Warm sunny day, too warm out of the wind. Went looking for insects, could hear the Blackcaps singing and plenty of Chiffchaffs. Song thrush, Robin and Black bird, I did hear a Green finch but did not see it. Did not wander to far (to hot) not as many Butterflies, few Small White and Orange Tip saw one Speckled Wood.
The Whitebeam tree looked stunning flowering.
Common Green Shieldbug 4th instar nymph
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| Whitebeam tree |
Whitebeam is a broadleaf deciduous tree native to southern England, though widely planted in the north of the UK.
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| Creeping Buttercup |
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| Wolf Spider |
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| Wolf Spider with eggs ? |
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| Common Earwig |
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| Cleavers |
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| Common Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium) Learves |
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| Tiny moth |
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| Creeping Buttercup |
Chiffchaff
The chiffchaff is a small olive-brown warbler which actively flits through trees and shrubs, with a distinctive tail-wagging movement.
Although not always the case, chiffchaffs often have dark legs and a short pale eye stripe, whereas the willow warbler - a very similar looking species - has pale legs and a long yellow eye stripe. It is readily distinguished by its song, from where it gets its name.
It picks insects from trees and also flies out to snap them up in flight.
(LINK)
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| Damselfly |
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| Hoverfly |
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| Click beetle |
Click beetle
Insects in the family Elateridae are commonly called click beetles. Other names include elaters, snapping beetles, spring beetles or skipjacks. This family was defined by William Elford Leach in 1815. They are a cosmopolitan beetle family characterized by the unusual click mechanism they possess.
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| Add caption |
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| Common Vetch |
A member of the pea family (legumes), Common Vetch is able to make its own nitrates, a special nutrient essential for healthy plant growth. This makes it useful as a soil-fertilising plant and it is also often used as livestock fodder. It grows well on grassland, farmland, waste ground and roadside verges, as well as in coastal habitats, such as sand dunes. Groups of one or two pink flowers appear between May and September.
(LINK)
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14-spot Ladybird
(Propylea quattuordecimpunctata) |
I find Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler are the most frustrating birds unless they are singing right in front of you!! I've yet to see any kind of Dragonfly this year.
ReplyDeleteThanks Pam, yes... so hard to tell apart, well a lot of the smaller birds are!
DeleteA lovely set of photos - the park near you is just wonderful. I love the shieldbug instar on the pine cone and the buttercup and earwig photo so much. We have a Whitebeam tree half way up the garden which had self-seeded when we moved in - it is now huge and I do love watching it change through the seasons. It too is in flower now.
ReplyDeleteA super post Amanda and I do find it so interesting to see the wildlife you have spotted :)
Thanks Caroline for the lovely comment, I wish I had room for a whitebeam. I did plant a Rowan tree in the front this year and it is doing well. I do have a lot of trees despite it been a small garden but most of them are in tubs.
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