Wurzel

[David M]

Rain pretty much all week so I'll have to take what I can get in amongst the showers.

Normally I'd be equally frustrated but to be honest, we badly need a wet week (so long as April doesn't turn into a washout).

[Wurzel]

It's not the rain really it's the timing We definitely need it but why does it have to come when I'm holiday? That is the Law of Sod

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[NickMorgan]

I don't think we can complain. We had a lovely summer in March!

[David M]

I don't think we can complain. We had a lovely summer in March!

Don't joke about these things, Nick. Look what happened last year.

[Wurzel]

I think Nick's onto something here...last year we had an early spring with great warm weather, then what felt like a dampish summer followed by a glorious autumn. So really we had 2 years worth of weather in one year. Here's looking forward to summer number two!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

As I was busy with errands and family duties pretty much all day I didn't manage to get out and make the most of the warm and sunny morning checking local sites like Martin Down for Grizzlies, which is what I wanted to be doing . Still I did manage half an hour at lunchtime up the top of the garden and teh bees were quite active. I finally managed to get better shots of carder bee, Bombus pascuorum.

Then I was visited by a male Orange-tip which settled on a Bluebell after a few passes up and down the garden.

I thought at first that it might be a different male from the other day, but once he briefly opened his wings I realised it was the aberrant again. Still he was the only butterfly I've seen for the last couple of days and therefore I'm enjoying his company. After the initial photos he made another 3 stops in roughly the same area, so I'd stop looking at whatever I was looking at and enjoy the colours and the spectacle.

Having seen Ashy and Tawny Mining bees throughout the 30 minutes I was not so surprised when the little chappy below turned up. From the colouration and markings (greenish eyes, yellow spots, black at the base of the antennae and black to red to yellow on the legs) I believe it to be a male Nomada goodeniana, I like the "gooden" bit of the name in particular

It's a true bee and is a cleptoparasite of mining bees, nipping in when the female is out collecting pollen to store in the burrow of her offspring. It then lays an egg and eventually the larvae will "dispose" of the mining bee larva. Apparently the females sniff at the entrance of a burrow to see if it's occupied or not!

Hopefully tomorrow I can wangle some time out - I think that the girls might need to have a walk at Martin Down or Garston

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Debbie]

What great pictures of the bees and orange tip....

[David M]

Yes. Educational stuff. Thanks, Wurzel.

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel,

Cracking photos and interesting info about the bee.

In my ignorance I would have taken that as a wasp of some sort, just goes to show

Cheers,

Neil F.

[Wurzel]

Cheers for your comments DMS, Dave and Neil! I'm just trying to make the most of my holiday and my garden seems to have taken on the character of a safari park with all kinds of beasties that I never knew about turning up. Today was no exception...

As my older daughter had a friend round on a play date and so was occupied all morning I managed to pop up to the top of the garden for a little bit. What initially caught my eye was three whites having a bit of a set too. One came from over the back hedge, one from the left and one from the right and they just sort of met in a three-way spiral/crash under the boughs of the apple tree. By the time I'd grabbed the camera and made it up there only one was left but he was very chilled. This seems to be the way at the moment- after the initial skittish-ness they settle and I find I can get really close and spend some time getting to know them.

I thought that would be it for the garden, but then as I was heading in I looked back and a Peacock landed on the path to bask. I only managed a very rushed shot as the heavens opened at this point and the hail stung my face!

Later I very graciously offered to take the girls out for the afternoon so that my wife could have a break As I was packing the girls into the car a Speckled Wood landed on the stones and looked almost pristine, the underwings looked fantastic.

It was all going so well on the drive there with the shining and beautiful blue skies...unfortunately as we arrived at Martin Down the sun disappeared, the wind picked up and it was pretty cold. My hopes of Green Hairstreak or Grizzled Skipper were dashed, and although it did warm up once the cloud had passed after about 10 minutes we saw only one butterfly (a male Orange-tip) for teh rest of the visit. Perhaps the Grizzlies emerge later at Martin Down, and looking around apart from Dandelions there doesn't seem much else for them to nectar on. Still I'll keep coming back and today Kitty was amazed by the fact that we were walking on Chalk and Lottie loved collecting snail shells and hated rabbit poo. Ahhh that's the stuff of special memories!

Once home I did my ususal walk around the garden and there among the bluebells was a roosting Orange-tip. As I got closer I realised that this was a female, and the slightlest flash of the open wings showed the black tips and confirmed it.

I left her to sleep in peace (if they do "sleep") but I'll head up there tomorrow morning and try to catch her strecthing her wings. Bit of a strange one - four species in the garden and not really tried for, and when I visit a reserve only one sighting all afternoon?

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[millerd]

Hard to believe that three of those four butterflies are merely hours old, yet one is perhaps nine months or more... That Peacock seems hardly worn at all.

The Speckled Wood underside is splendid - I'm still to see one round here, so I'm envious!

Dave

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel,

I like that Peacock photo, really shows how they can stand out from their surroundings. I agree with Dave, hard to believe it has overwintered and still looks like that .

Cheers,

Neil F.

[MikeOxon]

hard to believe it has overwintered and still looks like that

I suppose that lying still, in a sheltered place, does not cause the damage that flying around amongst twigs, etc. does.

Mike

[Wurzel]

Cheers for your comments guys! Lying around in a sheltered place is what I like to do during the winter too Mike

Today the girls were on a play date down near Christchurch and after my sterling work yesterday looking after the girls, today it was my turn for a break. So I dropped them off and headed over to Sopley Common for a bit of a reccie. The site guide on this website suggested Sliver Studded Blue and Grayling frequent the area and if the girls have another playdate at the right time in the future then I should be able to come back.

