Fox and Pipistelle Bat

Just before 9.00am I noticed a fox hunting in the track. It traveled nose to the ground crossing the track and looking in the vegetation, slowly making its way towards our house. I quickly went inside to get my camera.

I knew the flash would probably cause the fox to head back up teh track so I waited until it was near enough to take a photo. 

The flash caused the fox to freeze and it looked in my direction, but not sure if it could see me as I kept myself in front of our brick wall. It turned slowly and trotted back up the track.

Foxes were quite common around our way and in previous years I have watched a couple of foxes on their nightly rounds, but I have not seen them for a couple of years, so great to see this fox.

Just after the fox had gone, I noticed the pipistrelle bats were also now on the wing. Again, I have been watching these bats hunting along the track for the last few years. There are lots of insects in the track and the bats may hunt for a 20 minutes or more before moving on. I watched them for a while then went inside.  

A short while later I went back out to check and as I suspected, the fox was back hunting again. I knew that my presence would only cause it to go away temporarily

Bush Cricket

Due to the warm weather we often leave te conservatory oor open and today I found two bush crickets on the ceiling. Crickets feed on vegetation which our conservatory was very lacking of - so not sure what attracted them into our house.

I carefully examined one using my USB cam. I placed the cricket on some vegetation and after a while it started to move around. It moved in that same jerky swaying movement you might expect from a stick insect or praying mantis. It also carefully chose where it would place its legs as it climbed (pic through USB cam below).

The next morning there was a bush cricket on the outside of the window.

 I had previous;y seen bush crickets near our pond, on the bramble leaves.

More on flying ants nuptial flight

Following the black ant nuptial flight on 31st July, we had a major flying ant event today starting at 5.15pm. This time the large ant nest in the back garden had a major nuptial flight, queens and males pouring out of the nest and launching into the air.

Some of the flying ants were caught in a spider web just above the nest, see top right of picture above.

There was also a major nuptial flight from the nest in our front garden, swarming up te fence post before fling from this elevated position.

 This seemed to be the main ant day for my neighbourhood as their were many other ants on the wing and later in the evening we drove down to the beach and encountered many flying ants on the way.

Records were again sent to the survey by the Royal Society of Biology see more at see more at get-involved/biologyweek/flying-ant-survey  and also my blog entry below 31st and 30th July.

Black ant nuptial flight

Its that time of year when the flying ants take to the sky, new queens and males on their nuptial flight.  

The Royal Society of Biology (formerly the Society of Biology) have been running a flying ant survey in collaboration with the University of  Gloucestershire between 2012 and 2014 and I have provided my records for this survey.  This year, the survey is more informal but society is keen to receive reports, find out more at  get-involved/biologyweek/flying-ant-survey

Ants had been gathering around the entrance holes of the ant nest outside the garden under the pavement at least an hour before the nuptial flight. At 7.40pm, ants started to pour out of the ground near our front door, streaming up the wall and also the flower pot by the door. 

They took flight when they had gained enough height although some launched from the ground.

The yellow field ant’s nuptial flight, from a small nest in the front garden, also took place at the same time. 

The black ant’s nuptial flight from the nest outside our garden occurred not long after.  I set up the USB microscope to have a closer look. 

As the queens were leaving the nest several worker ants were positioned around the hole with their jaws open wide.

 As usual, the nuptial flight attracted herring gulls and smaller birds such as sparrow and starlings. Some of the flying ants were taken on the wing while others were picked up off the ground.

The largest black ant nest, which is in the back garden did not have a nuptial flight, although by this time of the day the back of the garden was in shade and the air was quite cool. Not only was the air warm, the ground had absorbed the heat from the sun all afternoon.

Black ants preparing for nuptial flight

The black ants are getting busy in our garden preparing for their nuptial flight. In the back garden on the rockery they have been building a huge mound of soil - an amazing feat of earth moving for their size.

From past experience I have found the nursery chambers are beneath the rocks that absorb and retain the suns heat. The ants are now building soil chimneys up the side of one of the rocks.

Back on 23rd July, a aborted nuptial flight took place at 5.50pm from the nest outside of our garden beneath the pavement.  

A few of the queens left the nest and some were eaten by sparrows that found them on the ground. But they seemed to change their mind (wrong environmental conditions!) and went back inside.

Wildlife sightings round up

Apologies for lack of posts over the last few months. I have been working on a Heritage Lottery Funded wetland project in Lewes which has taken up much of my time.

Lots of interesting wildlife recorded in and around my garden and here are a few highlights from the last few months.

Hundreds of tiny froglets successfully emerged from the pond

The Red Mason Bees continued to nest in the bee hotels and were also joined more recently by leaf cutter bees.

The small red damselflies have emerged from the pond. 

I rescued one emerging damselfly that fell from the pond plant it had emerged from. It was still pale and needed to dry out.

I found it a safe perch in the garden sheltered from the wind.

The swifts have returned and have been nesting as usual in the eaves of our neighbour’s house. 

I have been watching several herring gull nests close to our house. They are at different stages, all have chicks, and some are learning to fly.

Lots of interesting invertebrates such as this cockchafer also known as May bugs. 

They are considered a pest as the larvae eat plant roots and can be a big problem to root vegetables.

I have continued to plant and grow stuff in the garden, as this is my chill out time. Lots of plants in the window boxes, tomatoes, green beans,strawberries and sunflowers to name a few. 

The bees have been busy pollinating the soft fruits such as raspberries and blue berries.

 I have eaten all the raspberries and some of the blue berries. So much more tasty than shop bought.

In the sunny evenings I have been enjoying sitting in the garden and reading and watching the spectacular sky as the sun sets.

Red mason bees

The red mason bees are nesting in the 'bee hotel' in our back garden for the forth year running.

These tiny little solitary bees will make mud cells and deposit an egg with food for next year. See below a link for one of last years posts.

http://urbanwildlifejottings.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/red-mason-bees-nesting.html

I received another bee hotel last year as a present but it was not used by any bees. So this year I have used my bee mapping process (that I usually work with schools) to chose the best location for the bee hotel based on the bees requirements and connectivity with bee activity in and outside of our garden.

To place it in the chosen location I had to put the box on a post.

That was about a month ago and this year mason bees have started to visit - in fact one tube has been filled with mud cells and already been capped off. 

So I have been really pleased, first to have another active bee hotel and secondly because the mapping process (that I encourage schools to use) indicated a good site.