Another unsuccessful attempt at trapping moths last night, as the temperature dropped well below freezing, and few insects around too. There are still a few blackbirds and redwings about, roosting in next door’s holly tree, which are probably what attracted this female Sparrowhawk. It then perched up for a while to preen and enjoy the evening sunshine, before heading of again in search of supper,.
It seems like so long, but the first bees are back in the garden, with sunny days meaning we have some spring bees. A few bumble bees, honey bees on the heather, mini-mining bees on the daffodils and this male Red Mason Bee (Osmia bicornis) sunbathing on the willow tree. It seems quite early for this species, right at the end of Feb, but then it was a lovely warm afternoon and the smaller males do appear a couple of weeks before the females.
Not for want of looking, but this is the first thing worth a mention that I’ve seen all month, except a few un-photographed birds. Even the moth trap has drawn a blank on its two excursions so far this year, but if it stays warm it looks like I’ll be giving it another go soon.
#575 Red Mason Bee (Osmia bicornis)
Two new fungi found at the weekend. A large twig with Beech Woodwart (Hypoxylon fragiforme) fell from next door’s Beech tree. I tried the moth trap, but caught absolutely nothing; however I did find a couple of tiny Turkeytails (Trametes versicolor) growing out of the (very rotting) wood table it was standing on.
Some beautiful hoar frost on the trees at Bredon Hill, where thanks to fog on the higher areas the snow still persists. Wildlife was a bit on the sparse side, but a small flock of finches in one of the game strips on the top of the hill included at least one brambling - my first this winter. We’re lucky to have some great walks close to home.
Not much wildlife to be seen at the top of a wintery Cleeve Hill today, but plenty of tracks to see in the snow. Lots of rabbits and birds of different types, and also some Roe Deer slots.
Found these dead-wood fungi during a very scenic Christmas walk around Snowshill Manor. King Alfred’s Cakes are found on dead Beech, Ash or Birch branches, and were used a prehistoric firelighters - as they smoulder slowly it’s believed they were used by stone age man to transport fires from one camp to another. The stripey Turkey Tail is another fungus commonly found on rotting hardwood stumps. This fungus also has its uses, in Chinese medicine where it is believed to boost the immune system and even have anti-carcinogenic properties.
Candlesnuff Fungus (Xylaria hypoxylon) is a saprophytic fungus that breaks down rotting wood, and is typically found in the Autumn and Winter. This growth of it was on some dead sticks that have been lying around in the garden for a few years and are now well decomposed.
The lichen, looking swollen after all the wet weather, is Collema auriforme, looking like a glob of green-black chewing gum someone left on the wall.
Here are four, of the 37 species of woodlouse that occur in the wild in UK; probably the four commonest garden species. The Common Pygmy Woodlouse was the first of this species I found in the garden, though I guess i haven’t been looking that hard. Woodlice are crustaceans from the order Isopods, and live mostly on algae, fungi and rotting organic matter, though they will scavenge a meal off dead creatures given the chance. As with most gardens there’s plenty of them in mine, and they are present year-round quietly getting on with their lives.
In the days prior to antacid tablets, people used to dry woodlice and grind them into powder as a treatment for indigestion, seeing as the shells are rich in calcium carbonate. Something to think of if you are locked down and can’t get to the pharmacy!
This Chaffinch, getting to grips with a sunflower seed, is the first I’ve seen actually down at the feeders this winter. Especially on the colder days there’s a lot more birds around the garden; Blue, Great, Long-tailed and a single Coal Tit, which darts in to grab a sunflower heart when it can. The small gang of House Sparrows are back, having as usual, left to forage elsewhere during the Autumn. The mature Holly tree next door has a flock of a dozen or so Redwings stripping its berries, more this year than usually, also several Blackbirds and a Song Thrush. There’s a Mistle Thrush, which jealously guards the clumps of mistletoe in the surrounding area. The lunchtime roost of Woodpigeons is up to about 10 individuals now, and large groups of starlings are flying over morning and evening heading to a local roost. Many more birds than a few weeks back.
Last week there were still some insects around; either. like the Tapered Drone Fly, enjoying some winter sun on the wall, or taking advantage of the few remaining flowers. The Common Green Lacewing, turned from its summer green colour to a more seasonal brown, was found in the house, presumably looking for somewhere to hibernate. In contrast the Winter Gnat is a creature of this season, the males gathering to perform aerial courtship dances for the females, who in turn lay their eggs in the decaying leaf matter.
These Giant Willow Aphids (Tuberolachnus salignus, #389) skipped a year last winter, but this winter they are back in several groups on the undersides of the smaller branches in my willow tree. You’d think, exposed on the bare winter branches, they would be easy prey for the birds, but despite being big enough to make a good meal they seem not to get consumed to any appreciable extent. Neither do they seem susceptible to cold, they just hang in there on the branches right through the winter.
According to other accounts, these aphids should appear in late summer, but mine I’m sure only emerge from October onward; then in the early spring they disappear again, nobody really knows where. This summer dormancy is called aestivation (kind of the opposite of hibernation), which several species do - normally to avoid excess heat and drought in the summer.
Another thing that’s fascinating about the Giant Willow Aphid is that there are no males present in the colony. In fact no males of this species have ever been recorded anywhere. The females give birth to live young which are clones of their mother - this is referred to as parthenogenesis.
It’s interesting that despite looking I didn’t see a single one last winter, so maybe just to make it extra difficult for any predators or parasites to come to rely on them as a food-source, these insects ave a two year life-cycle. It will be interesting to see if I find any next year.
