SOLITARY BEE WEEK 28th June 2022

Posted on June 28, 2022 by pennyphilcox

Solitary Bees- Until a few years ago, like many people I expect, I didn’t really take any notice of Solitary Bees, mostly paying attention to Honey and Bumble Bees. That is why a special week has been designated to focus on these very important pollinators. In Britain there are 270 species of bees, and 250 of them are solitary bees. Solitary bees do not live in colonies, produce honey or have workers. They are small and mostly quite furry. Because they don’t have active nests to defend they are not aggressive, and once the males have fertilised the females they have no other role in the life-cycle. The queens’ collect a range of materials and build a wide range of nests, mostly in the ground but also in plant-stalks, holes in walls, tree-holes etc, depending on the species. Most hatch out in spring or early summer and are very active, the females building cells for 1-20 eggs, gathering pollen and nectar to line each cell, and laying eggs. which, when they hatch as larvae, feed on this food. Finally the females seal the cells and leave the young to hatch and emerge the following year. Because of their variety and busy lives Solitary Bees are more important for pollination than our other bees. A single mason bee, for example, pollinates 120 more flowers than a single honey-bee. They have no pollen baskets and gather pollen on their bodies or legs, some pollen falling off as they fly, pollinating further flowers. Here are five of the more common solitary bees, which we have in the garden Conditions: Breezy and dry after recent showers. Temperature: Max 19 Min 13C.

SUNNING ROBINS 24th June 2022

Posted on June 24, 2022 by pennyphilcox

Sunning juvenile Robins: I was interested to watch the two juvenile Robins we have in the garden at present instinctually ‘sunning’. It’s not surprising to see birds like Robins, Tits and Blackbirds ‘sunning’ during the present hot, dry weather but these haven’t been taught this behaviour by their adults, I’m sure, so it must be inherited behaviour. Sunning is thought to have several functions. Clearly, spreading the wings and tails and fluffing out all the feathers, as well as opening the beak, helps cool the birds in hotter weather. However, if you watch them they will usually also preen after such exposure. It is thought letting the air and heat to the air activates mites and parasites, bringing them out where they are more accessible to being caught by the bird, thus reducing the impact of damaging pests. Conditions: Ongoing extremely dry, hot weather, sometimes cloudy. Temperature: Max 24 Min 12 C.

Juvenile Robin, 19th June 2022

Posted on June 19, 2022 by pennyphilcox

Juvenile Robin– I know people love these and we have a couple in our garden right now, being fed by an adult and gradually learning to feed themselves. The photos are a sequence from the youngest juvenile you are likely to see out of the nest, with its short, stubby tail, through a little older, keeping its speckled brown chest, to juveniles that are beginning to gain their red breast. Robins are so aggressive to other Robins that intrude into their territories at this time of year that they would attack other red breasted Robins on their patch- hence the young take longer than most birds to develop the distinguishing adult colouring, in their case, the red breast. Up to 10% of Robin deaths are thought to be due to territorial disputes which can lead to fights to the death. So much for the ‘cute’ Robin of the Christmas Card! Of course, until they grow strong wings and tail they also benefit from the more camouflaged colouring. Conditions: Mostly the dry weather continues. Temperature: Max 18 Min 9C.

THE WALL BUTTERFLY, 15th June 2022

Posted on June 15, 2022 by pennyphilcox

The Wall is named from its habit of resting, with open or half-open wings, on walls and other bare surfaces like paths. It gathers direct heat as well as reflected heat from the bare surface, thereby warming up quickly. One of the ‘Browns’ it has very cryptic camouflage markings when its wings are closed (see photo). The caterpillars feed on grasses like the Goosefoot (see photo) and Bents, which are common but sadly this hasn’t spared the Wall Butterfly from drastic decline, especially in the South and West. You can still see it around coasts, and in the North of England and Southern Scotland, if you are lucky. Research has shown that climate change is the big cause of its huge decline, related to the effects on hatching time of the caterpillars. Your best chance of seeing it is to see the adult basking on walls and bare paths. Conditions: Days of dry, warm weather. Temperature: Max 24 Min 16C.

