Urban Wildlife Jottings

Spectacular starling flock

2012-02-14T12:44:00.000Z

Early evening the starling flocks pass our house, after gathering on the electricity pylons they then head off towards Brighton.

Yesterday a sparrowhawk appeared and one large flock of starlings performed their amazing swirling flight to avoid it, just as they passed our garden. It was spectacular. Not sure if the sparrow hawk had any luck.

More fox courtship

2012-01-18T11:34:00.020Z

Yesterday, a fox was yelping in our back garden. I turned on the light and saw a large fox run across our garden, leapt up onto the flint wall and disappeared into the darkness. I did not see the fox again that evening but the eerie calls of foxes could be heard on and off all evening.

This evening I was again alerted by the sound of a fox and upon looking out of the sun lounger window I could see a large fox silhouetted on our back garden wall. After about 30 seconds it ran along the wall and leapt onto the shed roof. I went up stairs just in time to see the fox jump down onto the flint wall that runs alongside the house and watched it disappear around the front of the house. As I came down stairs a fox (maybe the same one) ran back along our back wall and disappeared down into the gardens behind.

As with the previous evening, the sound of foxes could be heard on and off during the evening.

Fox courtship

2012-01-06T00:01:00.000Z

The foxes have started calling as winter is the time for courtship. I spotted one of the foxes in the light of the moon up the track next to our house at 10.00pm.

Fungi

2012-01-04T23:55:00.001Z

I noticed one of the bird feeders ha been blown down in the stormy weather. When I went to fix it I noticed this largish fungi growing underneath the lilac bush where the bird feeder was hanging.

I have not been able to identify it yet, does anyone have any ideas.

Red Admiral Butterfly

2011-12-24T16:35:00.000Z

I noticed a Red Admiral butterfly flying around the garden several times during the day. It was quite sunny, no bees but several hoverflies were also active.

Sparrowhawk mobbed by herring gull.

2011-12-13T17:00:00.000Z

While checking the garden after the stormy weather, I head a commotion in the sky. A few seconds later a sparrowhawk appeared over the roof top, pursued by a very noisy herring gull.

Luckily I had my camera with me as it all happened very fast.

As the sparrowhawk swerved and changed direction the herring gull followed but making a wider turn being less manoeuvrable.

The herring gull continued to chase the sparrowhawk and they disappeared behind the house behind our garden.

Long-tailed tits

2011-10-29T11:40:00.003+01:00

A very noisy flock of about 8 long-tailed tits passed through my front garden. They first appeared in the lilac tree but by the time I got my camera they had flown across to our neighbours garden opposite the track.

They foraged for a while before slowly moving on up the track (heading north away from our house and eventually disappeared down into the lower gardens.

About 20 minutes later, a noise flock (probably the same long-tailed tits) headed back south along the gardens behind ours, sending a few minutes in the apple tree before flying off.

I have seen them in the local park and it is possible where these birds and come from and returning to.

Bees and goldfinches

2011-10-23T11:01:00.000+01:00

Along with the fuscia, lavender and nastursium the hebe continues to attract and provide food for white-tailed bumble bees.

The recent cold snap sadly finished off the remaining morning glory flowers.

A small flock of gold finches has been travelling back and forth along the gardens.

Morning glory bee visits

2011-09-25T11:14:00.008+01:00

The morning glory plants that I grew from seed are now in full flower.

The large flowers are attracting a large number of bees, such as white tailed bumble bee and honey bees as well as hoverflies.

A small number of common carder bees have also been visiting the flowers.

More fox observations

2011-09-16T11:50:00.000+01:00

One of the foxes was up on next doors shed roof early this morning in amongst the windfall apples. Last night, as I walked down the road to the shop, I saw 2 of the foxes. The first was quite close, investigating
around a car across the road from our house. When it saw me coming it turned and disappeared up a track between the houses.

The second fox was further up the road and sitting upright like a dog. It too eventually disappeared up another track between the houses, which eventually joins with the previously mentioned track. Normally the foxes stick to the gardens and the back alleyways until after dark. We have still been noticing the regular travels of the dog fox through our garden at 9.00pm

Two nights ago, we were spoken up by foxes at 2.00am. The vixen and the cub were running around our car and making noises at something under the car. At first we thought they may have cornered a cat, even though my observations of these foxes throughout the year suggested they were wary of the cats and avoided them if possible. Infact on several occasions the cats seemed to gang up on the foxes several cats surrounding a fox and staring. But it turned out be be the dog fox. They then ran around chasing each other playfully.

I was really pleased to see that the cub is now looking like a small fox, where as before it looked stunted and more like a puppy. It was also interesting to see them together still as cubs are normally ejected from the den in September to fend for themselves (which is why there is often a high number of young foxes killed on the road in September and October.

We could hear the foxes even thought we could not always see them. However we did observe the dog fox drinking from the pond in our back garden.

Brown carder bee

2011-09-01T00:07:00.001+01:00

There are still a lot of bees active in and around our garden. These are mainly honey bees and two banded bumble bees.However some bees fly through and don't settle making a positive ID difficult

There are still a few brown carder bees, relatively rare in Sussex, visiting.

I have seen them in our garden however these 2 pictures were taken just outside in the track. While they visited the occasional mallow flower, they favoured the last of the blackberry flowers.

Red Admiral

2011-08-27T23:49:00.002+01:00

There are still a few butterflies visiting the garden. Gate keepers and this striking red admiral butterfly.

It was once thought that all red admirals died out ion the winter months, replaced by butterflies the following the year flying across the channel. Due to the milder winters, a few red admiral butterflies do overwinter as adults as they are seen in January and February - too early to be migrants from the continent.

Dragonflies

2011-08-25T23:38:00.000+01:00

I noticed this dragonfly resting on our garden path yesterday.

I think its a common darter, possibly a female.

Today, I noticed this stunning dragonfly. My first glimpse was a dragonfly passing the window. When I went out to investigate, I accidentally disturbed it from our sunflowers where it had been resting. It flew out of our garden and I carefully followed.

It had landed on a rock rose bush overhanging our garden wall. I think its a male southern hawker. This looked like the dragonfly I had seen patrolling our road on 24th August.

I was able to slowly move really close and got this close up picture with the road and car opposite in the same picture, taken on wide angle.

More pipisterlle bat observations

2011-08-24T00:09:00.001+01:00

I have continued to watch the pipistrelle bats. They circle right over our garden wall and it I stand still they fly past sometimes only a foot away.

The best chance of photographing the bats is when they circles the tree across the track, as it provides a chance to predict where they are likely to fly next. They are very fast and the pictures have to be taken wide angle. At times the bats are only a foot off the ground as they hunts. There are always moths around the Red Valerian, particularly silver y-wing moths. The pictures are not excellent but you can see many of the features such as the finger bones that support the wings.

The bats now appear at about 8.45pm as it gets darker earlier. They forage for about 30 minutes, flying back and forth, often turning above my head as our garden is at the end of the track.

Its such a treat seeing these fascinating little mammals up close.

