Wurzel

[Wurzel]

I popped out to the “wildlife” area at work again today but there wasn’t a lot about – a few bees, including finding a B.lapidarius burrowing into a hole, and a charming “charm” of goldfinches – plinking away.

Once at home I had to do my first rush and grab of the year as a Small White settled on some Plum blossom. I managed to get a couple of shots before it was off like a rocket to neighbouring gardens. It looks like I’m out of shape and will have to get back into training for the 10m dash and grab!

While I was out in the garden I thought I’d have a little mooch around. The usual suspects were present; the white faced bees at the top of the garden along with a B.lapidarius and the Blackcap warbling with a more flutey tone than the local Blackbirds. More Bluebells are shooting through now joing those early bloomers from a fortnight ago.

As I moved further down I missed a Tawny Mining Bee as it went to ground but settled for trying to get some shots of a Bee Fly in action. I waited and edged into it’s airspace, focused and clicked away in “sport mode”. I’m not sure about the end result but it’s a technique in practice!

Finally tonight I was reminded that I now need to close the curtains before we sit down for our family tea. A Peacock flitted towards the open french windows, settled for a while on the wall, and all the time I was fighting the urge to grab the camera and get a few shots. With the curtains drawn I won't know what I'm missing!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Another lunchtime and another stolen 15 minutes in the "wildlife area". Today there were some butterflies , but they were on the other side of the security fence (It supposed to be to keep people out but is it to really keep the kids in?) and to make matters worse they were joined, very breifly, by a Peacock. Settled for trying to get some "pinking" Chaffinch and watching the Bee Flies.

Once at home there was the usual rush to get my older daughter to Rainbows so I only glanced at a Peacock in the back garden. Still I managed to find one in a neighbours garden and it's got to that time of the year when I take my camera most places, just in case, so I manged to get a few shots of it. It seemed a bit washed out?

Still haven't seen an Orange -tip but there still plenty of time - I wonder if the cooler weather next week will slow things down a little?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Due to packing ready for our journey to Wales today I didn't get a chance to write my diary post for yesterday...
Friday 30th March

Having pretty much exhausted the wildlife area I managed to get some time out and about in Pewsey as I needed to complete a reccie for my session for the school's Artsweek in a month or two's time. The idea is to let them loose with the school's digital cameras in the local area to get images of where urban and wildlife over lap. We can then jumble the images together in Photoshop and hopefully print off their work as large installations.This meant checking out the local nature reserve (Scotchell) and surrounding environs! It was pretty cold during the morning as the sun tried to burn it's way through the haze so I wasn't hoping for much. However amongst the reccie shots (barb wire and brambles, fork in a tree etc) one or two creatures did happen to pass in front of my lens...
There were Chiff Chaff a plenty singing as well as a pair of Grey Wagtail for starters, quickly followed by my first Speckled Wood of the year and then 2 Small Tortoiseshell and to top the morning off a Red Kite being mobbed by a pair of gronking Raven (although I didn't get a shot as I was too enthralled by the dogfight)

Chiff Chaff

1st 1st of the day!

Job done, work over and away back home early...Once back I started doing the prep work for our trip to Aberaeron and in between sorting the recycling or ironing I took a few sorties up the garden. Once out there a male Orange-tip bombed up the garden, pausing just long enough for me to get a distant (and so cropped and "record") shot. The orange looked stunning as it caught the light. I later found out that my wife had seen a male and a female earlier in the day - typical!

2nd 1st of the day!

Then, majority of the sorting done, I decided that I needed to make the most of the warm weather while it lasted, i.e. today. So I took a walk around the local estate and managed to find a few bees, including a lifer - what I think is an Ashy Mining Bee (?) as well as my first possible B.humilis and plenty of hoverflies and beeflies.

Andrena cineraria - Ashy Mining Bee?

B humilis?

Then it was back home to more packing and getting the girls fed and to bed. While I was putting away their toys a small grey/blue blur silvered past me and landed on some Ivy. Luckily I had my camera with me (it's that season when it's almost attached to me "just in case") so I clicked away at my first Holly Blue of the year, a female and looking absolutely resplendant. After I thought that I had enough shots I put my camera aside and feeling the warmth on my back, hearing the bees buzzing and my sight occupied by the Holly Blue I drifted away somewhere for a very tranquil 5 minutes.

