Sunbathing Nursery web spider

A sunny day, we visit the wildlife garden. We find little in the way of invertebrates, but, as we are about to leave, on the south facing Ivy, I spy this young Nursery Web spider, Pisaura mirabilis, which makes my day. First she is sitting like some wolf spiders or crab spiders, sometimes sunbathe, with their front legs curled up, looking very relaxed. Then she seems to detect my presence, and it stretches out her front legs in the more typical position of the species (above).

Red Admiral showing and hiding

 A fresh female Red Admiral basked on a sycamore trunk, probably with a full stomach after feeding on an early flowering buddleja nearby. It sat there wings outstretched, showing its bright, contrasting colours for a while, but then it decided it had enough and folded them, revealing its remarkably cryptic underside.

Sunbathing wolf spiders

 The sun shone all day yesterday and we had some lovely active garden invertebrates, including the first hoverfly (Eristalis tenax) and the first bee of the year (a male Anthophora plumipes). The first wolf spiders, likely Pardosa amentata, emerged from their winter retreats to bask in the sun and explore. These would be the young produced last summer and will have to moult again to become adults. I spotted the one above climbing the house wall, something they do not normally do.

Sunbathing on leaves...

...and on the conservatory wooden frame.

The sunny side of the fence

The outside of our garden fence is east facing. Many insects and spiders like to bask on it: even normally ground loving invertebrates climb up on it to get the sun a bit earlier. In the last few days I have been watching (mainly) spiders on the fence early in the morning. The male Nursery Web spider (Pisaura mirabilis) on the top shot, warms up on the side of the fence, in almost the same spot every day.

After warming up yesterday he went down to the weeds at the base of the fence to hunt, and caught a greenbottle fly

A crane fly resting, legs outstretched on the fence.

A male Xysticus cristatus, much darker in tone than the female. This is a ground dwelling crab spider and he was basking about 10 cm from the ground, but it is much easier to spot on the fence.

And an eager male Wolf Spider displaying to the female. Alternatively lifting each palp, trembling and getting closer to her very slowly on tiptoes. She kept tapping the ground with their front legs, and didn't miss a movement. When he got very close, almost touching her, she retreated cautiously, tapping regularly.

At close range

If a neighbour had casually seen me on my garden this morning, he or she could have rightly thought either that I was out of my mind or that I was practicing some tai-chi. But no, in one of the few sunny spells we had on an otherwise windy, cold morning, an Anthophora plumipes male stopped to sunbathe for a bit longer than usual. It is the longest time I have seen one of these fast high-pitched buzzing bees sitting still. The spot was quite near to the wall where I photographed the male in yesterday's post, possibly the same individual, but the background was much more interesting and I wanted to get a closer picture. Unfortunately, a barrier of lavenders, plum branches and primroses separated me from my subject, so I had to stretch and contort, while supporting myself with one hand on the mud, moving very slowly to take this photo one-handed. I just cannot hold it for a future post, as it is since now my favourite A. plumipes male photo. After a few minutes, the male started looking around nervously, flicking his antennae and, having warmed up, flew away.

A glimpse of Spring

We've had a wonderful sunny start of March. Mornings are still frosty, but - compared to the past three long, cold, cloudy and gloomy months - spring seems to be on its way. The first Grape Hyacinths (Muscari racemosum) of the year have opened, joining Snowdrops, Crocuses and Primroses. Today I've been tidying up in the garden. There have been many plant casualties of this unusually cold winter, but the survivors have started to grow, buds are thickening and leaves slowly unfurling.

A Wolf Spider (above) walked on a white wall and settled on an Ivy leaf to sunbathe.
 The pair of 7-spotted ladybirds, of which I wrote before, are still nestled together amongst the spiky leaves of the monkey puzzle tree. They have been there since early November. In contrast, I have seen active ladybirds in more sunny positions in the garden, enjoying the sunshine and hiding again afterwards.

A 7 spot ladybird enjoying the sun

A Bluebottle feeding on an Ivy leaf

Unidentified fly