Nearer home

All sorts of things are happening around the garden, slugs and snails are eating lettuces, blackfly are appearing on the runner beans and greenfly on the roses. In my very small ponds, Palmate Newts are still busy courting, and a surprising number of young frogs have appeared. Nearly all are between 3-5 cm from snout to tip, and although impossible to be sure on numbers, I have counted 35 at one time.

There seems to be a bit of a lull in butterflies currently, but all sorts of moths are drawn into the house at night and I spend a lot of time catching them and putting them back outside in the evenings. My favourites are the Poplar Hawkmoths, I guess its the size which impresses me. On the opposite side of size scale, I found about 25 males of the commonest Longhorn moths, Nemophera degeerella, dancing in the sunshine.

These diminutive creatures have the longest antennae of any British butterfly or moth. Although common, they are often overlooked, but still it seems terribly wrong that this record breaking moth has no common name.

On the birdtable front, it is as busy as ever, in fact busier than ever, as all manner of fledglings have been brought by their parents to take advantage of my generosity. Favourite food is definitely the insect loaded fatblocks, although sunflower hearts are coming a close second. The latest crop of blue tits numbered 5 (now 4) as did nuthatches, so it seems to be quite a good breeding season which is probably as well given the harsh winter. At last something has taken up residence in the back garden nest box. After two years of abondonment, a pair of Great Tits have signed the tenancy agreement. I can hear babies but have no idea how many there are yet and am looking forward to them fledging. Anyway, despite the gloom, I took a few shots last friday.