blurred.

Ash buds are just bursting so there will be a lot more green by next week.

Other than on the trees, there aren't many flowers although coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) is still putting on a good show.


The first reports of the emergence of large red damselflies (always the first species to emerge) in the south of England came a week ago.  As spring travels north at 1.8mph we should see them here in a week or two's time.