The Hebe was earning its keep today as an excellent plant to encourage wildlife. Lots of Honey Bees were on it all day plus a number of White-tailed Bumble Bees. A solitary Hedge Brown butterfly was also present. This is not a common visitor to our garden. Swifts were very active today flying quite low over the back garden.
Hawk Moth
Late yesterday afternoon there was a Humming Bird Hawk Moth flying from flower to flower. This is the earliest sighting of this moth in out town garden. Over the last couple of weeks Stag Beetles have been flying around the garden at dusk.
Butterflies in the garden were Red Admiral, Holly Blue and Speckled Wood. The latter is a regular in our rather shady garden. But where are the Brimstones? This is usually one of the first butterflies to appear in the garden but we have yet to see one this year. In addition very few have been seen in the area. They usually hibernate in the ivy which we cultivate in the garden.
On the brighter side a Song Thrush is a suspected nester in the garden and was seen using the patio paving as its anvil for an unfortunate snail.
Friday Wildlife Update
Whilst tidying around old seed trays etc I disturbed a frog. I hope that it was feasting on some of our slugs. Swifts were flying overhead. I do like the shape of their scimitar wings.
Several Holly Blue butterflies were in the garden. Both Holly and Ivy play an important part of the life cycle of this butterfly which should be in everyone's garden.
Garden Wildlife Notes
I shall be keeping a blog concerning wildlife that we see in our small garden in Lymington. Much of the planting is wildlife friendly. Whilst having breakfast we could watch a male Blackbird feeding three youngsters on a branch of the pear tree. A pair of Song Thrushes were feeding their family which has yet to fledge.
A new sighting for the garden was a Crab Spider, Diaea dorsata, which was floating on air currents over the patio.
Alan Edmondson