Christian Moullec at the Shoreham airshow

2011-08-22T23:43:00.001+01:00

This is Christian Moullec at the Shoreham airshow with his imprinted barnacle geese.

This is what baby geese usually do with their mother. Christian hopes to use what he learns to help rare geese (such as the white fronted geese) to migrate to new area starting new colonies in other areas.

They did look spectacular

Pipistrelle Bats

2011-08-12T17:49:00.002+01:00

I have been watching the pipistrelle bats now most evenings. Now that its getting darker earlier they now appear about 9.00pm.

They are still foraging in the track that runs past our garden. When I stand by our garden wall they pass overhead by about a foot. This is the turning point before they fly back up the track. In fact one came so close the other day I felt the wind on my face.

Photographing the bats is very tricky because they are so fast and the shutter often delays even with a flash. The picture below makes the bat look like a ghost.

The other evening I saw 2 bats performing what looked like courtship. This occurs between end of July and beginning of October.

The bats continue to feed for about 30 minutes and then they move onto to another location. Last night I noticed one of the bats foraging around the apple tree that overhangs our back garden.

I have not seen much of the foxes lately. The cubs usually leave the den in September to find their own territory. Their single cub was still looking under developed when I saw it last a week or so ago.

Ant mating flight

2011-07-25T23:42:00.003+01:00

Another ant mating flight, not quite as spectacular as the previous one. The ants on the rockery undertook their second mating flight first at 2.20pm

At about 6.30pm the main nest in the front garden had their second mating flight (and the ants just outside the gate).

But of course many of them do not survive the mating flight as they face predators in the air...

and on the ground.

Some become trapped in spider webs...

...or meet their end in other ways, this one drowned in the bird bath.

At 7.15pm I noticed that the yellow field ants that live underneath the bird bath also started their (first) mating flight.

This is the first time I have seen the yellow ant mating flight.

Butterflies on a sunny day.

2011-07-24T23:49:00.000+01:00

A sunny day and a good good day for butterflies, These included marbled white butterflies.

Red admiral butterflies

At the back of the garden a tortoiseshell visited the red valerian

Wasp eating carrion

2011-07-20T23:20:00.001+01:00

Last night a fox caught and eat a juvenile herring gull and we found the wings on the back lawn.

It was probably killed down the track where there were gull feathers and maybe brought to our garden as it was more secluded.

Possibly a juvenile that attempted its first flight and ended up on the ground. I checked the two nests I have been watching and the juvenile was not from either nest.

The black ants had already moved in. The wings were laying underside up and I turned them over to check they were from a juvenile.

A minute later a wasp appeared and landed on the wing it then made its way to the base of the wings where some flesh was attached.

The wasp proceeded to chew away at it before flying off - I guess to feed wasp larvae.

While this was the first time I had witnessed this apparently it is not uncommon for social wasps to visit carrion in this way.

Overzealous clearing of the track adjacent to our house

2011-07-16T12:35:00.001+01:00

Its happened again, a group from community services have returned and started 'clearing!' the track. Last year they came and cleared it on 20th June cutting down bramble in full flower - covered in bees, butterflies etc, wild flowers such as mallow and sting less nettle and any overhanging branches. When I mentioned the wildlife in the track they said they had checked for wildlife before they started!!!

This time they were directed to our house by the neighbourhood watch contact for the road, after we moaned last year about the problem - but then we had been out all day and it was all done before we got home. They wanted to speak to me and ask what they shouldn't touch down our end of the track - but I was away running a wildlife course in Shoreham. I spoke to my wife at lunch time by telephone and she passed on my message.

While we were able to protect the bramble and wild flowers at our end of the track ...

...they seem to have decimated whole areas with no apparent plan.

This tree has been cut down and the foliage on the bank has also been removed - a favourite hunting area for the foxes and also used by blackbirds and sparrows.

As with last year the track is full of wildlife, bees, butterflies, hoverflies ladybirds, beetles, crickets, lacewings etc as well as birds, the foxes of course and also pipistrelle bats that use the track as part of their foraging route.

At least we have been able to reduce the 'damage' done this year although this was also due just as much to the rain - hopefully they won't be back this year.

When challenged last year they said they were doing a good service for the community - but they don't seem to have checked beforehand. Also, as they chopped down the foliage, empty bottles, cans and other litter were revealed. These were not removed last year or this year, so I am not sure which part of clearing the track for the benefit of the residents that comes under!

Towns and villages provide a patchwork of habitats for wildlife inlcuding parks and our gardens and tracks like this one are surely vital parts of this patch work and should be managed more sensitively.

More fox and an unusual wasp

2011-07-14T00:13:00.003+01:00

10.30am this morning I noticed one of the adult foxes trotting down the track keeping close to the side for cover. This is the first time I have seen one of the foxes during the day.

I also noticed this unusual wasp on the hydrangea bush.

The fox cub appeared again just after 8.00pm. It trotted up the track on its own, then turned and looked down the track towards me.

It was then joined by both adults. One adult trotted of leaving what I think is the vixen with the cub. It looked like the cub might have been suckling.

Life down our lane.

2011-07-13T00:09:00.000+01:00

I am now certain that the weaker herring gull chick from the nest site, seen from the front of our house, has died. The remains are still on the roof.

The bramble patch in the track opposite our house is alive with bees.

I spotted a small solitary I had not recorded previously It is probably Andrena Bicolor, visiting the mallow flowers

Just after 8.00pm I noticed the fox coming down the track. It spotted me and sat doen and we watched each other for a while before the fox slowly trotted off into one of the gardens.

Black ant mating flight

2011-07-11T15:31:00.001+01:00

A hot sunny day ideal for black ant mating flight. These first two pictures are from a nest on the rockery in our back garden. This was just about 1.00pm

I think this has been one of the most spectacular years for a long time. Generally the queens in our garden come of the nest and run along the ground and up the nearest wall or similar where the hesitate for ages before they fly off.

This year they poured forth straight onto the wing from two of the nests and was quite spectacular. These two pictures are from a nest underneath a toad ornament.

You can see the larger winged queens, smaller winged males and worker ants.

Interestingly this did not attract much attention from the many swifts and gulls we have nearby. Just this lone gull eating ants in the road.

As I watched I noticed this solitary bee coming out of a hole in the lawn, possible a nest hole.

Early evening I thought it would be safe now to move the toad ornament and mow the lawn. I have been avoiding moving it for some weeks.

However I noticed that the nest was full of cocoons and also some more winged queens. I put the ornament on loosely while the workers ushered the queens underground and carried off the cocoons.

I took a look later and you could see all the tunnels remaining

The green, green house

2011-07-10T00:46:00.002+01:00

Things have been going very well in the green house.

Some dahlias for the window boxes and some gem lettuce - safe from the slugs and snails. As I don't use any pesticides in the garden, these lettuce would not last long at all.

Strawberries ands raspberries are now all finished - a bumper crop this years thanks largely to the early bumblebee Bombus pratorum.

The blue berries are now ready to eat. The tomato plants are full of flower and a few tomatoes have started to develop.