Surely not my 3rd 1st of the day?

Then it was bathtime and my peace was shattered

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Gibster]

A liberal sprinkling of humour amongst the nitty gritty. Luvin yer style mate, keep it up (and the bee IDs of which I'm useless and need the tips!)

Av a goodun,

Gibster.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Gibster I'm glad you appreciate my style my wife hates it The sites you recommended along with BWARS that Chris C did are where I'm getting my bee ids from so I'm blagging it big time!

Better head to bed now as that post took an age to sort out and now my eyes are burning

Have a goodun, and a lifer on me

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Didn't get a chance to post this yesterday so here is 31st March...

Luckily I made the most of the good weather while it lasted as when we left for Wales the sun was hidden from view, and as we made progress along the M4 there was even some rain. Once we’d settled in we took the usual tour – park, seafront, along the river and home. When the opportunities arose I checked out the Dandelions in the park and found a species of Bee that I don’t recognise? Then during the walk back along the river there was what I think is a Caddis Fly or Stone Fly?

There were also a pair of Dipper that seemed to be using an outflow pipe as somewhere to take cover. When not down the bolt hole they demonstrated all kinds of identification features such as the white eyelids, the rusty breast of the British Subspecies, the bobbing behaviour and the scaly black back. What caught my eye in the first place was the bright white bib and the bombing flight, just above water with their wings a blur.

normal view...

Perhaps tomorrow will bring some butterflies? I mean today I did see my first fritillary...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

April Fools day.
Another day when things weren’t looking too good according to the Met Office, but we went out anyway, to Llanachaeron. The walled garden soon heated up but it was very hard work to try and get shots of butterflies as they seemed to favour the walls and vegetation around the edges, all of which were on the other side the small hedges, or the opposite side of the raised beds. This would mean that to get the shot you’d have to walk back and around, by which time the butterfly would be gone. I did see a few butterflies – Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Speckled Wood (down near the wood) and 2 Small Whites, along with a lot of bees (B.Terrestris, B.Humilis, A.fulva etc) but the photos I did get were pretty distant apart from one Peacock who decided not to bother flying away as I approached, it just turned its’ back on me.

Punk Tit

Later on I found an unusual looking bee – Nomada lathburiana – amongst the leaf litter with hundreds of spiders.

Then the area of the car park came into its’ own with 2 Comma, a male Orange-tip (which seemed smaller than I remembered them from last year?) and what I think is Andrena angustior?

Finally on the way down to get some honey ice-cream for the girls I found some Osmia rufa which had their nest burrows in a telegraph pole!

The Met Office are predicting cool cloudy weather again for tomorrow – lets hope they got it wrong again...

Have a goodun
Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel,

Some nice photos there, paricularly liking your Holly Blue shots
That is one species that I totally failed to get a decent photo of last year despite seeing loads of them around. Every time I saw one settle it seemed to be twenty feet or so off the ground....oh well, maybe this year

Cheers,

Neil F.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Neil!
I too have experienced the Holly Blue blues! I seem to develop a crick in the neck or get blinded by the sun when trying to get shots of them. And when they do pose for you they always keep their wings shut - spoilsports! My shot was blind luck - though I had out the hours in over the few days previously...is that karma?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Mark Colvin]

Hi Wurzel,

I've been having a look at your Hymenopterans this evening.

A few comments on IDs (From 30th March):

Andrena cineraria (male)
Bombus humilis is Bombus pascuorum (queen)
Probably Andrena nitida (male)
Nomada lathburiana could be Nomada leucophthalma due to its location in leaf litter under deciduous trees.
Andrena cineraria (male)
Osmia rufa.

Some great pictures.

Keep up the good work.

Kind regards. Mark

[Wurzel]

Cheers Mark!
I was having doubts about A.angustior today when I found what I think is a female A.cineraria in the same place, it was the lack of hair that cuased my initial doubt. I was also worried about the B.humilis as I remember photographing them back in August and I didn't think they were this early in the season - so the B.pascuorum is much better - and a "lifer" too! Thanks for the other pointers too, I didn't know where to begin with A.nitida as I'm at the stage where they all look the same still.

