The first plum blossom and wild flowers are appearing in the garden. Bird-wise, this week I saw a first chiffchaff, while list week the winter shift was still around in the shape of a visiting male brambling. Spring comes early this year.
The first two leaf-mines are from the larvae of a Sallow Pygmy moth (Stigmella salicis, #973). These moths have two generations in the Spring and Summer and the twisting mines from the second generation are seen right through to November. The mine doubles back to create a blotch and the frass makes a broken line in the centre of the mine.
The second pair of mines are from the larvae of a weevil Isochnus sequensi (#680), which leaves these dark, blotchy mines. The larva by the second mine is that of a Syrphus hoverfly, which is a predator mostly of aphids and but also other insects.
It took me an effort to work out what this tiny seedling that popped up among the bluebell plants was. It’s a baby Beech Tree (Fagus sylvatica). The first pair of leaves really doesn’t look like anything to do with a beech tree, but if you look closer at the young leaves forming in the middle, those do. The plant didn’t make it: now gone, presumably eaten by something.
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.
This small Hawthorn sapling sprung up in the wilder corner of the garden, probably from a seed dropped in the winter by a passing thrush. It took me a while to work out what plant it was, sprouting up among the weeds. Common Hawthorn is a key species for a wildlife garden, not just for its blossom & berries, but also as nesting cover for birds and as a food-plant for 150+ species of insect. As such, I feel compelled to keep it. I have to move it from the place it has self-seeded, but as a tree that than can grow to up to 8m in height finding a space in my small garden is a bit of a challenge; however where there’s a will there’s a way, so I’m sure it will fit somewhere.
#583 Common Hawthorn ( Crataegus monogyna)
Over the winter I did some work to cut back some of the trees in the garden. There’s a little row of Hazels, which I will coppice on rotation to keep them a manageable size. The Corkscrew Willow was also spreading too far, so I cut it back quite heavily - if it wasn’t for the kids liking to climb up inside the canopy I would have given it the full treatment back to the trunk. This should result in new fresh growth in the spring and ultimately benefit the garden wildlife.
Preparing the vegetable patch to sow some seed, I found two walnuts seedlings. The neighbourhood grey squirrels were busy all Autumn burying nuts from next-door’s tree, so it’s not such a surprise to find some of them sprouting in the Spring. I put the seedlings into pots to join the Horse Chestnuts from the previous year. I’m not sure if the conkers were brought in by squirrels or the kids, but in the end it’s the same process. Now all I need is to find a big enough space to plant out my growing collection of seedling trees. Neither tree is actually native to UK, both originally coming from SE Europe.
Strong winds brought down many twigs from high up in the large beech tree above the garden. Some of the dead wood had these hard, orange dots that had pushed up through the bark. These “pustules” are from Coral Spot Fungus (Nectria cinnabarina), a common saprophyte growing on dead wood of hardwood trees. Though it starts on the dead wood, it does eventually spread to healthy wood, contributing to the eventual decay of the tree. There were several small insects on the infected wood, many more than on the healthy twigs that had come down. I suppose the trees natural defenses against insects may be weakened by the fungus or (or probably and) the decaying wood has more food available to insects.
#423 Coral Spot Fungus (Nectria cinnabarina)
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 is 1000 species - let's see where it goes.
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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