Common frog – Bee in the Moment

My week started and ended working next to ponds. The first was a small natural pond with a couple of frogs (Rana temporaria) sitting in it.

The other was a large disused outdoor swimming pool. In its neglected state rainwater collects within the concrete walls and nature is taking over. Given the murkiness of the water I was unable to obtain decent photos of my findings; however I saw another frog, (surrounded by lots and lots of tadpoles) along with a dragonfly nymph and a newt. It should be interesting to discover how many tadpoles survive to adulthood.

For the rest of the week insects were centre stage, especially on Wednesday when flying ants took to the sky. Flying ant season really tests my resolve to work through my dislike of ants (which originated in childhood). Thankfully I now find them more fascinating than loathsome, mostly.

The other insects I saw that day were;
– A (Chrysotoxum cautum) hoverfly on some Pyracantha.

– Honey bees (Apis mellifera) and a Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) visiting a Geranium ‘Rozanne’ plant.

– Lavender (Lavandula) full of bees and butterflies, including more Honey bees as well as Buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris), Meadow browns (Maniola jurtina) and a Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperantus) butterfly.

The Meadow brown butterflies also enjoyed visiting the Echinops bannaticus flowers too.

Even as I returned home I noticed a Willow Beauty (Peribatodes rhomboidaria) moth on the hall window.

The adults feed on Creeping thistle (Cirsium arvense) and Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) both of these plants are common around this area. The caterpillars feed on various trees, shrubs as well as climbers ranging from Yew (Taxus baccata), Birch (Betula), ivy (Hedera helix), honeysuckle (Lonicera) and the wild Clematis, Traveller’s joy (Clematis vitalba).

The previous day I came across more insects that I was previously unaware of.

The first one was the Common red soldier beetle (Rhagonycha fulva).

It is a beneficial insect as adults eat aphids and are pollinators (feeding on nectar and pollen from open flat flowers such daisies and hogweed) while the larvae feed on slugs and snails along with other ground dwelling invertebrates.

The other insect I saw on Tuesday was a female Volucella pellucens hoverfly feeding on nectar and pollen from Bramble (Rubus fruticosus).

These hoverflies also pollinate umbellifers; However as larvae they inhabit Bumblebee and wasp nests eating any waste produced along with their hosts larvae.

While my colleagues listen to their music via headphones I prefer to listen to nature as I work; especially birdsong which I find uplifting. Recently I have started to really tune in and distinguish different songs and calls as I attempt to identify particular birds. By teaching myself I now recognise Great tit (Parus major) song, Coal Tit (Parus ater) song and Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) call. However I still find it difficult to pick out certain sounds which is why last Sunday I went to an ‘Introduction to bird calls and songs’ nature talk and walk at a local park. We were introduced to 12 birds that we would most likely hear during our afternoon stroll. Most were already familiar to me however I did learn the songs of Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) and Greenfinch (Carduelis chloris).

The birds we ended up hearing (above the wind and sirens) were;
-Woodpigeon (Columba Livia)
-Carion crow (Corvus corone)
-Magpie (Pica pica)
-Wren (Troglodytidae)
-Chiffchaff
-Blackbird (Turdus merula)
-Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopus major)
-Blackcap warbler (Sylvia atricapilla)
– and Song thrush (Turdus philomelos).

We also saw a (quiet) Jay (Garrulus glandarius) along with a Speckled wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria), Red admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta) and some White-tailed bumblebees (Bombus lucorum).

Last week I combined what I learned at this event with my previous knowledge; the birds I was confident I identified correctly were;
-Woodpigeons
-Magpies
-Blackbirds
-Robin (Erithacus rubecula)
-Ring necked parakeets (Psittacula krameri)
-Blue Tits (Parus caeruleus).
-Chiffchaffs
-Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
-Red kite (Milvus milvus)
-and House sparrows (Passer domesticus)

On several mornings I also watched the family of Blue tits on the Rowan tree as I ate breakfast. The parents had nested in the eaves around Easter (see Different sort of Easter Chicks) so it was great to discover they had a successfully reared a brood. I counted 6 fledged youngsters return to the tree and feed on insects together.