My Garden Wildlife Diary

I'm very proud to say that after only just over a month after moving into our new house, I have seen tons of birds and started noticing some interesting insects, too. Doing up the garden has really paid off, and now I can finally enjoy wildlife right on my back doorstep!

Image from writer's old garden :)

Birds - the count so far

1. Blackbird
2. Robin
3. Dunnock
4. House Sparrow
5. Wood Pigeon
6. Collared Dove
7. Starling
8. Song Thrush
9. Jackdaw
10. Wren
11. Magpie
12. Blue Tit
13. Crow
14. Rook
15. Mallard Duck
16. Goldfinch
17. Black Headed Gull
18. Swallow (overhead)

Cuckoo - I hear this calling every day, usually in the afternoon or early evening. It brings me great joy to know that I have created a safe space for my feathered friends. We are near fenland, after all.

Moths

Cinnabar: 10th most commonly sighted moth in Britain, according to UK Moths. Wingspan: 32-42mm. Nocturnal most of the time, but can be disturbed from long grass in the daytime. Another colour form can be occasionally found with yellowish markings replacing the red. Flies from May - July. Yellow and black hoops on larvae, which feed on ragwort.

Beetles

Thick Legged Flower Beetle: Male has swollen hind legs. Common and widespread in the UK. Regularly seen on open-structured flowers such as ox-eye daisies. Known and swollen-thigh beetle and false oil beetle. Adults seen April - September. Larvae hidden in dry plant stems. Favour sunny days and prefer flowers but also pollinate bramble plants.

 

Shield Bug: Adult is seen all year round.        12-13.5mm. Bright green in Summertime and darker brown in Autumn before hibernating over Winter. Nymphs feed on deciduous shrubs and trees. Seen June-October. Common and widespread in Britain and well as Ireland, however unrecorded in Scotland. Commonly found in parks and gardens.

 
Bees, Wasps and Flies   
Honey Bee: Live in hives. Farmed in colonies and used for centuries to obtain honey and wax. There are 3 types of hive inhabitants: Worker bees (undeveloped females, forage for food), Queens (lay eggs) and drones (males, expelled from hive in Winter). If Queen dies, new one is made by feeding a female royal jelly. Suvive on stored honey and pollen in the Winter, the bees forming a cluster to retain warmth. Larvae grow in the winter to make a new generation for the Spring.
 


Hoverfly Volucella bombylans: Mimics a bee to scare off predatora. Found throughout most of the UK. Hedgerows, margins and urban wasteland. May - September peak in June. Female lays eggs in bumble bee and wasp nests - debris is food for larvae, they sometimes eat bee larvae too. Commonly seen all over Britain.







all imaged sourced from below sites or are publicly available on Google images

Sources
http://www.mothscount.org/ 
http://ukmoths.org.uk/species/tyria-jacobaeae/adult-2/
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/category/beetles/flower-beetles/ 
http://www.naturespot.org.uk/species/volucella-bombylans 
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artmay07/cd-hoverflies.html
https://www.buglife.org.uk/bugs-and-habitats/thick-legged-flower-beetle
http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/Pentatomidae/palomena_prasina.html
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/honeybee/