Tags
birds, buzzard, common darter dragonfly, Damselfly, dove, emerald damselfly, flea beetle, garden, garden spider, grey dagger caterpillar, insects, leaf beetle, long-tailed tit, moorhen, snail, spider's webs
This is the last collection of photographs I took last year of the creatures I saw in my garden. This post starts with photos I took in mid September and continues until the beginning of November.
A Flea Beetle. Not a particularly desirable insect to have in the garden but I was fascinated by its shiny wing cases and the enormous rear legs used for jumping.
A Leaf Beetle – I think this may be Chrysolina varians which lives on St John’s-wort. It was such a pretty iridescent beetle that I found on the clothes hanging on my washing line. With apologies for the horrible hand!
Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
I am pleased that Buzzards are returning to East Anglia. Until eight or nine years ago I had never seen one here.
Some beautiful dew-covered Garden Spiders’ webs (Araneus diadematus) I saw at the beginning of October
Apologies for the out of focus image. I believe this is an Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa) or it might even be a Scarce Emerald Damselfly (Lestes dryas)
I spent ages following this damselfly round and round the pond until at last it settled and then of course, the camera wouldn’t focus on it!
I saw it again the following day perched on willowherb seeds.
This is a better photograph but still not as clear as I would like.
I had never seen one of these damselflies before. What makes me think it is an Emerald Damselfly is (a) its green body, (b) the way it rested with its wings spread out and (c) the brown wing-spot. What makes me think it may be a Scarce Emerald Damselfly is the size of the wing-spots which are quite wide. (The Emerald Damselfly’s wing-spots are narrow).
Grey Dagger moth caterpillar (Acronicta psi)
The prominent soft spike is just behind the caterpillar’s head which makes it look back-to-front. Probably a ruse to fool birds. The moth has dagger shaped markings on its wings. I found the caterpillar in the bottom of the wheelbarrow after I had taken the pyracantha prunings down to the heap at the bottom of the garden.
Common Darter Dragonfly (Sympetrum striolatum)
Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus) in Spindle tree
And again
Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)
White doves sitting on the shed roof
Garden Spider (Araneus diadematus)
Spider silhouette
I held the begonia leaf so that I could photograph the markings on the spider’s back
A tiny yellow snail on a dead leaf. I think this is a White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
I hope you have enjoyed looking at some of the things I saw in my garden last year. Best wishes to you all!
I like that you described the spider webs as ‘beautiful’ – they can be in the right light! I admit spiders scare me…
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All spiders used to scare me but I now don’t mind Garden spiders as they are quite small and aren’t interested in me. Big House spiders I don’t like so much but as my daughter is terrified of them I have to catch them and take them outside. I use a glass jar to trap them and then slide a card underneath to keep them inside while I remove them from the house. Thank-you, Christy. I hope you are well?
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You are so lucky to have seen so much wildlife of all sorts in your garden. It’s great that you offer the wildlife an oasis in which to live.
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Thank-you Jerry. We do have quite a large garden with lots of water. We hardly ever use chemicals and we don’t keep the place as tidy as most gardeners. We aim to have a proper wildlife area eventually.
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Another lovely post Clare, just goes to show how much fantastic wildlife is right under our noses. One of the things that came out of the Macro Moth talk the other night, we were told they are vital in a garden ecosystem and one Blue Tit brood of chicks can eat 15,000 moth caterpillars.
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That is an amazing amount of caterpillars! Thank-you, Julie.
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Your moorhen reminds me of our weka.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weka Not that I have weka in my garden. I wouldn’t mind if I did though.
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Thank-you for the link. Poor birds! What a time they are having trying to survive! Yes they do seem familiar, especially the tail flicking. Moorhens are not likely to die out anytime soon though. They can be very aggressive to any other water-bird who comes near them and they are very conscientious parents.
How is your father? I hope you don’t mind me enquiring.
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The wekas have a strong toehold in some parts of the country; thank goodness. My father has regained his toehold on life, too. To our utter amazement he was well enough to go home on Thursday. It will take a while for him to fully recover, of course, and the task of helping him now falls on my sister who is my parents full time, live-in carer. Thank you for your concern and support. It has been a trying week.
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I can imagine how difficult it has been for you. I am not sure why but there is such a lot of pneumonia about. My aunt has just got out of hospital after becoming very ill and had to have her lungs drained. I know three other people that have had it recently and have heard of a number of others who have had it too. Is your daughter still in hospital? Problems never come singly do they?
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These bugs do seem to have their seasons. Often just as the seasons are changing, it seems to me. My daughter is still in hospital. She is safe but I don’t know what the long term solution for her will be. Or even a medium term solution.
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Oh my dear Ann!
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Lovely photos, Clare. I’ve never seen a white dove, they’re beautiful.
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They are. I am not sure who they belong to, but they spend a lot of their time in our garden eating food I put out for the wild birds!
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Those spider webs really are beautiful and that caterpillar must be about the strangest one that I’ve seen. I’m hoping that, since you’ve used all your photos, spring will come quickly so you can take some more.
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That would be good! We have a weekend ahead of gales, sleety showers and some frost so no work in the garden I think!
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An excellent selection. I must see if I can find a caterpillar this year. You would think that there must be some about.
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I found very few and only this one by chance. I think it has something to do with my less than perfect eyesight!
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Love your amazing, subject rich, photo series…It is such great fun.
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How very kind! Thank-you very much.
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Absolutely terrific pictures, Clare. I especially like the spider webs and the news that the buzzards are coming back to this area. But all your pix are lovely!
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Thank-you, Cynthia. You are kind and generous as always. 🙂
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Gorgeous spiderweb shot, Clare. It’s so hard to capture their beauty. I also love the damselfly. Damselfly and dragonflies are my favorite little bug critters. 😀 xo
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They are mine too! I have been trying to learn more about them recently as we had so many types in our garden last year.
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How stunning would be to be surrounded by all these marvelous creatures, dear Clare. Great gallery… All my best wishes ⭐ Aquileana 😀
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Thank-you! I am very lucky to have a garden full of wildlife. With love and best wishes, Clare xx
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