Frog Spawn
/It’s the first day of Spring, and I’m delighted to find some frog spawn in my garden pond. I was a bit late digging it out last year, but this (and some dragonflies, later in the year, hopefully) was exactly what I was hoping for.
Quakers & Early Spring Moths
/After some warmer days, this was the first outing in 2025 for my moth trap, catching some typical moths for mid-March. All of these moths fly for a couple of months in a single generation in the early Spring.
Irish Yellow Slug (Limacus maculatus)
/Found this lurking in the greenhouse; good to remove it before I start trying to grow anything there.
#980 Irish Yellow Slug, (Limacus maculatus)
Purple Jellydisc & Witches Butter
/Spotted a few fungi while catching some fresh air on Cleeve Hill this week. Purple Jelleydisc (Ascocoryne sarcoides) and Witches Butter aka Yellow Brain Fungus (Tremella mesenterica) provided quite a satisfying colour combination on a dead Gorse branch. Elsewhere there were a few groups of Funnel toadstools (Pseudoclitocybe cyathiformis), which are typically a late fruiting fungus showing from October thru to January.
Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
/I’ve got three of these visiting the bird feeders - they prefer sunflower hearts if any are available.
Tiny Translucent Fungi
/I came across a few examples of this tiny parasol growing in patches of moss on Cleeve Hill - it must be a fungus of some kind. It’s a very pretty translucent white fungus, taken on macro, so about 1 cm across, with a parasol that looks like it’s made of petals rather than pleats. So far I didn’t find any photo quite like it on the internet. The nearest comparison is Pleated Inkcap, of which there were plenty growing nearly, but these are bigger with a brown centre; and they tended to be found more in grassy areas on the hill.
Waxcaps on Cleeve Hill
/Almost a year to the day since my last Autumn visit to Cleeve Hill, and there were lots of fungi to see. A good collection of Waxcaps and other grassland fungi. Great views of a Short-eared Owl were a bonus (but sadly no photos of that).
A New Gnat
/Moths are getting a bit thin on the ground, but normally I’s expect more than just a single Light Brown Apple Moth by the trap in the morning. There were a lot of gnats attracted to the light thpough, including Winter Gnats and a Sylvicola species, which I believe is Window Gnat. The latter turns out to be a new species for the garden, as previously I only noticed Clear-tipped Window Gnat (Sylvicola punctatus), whereas last night’s has grey wing-tips if you look close enough. This is a common species though, that can be found all year round.
Sparrowhawk Kill
/All of a sudden we have birds back in the garden. A month ago I only recorded 10 species during the week for the BTO Garden Bird Survey; this week 22 species. Among the returning winter visitors are a group of Redwings in my neighbour’s holly tree, a Chaffinch, a pair of Blackcaps, two Song Thrushes, a Mistle Thrush guarding any mistletoe berries in the area, the first Coal Tit for a while and, of course, a Sparrowhawk. In this case the Sparrowhawk, a male, grabbed one of a small influx of Blackbirds and after a short struggle, plucked it, before heading off somewhere to finish off eating it.
Oleander Hawk-moth Caterpillar
/Back from a short trip to Frejus in the South of France, where I came across this magnificent caterpillar in the garden. Oleander Hawk-moth (Daphnis nerii) caterpillars start out green, then morph to this orange/black form, before pupating, then turning into a particularly spectacular hawk moth. There is a ton of Oleander (Laurier Rose) in the garden and this was disturbed by pruning. The leaves of Oleander are poisonous, but these caterpillars can consume it okay. Adult Oleander Hawk-moths are rare Autumn vagrants to the UK and the larvae are not recorded here. The French name for the moth is Le Sphinx du Laurier-rose.
Birch Shieldbug (Elasmostethus interstinctus)
/These handsome bugs over-winter as adults and can be found all year round, usually associated with Birch trees and sometimes Hazels. Their range covers nearly all of UK.
Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)
/I don’t get many dragonflies in the garden, so it’s always good when one turns up. I’ve had Common Darter previously; but also only late in the year during October. We had our first real frost last night, but this species seems relatively hardy as it can be seen right through to December if the weather is mild. It frequents ponds, including small garden ones, but also often occurs quite far from water.
Frosted Orange, Blair's Should Knot & Pale Mottled Willow
/As we had a nice dry night on Friday, I was able to put out the moth trap. I caught nine species, including this trio - all of them fairly typical for the time of year. Frosted Orange (Gortyna flavago) flies during Aug-Sept, it’s larvae live inside the stems of thistle plants. Blair's Shoulder-knot (Lithophane leautieri) is found around Cypress trees and flies a bit later - Oct-Nov. It is a non-native species first recorded in UK in 1951, but now widespread in gardens across most of England. Pale Mottled Willow (Caradrina clavipalpis) flies from July-September; its larvae are found on grain of cereal crops, including those that have been harvested.
#1015 Blackberry Sawfly (Cladius brullei)
/These green caterpillars, with their shiny black heads, are shredding the leaves on my raspberry canes (not much of a problem at this time of the year). They are larvae from a sawfly called Cladius brullei. This is sometimes called the Blackberry Sawfly, though from what I see they prefer raspberry leaves.
#1014 Ant Beetle (Thanasimus formicarius)
/The Ant Beetle, also known as the Red-bellied clerid, is an ant-shaped beetle with distinctive stripes and strong mandibles. The larvae and beetles themselves live under tree bark, where they prey on bark beetles and their larvae. This one presumably found its way into our kitchen on some firewood.
Spiders in the Brown Bin
/I rescued this motley crew of spiders from the brown garden waste bin at the weekend. I’m sure that the depot where they take all the garden waste must be a really great place to look for bugs! Lots of spiders this time of the year…
Gold on the Ceiling
/This bright yellow, foliose lichen seems the only one that grows on the felted roof of the dormer on my house. I was up a ladder clearing out the gutters and saw there are quite big patches of it all round this part of the roof - the limestone tiles on the main roof have plenty of other lichens, but not I think this species. Xanthoria parietina is a common lichen, also often found growing on twigs.
Common Plume (Emmelina monodactyla)
/These moths rest with their wings rolled up so they look at first glance like craneflies/ Disturbed while I was gardening at the weekend, this is a Common Plume. They can be found all year round, but Autumn seems when they are most plentiful. The larval food-plant for this species is Bindweed.
Brown Roll-Rim (Paxillus involutus, #1013)
/As in this case, this fungus is usually associated with Birch trees. The size is a bit variable, from 5-15 cm, and colour is brown. Though sometimes eaten, it can be fatally toxic in some cases. This is the first time they have appeared in my garden.
Blunderwings
/Out of 38 moths this morning, 19 were Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) - fairly typical for the season. These are common Autumn moths, colloquially known as “blunderwings” as they fly off clumsily when disturbed from their daytime resting spots. The sandy-coloured Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing (Noctua fimbriata) is a similar size also with a yellow hind-wing, but this time with a broader black band around the margin. Of the other moths in and around the moth trap nine were Setaceous Hebrew Character (Xestia c-nigrum).
