This Turkey Tail fungus is growing nicely on an old wooden garden table. The fungus contains a chemical called Polysaccharide-K (PSK), which is used in some countries as a medicinal / alternative-medicinal compound in treating immune deficiencies and some cancers. It’s a pretty common dead-wood fungus growing right around the northern hemisphere.
The cat caught this weasel somewhere nearby the other week. It’s a bit of a surprise to find one so close to the village, though I have seen a few along the lanes nearby. It’s also a bit surprising that the cat wanted to take on something as potentially feisty as a weasel. The weasel was heavily infected with mites, so maybe was not in the best of health.
This Small Tortoiseshell and a fly-past Red Admiral this week will probably be the last butterflies of the year, unless we get a really surprise hot Halloween. In exchange for insects there’s a changing of the guard with the bird life - the last of the chiffchaffs appears to have moved on this week, but I had my first Lesser Redpoll of the winter yesterday and there seem plenty of Redwings about as well as a regular Red Kite back over the village.
This moth had somehow got its way into the brown bin along with all the garden composting waste. The Angle Shades has two generations, the Autumn one from August to November being the larger. It’s a nicely marked moth; I hadn’t noticed previously the way it turns up the outside edges of its wingtips to look more like a leaf.
#739 Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa)
Nearly missed this one, which would have been a bit of a tragedy; but happily I went for another check around the area where I set up my moth trap last night and found this beautiful Merveille du Jour perched in plain sight on the wall. This species has a shortish flight period in Sept-Oct, when it feeds on ivy flowers.
#830 Merveille du Jour (Griposia aprilina)
There was not a lot in the moth trap this morning, so it was a pleasant surprise to get 4 new garden species. The Box Tree Moth is a recent immigrant from South-East Asia that only arrived (presumably from imported plants) in UK in 2007 and is spreading pretty fast across the country - it is bad news if you have a box hedge as its caterpillars will eat all the leaves. Green-brindled Crescent and Canary-shouldered Thorn are both rather attractive native species with a single generation in the Autumn. The large and delicately marked caddisfly Halesus radiatus was also a welcome addition to the list.
It was a soggy moth trap this morning, as some quite heavy rain fell early in the morning. As a result there were not too many moths around, but Lunar Underwing and Pale Mottled Willow are both typical of the season. The small pale one, and only new species this morning, is a Vestal (Rhodometra sacraria, #824). This moth is a migrant from the continent which turns up late summer and autumn in varying numbers, but doesn’t survive in UK and become a resident.
This Southern Hawker was zipping around the garden before somehow getting nabbed by the cat, which is a pity. After a pretty poor year for dragonflies, I had this, a Common Darter and what was probably an Azure Damselfly all this week.
#261 Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea)
Despite Parent Bugs being common in Birch trees, this is the first I’ve found in the garden. Smaller than the birch shield bug and less boldly marked, this bug usually has a dark mark on the scutellum (back), which is missing on this individual, nonetheless I believe it is this species. Parent bugs are so-called as the females care for the eggs and young nymphs into the early summer (the males having already died off).
The two-spotted ladybird is one that I don’t see very often either, despite it being a common species.
These are a selection of bumblebees attracted to garden flowers, especially the thistle, I took eht photos a couple of weeks ago and since then there are many fewer bees around. These, plus the Buff-tailed Bumblebee are the commonest species here, with sometime an Early Bumblebee or two to be seen.
This caddis fly with its humongously long antenna was also in the moth trap. It is found on ponds, canals, lakes and slow rivers - none of which are very close to my house, so it looks like having antennae 3 times longer than its body doesn’t impede its ability to fly.
Three of these wasps came to the moth trap the other night, but there are several species that all look pretty similar, so not something I can identify to species level. They are all parasites mainly of different types of moth, where they lay their eggs on caterpillars which their larvae kill and devour from the inside, emerging in due course as adults.
Here are two new moths caught over the weekend, both species found only in the late summer/early Autumn. The Copper Underwing (Amphipyra pyramidea) and very similar Svenssons Copper Underwing (Amphipyra berbera) are distinguishable by the marking on the hind wing, but as I didn’t check it this one could be either - I’ll know for next time. Centre-barred Sallow (Atethmia centrago) is found with Ash trees, in one generation in August-September.
A nice collection of moths on Saturday morning, including two new species: Gold Spot (Plusia festucae) and Flounced Rustic (Luperina testacea). The gold-coloured marks on the Gold Spot do look distinctly metallic.
This funny-looking green caterpillar dropped out of the willow tree and landed on one of the kids. I believe it is the caterpillar of a Pale Tussock moth (Calliteara pudibunda), but motionless and scrunched up it looks more like a prickly plant seed of some sort.
#740 Pale Tussock Moth caterpillar (Calliteara pudibunda)
I’m happy with this shot of the thick legs of a female Thick-legged Hoverfly (Syritta pipiens, #524) on a Wall Daisy. I was away for most of August, but even so this seems to have been a fairly poor year for hoverflies. There’s certainly not many around the garden at the moment, when usually late summer there’s plenty of drone flies at least.
#524 Thick-legged Hoverfly (Syritta pipiens)
A large Buddleia next-door, plus some nice sunbathing surfaces have brought in quite a few butterflies the last few days. Plenty of Red Admirals, including this rather beaten up one, Peacocks, Small Tortoiseshells, Large & Small Whites, the odd Comma and Holly Blue and a single Brimstone. I didn’t add a new butterfly species for a couple of years, but while it would be nice to get something different you can’t help but enjoy watching (and snapping) these superb creatures. Shame the Sun (and most of the butterflies) have disappeared today.
These days I don’t get to find many new plants in the garden, so a clump of Yarrow growing in the lawn is good news. Another weed; hopefully it survives to flower next year, or even to be used as herbal tea.
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
After a break, here are some August moths caught this week. A trio of new species included Orange Swift (Triodia sylvina), Rosy Tabby (Endotricha flammealis) and Yellow-barred Brindle (Acasis viretata).
A fine selection of moths captured on Monday morning included a spectacular Poplar Hawk Moth, Sallow Kitten, four new types of “carpet” and many ermine moths including Thistle Ermine. All this brings my count of moth species to over 200.
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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