Sunday 7 April 2013

Spring at last!


The last couple of days have seen the temperatures finally rising over the freezing conditions we've had during March and early April. The lovely, milder, sunny weather we had today meant  I had many 'firsts' of the year. Until today this year, I had not seen a butterfly and I had only seen the occasional bees and bumblebees. Today Garden Ants, Lasius niger, were active in the garden, a clumsy female Dronefly enjoyed the sun and walked over the daffodil flowers feeding (above). Two male Anthophora plumipes patrolled around flowers, and even the first female of the year payed a short visit too. The males occasionally fed on wallflowers, hyacinths and wild primroses.
I saw my first butterfly of the year today, a Small Tortoiseshell, unfortunately, could get no photos, as my cat found her before me and chased her away.
This queen wasp, Vespula vulgaris, also first of the year, got in the conservatory.
A Tegenaria with its egg sac on a stilt. It is under the lid of the water butt, so I guess the photo is upside down
A male Anthophora plumipes rests for a few seconds on foxglove leaves.
My cat becomes quite the entomologist when flying insects start to appear. She often alerts me of insects in the garden, but also disturbs them when they try to feed, to my annoyance! Later in the year, she becomes disinterested, and I can relax and watch insects at my leisure.

3 comments:

Africa Gomez said...

Thank you Al! Hopefully I'll have opportunities to post more often from now on, hopefully the jet stream will come back to warm us soon.

Muddy Boots said...

Lovely post and photos. I have been enjoying watching the bees buzzing around the neighbours Pussy Willow Tree, a lovely sight and sound. I look forward to the weather warming up and more posts! Best Wishes.

Unknown said...

Great post. We have just aquired our very first garden after a house move. Looking forward to seeing the wildlife in it. To help, we've sunk a washing up bowl, made a hedgehog and a bug hotel. Now just waiting to see what creatures our garden will hopefully attract. :)