25 May 23

Wakeham

It was a day sorting out the shed and as Dawn suggested, anything that had been sat in there unused was to go. We now have an empty shed!!!

Still not a lot of insects about. There were singles of Large White and Holly Blue. Plus singles of Honey Bee, Red Mason Bee, a Blue-tailed Damselfly and my first Swollen-thighed Beetle of the year. It was so quiet I didn't see a single hoverfly!!!

Mammals Recorded:
1 Brown Rat

Birds Recorded:
Herring Gull
Wood Pigeon
Collared Dove
Dunnock
Blue Tit
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Starling
House Sparrow
Chaffinch
Goldfinch

A Dunnock singing from the Cherry Tree

And this House Sparrows was waiting for me to top up the feeders again.

Dragonflies and Damselflies Recorded:
Common Blue Damselfly

This is I believe a freshly emerged Common Blue Damselfly.

Butterflies Recorded:
1 Large White
1 Holly Blue

Bees Recorded:
1 Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)
1 Red Mason Bee (Osmia bicornis)

There were just singles of Honey Bee and.....

............this Red Mason Bee in the back garden.

Flies, Craneflies, Gnats and Midges Recorded:
#1 - fly sp.
#2 - fly sp.

#3 - leaf miner (either Chromatomyia syngenesiae or Chromatomyia horticola)

#1 - fly sp.

#2 - fly sp

Leaf miner (either Chromatomyia syngenesiae or Chromatomyia horticola)

Bugs and Beetles Recorded:
1 Swollen-thighed Beetle (Oedemera nobilis)

My first Swollen-thighed Beetle of the year

Slugs and Snails Recorded:
White-lipped Banded Snail (Cepaea hortensis)
Garden Snail (Cornu aspersa)

A White-lipped Banded Snail and......

..........two "plain-looking" White-lipped Banded Snails

Froghoppers Recorded:
froghopper sp "Cuckoo-spit"

"Cuckoo-spit" on the Lavender. Inside this froth will be a nymph of a froghopper sp. More on froghoppers Here

Plants:

Cherry Tree (Prunus avium)

"Green" Cherries. It will take awhile, but they will eventually turn red and just right for eating. That's if the Wood Pigeons and Blackbirds don't get to them first.

General shots:

The "bath" pond. Not quite up to the high standards at the Chelsea Flower Show, but the wildlife don't mind.