As it was a calm and dry night I was able to put out the moth trap for the first time in a while, and was happy to attract several moths, mostly around rather than in the trap. A couple of December Moths (Poecilocampa populi) and a Mottled Umber (Erannis defoliaria) were new ones for the garden, plus also there were a handful of Winter Moths (Operophtera brumata) and Light Brown Apple Moths (Epiphyas postvittana). In both the Winter Moth and the Mottled Umber the females are flightless, using pheromones to attract the winged males.
It’s amazing the difference a few days make. It’s a lot easier to see the birds up in the surrounding beech and birch trees now after the first frosts have encouraged the remaining leaves to fall.
These tiny fruit flies appeared on a coconut shell I hung out for the birds. When I was a kid we sometimes put these out for the blue tits, but it seems “Generation Alpha” garden birds prefer sunflower hearts and fat balls, as the coconut is not getting much interest. Anyhow checking the flies, they are Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila melanogaster), which is an Asian species that was first recording only in UK in 2012. These are not becoming (yet another) imported garden pest as these fruit flies do not just go for rotten or blemished fruit, but the female cuts into health fruit to lay its eggs, with the larvae then eating the fruit from the inside. The flies go for cultivated soft fruits, but can also be found in wild hedgerow blackberries and sloes. I tend to think that my fruit flies probably came from the coconut itself, but maybe not and they are from an established wild population.
#713 Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosophila melanogaster)
Having a close look at my door mat, I was able to find 4 or 5 different species of moss growing there. With its little compartments, this rubber doormat makes a pretty good moss nursery, and as an environment it seems a little different from other places liked by mosses in the garden. The species here need to be able to deal with wet and alternatively very dry conditions, and it seems therefore this enables some new species to thrive that I’ve not found elsewhere.
It’s easily the best spot in my garden for Silver Moss (Bryum argenteum, #385), but other door-mat mosses included Capillary Thread-moss (Bryum capillare, #564), Pointed Spear-moss (Calliergonella cuspidata, #711) and Wall Screw-moss Tortula muralis, #382)
This plant bug and the micro moth were attracted into the kitchen lights on Bonfire night (Nov 5th). The Tarnished Plant Bug (Lygus rugulipennis, #710) is variable in colour and similar to other related mirid bugs, but differs a little due to the pattern on its back and the hairs thereon. These bugs become more abundant in the Autumn. The accompanying moth that was sharing the same light is also potentially interesting, so I wish I’d got a better photo. One potential species is Grey Birch Button (Acleris logiana), which is a species formerly only found in the Scottish Highlands that has been turning up in Southern England in recent years - it appears in September and overwinters as an adult. But I guess i’ll have to find another one to be sure.
These are fungi found last weekend and this weekend, mostly around Kemerton Nature Reserve.
Common Inkcap is also known as Tippler’s Bane, as it was regarded as edible, but poisonous if consumed with alcohol - these days it’s recommended just to avoid it. The White Saddle is unusual with its fibrous looking stem, there were a lot of these along the edges of the footpath at Kemerton. The Snowy Waxcaps were nearby at Alderton Hill; apparently they are edible but honestly they don’t look very appetising. The Candlesnuff Fungus was growing around a well rotted cut stump in the path - an interesting thing about this fungus is that it is very mildly bioluminescent. I’m not sure about the identification of the other two species - for Christmas, a decent identification guide for fungi, please Santa.
Not a very spectacular creature, but at this time of the year the new additions to the list get harder to find. I was a bit surprised to be able to identify this to species level, but apparently it can be separated from similar species due to the clear wing-tips. This one was drawn to the moth trap last week. It’s a common enough species, whose larvae prefer organic waste.
Making up a quite mixed bag in the moth trap this weekend, there were a handful of caddis flies of two different species. On the right the “half-moon” caddis fly (Limnephilus lunatus, #686), with a dark-rimmed pale semicircle at the tip of its wings. This is a species often coming to light at night, which I’ve caught several times from late summer through to now. The darker caddis fly on the left is a new species, Anabolia nervosa (#708), which also flies from August to October. The larvae of this caddis are usually found in streams, where they make a case of sand particles and small twigs.
Okay, it’s not quite November, but moth trapping this week, after a small gap, we had some new autumnal species.
First of the new species is the November Moth itself (Epirrita dilutata agg.), actually one of 3 very similar & closely-related species flying at this time of year, the others being the Pale November and Autumnal Moths, which in most cases require dissection to definitively identify. These moths fly now, laying eggs in the leaf buds of various deciduous trees, which duly hatch the next summer. The Beaded Chestnut (Agrochola lychnidis) also flies a single generation at this time of the year. The larvae live in rough grass, with the adults attracted to Ivy blossom. The second generation of the Grey Pine Carpet (Thera obeliscata) is another September-October moth.
The other moths caught included Turnip Moth (Agrotis segetum), a Silver Y Moth (Autographa gamma) and a couple of Light Brown Apple Moths (Epiphyas postvittana). The latter species is an accidental introduction all the way from Australia, which since arriving in Cornwall in 1930’s has expanded its range to become a common species in much of UK.
Passionate about nature, based in Gloucestershire UK; this site is about creating a wildlife friendly family garden and exploring the diversity of animal & plant species that share it with us.
As a nature lover and wildlife gardener I started wondering about the biodiversity in my backyard and just how many species from plants to insects to birds to mammals might live in or visit it.
Much of the wildlife in my small, village garden has been present right under my nose for years without my really appreciating it, so on the way I am learning a lot about different species and how to make a wildlife-friendly environment for them; also getting engaged more in conservation activities around Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and the Cotswolds.
My garden species tally started from zero on June 1st 2018, the target was 1000 species, which I eventually hit in June 2024. But there’s still plenty to see and learn about.
I'm very interested in your comments & advice: whether it's about the blog, some help with identification or just how to make my own little Eden better for wildlife. So please leave a comment or drop me a line if you feel like it!
Graham Tompsett
microedenproject@gmail.com
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