Have a goodn

Wurzel

[ChrisC]

and regarding Andrena cineraria Wurzel, next time you visit Garston as you leave the car park if you turn immediately left (at least they were there last year) look out for burrows in the foot path.

taken 16th April 2011 Garston.

if you keep looking long enough you might even see other species (cuckoo bees) waiting to go in after they have left

CHris

[Wurzel]

Cheers Chris , I remember you telling me about that last year and not knowing anything about Bees I went looking for these huge buggers (for some reason I thought they'd be the size of Hornets ) and so didn't see any. It's strange how your preceptions of scale change. Now I know what to look out for I'll be checking them out - and great tip about waiting for the Cuckoo wasps, I'll try that out.

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

Unfortunately the weather men were correct and it was a lot cloudier and decidedly cooler than yesterday so with no butterflies in the offing we headed back to Llanerchaeron. This meant that the girls could have a look around the house and while we waited for it to open we hung around in the walled garden as it was much warmer there. A Red Kite passed overhead, a Little Grebe whinnied from the lake, a Blackcap fluted and a Woodpecker drummed away in the surrounding wood but it was too cold for the butterflies. I did find some dazzling beetles in flagrante and what I think was a "Conops" (although having spent hours looking at them last night it could have been my imagination) but then the doors opened and the girls whirled around looking for easter chicks and dressing up as welsh maids.

I did find a pristine Small Tortoiseshell on a window ledge in the cheese store but it was dead. Still it gave me a chance to check out the palps and get really close up.

Once the girls had finished dressing up and had eaten we took them down to the rivers edge where they had a paddle, threw sticks for Sophie the dog and made river sand castles. I had a little root around at the edge of the car park and a Comma flew by and was swiftly followed by a Peacock. This time it didn’t turn its’ back to me, instead it did the worst job of disguising itself that I’d ever seen! It must of realised how obvious it was and only settled for long enough for a single shot.

The sun then disappeared amongst the clouds and I settled down to try and find some mining bees – as luck would have it I found an Ashy Mining Bee – a very distinctive looking bee with much more hair then the mining bee that I found the other day!

I know it’s still early in the season but already I have a touch of Metisis and I’m getting increasingly annoyed with weather people that insist on smiling while informing us that it’s going to be wetter and colder over the next few days! Still you never know...
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

After a couple of days of really cold weather in Wales and then the journey home, when I opened the curtains this morning and saw blue skies and sun I was determined to get out with the camera. Once the sun had warmed a little and evaporated the dew I “supervised” the girls playing in the garden. At the top a plum tree is in blossom and there were bees galore – Honey, B.lapidarius, B.terrestris, B.lucroum, B.lucroum B.cryptarum, B.hortorum and B.pascuorum, A.plumipes as well as what could be 2 species of Andrena and probably my personal favourite A.cineraria – the Ashy Mining Bee. But no butterflies? I consoled myself that perhaps it was still a little cool for them and just carried on supervising and watching the bees overhead.

Ashy Mining Bee

After lunch with the temperatures rising slightly more I couldn’t resist taking the family to Martin Down – hopefully to bag me a Green Hairstreak or Grizzled Skipper! Parking at the Sillen’s Lane end we set off along the track towards Bokerley Ditch. There, patrolling the hedge was a white butterfly. It would settle very briefly and before I could even think about making an approach it would take flight. After several brief pit-stops it must have found some nectar that it appreciated as it stopped long enough for several shots and it was my first Green Veined White of the year, a male.

Ace – now for a few Grizzlies and Greenstreaks! But that was it for butterflies. There was a Speckled Wood and a Red Admiral later in the afternoon but I checked all the usual haunts for both species with no luck – perhaps the colder weather last week has slowed things down? I’ll have to try again if there’s a warm sunny day next week...if!
So no butterflies I soon found some bees. The first one was a tiny thing and I haven’t a clue what it is – I did think Andrena labita but the red markings are down the whole abdomen meant no, same reason Lasioglossum calceatum so I’m left thinking Sphecodes?