And you can even recycle/reuse old dessert containers, as the make perfect starter pots and the plastic food containers and old washing up bowl are replace the pot saucers when watering.

First flight

2011-07-08T23:52:00.001+01:00

After much flapping and holding its wings out in the wind, the herring gull chick took its first flight today.

Rather ungainly and unstable, each short flight lasting about 20 seconds and travelling a distance of a few feet.

The chick seemed to be experimenting with its wings and soon started to get a hang of the fine adjustments needed to fly.

Fox home

2011-07-06T17:49:00.000+01:00

As I walked back from the shops early evening, down the track I kept an eye out for the foxes. I passed the garden that I thought they came from and there underneath a low hanging tree, just behind the wall was an adult fox, almost close enough to touch.

It watched me warily so I carried on back I home. I came back with my camera and as I expected it was gone.

This is where I saw the fox.

Fox family and swift flock

2011-07-04T09:03:00.000+01:00

The foxes have begun to appear earlier in the evening - today the first appeared at 6.50am.

It was soon joined by the cub

The foxes were way down the track and the pictures taken on full zoom in low light so they are not brilliant quality.

After about 15 minutes the foxes trotted off and disappeared from view.

While this was going on a large flock of about 30 plus swifts screamed overhead. This maybe the nighttime aggregation as swifts flock together and cat nap on the wing at high altitudes. The nesting swifts next door may already have joined this group.

At 8.15pm the foxes reappeared down the track and were joined by a third fox, the other parent, possibly the male as he is bigger than the female. This one also has a bushier tail. The adult foxes seemed to be playing with the cub chasing each other. Eventually they disappeared again.

9.10pm and the foxes were visible in the gloom. Now the adults were actively hunting. The cub was investigating things but more, it seemed, out of curiosity. The cub came down to within about 10 feet of where I was standing at our wall. The fox eventually lay down on the track looking out towards the road. Then it sat up. I took the chance of taking a photograph using flash.

The reflection of the foxes eyes makes it look more alien in nature!

It did not seem to disturb the fox at all. I watched it for about another 10 minutes before it trotted back up the track. When I went back into the house, I could still see the shapes of hunting foxes in the track.

Return of the prodigal son (or daughter)!

2011-07-03T18:18:00.000+01:00

A big surprise today. I looked up at the roof where the gulls were nesting and there was a young seagull.

At first I thought it might be one of the other gulls nearby, more developed and able to fly.

But watching this chick flapping and hopping around the roof it could not have flown there.

The chick is now very big, you can see here compared to a collar dove.

The chick must have jumped down from the chimney and onto the roof and been hidden on the otherside of the house. However, before it disappeared the chick was calling all the time but I have not heard a sound from there since it disappeared on 23rd June.

The chicks on roof out the front are all still there, these two well developed one and a smaller one in the gully.

Fox cub and bat

2011-07-01T16:31:00.000+01:00

Just before 10.00pm the fox cub came trotting down the track, past me at the side gate and looked across the road. After a few minutes, it turned and trotted back up the track again.

I also watched the pipistrelle bats hunting in the track - there are a lot more visible moths around at the moment. On one occasion the bat circled a couple of times about 2 feet above my head before flying across our garden.

Fox cub and bat

2011-06-27T10:40:00.000+01:00

A few weeks ago I suspected that I had seen two fox cubs in the back track (back entrance to houses) after dark. They could only be seen as black shapes as it was after dark, about the size of a small cat but not moving like one.

Last night at about 9.00pm, I looked down the track to see if the adult fox was around, or the bats that I had not seen since the neigbours cut their tree down.

Out of the gloom I noticed a tiny shape, following the edge of the vegetation. It crossed over the track and continued down to where I stood. It was a little fox cub.

Our house is right at the beginning of the track. The cub was sniffing and listening to the sounds from the road. The cub looked at me on several occasions and then looked back towards the road. All of a sudden it turned round and scampered back up the track and into the gloom.

I kept a watch again this evening. One of the adult foxes on its usual route walked along our flint wall, from back garden to front, jumped down and made its way up the track.

When it reached a third of the way down, level roughly where I suspect it has a den, it turned and look back down the track towards me. While it stood there it was joined by a cub. You can just see the shape of the cub at the front of the adult fox, head pointing to the right.

Not a good picture as it was taken on full zoom at just before 9.00pm.

The adult fox slowly turned and headed off up the track, the cub trotting behind. It appears from this that their may only be one cub now.

I also saw one of the bats for the first time in ages. As it has got increasingly lighter in the evening through the spring, it has been increasingly harder to predict when they are on the wing - same problem last year.

A great day for butterflies

2011-06-26T19:43:00.000+01:00

Having seen few butterflies this year so far, it turned out to be a great day for butterflies.

I think this is a male ringlet butterfly. The markings are a bit more striking than I have seen on other specimens but maybe this one has emerged recently as they usually fly July to August. This one in on the grass verge outside our garden.

This is a large skipper on our hydrangea bush

Another meadow brown, I think this is also a male

A small white on the lavender

A comma butterfly also on the lavender

You can clearly see the white mark on the underside of its wing which gives this butterfly its name 'comma'

I decided to check on the other herring gull family. They have 3 chicks.

These two are getting some shade from the chimney

The third chick is smaller and weaker.

I looked back at the house and watched the swifts skim head height over our garden

The herring gull saga continues

2011-06-24T23:16:00.000+01:00

The gulls are still sitting on the nest, even thought they now have no chicks.

Later I saw and heard what appeared to be courtship behaviour.

This was followed by one of the parents collecting nesting materials and bring it back to the nest

The other adult would the use its feet to push the materials into position.

Sadly, I don't think its possible for them to have another clutch this year, seabird generally only have one chance.

The pair were very wary of everything and would take to the air and shout in aggression circling before eventually settling back down again.

Herring gull tragedy, fox and a tortoiseshell butterfly

2011-06-23T13:33:00.000+01:00

A morning of heavy rain. One of the nest gulls is curled up on the nest.

As the rain eases the gull gets up and has a good preen. No sign of the remaining herring gull chick.

Later the sun comes out and the first tortoiseshell butterfly visit the bramble flowers just outside of our garden wall.

It was after 9.00pm when the Herring gulls on the nest became agitated and very vocal. It started flying around squawking and diving low over the houses garden, flying straight up over our back garden turning and then swooping back again.

As I stood there watch a fox came slinking along our side wall carrying something big and brown in its jaws. The second missing chick? It was too dark to tell. The chick may have fallen in the strong wind and rain over night and this morning.

There had not been any calling (and the chick had previously been very vocal) or any distress calls before the fox appeared so I am guessing that if it was the chick it was already dead. I followed the fox around the side of the house and by the time I reached the front garden the fox was already well down the track.

The Herring gulls on the other nest around the front were also dive bombing the fox, so I did not ant to follow to closely in case they dive bombed me too. Herring gulls have a good memory and would likely dive on me when ever it saw me again.

The fox turned and looked at me before disappearing into a garden on the left where I had suspected before that there may be a den.

I went back in doors and after a while the gull started dive bombing the same garden again.

