ChrisC

[ChrisC]

yesterday was a spiders in the garden and trip to the woods. the butterflies were few and far between only speckled wood being seen.

favourite of the garden spiders was this linphyia triangularis unusually not upside down on its web

the lack of butterflies was made up for by obliging Darters

and a diaea dorsata.

even the wasps were lethargic

[Wurzel]

Chris that diaea dorsata doesn't look real - are you sure you haven't been playing with Playdoh? It looks like a chopjob! I might need your help later as I found some hoverflies and bees that I'm having difficulty identifying...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[ChrisC]

one of only 3 butterflies to pay a visit to the garden yesterday.

[ChrisC]

you have to love the mornings after a misty/ foggy night, the otherwise invisble world appears before your very eyes.

even this earwig gathered moisture overnight

This is a Myxomycete (sounds better than slime mould) - Leocarpus fragilis which was a new thing for me

and a later stage on pine needles

close up view

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Chris,

Nice to hear from you and I totally agree with you.

You have to love the mornings after a misty/ foggy night, the otherwise invisble world appears before your very eyes.

Great shot of the earwig and those slime moulds are weird things!

Good hunting.

Kind regards. Mark

[ChrisC]

a walk around the forest today there were brambles flowering, red campion flowering, 2 red admirals and a bonus female darter.

[ChrisC]

the looks i get get ever more strange, finally got a couple of pictures from a local garden centre of the spider uloborus plumipes otherwise known as the garden center spider. a few customers and staff gave me a wide berth

[Susie]

Nice find!

It's got some pretty impressive front legs.

[ChrisC]

first diary entry of the year and a new tick for the garden. Male Reed Bunting. quite unusal for this edge of coniferous forest. apologies for the poor crop of a terrible rushed pic.

[ChrisC]

just the one red admiral in the garden today but plenty of crossbills looking spectacular in the sun around the forest.

[Wurzel]

Crossbills are ace birds, there's something a bit special about them I've always thought and I love their gyp,gyp calls, great find

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[ChrisC]

it has been a lovely day, red admiral, small tortoiseshell and brimstone flying through the garden and out in the forest dozens of Brimstone flying round including one female, 8+ commas, and 2 Peacock. a bonus common lizard.

[ChrisC]

2 warblers in an hour
i was sitting in the garden this morning and missed getting a snap of a blackcap. but he did pop along later and i was ready for him. having heard a few chiffchaff this week i'm assuming this was one that finally, after investigating the chamelia and buddliea, sat still in the magnolia for a terrible pic. the season is coming.

[ChrisC]

not sure who was watching who, sat watching him/her for 10 minutes before it disappeared showing me it'd had a close shave with something as the tail was in the process of growing back.

[Padfield]

Hi Chris. I'm no Piers, but I think your second comma from March 11th is ab. neole. It struck me as rather weird, so I looked on the Cockayne database and found this, which is very similar:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/ ... xonID=8516

Guy

[ChrisC]

Guy,thanks for that, i thought i was much darker myself which is why i posted the 2 together in the hope someone with more experience would mention it. thanks for the input.

Chris

[Lee Hurrell]

I'd agree with Guy about the Comma, although I'm also no Piers (or no Guy, come to that!).

Here's an ab. neole I found in Somerset in 2009.

Cheers

Lee

[ChrisC]

went down to the woods today for the first time this year, a welcome day off work. I was hoping for maybe speckled wood, orange tip or maybe orange underwing alas the lepidoptera had different ideas. only comma, brimstone and peacock seen.

thousands of tadpoles in the track puddles i think they are struggling for food as they were all congregated around the empty spawn.

one for the mycologists amoungst you. no idea what this one is/was

The wild daffs were pretty much over, the wood anenome were flowering and the place was showing promise of the bluebell carpet i'm expecting


came home to find more lizards (i'm beginning to appreciate these guys) allowing me to close enough with the close up lens attached and my first white of the year.

[Susie]

Poor old tadpoles. I don't fancy their chances with the coming hot weather.

Love the photos, especially the last one. Glad you enjoyed your day while I was stuck at work

[ChrisC]

thanks Susie, i'll be popping up there again sunday with some tupperware tubs just in case. oh you missed a lovely day