Corona Wildlife Diary: Day Eighty
This weekend's Back Garden Bird Race will be on Sunday (10-11) Full details are (here)
Day Eighty
There's been a lot going on in the garden in the past week so it's time for an update.
Another ant bites the dust
Yesterday I needed a change and I moved my 'working from home' set-up into the front room where there's a bit more space. The problem was from my new 'desk' I had a great view of the garden which was really distracting. It's hard to focus on a Zoom videoconference when a Sparrowhawk swoops through the garden. Later in the afternoon I was distracted by a Green Woodpecker I noticed behind the sofa.
I wrote about the time a Green Woodpecker hit the window a few days ago (here) which is why I have put up a poster of Freddie Mercury as a bird scaring device. Freddie's moustache didn't scare off this woodpecker though who was hunting for ants just a few feet away. I grabbed my camera and filmed him at work.
It was a great opportunity to see how these amazing birds feed. They locate an ant nest, hack it open and then stick their beak in. What we can't see is, after the beak has probed the soil, the woodpecker deploys its crazy long tongue which licks up the ants. I wrote about this (and examined some ant-filled woodpecker poo) on Day Twenty-two (here).
The crazy thing about woodpecker tongues is they start on top of the bird's head and curl around their skull. Here's a diagram by a local artist.
And here's a great photo I found online of a Green Woodpecker sticking its tongue out.
After it had had its fill of ants it noticed me and flew off.
I wonder if it was the same bird I helped after it hit the window all those years ago?
What a Beauty
Over the past few weeks I have had a few brief visits from one of the U.K.s most beautiful insects - the Beautiful Demoiselle.
The problem is they are always very active and they don't hang around in my garden, just pass through with their graceful, butterfly-like flight. This one landed for a few seconds and I grabbed my camera and took a snap.
They do wander around the countryside but what they ultimately require for breeding is flowing water, and all my garden has to offer is a pond of dubious shape.
Although they are stunning I've always had a soft-spot for this delicate beauty, the Blue-tailed Damselfly. And at least they stay still long enough for a photo.
Brimstone Caterpillar Update
I've been updating you on the Brimstone caterpillars that are munching on the Alder Buckthorn bushes in the front garden. I planted the bushes there for this exact reason. Everyday I pop out to stretch my legs and see how many I can count. It's been a bumper Brimstone bonanza out there this year, there's dozens of the camouflaged caterpillars on the leaves.
How many can you count in these photos?
(if you didn't count 6 try again).
Then, yesterday, I went out as usual and they were all gone. I couldn't find a single one. They're still too small to even think about pupating so either my eyesight is going or a bird or a predatory wasp has discovered them. It seems incredible that, whoever the killer was, it could have found them all. I'll search for survivors of this mystery massacre later.
Mind the Gap
Butterfly-wise we're now in 'The June Gap'. The spring butterflies have emerged, met, mated, laid eggs and died. Soon we'll start seeing a new range of species emerge - the summer butterflies. There's still a few butterflies to add to my garden's 2020 list though. I had to run around a bit to get a snap of a fast-flying Common Blue.
But this Large Skipper had the courtesy to stay still long enough to let me crawl through the lawn and get a picture.
The Common Blue lays eggs on the Bird's-foot Trefoil in the garden. There's plenty of it here to keep them happy. If you look in the grass you'll see the chunky caterpillar of the beautiful Six-spot Burnet moth which also feeds on Bird's-foot Trefoil.
Meet the Beetles
The Ox-eye Daisies provide a great food source and a wide landing pad for beetles. This little fella is the Wasp Beetle and it's hoping that its black and yellow colours will convince a short-sighted bird that it's a stinging wasp (although the beetle is totally harmless)
The Common Malachite has iridescent green wing cases with two red spots at the end.
Whoah - look at the thighs on this guy! The Swollen-thighed Beetle looks like it's been overdoing it at the gym. Only the males have these swollen thighs.
Meadow movie
I mentioned yesterday that my front lawn looks amazing, but it's better with some sound so here's a short clip of my buzzing meadow. Now, if there was only a way of capturing that smell...
And finally, one of the few benefits of the pandemic has been this rare sighting right in front of my house.
There's never been an ice cream van in the cul-de-sac in the eight years I've lived here. And I'd like to do what I can to support small businesses during these hard times.
Have a great weekend folks.