I thought I heard a screech on one of the dives and so I went up into the loft and looked out of the skylight. There on our shed roof was a fox. It did not seem to be particularly bothered by the noisy gull diving on it.

I went back down stairs and looked out our back garden. Ahead poked over the roof and looked at me, a fox. Then another head appeared beside it. The infra red light from my cameras focusing illuminated their eyes red and one fox ran away. I managed to get a quick photograph before this one too disappeared.

It took several hours before the gulls calmed again.

What ever the cause, the herring gull nest appeared to be empty

Scavenging Herring Gull

2011-06-22T17:59:00.000+01:00

Just up the road a herring gull has found a rubbish bag.

Its shark beak makes short work of the flimsy black bag

Herring gulls get a lot of bad press for doing exactly this, but they are natural scavengers and showing intelligence and adaptability.

So what are they doing in our towns and cities. Well, due to the overfishing and other damage we are dong to the oceans that are finding alternative food sources. You may be surprised to know that this species is doing so badly in the UK it now has red threatened status.

Caterpillars, Ladybirds, Slowworm and Herring gull

2011-06-19T23:41:00.000+01:00

Still lots of bees, hoverflies and lady birds on the bramble in the track just outside our house. I noticed this very striking caterpillar called a Vapourer (a species of moth)

It is common in urban areas, the caterpillar feeds on almost any deciduous tree foliage and can become a pest.

I also noticed that amongst the lady birds on the bramble were a couple of damaged specimens.

There was also a pair of ladybirds mating

I lifted an old piece of damaged concrete path edging in the back garden and curled underneath was this slowworm

I have continued to observe the herring gull nest on the chimney of the house behind ours. I have come to the conclution that they have lost one of their two chicks.

The chick that remains is very vocal and active. The last two years this pair have successfully reared two chicks.

Starlings and the Cherry Tree

2011-06-15T20:56:00.000+01:00

The starlings have discovered that the fruit on the cherry tree just down the track is now ripe. They arrive, a mixture of adults and young.

They soon get stuck in in some cases just leaving just stalks and stones.

Luckily for the starlings, the lady whose garden the tree is in doesn't like cherries and so the birds are allowed to eat them all.

I have also noticed a couple of blackbirds also taking advantage of this free supply of fruit.

Nesting Swifts

2011-06-14T23:22:00.000+01:00

The swifts are nesting under our neighbours eaves. They are amazing to watch as they scream low over my head as I sit in the garden.

Every now and again they fill fly back up to the young before leaving the nest again.

I could watch them all day

Meadow Brown and Herring Gull Family

2011-06-14T23:13:00.000+01:00

I have seen few butterflies this year so far. This is a meadow bown male resting on our window.

I have been watching the comings and goings of the herring gull nest viewed from the back of our house.

I think one of the herring gull chicks is missing.

This one is very active, but I have not seen both together for a few days.

Herring gull family, swift aerobatics and singing blackbird

2011-06-10T17:11:00.000+01:00

The second herring gull pair I have been watching, on the roof seen from the front of our house, have three chicks. They also managed to produce to young last year, whereas the nest I have been watching from the back of our house only has two chicks again this year.

These three chicks are every active and vulnerable to falling off the roof. The parents become quite defensive towards passerby when the chicks are wandering.

The swifts have returned and since early May they have been flying high much of the time.

Now they are diving and screeching over our garden as the pass the nests in the eaves of next doors house.

The blackbird now sings from our roof much more frequently now the tree in our back neighbours garden has been cut down.

The tree was its favourite singing post. Blackbird has to be one of the most beautiful and musical of bird song.

Wood pigeon and sneaky snails

2011-06-07T17:55:00.000+01:00

A pair of wood pigeon are nesting in the evergreen tree across the road. They have been collecting nesting materials from the track by our house.

For such messy looking nests, they seemed very meticulous in choosing just the right size twigs and vegetation.

I was having my lunch on our decking and catching up on some reading when I noticed a snail in flower pot where I was growing my runner beans. I lifted it out and discovered the sneaky thing was laying eggs.

I carefully scooped them out and put them in another flower pot with a bit of compost and put them down by the side gate. Everything has a place and I did not have the heart to destroy the eggs, but I didn't want them to eat my beans either.

Ladybird larvae and large red damselflies

2011-05-31T18:08:00.000+01:00

I checked the bramble growing in the track near our house to see if the Tree bees were visiting these flowers as well. I did not see any, but there lots of other bees, buff tailed bumble bee, red tailed bumble bee and honey bees.

I did also notice that the bramble and sting nettles were covered in ladybird larvae

And a few ladybird pupae as well.

In our garden, now the wind has finally subsided, the large red damselflies are strting to pair up.

The male clasps the females neck and some time later mating takes place.

They remain coupled together while egg laying. The female lays the eggs on vegetation beneath the water level.

Foxy visit

2011-05-30T21:27:00.000+01:00

The last few night we have caught a glimpse of a fox walking along the front wall down the side of our garden. As you will see from other blog entries Foxes are often seen nearby

However, this evening at about 9.00pm, the fox walked along the back wall of our garden, peering in our window.

It then walked along the wall and jumped on to the shed roof.

After a while spent looking around, the fox continued along the back wall and the along the usual side flint wall, stopping to watch us before continuing along the wall to the front of the house and jumped down into the track.

A dark head popped out from behind a bush about a third of the way down the track. I have suspeced that there may be cubs.

More from the herring gull family

2011-05-29T18:41:00.000+01:00

A sudden commotion of herring gulls circling and shouting at each other. One of the parents leaves the nest and calls raucously at the gulls. Soon the other parent joins in too.

A parent returns to the nest

Stay away from my chicks!

Herring chicks begging for food

2011-05-28T17:28:00.000+01:00

The activity in the herring gull nest is fascinating to watch.

I noticed one of the adults returning to the nest and one of the chicks starts to beg for food by tapping at the orange spot on the herring gulls beak. This is how the chicks ask for food.

It was difficult to see if the adult had food for the chick or not.

Two herring gull chicks

2011-05-27T17:06:00.000+01:00

I have been keeping an eye on the nesting herring gulls and I got a glimpse today of two chicks

The nest is on the chimney of a house that backs onto ours. I only spotted one at first and it was a while before I manged to spot the second chick

The parents seem to be doing a good job of sharing the duties of looking after the young. One of the adults will return and relive the one guarding the chicks and later on will swap over again.

Tree Bees

2011-05-25T11:12:00.000+01:00

I found a very unusual looking bee today visiting the thornless blackberry that grows at the back of our garden.

This bee is a Tree Bee Bombus hypnorum. The Tree Bee was first reported in the UK in the summer of 2001 from a specimen found on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border.

I saw a maximum of two tree bees at one time, but there was likely to be more as one returned to the nest and another bee returned.

This bee is often associated with parks and gardens. regularly establishes colonies in cavities above ground, and this includes roof spaces, holes in trees and in bird nest boxes. There is a big apple tree in the garden behind ours and the area around it has been left to become overgrown.

