Blackbird, damselfly and mason bees.

We have blackbirds nesting nearby and the male is often in our back garden looking for worms. 

Here he is tackling a large earthworm  which it took several minutes to subdue to fly off with, it looked like it was going to give up on a couple of occasions, but persevered

The large red damselflies have emerged from our pond, this one is resting on an ornament next to the pond.

The red mason bees are still busy making their nests in the 'bee hotel' 

Mason bees do not have pollen baskets like honey bees or bumble bees, instead they carry it on their body which you can see on the returning bee above.

Lots going on in our greenhouse. Things to eat, plants for the window boxes and also sunflowers which i would miss if we did not have at least a few each year. Good for the bees and birds too.

Red mason bees

One of my favourite solitary bees, red mason bee Osmia rufa are nesting in our garden. Last year I received a bee hotel for my Birthday at the end of May and placed it out in June. It was not successful that year, but I did have a few red mason bees visit my home made bee hotel in the front garden.

I noticed the red mason bees mating (again) on the wall at the front of our house earlier in the year. This is a link to the red mason bees mating last year http://urbanwildlifejottings.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/red-mason-bees-mating.html

I first noticed red mason bees visiting the bee hotel on 26th May this year. The flight period for this small bee is late March to early June. It may be a bit later this year due to the poor weather earlier in the year.

Since then I have enjoyed the coming and going of several bees who have used the bee hotel to nest.

Normally, mason bees will nest up high in small gaps and holes in bricks and buildings, which is where the 'mason' in their name comes from.

The female makes a series of cells with soft soil and packs each cell with a paste made of pollen and nectar, which will feed and nourish the single larvae in each cell. The female does not have pollen baskets, but carries it on the underside of her body.

When completed, the female blocks off the entrance with a soil plug

These are fascinating bees to watch and I would definately recommend anyone to have a go. At the same time you will also be helping bees. Red mason bees are particularly useful in that they pollinate fruit trees such as apple.

One day I watched two bees that behaved quite oddly. It was almost if they had forgotten which hole they were nesting in.

One bee wouild lay in wait and chase of this other bee as it landed. There are cuckoo bee species that lay their eggs in other bees nests, but these both looked to be red mason bees.

To date, nine of the nesting tubes have been used and pluged with mud. Two others still have bee vistors

My home made bee home around the front of the house is also being used by red mason bees.

There are many other species of solitary bee that visit our garden, so hopefully the bee hotel will attact other bees.

Red tailed bumble bee nest

As well as the fascinating solitary bees, we also have a red tailed bumble bee nest in our garden. They are nesting in a hole in the side of the workshop, which I guess goes into the cavity between the walls which is filled with insulation.

Red tailed bumble bees are also very important pollinator species, including soft fruit. They are a common visitor to our garden, but it is the first time I have noticed them nesting.

Black Redstart

While I was working at the computer I noticed a bird out the window. It was on the gate post. I snapped a picture.

Then I returned back to the computer.

I noticed a bird at the feeder, which turned out to be a gold finch

Later in the day, while in  the garden I saw the original bird again. First it was doing a lot of head bobbing on the wall and then flew down into the road where I got a better look at it.

I think it is a female black redstart, (rather than a redstart) the first I had seen in Portslade and the first in the Twitten and our garden. I did not get clear views of the entire bird and the pictures also show the same kind of profile.

It is an attractive bird about the size of a robin.

I saw the blackredstart again a bit later in our neighbours tree.

I will keep an eye out to see if it stays around.

Mining bees and cuckoo bees

Even more bee activity in the garden. Also outside on the pavement. Just outside our front wall I observed a solitary mining bee Andrena thoracica entering a nest burrow in between the paving stones.

The bee is constructing a nest where it will lay eggs that will develop into next years adults.

You can just see the abdomen as it disappears down into its tunnel.

I also observed the first red mason bee (another solitary species) as it rested on a bucket in the garden.

I also observed this small wasp-like insect which is also a bee. This is one of many types of cuckoo bee which as their name suggests lays there eggs in the nests of other bee species.

The wasp-like cuckoo bees belong to a group called Nomada. This one appears to be Nomada’s lathbriana.

Cuckoo bees tend to parasitise a particular species, this one lays its eggs in the nests of another solitary bee  Andrena cineraria

Long-tailed tits

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

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.

Brown carder bee

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.

More pipisterlle bat observations

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.

Butterflies on a sunny day.

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

Life down our lane.

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

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