Once I'd arrived it was still feeling a bit cold and had yet to warm up, but I headed up onto the heathland anyway. At the top of the hill there were plenty of "gyp, gyp" calls and I found a party of 5 Crossbills and so tried to get a few shots. It was dangerous work as they would discard the pine cone once they'd finished with a flick of their bills and if I wasn't careful it would land on me bonce! I did put the camera down and pulled out my bins to watch them tweezering the pine cones apart with their mishapen beaks and then using their tongue to get at the seeds.

Once the Crossbills headed on their way they were replaced by a pair of Coal Tits and then a Stonechat singing from the top of the pine tree. On the other side of the side of hill a scratchy churring sound alerted me to a Dartford Warbler - looking stunning in it's summer wear. While on this hill a small dark butterfly flitted by (Green Hairstreak?) but I couldn't relocate it, consoling myself instead with a Sand Lizard and then (possibly) two new species of bees and a Green Tiger Beetle, with it's monstrous jaws

It was soon time to leave and back to collect the girls and as I left the heathland and entered the wood near the entrance I finally came across some more amenable butterflies - a Brimstone and a Peacock. The Brimstone didn't pose, but followed me all the way back to my car.

Once we got home I had to supervise the girls playing outside, shame So in amongst the showers I mooched around and had a look to see what I could see. I was visited by my first Large White of the year, a male, but he stayed up high or didn't stop at all.

The there was a Speckled Wood that bombed down teh agrden, a Brimstone that bombed up the garden and a Small White that literllay dropped over the fence, and then gradually gained sufficient height to get over the fence on the other side of the garden. As everything was so flighty I settled down and mentally "zoomed in" to look for some bees. I managed to find the usual species of small bee and added Osmia rufa and Andrena nitida to the garden list.

Andrena nitida - fresh female

And then I found a tiny golden beauty of a bee - what I think is Osmia caerulescens because of the green metallic eyes. It was only about 5mm long and keeping an eye on it was next to impossible so I'd slowly walk along the fence, turn and then walk back until I spotted one against the red panels.

Then finally just as I was heading in a male Orange-tip flew up the garden. I followed it and it settled a couple of times meaning that I could see that it was "normal" and so not my mate from a few days ago.

Finally the rain started, then the thunder, so I had to head in and call it a day. But what a day!

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[MikeOxon]

You're certainlly making great use of your macro lens, Wurzel. I notice you even used it for the Crossbill shots. I assume they are cropped but still look very sharp!

The second Bee pic intrigues me. At first glance it looks to be in flight but the wings are closed. Perhaps you super-glued it to a piece of glass?

Mike

[Wurzel]

Cheers Mike, I can assure you that no creatures were harmed in the production of that image! I just got in close so close at a funny angle that the depth of field is very narrow. It also helps that is was balancing right on the edge of the Ling

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Wurzel]

After the very busy last few days things in the Wurzel household slowed down a bit today - perhaps it's burn out or perhaps it's because the holiday is almost over, even the play machine that is my younger daughter only manged a paltry 2 hours of "shops" So to finally get some work done,a nd so I didn't have to keep doing the 15m sprint, I set up in the garden While I was out there a male and female Brimstone did a cricuit, a male Small White and Large White also dropped in but didn't settle for long enough and after each lesson planned a brief 5 minute "break" yielded a few new bees. Two very small ones I have yet to identify, one I think is Girdled Bee and the other was Andrena clarkella - with it's red back, bum and leggings.

I also couldn't resist finding Osmia caerulescens as it just looks so fake - like it's been sprayed gold...

Also just when I thought the day was over for butterflies a male Orange-tip did a couple of passes to keep me on my toes and when he settled he looked different from the last two males I've seen.

Back to work next week - and so finding things to photograph will take a back seat for a while , still it was fantastic while it lasted...and there is the long weekend ("Frit weekend")...

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Neil Freeman]

Hi Wurzel,

Back to work for me too on Monday

That little gold bee is a cracker, I have never seen one around here, something else for me to look out for

Cheers,

Neil F.

[Wurzel]

Cheers Neil, I think it's now my favourite bee!

The last two days have been a bit mix and match. Yesterday was relativley warm but wet and then cloudy, and today was really cold but with lots of sunshine - put properly together and we could have had one pants day and one brill day! But as it was I still took the girls up to Garston Wood for a family walk with their grandparents. It was to cold for butterflies but you never know?

There were some great birds around; Treecreeper, Marsh Tits, Blackcap singing away and also Nuthatches a plenty.

The girls would run ahead looking for fairy doors, or hang off the arms of their Dad Dad and try and pilfer his walking stick but they both went really quiet as the local deer slid through the shadows. Eventually I manged to stalk them close enough to get a photo and although the "white" played hard to get she is visible.

As we walked through the woods the Bluebells looked good but not as thick as last year, could the cold snap have knocked them back?

There were a few bees around, Buff Tailed Bumble Bee, Ashy Mining Bee and N.Goodenenia but what really caught my eye was a golden fly (dung fly) that I seem to recall covering fresh cow pats?

Finally when we got back from the walk and the subsequent visit to the swings this little chappy was waiting for us in the porch. Not sure what species it is so I'll have to have a look on BEWARS, although it does seem familiar.

And so ended the weekend, and with it my holiday Still no Grizzlies or Greenstreaks But I guess that means I've still got them to look forward to and it was nice to visit Garston - perhaps next time it will a bit more busy butterfly wise

Have a goodun

Wurzel

[Debbie]

How wonderful to see your pictures when this weekend hubby & me could not find a single butterfly anywhere and we tried both sides of the county. Our bluebells are not out yet either