Then a Tawny mining bee feeding in a pose that reminded me of a Red Panda.

Tawny Mining Bee

Then another ?

?

Just before we headed home I picked up 2 lifers. First up Omisa bicolor and then Bombus bohemicus.

Osmia bicolor

Very distant shot...

So only three butterflies all day! What happened to those heady days of 2/3 weeks ago?
Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

I didn’t think that I was going to have much chance to get out today, and the weather forecast wasn’t hopeful either . After taking my older daughter to her swimming lesson (she got her 10m badge ) and then doing the shopping I managed to nip out over lunch. After checking the garden and not finding any butterflies I settled for some bees. Only one or two species today but then I got distracted...a male Orange-tip was patrolling up the top of the garden. I got a few distant shots and wasn’t hopeful of much more as it seemed very flighty.

After watching it for a few more circuits round the garden it disappeared over the hedge at the back and I thought that would be it, so back to bees...Only it wasn’t it did one more pass and then settled back on the same daffodil, allowing me to get really close. It kept its’ wings closed at first...

...before opening them up as the sun suddenly appeared from behind the cloud. Is it just me or are the black markings on the fore wing slightly darker and larger than usual? I’m not really sure if this is an aberrant.

As the sun went in again it fluttered down to the bottom of the garden and landed. From the top of the garden I knew roughly where it was but the greenhouse blocked my view so I headed back down. Not wanting to disturb it I held back and scanned across the flower beds and it was then that I appreciated the wonderful camouflage the underwings offer (possibly because I’ve been reading Dazzled and Deceived).

Once I located it I spent 30 minutes in his company, just drinking in the details; the little tufts of hair on the edge of the wing, the yellow “eyelashes” and the grey hairs. My older daughter joined me and was almost as fascinated by it as me. She kept wandering to the middle of the lawn and then creeping back until it suddenly came into view/focus – a bit like the magic 3d pictures. We even tried tickling its’ wing edges so she could have a flash of the orange-tips. It just didn’t budge.

Having got back from some errands in town I did my late afternoon walk just to see what was about and it was still there then...I might even go and have a look in a minute – I’d better find my torch!

Have a goodun, hope you get visited by the lagomorph!

Wurzel

[David M]

That's definitely some type of aberrant OT, Wurzel. The black markings are quite smudgy and the forewing spot is more pronounced than usual.

A very striking specimen.

[Lee Hurrell]

Agreed - it could almost be a foreign species!

I've never seen an Orange Tip look anything other than 'normal' and that's the second ab so far this year.

Lee

[Gibster]

Hiya Wurzel,

I think your amorous beetles are Green Dock Beetles, Gastrophysa viridula. And that male Orange-tip is simply stunning! Very catching wingtips indeed.

I've just the one day off work this Easter break. Typically the weather is complete pants but I'm enjoying your Diary. I'll definitely have to put in more effort with the bees, there's a whole world out there I'm missing.

Cheers mate,

Gibster.

[Wurzel]

Cheers for your comments guys - I'm glad that I'm not seeing things! Cheers Gibster for the id of the beetles, and remember that "bees are the knees"

I said yesterday that my Orange-tip didn't move all afternoon so I nipped out at 22.40 last night in total darkness, set my camera to "night" and pointed it at the daffodil where he'd been and clicked. This is what I got...

Just to make sure that I hadn't disturbed him I went out again this morning and he was still there. We had some rain in the night and I thought that butterflies would have gone under cover rather than just grimly sit tight?

We took the girls to Downton Abbey...sorry I mean Highclere Castle today for the Easter egg hunt and Bonnet competition (they didn't win so it was a stitch up job! ). There was very little about - Chiff Chaff singing, a few bees, a Treecreeper and a beautifully marked spider.

As we left a raptor circled over head, the typical forked tail and finger-tips silhouette making this my second Red Kite of the day (the first almost got ran over by a mini van in front of me )

Rain pretty much all week so I'll have to take what I can get in amongst the showers. Typical you're stuck in work when the weather is great and then when you're on holiday it's so pants it's a massive pair of brown and cream Y-fronts!(cheers Gibster for reminding me how useful the phrase "pants" is! )

Have a goodun

Wurzel