Safari Sunday

Time for some more creepy crawlies from around the garden…

I spotted this little leaf-cutter Bee filling in a small hole in the bricks.

Leaf cutter Bee

These might be Honey Bees, I’m not entirely certain; they certainly look very similar if not.

Honey Bee

Sadly I found this egg in a border, I hope I didn’t cause it, although there’s no sign of a nest nearby. I was ripping up some Herb Robert in the cherry border at the time and spotted it amongst the Geraniums. I think it’s a Sparrow Egg, which is a first for my garden… Well a first of any egg for my garden to be honest as I don’t really have anywhere for birds to nest and I’ve never noticed any obvious nesting activity in the Privet hedge – guess I was wrong.

Sparrow Egg

I spotted the first Cinnabar Moth a few days ago and am waiting rather impatiently for caterpillars to appear on the Ragwort. Cinnabars usually hide during the day, and I’ve since disturbed it/them on a few occasions around the front and back gardens.

Cinnabar Moth

Then, Saturday I spotted one flying around in the clover… Once I had grabbed my camera it was obvious it was in fact a 6 Spotted Burnet instead! A first for my garden.

6 Spotted Burnet Moth

There’s lots of tiny little Bees, no idea what they are but there’s at least 4 different tiny Bee species hanging around.

Tiny Bee on Feverfew

Trying to ID a fast-flying Brown Butterfly wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, however I knew it would be either a Meadow brown or Ringlet… I took photos as it was on the wing regardless and caught one clear enough to see it’s the former.

Meadow Brown, Wolf Spider, Bee, Bees on Clover and Fly

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24 thoughts on “Safari Sunday”

    • Hi Donna,

      I still don’t know where the nest is… The egg must’ve gone a fair distance to get into the border, getting past the branches of the privet and out into the border… Anyway, I hope the rest of the nest is still intact.

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    • Hi,

      Yep, never thought I’d see any nesting, perhaps it was an inexperienced bird nesting and I guess they’ve now discovered their site is unsuitable! Oh well, perhaps in a few years I’ll have them nesting elsewhere as I’m allowing Ivy and various others climbers to grow; they’re just not dense enough yet to provide enough shelter from other birds such as Sparrowhawks, Magpies and Jays.

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  6. Great pics Liz! If I rushed in to get my camera, the subject will have gone by the time I get back, lucky you they stayed around.

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    • Hi Ronnie,

      The same often happens to me; they’ve gone by the time I get back, but in this instance I had the camera on the blanket next to me so it was nice and fast. It’s even worse when I run to get my camera to find the wrong lens is on, so I have to quickly swap and get back. Sometimes it’s OK such as later in the year when Butterflies are lazy, or when a Male Sprawk was visiting.

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    • Hi,

      Watching the insects is almost as mesmerising as watching fish swimming… It’s so easy to spend all day watching them buzz around or spotting different species I haven’t seen yet. Such as I was beginning to worry about the lack of Wasps (not worry so much but think it odd that I hadn’t seen a single one yet) and today I spotted a couple. I assume they’re not nesting nearby because they’re so late in appearing.

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  8. Our gardens are such busy places, if we just take the time to stop and look. We have a leaf cutter bee filling up a hole under a table in the garden where the screws have been counter sunk. I haven’t seen any ladybirds yet, have you?

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    • Hi Pauline,

      Ha, I spend most of my time stopping and looking and not enough time actually doing house work, garden work or tidying… 😉
      I’ve seen quite a few of the small yellow and black Ladybirds but only seen one 7 spot. I did however, see a baby caterpillar the other day on an Ox-Eye Daisy. But yes, I can’t believe how poor this year has been! Even my parent’s who last year had so many I had to be careful where I stepped – even in the middle of the lawn – haven’t had any this year.

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    • Hi Cathy,

      I often get the Bees checking out our back wall for nest sites, and last year watched as a parasitic wasp dragged its spider prey along the decking and into a hole to lay its eggs. So I bought them a little Bee house… Not a single Bee has used it! Grrrrrrrrr. I’ve even placed it on the back wall, so it’s also south-facing.

      Earlier this year I watched a Bee chew its way out of a hole in our wall (to the garden, not the house) as my boyfriend had painted over it (I avoided it, because I’d seen Bees going into them) So I tried to help it get free… Really ought to post photos of that too!

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    • Hi Alberto,

      Have a look on google at leaf-cutter Bees, there’s some real impressive ones, especially when they make little tubes out of the leaves. I’ve heard of them then leaving these little leaf tubes in flower pots! I’ve never seen that before, but I do love that the Bees find nest sites in even the most unlikely of places. The leaves are still there, and no doubt the Bee will emerge next year.

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