It is mainly an early season species. The queens emerge from hibernation in February or early March, and workers are active throughout the early spring. The species is at its most obvious in late May and June, when the colonies are producing males. A partial second brood is sometimes active in

Large Red Damselflies mating

2011-05-23T10:36:00.000+01:00

The Large Red Damselflies that have been emerging from our pond are beginning to pair up for mating and egg laying.

I have not seen nowhere near as many this year, normally a dozen or more hanging around the pond at one time, but it has been very windy over the last few days. I have noticed some damselflies sheltering in the vegetation on windy days

Nesting Herring Gulls

2011-05-22T10:53:00.000+01:00

This pair of nesting herring gulls are on the roof top of a house in the following road parallel to ours. They have been taking it in turns on the nest.

Today I noticed the parents watching the nest with interest, maybe the chicks are hatching?

Tree Loss

2011-05-17T10:25:00.000+01:00

The tree overhanging our garden has been cut down. We knew it was imminent and sadly it was necessary to do something with the tree. Due to bad cutting several years ago where the owner cut his side flat, new growth shot up, out over our garden and across our neighbours (to the left).

The tree before it was cut down

The tree (not a British Tree) was 3 times its size from when we moved in and towered twice the height of our bungalow. The engulfed our green house (cutting off most of the sunlight) and some of the branches stretched across the garden to within a couple of metres. Due to bad management of the tree in the past it was not too big and also potentially dangerous.

I would have preferred the tree was cut down to half its size. The tree was important to the movements of several bird species constantly moving through the gardens, especially goldfinch and blue tit. But the tree was not growing in our garden.

The days following the tree being cut down it was strange. The bird calls of goldfinch, sparrow and blue tit which were constant all day were silenced. I am pleased to say that the birds are beginning to adapt their movement and although we don’t get as many in our garden anymore, they are now passing through again.

The nearby nesting blackbirds continue to use our TV ariel as on of its singing posts. The echos of two other blackbirds, one to the south and one to the north, can be heard in the gaps between it singing.

A pair of goldfinches which are nesting nearby also use our TV ariel as a singing post.

Large red damselfly

2011-05-14T08:28:00.000+01:00

I have noticed many large red damselflies emerging from the pond. After spending 2 years as a larvae, they climb up the stalks of pond plants in the spring. Once a safe distance above the water level they split out of their larvae.

At first they are pale cream. As they dry out they also start to colour up and after a few hours they fly for the first time.

This one flew into our conservatory

Goldfinches and common blue

2011-05-14T00:10:00.000+01:00

Goldfinches pass through our garden every day, but recently a pair of goldfinches have been visiting. I have caught a quick glimpse of them in the bird bath from time to time.

This morning I noticed a pair of goldfinches feeding in the track next to our house.

Not long a go the track was full of dandelions which went to see and blew everywhere. Maybe some of the seeds are still laying on the ground.

Later on in the afternoon a common blue butterfly was feeding just over our garden wall on the same track.

We often get holly blue butterflies in the garden, difficult to distinguish unless they settle. You can see the top and under wing markings in this picture

Life in a black ants nest

2011-05-10T11:15:00.000+01:00

While working in the garden I accidentally disturbed a black ant nest on the rockery. This exposed a couple of chambers where ant larvae and cocoons were stored. The nest was beneath a rock a favourite site for ant nests because the rock absorbs the suns heat. This is why they also nest under garden paths and patios.

Tiny ant larvae

Worker ants swarmed around the nest to look for the intruder and protect the nest while others speedily picked up the larvae and cocoons and carried them deeper under ground.

These tiny ant larvae will be fed by the workers and grow rapidly if plenty of food is available. As well as protecting the larvae, the worker ants keep them clear and healthy.

Eventually the developing larvae will spin a cocoon while they change (metamorphosis) into worker ants.

If you look closely near the centre of the picture you will notice a much larger stage larvae which has been brought to the chamber so it can spin a cocoon.

Later in the year new queens and males will be produced who will leave the nest on a mating flight and the survivors will start colonies elsewhere. See below for a link to a mating flight last year, from a different black ants nest in the front garden.

http://urbanwildlifejottings.blogspot.com/2010/07/ant-mating-flight.html

Ants are fascinating to watch and one of the most interesting insects you can find in your garden.

Early Bee

2011-05-09T20:41:00.000+01:00

Here are a couple of very busy early bee Bombus pratorum doing a great job of pollinating the flowers on our raspberry canes.

This bee species may have one of two bands. The ones visiting my garden only have one band. They are only visiting the raspberry flowers at the moment.

Lacky moth caterpillar

2011-05-08T17:20:00.000+01:00

Today I noticed a large colourful caterpillar on the shrub growing in a pot outside our front door.

It was a caterpillar of the Lackey moth Malacosoma neustria.

This caterpillar is usually found on deciduous trees living communally in a silk tent which they spin.

It is only at the last instar stage, having shed their skin for the last time before coming a chrysalis, that the caterpillars then go their own way. This is how this single caterpillar ended up on our shrub.

The adult moth is a brown colour with two wavy markings across the wings. I don't have a picture but I have provided a link below.

http://ukmoths.org.uk/show.php?bf=1634

House martins and swifts

2011-05-04T16:08:00.000+01:00

A feeding flock of house martins appeared overhead yesterday morning and this evening the first two swifts have arrived. They nest under the eaves of our neighbours house and I always look forward to their return.

Nesting herring gulls

2011-05-01T16:02:00.000+01:00

We have several herring gull nesting each year.

This one gull is collecting some last bits of material for the nest - as seen from our bedroom window.

This nest is a few houses, the adults had just swapped over on the nest.

Damselflies, slowworm and peacock butterflies.

2011-04-25T16:26:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I noticed the first damselfly had emerged from our pond. I rescued a slowworm, different to the previous slowworm, from our cat. I also noticed the first peacock butterfly in our garden.

Bee rescue

2011-04-24T16:06:00.000+01:00

We have a great problem of insects coming into our conservatory in the summer, which if not removed they turn up dead behind a curtain. These insects include bees, butterflies, hoverflies and damselflies (latter from our pond).

We have tried all sorts of things to stop them, including a curtain made of strips of material side by side to make a curtain. Some still manged to get in. So it generally relies on us noticing and then catching them and letting them go in the garden.

Here is a queen red tailed bee.

Today I found a red mason bee lying on the carpet. At first I thought it was dead. I touched it with the hairs of a paint brush.

This rolled the bee over and it slowly rolled back. It was a very hot day.

So I got a plate and some cotton wool. I soaked the Cotton wool in a mixture of water and honey.

I carefully picked up the bee on the end of the paint brush and placed it carefully on the cotton wool.

After a minute or two the bee started to move a bit and appeared to be drinking the moisture from the cotton wool.

A few minutes later the bee moved across the plate and flew to the nearest flowers, a couple of feet away.

The bee then flew from one flower to another and eventually flew away.

Red mason bees mating.

2011-04-23T15:31:00.000+01:00

We have a yellow front wall to our house which attracts bees at the end of the day attacted by the colour and the warmth of this west facing wall.

