Paul's Back Garden Safari

I've been away for a few days and the boss has sent me a photo of an empty nest. Almost certainly the blackbird nest I blogged about a week ago is now abandoned, not from disturbance but more probably from predation as the nest is empty. Who the predator was is unknown. Unlikely to be a cat as the nest is difficult to get to and doesn't seem to be damaged. Possibly magpies or jackdaws, both of which are in the garden. Maybe even a squirrel, but I've not seen a grey squirrel for some time now.  

Over the past week or so we've noticed increased activity in the hedge right by the patio doors. We've seen blackbirds going into the hedge and making the branches bounce around. Not wanting to disturb any possible nest we've not investigated too closely. After the failed song thrush nest earlier in spring, and the disappointment of seeing the cold eggs left in the nest, we kept away. However, this evening the boss saw the male and female leave the hedge very close to the doors, and then noticed the nest. This evening there are three eggs, I'm not sure if more will be laid. Though most of the reference guides say the clutch can be between 3 and 5. As it's now mid to late June I assume this would be the last nest of the season, though blackbirds can have up to 4 broods a season. Perhaps the mild spring and great summer so far have made it possible. The position of the nest is right at the edge of the hedge where is almost comes to rest against the wall. In fact so cl...

It's great when the sun comes out. And along with comes the butterflies. We don't have a large variety visiting the garden, but one that does visit relatively regularly is the Speckled Wood,  Pararge aegeria. Unusually for British butterflies it can over winter as both a larva and pupa (1). During the 19th century the Speckled Wood suffered quite a contraction in its range, but since the 1920's it ha made a recovery. This has continued since the 1980s and may be due to climate change allowing it to spread further north (1). The trend for the Speckled Wood shows a highly significant and generally steady increase, as can be seen from the graph below produced by the UK butterfly Monitoring Scheme (3). The butterfly has a divided distribution in Britain (it occurs throughout Ireland) and it has continued to colonise new areas in both parts of its range during the monitoring period (3). It has a flight season from April through to October, and is often found...

Each year our Solomon's Seal ( Polygonatum sp ) i s decimated by small larvae that munch their way through the leaves, leaving only the main leaf rib behind. Last month I finally managed to see the culprit in it's adult form. The Solomon's Seal Sawfly,  Phymatocera aterrima is quite a dapper looking chap. Jet black, with rather crumpled looking wings, just a mite short of 1cm. The adults are active in May and June. I had another look tonight but there are no more hanging around anymore. The photos are not perfect as it was a windy day in May when I took these. The sawflies didn't hang around much either, and were quite active, settling only for a short period before flying off again, usually to the underside of here leaves. Thinking about it now, they may have been laying eggs, so that the next generation of larvae can decimate the plants again this year. It may a little early here in Wales to see the larvae yet, but the photos from last year  below clearly show what th...

I took the chance and put the moth trap out on Saturday night. The weather forecast predicted that it would be mild and dry, if cloudy. Well it was almost right. There were a few light showers, but nothing like the major thunderstorm and downpour Friday night. So I wasn't sure if there would be much in the trap when I switched it off in he the morning. It turned out to be my best haul so far, with 8 different species - 2 of which escaped before I could take any photos to help with the ID. And it turned out those photos I did take weren't up to much either so I'll only put a couple up on this post. The full list included, excluding the two that got away: Buff Ermine:  Spilarctia luteum Large Yellow Underwing:  Noctua pronuba Heart and Dart:  Agrotis exclamationis Light Brown Apple Moth:  Epiphyas postvittana The Flame:  Axylia putris Mottled Beauty: Alcis repandata This brings the total of moths I've managed to identify in the garden to 19 so far. Not many by som...