Small Things growing in Dark Dank Corners

Part of the bio-blitz, especially in this season, is about checking some of the hidden corners of the garden for things that I might have missed before. Procumbent Pearlwort (#366) was lurking in a damp corner of the front yard, hidden by bamboo and one of my pond/basins. A tiny Wall Rue Spleenwort (#375) growing between the bricks by the dustbins, is only my second species of fern in the garden. A solitary Dwarf Bell toadstool (#376) emerging among the mosses in a neglected planter is my first new species of fungus this Autumn; hopefully there will be a few more in the next month or so. All three are quite small and insignificant, but they are part of the ecology of the garden.

#366 Procumbent Pearlwort (Sagina procumbens)

#375 Wall Rue (Asplenium ruta-muraria)

#376 Dwarf Bell Toadstool (Galerina pumila)

Poppies

It's been a good year for poppies in the garden. Some years there's none, this year lots of yellow Welsh Poppies materialized in May and now we have rather beautiful Opium Poppies (#175) popping up all over the place.  No idea where the seeds have come from; but they can lay dormant for several years in the soil waiting for the right conditions to germinate.  The current hot spell is obviously such a time.  It's also been great for butterflies, which is good news.

#175 Opium Poppy

Weekend Bug Safari

Spent some time, between World Cup matches, with my youngest son checking for bugs around the garden, and in the process adding several species to the list and learning about some garden inhabitants I'd previously overlooked. Checking the brown wheelie bin for garden waste always yields something after I've been doing some pruning - in this case #154 an oak bush cricket nymph.  Bashing some bushes & trees and catching the falling bugs on a white sheet was fun and also got some results.

#154 Oak Bush Cricket nymph

#161 Crepidodera fulvicornis Flea beetle

#159 Lesser Willow Sawfly larvae

#164 White-lipped Snail

#170 Tachyporus obtusus Rove beetle

#162 Green Orb Weaver Spider

#158 Blue-tailed Damselfly

I was wondering when I was going to find my first garden dragonfly or damselfly. Where here he (I think) is; a Blue-tailed Damselfly resting up in my tomato plants.

#158 Blue-tailed Damselfly

Over 150 species

Had a good few days adding some new species including my first pipistrelle bats of the year, a passing speckled wood butterfly (no photos sadly) and even a couple of trees I hadn't noticed before (very small ash and beech saplings).  Small fauna included a smooth glass snail, pollen beetles (which really seem to like yellow Hypericum flowers) and a Capsus ater capsid beetle which flew in through the window, but should normally be sucking the sap out of grass stems in a nearby meadow.

#150 Smooth Glass Snail

#153 Pollen Beetle

#152 Capsus ater Capsid bug

New Bugs

A couple of Scarlet Tiger moths (#81) around the garden this morning enabling me to get decent photos, and my first ladybird, #124 a Harlequin Ladybird.  These ladybirds are non-native ones from Asia that have been accidentally introduced and are increasing fast in population - I hope that they can co-exist ok alongside the native ladybird species.

#81 Scarlet Tiger

#124 Harlequin Ladybird