There a few small solitary bees buzzing around and occasionally settling on the wall. They appear to be red mason bees.

I noticed that occasionally one of the resting bees would be dive bombed by another, chasing the first bee away. This happened on a few occasions.

Later I noticed a couple of pairs mating on the wall.

Due to the brightness of the reflected sunlight, the bees are difficult to distinguish.

I also witnessed one of the pairs being dive bombed by another bee, possibly a male trying to dislodge the male from the mating pair. It did not have any affect.

This was fascinating to observe.

Bats and slowworm

2011-04-22T16:11:00.000+01:00

I have been keeping an eye on the track that runs past our house for signs of bats and today I saw my first one on the 21st and another today. As with last year, the bat(s) forage for about 30 minutes, flying up and down the track and then move onto another location. The bats appear to be pipistrelle.

I also spotted a large slowworm on our front lawn this morning

Bees on the Beach

2011-04-21T16:17:00.000+01:00

This continues a pilot project I was working on last year to monitor bees on the vegetated shingle on the Shoreham Beach Local Nature Reserve. The aim was to find out what bees were present and what plant species they pollinated.

This time of the year very few plants are flowering on the beach so I did not expect to find any (last year the pilot project started in May).

I managed to photograph these three. The first is a type of cuckoo bee of the species Nomada, possibly Nomada goodeniana because of the orangy coloured legs and antennae

The yellow spots the the bee below suggests its a male.

I also saw a few of this bee, possibly Andrena Bicolor

The identity of the last one I am, not sure of. Its a very small bee (and a distance photograph) so not enough detail to be sure

The conditions were not ideal for bee watching especially photographing. It was quite blowy and the sun meant it was easy to cast a shadow and frighten the bee off while trying to get into a good position to photograph them. Because there are not many flowers on the beach yet, they did not stay in one place for long.

Speckled Wood

2011-04-17T11:18:00.000+01:00

The small white butterflies visiting our garden have been joined by a few speckled wood butterflies.

This one settled on the side of our shed.

Garden Foxes

2011-04-15T17:10:00.000+01:00

My mother in laws garden is visited by two beautiful foxes, a vixen and a dog fox. She puts out food each evening and one of the fox comes by on its evening rounds.

At this time of the year the vixen is probably in its den with cubs, which normally first appear above ground in May.

If no food is left out it will rattle the plate until someone comes out and puts food in it.

The fox took some food away in its mouth and buried it.

Peanuts are also put out for the squirrels, which the fox also chomped its way throught.

Queen red tailed bumble bee

2011-04-03T17:23:00.000+01:00

I noticed a queen red tailed bumble feeding on the Grape Hyacinth

Buzzard

2011-03-26T17:47:00.000Z

While gardening I looked up and saw another buzzard, this time circling high above our garden. Unfortunately by the time I got my camera it was circling away to the west and was little more than a dot in the sky.

Honey bees on Grape Hyacinth

2011-03-25T17:30:00.000Z

We have numerous honey bees visiting the grape hyacinth in our front garden. In our area in Portslade, they grow like weeds and swamp out the flower borders. Nothing ever seemed to visit them and we were constantly trying to dig them up.

Then last year they were visited by honey bees (and an unidentified mining bee species) and even a couple of peacock butterflies.

I have now let them spread into the lawn at one end and these appear to attract the most bees.

Churchyard Foxes

2011-03-21T17:37:00.000Z

I visited our local churchyard to have a look at the foxes I had heard about apparently there are six altogether. Unfortunately people have been feeding them dog biscuits and they have become very tame.

They keep coming up to people to see if they have food. I am a bit concerned that someone will get bitten, as they appear tame and if someone without food tries to stroke them, they may get bitten. Then of course who will be to the blame, the foxes.

The one I saw was beautiful. A selection of my photographs below, enjoy.

Me and my shadow.

Ariel dog fight

2011-03-20T19:47:00.000Z

As a kestrel flew over our garden it was constantly harried by a crow that mobbed and dive bombed it.

Three in a row

Eventually they both disappeared into the distance.

Some of the frog spawn, that I rescued after it had been dragged out of the pond, has started to develop.

Hairy-footed bee

2011-03-16T15:02:00.000Z

I have recorded the first Hairy-footed bee, Anthophora plumipes, in our garden on the Pulmonaria plant by the pond. It was male, which is mainly brown, while the female is black.

This sighting is a few weeks earlier than in previous years.

Queen buff-tailed bumble bee

2011-03-10T17:40:00.000Z

I got a quick glimpse of another queen buff-tailed bumble Bombus terrestris this aftrenoon as it flew around the garden. Possibly looking for a nest site. It was cloudy and very windy. It didn't stay for long before it flew off into the neighbours garden.

Buzzards

2011-03-08T20:08:00.000Z

While walking through my local park (Easthill) here in Portslade I noticed two large birds flying high, from the north east.

As they got closer I could see they were buzzards.

They are probably common buzzard, markings can be quite varied in this species so identification is not always easy.

One had a ragged tail.

As they flew over the park they circled effortlessly. It was a spectacular site

They eventually drifted off towards the south west. The pictures were taken on a 24x zoom and then enlarged.

Frog spawn mystery

2011-03-07T17:32:00.000Z

I awoke this morning to find a big clump of frog spawn had been dragged from the pond and was on the path nearby. (Approx 7.30am) The pond is slightly raised 30cm from the ground, and the water level about 8 cm from the top of the pond

The spawn had been dragged out over the wall (wet patch visible) and the clump was on the ground nearby, stretched away from the wet wall. (trailing water patch visible). When I had observed this clump a couple of days ago, it appeared to be about 15 cm at its longest point).

This was the only clump of frog spawn near the edge of the pond that was completely submerged and free floating. The other clumps of spawn, easily accessible from the vegetation had been laid partly on the vegetation and stuck fast (I tried to move them into the water, but could not dislodge them without fear of damaging the eggs).

Any ideas! My thought was a fox; we do have foxes that pass through our garden late evening and early morning. We also have lots of cats around this way and they do take a lot of interest in the pond, but do little more than dip their paw in - and not really enjoying the sensation. We also have lots of herring gull, but I can't imagine them being able to drag a clump of spawn out either.

The spawn still looked fairly fresh and the water patches had not dried up, so it must have happened. I managed to pick the clump up carefully using a dustpan and put it back in the pond.

Queen Buff-tailed Bumble Bee

2011-03-06T18:11:00.000Z

I saw the first bumble bee in the garden today. It was a queen buff-tailed bumble Bombus terrestris.

After flying around the window boxes it settled on the window frame sunning itself.

Queen Bumble bees usually come out of hibernation in March to start a new colony as only the queen survives the winter. The pollen baskets on the legs were empty.

Rescued spawn

2011-03-03T17:28:00.000Z

The frog spawn that I rescued a few days ago, that had been laid on the path, has now absorbed water and swollen as normal. As I expected, many of the eggs, that were stuck to the path, are not viable.

The eggs at the top look normal.

