Shieldbugs

Something else to learn about.  While out looking for ladybirds I regularly come across shieldbugs.  My field guide says there are 46 UK species - so, manageable and roughly the same number as ladybirds and dragonflies.  As with most insects, many species aren't found this far north.  Each time I saw one I took a photo so I could look it up later.  If I have the identifications right these are the ones I have seen so far.

Birch Shieldbug (Elasmostethus interstinctus)

Gorse Shieldbug (Piezodorus lituratus)

Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina)

Hairy Shieldbug (Dolycoris baccarum)

Hawthorn Shieldbug (Acantosoma haemorrhoidale)

Shieldbugs aren't always easy to photograph - those hibernating on gravestones can be tucked away in awkward corners while those out and about on branches can see me and try to hide.

The life cycle of shieldbugs is similar to that of ladybirds.  Adults hibernate over winter and the eggs are laid in late spring.  The nymphs moult through five instars before becoming adults.  This winter I have come across a couple of things that looked like shieldbug nymphs, so perhaps these are late developers or didn't make it to adulthood in time.  I also see hibernating ladybird pupae on gravestones but I don't know if they are viable either.  This is probably a Green Shieldbug nymph next to a Harlequin Ladybird pupa.

This might be a Gorse Shieldbug nymph (Berwick-on-Tweed).

This might be a Gorse Shieldbug or a Hairy Shieldbug nymph (Ponteland).

I have also come across a few things that aren't shieldbugs but look a bit similar, such as this Cinnamon Bug (Corizus hyoscyami).

It is amazing how many little beasts there are to find once you start looking.

Catching up with OtterCam

I was a bit distracted by trying to catch the otter(s) hunting frogs over the past few weeks but the other cameras have been seeing them as well, so here's an update.

Mother and the two cubs pass by fairly regularly, so I can check they are still together.  The cubs are well grown but still keep close to mother so I don't think they will be leaving yet.  I expect she will move them on by the end of next month.

The dog otter has been around quite a bit - partly because this is good fishing in his territory and partly also so he is around when the female is ready to mate again.  One night he stopped for a scratch right in front of one camera but surprisingly the others didn't pick him up at all.

A couple of times he has appeared in daylight.  Here he is in the rain.

There is a popular sprainting spot at the top of the bank so he often goes up there to leave a message.

And a bonus from another non-target species.  Potentially more food for the otters if their parents don't look out, although the bigger risk may come from being trodden on.

A few more ladybirds

I hope you won't mind a few more ladybirds.  First a species I have never seen before, an Adonis' Ladybird (Hippodamia variegata).

On a walk up the coast new Newbiggin-by-the-Sea on Sunday I found what looks like a Red Marsh Ladybird (Coccidula rufa) but in completely the wrong habitat.  It was swept from a grass tussock only 5m from the beach but is a wetland species and is normally found in or beside freshwater ponds.  Confirmation of the ID is awaited.

This was a bit easier, a 22-spot ladybird, also swept from grass.

The cold, wet, gloomy spring seemed to keep ladybirds in hibernation and there were still plenty to be found on gravestones in the last few weeks.

This is a Two-spot Ladybird (Adalia bipunctata).

And a four-spot quadrimaculata variant of the Two-spot Ladybird.

A four-spot spectabilis variant of the Harlequin Ladybird (Harmonia axyridis).

And a four-spot quadrimaculata variant of the Two-spot Ladybird with a larger succinea form of the Harlequin Ladybird.

A two spot conspicua variant of the Harlequin Ladybird.

A Pine Ladybird (Exochomus quadripustulatus).  The photos don't give any impression of size but compared with the Harlequin this one is tiny.

A 10-spot Ladybird (Adalia decempunctata), also very small.

And a decempustulatus variant of the 10-spot Ladybird.

An Eyed Ladybird (Anatis ocellata), one of our largest species.

An Orange Ladybird (Halyzia sedecimguttata) with a Cream-spot Ladybird (Calvia quattuordecimguttata).

And every child's favourite, a Seven-spot Ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata).

STOP PRESS

This post was all ready to go last night but I found more ladybirds yesterday, hence this update. I was planning to look for bees on the Spetchells but got distracted by ladybirds.  On a few small Scots pine trees on Spetchell Two I saw these:

7-spot Ladybirds

A 10-spot Ladybird

Dozens of Pine Ladybirds

A Cream-streaked Ladybird

Harlequin Ladybirds

And several Eyed Ladybirds, this one with prominent rings around the spots

and this one without.

On the way back to the car I stopped at a patch of grassland in Prudhoe and in the very first tussock I found a new one for me, a Meadow Ladybird (Rhyzobius litura).  This is one of a group of small, relatively plain ladybirds known as inconspicuous ladybirds but is apparently pretty widely distributed.

And in the same tussock, a 24-spot Ladybird.

On the way home I called in at Ponteland churchyard and saw a Cream-spot Ladybird

and a couple of Harlequins.

So nine ladybird species in a day.  With practice I am gradually learning how, when and where to find ladybirds and how to identify them but there are plenty more to see and learn.  I'll keep an eye out for them while I am looking for bees and dragonflies as the weather warms (I hope).

OtterCam in March

This hasn't gone according to plan.  Three years ago in March I first saw an otter catching and eating frogs in the culvert and every year since I have been trying to get better videos.  The aim has been to see the otter(s) hunting in the pool and eating in the culvert.  In 2021 the otter was too close to the camera and last year the hunting sequence was better but the otter usually didn't bother to get into the pipe and mostly ate at the entrance, just out of view.

This year I put two cameras on stakes towards the back of the pool and at the beginning of March I crawled up the culvert, screwed a wooden batten to the roof and fixed a trail camera to it.  A few days later we had heavy rain and although the camera is safe I haven't been able to get back in to retrieve it.  The two cameras in the pool did record some good footage of hunting but not what I was after.  Once the water level had gone up the cameras were overwhelmed by false triggers from the water movement and filled up their cards with videos of the waves.

So this is what I have.  The first video shows the otter family hunting in the pool after leaving the pipe.  Some of the edits are a bit clunky but that's a limitation of trail cameras.  I think one of the cubs was leading at first and it ran back to mother when it saw the light from the cameras but all three were back moments later.

The second video, from the same night, shows one of the otters digging out and eating a frog outside the pipe, so out of view of the culvert camera.

The third short video shows what it was like when the water was high - it was even higher than this at one stage.  It also shows the otters climbing the bank where I get in, rather than going against the flow in the culvert, something I now know they do quite often.

There are more videos that I haven't yet edited.  At some stage I'll be able to get back into the culvert to retrieve the camera which should contain some good footage, even if most is just of flowing water.  I'll post more after that.

The frog hunt happens only in March.  I'll have to come up with an even more cunning plan for next year if I am to get the sequence I want.