Crossword and Lady’s Bedstraw: 9th June 2022

Posted on June 9, 2022 by pennyphilcox

BEDSTRAWS: Bedstraws tend to have lax growth and scramble through other plants and grasses. There are many bedstraws (related to the coffee plant) to be found (including the very ‘sticky’ Goosegrass, which many of us played with as children, getting it to stick to the clothes of others!) but here are two very yellow-flowered ones which superficially look similar but are easily told apart if you look carefully. Crosswort, very common right now on chalky and limey verges, grassland, woodland rides, railway embankments etc, has tiny pale yellow flowers and four leaves in a cross-shape, in whorls around a hairy stem. It has a honey scent and was used in the past to treat wounds, rheumatism and headaches, amongst other ailments. It is also sometimes called ‘smooth bedstraw’ or ‘maidenhair’. Bees and flies love it. The leaves are edible. It produces black seeds later in the season. Lady’s Bedstraw is much frothier with more golden flowers in a mass around the stem. In The Merchant’s Tale Chaucer writes “O perilous fyr, that in the bedstraw bredeth’. This is probably the bedstraw that made the best stuffing for mattresses, as it is softer, springier and has a lovely hay-smell. It is also astringent and may have helped keep fleas at bay. It was used in some places as a substitute for rennet, to curdle milk, and to colour Double Gloucester, as well as for lung ailments and to treat water retention. In Norway it was used as a sedative for women in labour. Rather bizarrely it was chosen as the county flower for the fictitious Archers county of Borsetshire! Conditions: Becoming more settled after some torrential rain. Temperature: Max 17 Min 12C.

GREEN HAIRSTREAK-3rd June 2022

Posted on June 3, 2022 by pennyphilcox

GREEN HAIRSTREAK: I have long wanted to photograph this elusive though widespread tiny butterfly and yesterday at one of its strongholds in Deepdale, Plantlife’s wonderful nature reserve near Monyash, after a lot of careful watching and waiting I got the chance. In flight it is easily overlooked, looking a dull brownish-grey and flitting around at speed, like a piece of ash, but if the sun is on it, you can see the unique green of its underwings and watch where it lands. Once landed, it doesn’t open its wings and as you can see from one of the photos, if the sun isn’t on its extraordinary sheen of green, its camouflage is good. The white ‘hairstreak’ is sometimes a full line, sometimes dots as in this individual and sometimes absent but the green makes it unmistakeable. Males and females are very similar. It occurs on chalk grassland like this but also on heaths scrub and woodland rides, favouring different plants for food for its caterpillars in each habitat, from Bird’s Foot Trefoil, to Heath, Scrub, Dogwood, and Broom to Bilberry. Green butterflies world-wide represent positive outcomes in many folk-traditions.(Deepdale has many other butterfly species and beautiful wild flowers. Plantlife is a great charity, if you feel the need to support wild-flowers and their habitats. It is also runs the ‘wildflowers on verges’ campaign) Conditions: Warmer, with less breeze. Temperature: Max 17 Min 9C.

1st June 2022

Posted on June 1, 2022 by pennyphilcox

HERB ROBERT AND SHINING CRANESBILL: Both these small, pink flowers are out now and because the look a bit similar and are both of the native geranium family I’m covering them together. Herb Robert has slightly larger flowers and soft, downy leaves. Also known colloquially as ‘Stinking Bob’, the smell of the whole plant is very strong and acrid. The stems are often but not always bright red, with some leaves turning red too. It was used for many herbal remedies but one of the most unreliable was based on the hit-and-miss approach called the ‘Doctrine of Signatures’ where, before science found other treatments, if a plant looked like a medical condition it was sometimes used to treat that condition- hence the Herb Robert was used to treat blood conditions. Shakespeare mentions Herb Robert, which had associations with Robin Goodfellow, or “Puck”, again because of its red coloured stems, the fairy or sprite in Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Shining Cranesbill is more common in dry, alkaline areas – the name comes from the very waxy, shiny leaves, which can also be reddish in particularly dry conditions. The ‘Cranesbill’ part of its name comes from the seed-heads (see photos) where, like all Cranesbills, they develop a long ‘beak’ as they ripen. CONDITIONS: Chilly, except in the sun. TEMPERATURE: Max 15 Min 7C.