Icy weather

2011-03-02T15:40:00.000Z

The pond has frozen over today, including parts of the spawn clumps exposed above the water.

Spawn accident

2011-02-27T15:27:00.000Z

I noticed this morning a clump of frog spawn on the patio. This was about 20 metres from the pond.

I scooped it up as well as possible, not easy as the spawn had stuck to the ground. I placed the spawn in an old washing up bowl of water.

Maybe some of them will survive.

More frogs action

2011-02-26T17:24:00.000Z

The pond is full of frogs atill and the rain seems to have inspired the frogs to burst into chorus during the day.

Frog courship and mating

2011-02-25T19:25:00.000Z

Frog courtship and mating is now in full swing. I counted at least 20 frogs, but its only an estimate as they are not all at the surface at the same time and they are still easily spooked, even by a movement of the curtain.

Here are a sequence of pictures tken thrpough the conservatory window, a few feet from the edge of the pond.

I went outside after dark and discovered these two late comers.

First frog spawn

2011-02-22T16:12:00.000Z

I was right, I discovered two clumps of spawn in the pond today, one floating near the back and a small clump underwater at the front.

Two pairs of frogs are active near the submerged clump.

Frog courship

2011-02-21T16:08:00.000Z

Some of the frogs are starting to pair up. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is spawn in the pond tomorrow.

Frogs love the rain

2011-02-20T16:04:00.000Z

During the rainy weather more frogs have made it back to our pond. Difficult to count, but lots of splashes and ripples every time I go to the window.

First frogs in the pond

2011-02-13T16:33:00.000Z

Frogs have now returned to our garden pond. My wife noticed 4 yesterday, croaking at full volume. By the time I got home from work it was dark and so I missed them. I took a look today and saw two. Unlike the sunny weather we had yesterday to day was cold, raining and windy.

At one point, 2 heads surfaced at the same time

A splash of yellow

2011-02-09T16:33:00.000Z

Its surprising the difference a little sun makes.

Fox and sparrowhawk

2011-01-20T00:04:00.001Z

The foxes were courting again last night. I caught a glimpse of them in the moon light as they disappeared up the track. Early morning and they were outside thew house again. The eventually walked along our boundary wall and disappeared into the gardens behind our house.

I watched a sparrow hawk circling above our garden, slowly moving south before flying off to the west.

I saw a sparrowhawk again, possibly same one. This time it was mobbed by some herring gulls and again disappeared off to the west.

Fox courtship

2011-01-05T15:54:00.000Z

Although I was down with the flu and a chest infection, I heard a couple of foxes outside the front of the house

Pipit, Wren and Thrush

2010-12-24T13:59:00.000Z

As we returned from a last minute shopping trip, I noticed a meadow pipit on our garden wall.

Later, throught the kitchen window, I noticed a tiny wren foraging for food and a big fluffed up song thrush.

Urban Fox

2010-12-20T17:08:00.000Z

As we looked out the window this morning, 7.10am, we spotted a beautiful fox warily trotting down the track towards our house. There were already people about, car doors banging and the fox was very alert to these sounds. It trotted past our house and turned right and disappeared up the road.

More birds in the snow

2010-12-03T16:22:00.000Z

Its still bitterly cold but the snow is beginning to thaw. rain is predicted this evening, so I thought I would take one last walk up the track. The sky was blue and the sun shining, but the weather was still very cold, my ungloved hand (needed to operate my camera) was painful from the cold after just a few minutes.

There were many herring gulls sitting on the snowy roof tops and looked as if their white plumage was specifically to camouflage them against the snow. They certainly did not look out of place.

There was a lot more bird activity today, sparrows flying too and fro and small flocks of starlings flew by. A flash of gold caught my eye.

It was a solitary goldfinch. It flew past and settled on a tree in one of the gardens. We often have small flocks of goldfinch in the area, small feeding flocks which also provide safety in numbers, but it was a bit more unusual to see this one on its own.

I reached the end of the track and turned left to the road where I could get a view of the snow covered South Downs.

I walked back down the track towards our house.

I small flock of noise blue tits passed through foraging for food. I also spotted a dunnock foraging in the foliage lower down.

A male and female blackbird hoped around in the branches

and then flew to another tree.

I kept an eye out for birds from our back garden time to time.

A small flock of lapwing flew over, followed by two stragglers.

I could also hear the noisy tec-tec alarm call of a robin in our neighbours garden.

It called, then flicked its tail and hopped from left to right

I guess one of the many neighbourhood cats was prowling around.

A walk in the snow

2010-12-02T18:19:00.000Z

After the heavy snow during the night, the ground is now covered with a thick layer of snow, about 8 inches, more than we had last year. At 10.00am I went for a walk around the village to see what bird and animal life was about. I walked up the track but only encountered a few birds.

A small flock of sparrows were chattering in a snow covered bush.

Many birds, including crows, pigeons and starlings gathered around chimney pots for an extra bit of warmth.

A few redwing flew over, but too quick for my camera to focus. A solitary blue tit foraged in a tree.

At the end of the tack I turned left and left again taking me down the road to my house. As yesterday, I carried on past the house towards the old village. I saw three pied wagtails at different locations, bobbing their tail as they walked along in the snow.

A passer by disturbed one and it flew up onto a roof top.

As I walked up towards Easthill Park I noticed movement in the branches. It was a tiny goldcrest, the smallest of our UK song birds.

As I watched I noticed a great tit higher up in the branches and the read breast of a robin. The goldcrest was very active and at one point was close enough for me to touch.

As I watched a squirrel bounded past in the snow and scampered

The snow in Easthill park was very thick, The horses next door in the horse sanctuary did not seem bothered by the snow.

Even thought plenty food had been provided for the horses, this one was eating foliage from a tree. A few birds visible, mainly pigeon, crow and a few starlings. The occasional herring gull also flew past.

I trudged through the thick snow to the wooded end of the park where there is a pathway through the trees.

As I walked along the odd blackbird and blue tit flashed past. At the far end, another pied wagtail.

I left the wooded path and was about to walk down the outside of the wooded area when I spotted a blackbird. It was feeding on berries.

It was soon joined by another male blackbird and a squabble broke out.

The squabble was short lived and one of the blackbirds flew away, possibly the intruder but it was as hard to follow as the magicians find the queen or the ball under the cup. The bird that remained started to eat the berries.

As I started to walk alongside the wooded area I spotted a red wing

I carried on walking and as I passed underneath a particular large evergreen a flash of blue attracted by attention it was a blue tit. Then I spotted a great tit.

Many more appeared to be foraging in the higher branches occasionally sending down a small shower of snow.

I was then attracted by another small bird which I thought was another goldcrest. But looking at the photographs back home on the computer I think it might have been the rarer firecrest. (comments welcome)

As I walked back through the old village I noticed this female blackbird feeding on then berries from a garden.

Foxes in the snow

2010-12-01T19:47:00.000Z

Following the small amount of snow we had yesterday, the continuous dusting of snow all day has built up to a more substantial amount. I gave my mum a call to check she was okay and she said it had just started to snow heavily.

