Four-winged females

This is the first photograph I've ever taken of an Orange-tip butterfly.  It isn't that I haven't seen them before - we usually get a handful of males flying through the garden at this time of year.  The 'flying through' is the clue to why I've not photographed them before - they never settle long enough for me to get the camera and focus it.  But this female must have been hungry as she rested on the forget-me-nots long enough to get a few snaps.

Orange-tip female - Anthocharis cardamines

The bumblebees are all starting to emerge now - the rest catching up with the buff-tails that have been out for weeks.  This Garden Bumblebee is the first I've seen this year, and it was feeding up on red dead-nettle nectar.

Garden Bumblebee - Bombus hortorum

The Early bumblebees have been out for a few weeks as well.  The queens are usually the first to found colonies.  This very small worker is probably the first generation of a new colony.  She was taking advantage of our new comfrey patch, and you can see that she's already collecting pollen to feed the next generation of workers

Early Bumblebee - Bombus pratorum

April Moths

I've only put out the moth trap once this year, on a night when there was too much of a cold breeze.  As a result there were very few moths about, and only one was unlucky enough to get caught in the trap, but it was a fine example of a Hebrew Character.

So I'm indebted to Trevor Buttle for providing the blog with a list of species and some photographs of the moths that he's had in his moth trap.

The species are :-

Small Quaker, Common Quaker, Clouded Drab, Early Grey, Hebrew Character, Twin-Spot Quaker, March Moth, Early Thorn, Brindled Beauty, Early Toothstripe, Red Chestnut, Double-Striped Pug, Muslin Moth, Herald, Bright-Line Brown-Eye, Powdered Quaker and Pale Prominent.

In all there were 216 moths of 17 species, taken on 4 nights in April

Brindled Beauty - Lycia hirtaria

Herald - Scoliopteryx libatrix

Pale Prominent - Pterostoma palpina

The wildflowers have been amazing this year, that's probably something to do with the long slow spring with lots of sunshine, little rain and cold winds.  There are primroses, lesser celandine, and wood anemones in profusion, and the bluebells are coming on strong now as well.  The photo of the Early Purple Orchids growing on the bank at the top of Chick Hill is another contribution from Trevor Buttle.

Early Purple Orchid - Orchis mascula

New Year

Well it's long past New Year and high time there was a blog entry with so much going on out there.  There have been a couple of important sightings recently with the Lovejoys seeing a Merlin earlier in the year, and a friend who lives in Winchelsea Beach having good long views of a wryneck.  Sadly no photos of either bird, but it's good to know that they are around.

Things are buzzing in the garden now that spring is well under way.  I have seen a variety of bumblebee queens mostly feeding up on the Pieris bush - Buff-tailed, White-tailed, Red-tailed and Tree bumblebees all much in evidence as well as a sighting of a cuckoo bumblebee - Bombus vestalis.  This beautiful red-tailed queen is already collecting pollen, so she must have a brood nearby to look after.  I'm hoping that they are nesting under the shed as I have seen the queen going in once.  I will only be certain once the workers start coming and going.

Red-tailed Bumblebee - Bombus lapidarius

I have also seen a very tiny Early Bumblebee (Bombus pratorum) worker feeding on the comfrey, but she flew off before I got a shot.  It was one of the smallest bumblebees I've ever seen.  Also buzzing in the garden are a number of solitary bees - the ones I can identify being Tawny mining bees and this Red Mason bee (Osmia bicornis) which was one of several showing interest in the bamboo tubes of our bug hotel.  Note the bright orange hairs on the abdomen and legs.

Red Mason Bee

Some early hoverflies are out and about as well.  So far I've not got my stalking skills honed this year, so I have missed several species already, but this Eristalis pertinax posed nicely.  I think it's an unwritten law of photography that only common species hang around long enough to get photographed.

Eristalis pertinax

One thing that I try and do as a gardener (or should I say wannabe gardener?) is to provide plenty of pollinating plants such as comfrey, lavender, and globe thistles.  Sometimes, things pop up that weren't there the year before and these Common Field-speedwell have put on a tremendous display on the back lawn.

Common Field-speedwell - Veronica persica

Sometimes, however, you put in plants that are not for the benefit of the pollinators, but for your own benefit.  These exotic looking flowers were not planted for their stunning flowers, but hopefully they will attract pollinators so that we get a good crop of broad beans.