Twitcher Bob’s Page..... Nature

The Countryside ...Wildlife

Wildlife Diary Friday 15th August

Today is just like summer !! (or just like the summer we should have had) warm and sunny today, not sure about the weekend yet, but lets make the most of today. (I was actually sunbathing in my deckchair yesterday afternoon about 4.00 pm. I had a nice cup of tea and some biccies (hobnobs) and it was lovely, until my daughter came home and disturbed me.)

Whilst I was relaxing, I was making a mental note of all the different insects flitting around the garden, the most interesting were a pair of Dragonflies with brown and beige markings, (I think the variety is "Brown Darter" )which were resting on the leaves of a Dahlia plant (in a pot) on the patio, they were actually mating, so I don’t think that variety will die out just yet. (I'm wondering where the female will lay her eggs, as I don’t have a pond, my neighbour 2 doors along does, or she may go back to the lake to lay her eggs.??) (the dragonfly not the neighbour)

  I don’t use any chemicals in my garden so I usually get a lot of different insects, (some good some bad) but generally the balance is just right, as some insects eat others, so they even things out, and there is no need for chemicals.

  Amongst the flying visitors today are lots of hover flies (as the name suggests these are able to hover and some of them resemble wasps,) however, they are not wasps and should not be killed as they are very useful in the garden. One of their favourite foods are "aphids" (greenflies and blackflies) which eat your plants, such as roses, dahlias, fuchsias, and also your runner beans and broad beans.

  Another insect which likes to eat aphids is the ladybird (and its larvae), the larvae of the ladybird look like tiny caterpillars with legs, grey in colour with small yellow dots along the sides of their bodies. ( apparently each ladybird larvae can eat as many as 50 aphids a day, so they are well worth looking after. Unfortunately, if you use chemicals to kill the pests, you also kill the beneficial insects which feed on the pests..!! )

  I also see several different types of bee's in the garden, (last year I had a bumble bee nest under the ground near my pear tree, no nest there this year so they must have gone elsewhere), as well as the bumble bee's, I have several "Leaf Cutter Bees" coming to the garden, these cut circular pieces out of plant leaves, (usually rose leaves, but sometimes other plants such as clematis or crocosmia ) then they use these pieces to line a small chamber in the ground where they lay a single egg, which in turn becomes a larvae, which eats the pieces of leaf then emerges as a new "leaf cutter bee". ( I have found these in some of my pots of cacti in the greenhouse, when I have been re-potting).

  There are several other species of bees of different colours and sizes in the garden, but I am not sure of the names of these.

  Bees are in a serious decline at the moment, due to loss of habitat, use of chemicals etc, and all gardeners should grow lots of plants that attract bees, such as all plants with daisy like flowers, e.g. Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Gazania, Helianthemum, Osteospermum, French marigolds, and also plants like Foxglove, Lilac, Buddleia, Sunflowers, and of course Roses.

I also watched a "cabbage white" butterfly land on the leaves of my radishes, it was there for some time, so I went to investigate, the little blighter flew off and when I looked where it had been, there were a little cluster of yellow eggs under the leaf. (these would have hatched into caterpillars and would have eaten all my radishes,) (swines)

During the week, the hedgehogs have been out and about, (hopefully eating the slugs in the garden) and due to the wet weather lately, I have seen lots of toads and frogs, usually just after dusk, ( I was weeding in the border the other day and I disturbed a toad, which was all of 5 inches across, so he must have eaten lots of slugs for me )

It just goes to show how close we are to nature, without moving more than a couple of yards, there is wildlife in abundance. You just need to get out and look for it……..

Twitcher Bob

A bird table in the garden is a source of endless pleasure, pictures right is Kevin the wood pigeon. A regular visitor along with the collared doves, thrush, tits, sparrowa and black birds. Well worth a small investment.

A cat who needs glasses or is just a bit worried about heights.

I wonder if she knows that the Magpie she is after is on the branch above her.