Comments
Your ice-cream looks like an exotic flower or creature. Hope it tasted as good. Walking along the river Ouse near Barcombe Mills, I came across quite a few damselflies exactly like yours. In previous years I remember seeing the ones with transparent wings and a great big black block in the centre. I can’t tell you how instructive and absolutely delightful your diary is! Thank you.
M: Thanks Barbel - those Demoiselles with the 'big black block' in the wings are the other species - the Banded Demoiselle.05 Jun 2020 13:59:00
Nice! Did you add your own Twixes to the ice cream or did the ice cream man have them in stock?
M: The Ice Cream Man added those. To be honest I was hoping for more from a 'Twix Special' than a huge tray of ice cream with a frozen Twix stuck in it. I still ate it all though.05 Jun 2020 14:18:00
How do you know all this?! I have never seen half of these things but I will look out for them. Maybe you could work with a perfumist to capture the Woodstock garden so we can buy the scent? My money is on the lady described yesterday with the spray can for the serial caterpillar murder. I am so jealous of your ice cream. It looks delicious. I love raspberry sauce. Excited for Sunday but I don’t think I’ll have many birds because of a bush massacre next door. ☹️
05 Jun 2020 16:00:00
Hi Michael, just wanted to thank you for your daily column over the last 80 days. It was great seeing what birds, animals & insects that live in your necks the woods, so to speak! I have been more conscious of what birds are around my Villa. Wish I had a garden like yours, but so far I’ve seen, blue wrens, Willy Wag Tails and now in the camellias some sort of Wattle bird. I’m off to the shops ( yes, almost out of iso at last!) to find a “what’s that bird” book. Thank You for keeping me entertained. Cheers, Carol 😊
05 Jun 2020 18:05:00
I detect that Carol is a fellow Aussie. I’ve not seen any blue wrens in my Sussex garden lately! Fancy your blogs reaching to the far Antipodes and beyond. Weve seen 2 Beautiful Demoiselles recently. Exquisite. Your wildflowers are terrific Michael. Thanks for inspiring words and music. Tooroo. Jane.
06 Jun 2020 09:23:00
Bird Race: Bullfinch, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Wood Pigeon, Greatit, Chiffchaff, Garden Warbler, Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Blackbird, Wren, Swallow, Chaffinch, Carrion Crow, Robin, Buzzard, Herring Gull, Magpie. Total 17 Plant Amelanchier lamarckii for Bullfinch who love little red berries right now
07 Jun 2020 10:15:00
From our Steyning garden this morning:
Blackbird
Blue Tit
Carrion Crow
Dunnock
Magpie
Sparrowhawk
Wood Pigeon
Grey Heron
House Sparrow
Swift
Starling
Jackdaw
Greenfinch
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Buzzard
Herring Gull
Goldfinch
Robin
Rook
Stock Dove
Skylark
Red Kite
+ heard only: Wren, Blackcap, Chaffinch.
25 species.
Long overdue appearances from Skylark, Sparrowhawk, & also a flypast Grey Heron.
07 Jun 2020 10:18:00
16 drizzly cold and windy. Proper Welsh weather. Where was the robin? Not seen or heard!!
Blackbird
Buzzard
Chaffinch
Crow
Collared dove
Goldfinch
Kite
Siskin
Sparrow
Bluetit
Great tit
Coal Tit
Greater Spotted Woodpecker
Wood pigeon
Wren
Raven
07 Jun 2020 11:34:00
17 this week, lovely to see so many young birds. Blackbird, Blue Tit, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Goldfinch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Magpie, Nuthatch, Robin, Song Thrush, Starling, Woodpigeon, Wren
07 Jun 2020 11:55:00
19 in Seaford.
Saved in the final few minutes with a Sparrowhawk mobbing a Buzzard.
Jackdaw, Herring Gull, Robin, Starling, Woodpigeon, Great Tit, Magpie, Carrion Crow, Song Thrush, Skylark, Collared Dove, Swift, Chaffinch, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, House Sparrow, Buzzard, Sparrowhawk.
07 Jun 2020 12:08:00
Only 16 spp here in Mountfield (lowest number so far) with 14 of them in the first 20 minutes.
Cast in order of appearance :- Wren, Wood Pigeon, Carrion Crow, House Sparrow, Buzzard, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Jackdaw, Blue Tit, Greenfinch, Starling, Collared Dove, Song Thrush, Dunnock, Great Tit and Magpie.
Unexpectedly missing regulars included Robin, Great Spotted Woodpecker and Herring Gull
07 Jun 2020 14:16:00