Tuesday 18 May 2010

Insect Safari

**plus a couple of Arachnids, plants and birds...

A rare sight… A Dunnock eating at a hanging feeder.


Another Crab Spider waiting to ambush.


Ladybird! Grateful for these little beasties


I saw my first Speckled Woods today… They readily allowed me to get close too!



Speaking of which… Sadly my Caterpillar in its chrysalis disappeared some weeks ago :(


Sweet rocket seedlings


Black Hollyhock seedling


And the most special of the lot… Dierama!


Chive flowerheads


Big fat Turkey, urm sorry Wood Pigeon.


Clematis Marjorie…



I’m quite certain those seedlings are poppies now. Because I assume this is one of the ‘black’ poppies Cheryl sent, either Blackcurrant fizz or black peony.


I believe this was a male spider… If you look closely you can see a brown blurred blob under the wood. That was another spider.


This one kept on ‘dancing’ with its front legs, shaking them very quickly. Sadly I couldn’t capture it!


Astrantia, again!


Love this Beetle… No idea what type it is!


Nor what type this little Bee is…


I hope you've all been having a good week so far!

24 comments:

Cheryl said...

Hi Liz....are you sure that isn't a turkey?? Huge, what are you feeding it on?

That is a rare sight, dunnock on a feeder. I have never experienced it.

So glad the poppies have taken, they are a little special.
Also Dierama.....I am still patiently waiting, very frustrating.

Love the insects.......the spiders are captured beautifully.

Warmed up here.....18C today wooppeeeeeee

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

The Pigeon looks very happy perched on the wood. It seems to be planning something... ~bangchik

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

Hi Liz! I love to look at your little pictures. They always tell some big stories!

Curbstone Valley Farm said...

I'm sorry you lost your caterpillar. I wish butterflies would let me get that close with a camera, impressive! Love your chive blossom shot...and your big fat turkey, um, I mean pigeon photo too!

Emma Bond said...

Hi Liz, as usual fantastic photos, I love them! Long time so speak, been so busy lately, havent had time to take any photos at all. Hope you're well! Emma x

Joanne said...

Such amazing detail. I look forward to seeing your Black Hollyhock then perhaps next year.

Pam's English Garden said...

Liz, Love the bee, birds, ladybug, and the plants! The butterfly is gorgeous. But I'm not too keen on the arachnids, although they are our garden 'friends'. You motivate me to take a 'critter' walk around my garden soon to see what is buzzing there. Pam

Kala said...

Those chive flowerheads are gorgeous!

ShySongbird said...

Lovely varied post with great photos again, Liz. You are right, it is unusual to see a Dunnock on a hanging feeder in fact I don't think I ever have!

Hardly any butterflies here so far but that should change as it has warmed up considerably today. I wonder which naughty little bird took your chrysalis :)

I had 9!!!! Wood Pigeons together in the garden yesterday and they were all huge, no wonder my expensive bird food disappears so fast...I think they are taking the whatsit now!

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

What a lovely ladybird, they are so delightful.

VW said...

I was thinking the other day that I should take some pictures of insects, but they move even faster than my toddler and I didn't capture any good shots. Yours are very nice.

Nutty Gnome said...

Hi Liz - I'm back on playing catch up again!!!
I do envy your your photography skills, your photos are just so good that they put me to shame!
Have a great weekend :)

Liz said...

Hi Cheryl,

Actually, we regularly comment that we're going to catch the Turkey and cook lunch... They're so massive :)

I've occasionally seen the Dunnocks on our feeders, but never in this caged one before... They must be taking more risks than normal to feed their chicks!

Sorry to hear your Dierama aren't yet up... I know it's like salt in the wounds but I have 5 now :) muchly happy!!!

It's been far too warm, I'm too hot even now at 9:40pm.

Liz said...

Hi Bangchik,

No doubt it was planning on eating all the bird food :)
I don't feed them much, they have to fight over the fallen sunflower hearts...

I gave up ground feeding because I had corn fields growing under the feeders!

Liz said...

Hi Tatyana,

Thanks very much, I'm glad you've enjoyed looking at them! :D

Liz said...

Hi CV,

I'm rather sad about my caterpillar, it would have emerged to be a speckled wood like in the photos... I would've loved to have seen it drying its wings... Never mind, another time perhaps.

I'll give you a little tip when hunting butterflies... Move only when there's wind/breeze... They don't tend to notice you creeping up quite so quickly. This tends to work with birds too.

Liz said...

Hi Emma,

Welcome back, so nice to see you! :D

I hope you're having a well earned rest - I doubt it though, as I assume this is your busiest time of year!!!

Liz said...

Hi Joanne,

I'm so excited about the Hollyhocks, are they biennuals?

I have some already in the garden so I should at least have some blooms this year :)

Liz said...

Hi Pam,

Glad to hear I've inspired you to take some creepy crawly shots... I hope you find lots of pretty insects.
I'm no fan of spiders either, but don't mind them so much outside... As long as they stay there!

Liz said...

Hi Kala,

Thanks very much! The Chives are open now, so expect more photos!

Liz said...

Hi Jan,

I haven't seen many Butterflies around here either to be honest... perhaps because I've hit a lull and there isn't much around in my garden to attract them just yet.
Wren took the chrysalis I suspect, either Wren or Blue/Great tits are the most likely.

I've seen Peacocks and such flit through, but they haven't yet hung around.

9 woodpigeons... Ouch, that is far too many. We've had a mix of Woodies, Collareds and Ferals hanging around a lot, fighting over the spilled seeds from the feeders. There isn't enough there to sustain them though so they have to go elsewhere

Liz said...

Hi Rebecca,

Glad you liked the Ladybird :) I saw a lovely tiny black and yellow one this evening... No camera handy though!

Liz said...

Hi VW,

Have patience, you will come across them or they'll come to you :)
Of course, with children there isn't always time to sit and stare!

Liz said...

Hi Liz,

I'd love to toot my own horn and all that, but my lens helps me a lot!
It's far easier to get nice shots when you have a nice camera/lens...

I hope you have a great weekend too, it's certainly hot enough! Blurgh, too warm.