I looked out the window and saw movement down the dirt track next to our house. At first I thought it was a cat but soon discovered it was a fox. In fact it was two foxes, chasing each other across the track. At one point they reared up onto their hind legs, sparing with their fore paws. If I had not telephoned my mum and looked out the window at that moment I would not have noticed them. Although this seemed to be early courtship, there was no calling which would normally occur. Also, without the snow, I would not have seen them either. The foxes disappeared up the far end of the track.

I kept an eye out and about 30 minutes later I saw one fox in the track. It appeared to be hunting, occasionally pouncing. I took a few pictures (without flash, after dark – only possible because of the snow).

Then the batteries ran out, just as the fox appeared about 5 meters from my window. I changed the batteries and looked out the window, just in time to see the fox running back across the road and disappeared behind the tall flint wall and disappeared up the road.

After a few minutes I decided to follow the tracks (my daughter came with me) and see where they led.

I could see where the fox crossed the road and where the tracks led off up the path.

About 50m further, the tracks crossed the road and disappeared between two houses to a back access alley. The prints led to a low wall, the fox appeared top have negotiated this and entered the back garden of a house on the adjacent road.

We carried on up the road and turned of up a short track that turned right again leading back top the track that leads back to our house.

A few meters along and we disturbed a bird that was sheltering in the shadows on the ground. It flew up and headed away from us. I had the impressing of a largish (small chicken size) bird with a long beak. It looked like a woodcock!

We walked along the track and pass our house in the hope of encountering the bird again, but did not see any sign.

We carried on a short distance to the high street, by now the snow was really heavy and the glow of the lights on the snow made the scene rather eerie.

Wasps

2010-11-09T17:59:00.000Z

During the sunny days, over the last week or so, I have noticed a lot of wasp activity around the oak (species) tree that over hangs our garden. The wasps are mainly high up, buzzing around the branches, occasionally flying off.

Today I managed to get a relatively close up picture of a couple of the wasps. I think they might be the German Wasp, because of the hairy head and thorax. The yellow marking on the face in this species also bears three black dots, but none of the pictures were clear enough to show this. These wasps make a nest made from chewed up plant fibers and produce a chemical which repels ants, which the secret at the base to prevent ants invading the nest.

What was particularly strange is that a few metres away, an apple tree overhangs our garden. On the shed roof is a pile of windfall apples and yet the wasps showed no interest in them.

Like the common wasp, these worker wasps collect insects and caterpilars to feed their young (earlier in the year) and so these an benificial insects

Winter bees

2010-11-08T17:26:00.000Z

A sunny weekend and the odd bumble bee is still active in my back garden, visiting the Hebe. I also noticed one checking out flowers in the front garden too.

I heard recently that scientists are investigating the growing phenomenon of bumblebees remaining active throughout the winter. They believe this may be due to the recent warmer winters, linked to climate change, also our passion for gardening. With the increasing popularity of exotic plant species and winter flowering shrubs, flowering plants are available in the winter from which bees can collect food. The species they have been monitoring is the buff-tailed bumble bee.

Another theory being explored is that the bees may be hybridising with foreign bees, which remain active in winter. It is thought that these may have escaped into the wild after being imported into Britain to help with the pollination of crops in poly tunnels.
The "winter bees" seem to be an entirely urban or suburban phenomenon. It appears that the queen bee only goes into a mini hibernation in October and then starts foraging again, rather than sleeping through the winter and waking up in March. However this could leave these bees

particularly vulnerable and a severe cold snap could be devastating to a species that is already struggling.

Yellow Iris Seed Pods

2010-11-07T12:59:00.000Z

The seed pods of the yellow iris growing in my pond have started to split open.

Autumn is a great time for taking arty shots of nature as it prepares for the winter

Jays

2010-11-05T01:02:00.000Z

Jays love acorns and this often leads to some quite close observation of this relatively shy, colourful member of the crow family.

I have seen and heard a jay in the oak tree that over hangs our garden on and off for the last couple of weeks.

Today however there a great commotion as three jays chased each other back and forth from the tree to the garage roof.

No need to fight over the acorns as there are more than enough to go around - even for the wood pigeons that also visit the tree.

Eventually there was only one left.

Jays frequently bury acorns and dig them up later.I have noticed small holes in our front lawn and had previously blamed squirrels, but this may have been caused by jays retrieving their stash of acorns.

Jays have a rather bad reputation as like other members of the crow family they will also feed on the nestlings of other birds

Starling roost

2010-10-30T01:29:00.000+01:00

I have seen the starlings roost underneath the Brighton Pier but I have not seen so many on the Brighton Marina before. It was a windy evening and a small flock of starlings turned in to a noisy swirling flock.

They spiraled down and disappeared beneath the restaurants standing on piles above the water.

Buzzard

2010-10-25T17:38:00.000+01:00

As we drove back home along the A27, I observed a large buzzard circling over the road just west of Shoreham Airport

Where should I place my bird feeder?

2010-10-18T09:12:00.000+01:00

The colder weather is upon us and its time to think about feeding the birds during the cold winter months. If you have not fed the birds in your garden before or you are looking for new places to put up food. Get your cue from watching how the birds use your garden.

Birds follow natural pathways, such as hedges, trees, flower borders and other places where they can naturally move from one place to another without exposing them to much to possible predators. This will include how birds come into and leave your garden.

A few weeks ago I placed a bird feeder in the buddliea in our front garden. It is a natural pathway from sparrows and the occasional blue and great tits. Today, for the first time I saw a pair of great tits and a blue tit feeding from the bird feeder.

Don't be surprised it is takes several weeks for birds to find and use your newly placed bird feeder. This is quite natural.

Magpie

2010-10-10T19:52:00.000+01:00

I am not a big fan of magpies as they have increased locally and terrorise a lot of the smaller nesting birds.
That said, everything has its place and has chicks of its own to feed. A recent study by the RSPB found that song birds populations were no different between places where magpies were common and places where they were not so common. no less.

Today our garden was visited by a magpie who seemed unable to fly. It hoped about and fluttered awkwardly up onto the fence but seemed unable to fly. These birds are often very shy and this one did not seem to have the ability to make a quick get away.

It did eventually manage to flutter up onto our conservatory roof.

Toad and newt

2010-10-06T16:06:00.000+01:00

Following yesterday blog where I said that we had not seen a toad in the garden since we moved in. Well this evening, my wife spotted this toad on our doorstep while going out (after dark) to pick our daughter up.

Afterwards, when she came home about 30 minutes later, the toad was hiding in the shadows and on the edge of the path was a newt.

Juvenile toad

2010-10-05T19:06:00.000+01:00

My wife found a small toad in the garden, floating in the rain water which had filled an empty garden trug. At first she thought it was dead. She managed to scoop the little toad up on an old saucer.

I put the toad in a more suitable location

The year we moved to this house a few years back now, there was toad spawn in the pond. Before we moved in, I found a couple of dead toads in the garden by the pond. The following year we had a small amount of toad spawn and one visible toad. I have not seen any toads in the garden since this one, so I was rather pleased.