First Damsel

I have been off the blog for a while settling in to my new home and garden but I'm ready to get back in business now! The sight of my first damselfly of the year set me going.

So here it is. A large red damselfly on April 13th! That seems really early this year. It must be down to the mild winter we had - lots of rain but not much frost here. My pond never froze over.

We seem to be in for a good spring for butterflies and other insects so I'll be trying to get some good pictures.

Not just another white

One of the visitors to the nectar bar yesterday was this green veined white.

Bluebells seemed to be the target of most of its attentions but it stopped for a long drink at this geranium flower.

It was special for me because it's the first time I've seen one of these butterflies and it posed nicely for a picture!

Peacock and tortoise

But both are insects!

The onset of some real spring weather has brought the hibernating butterflies out. I've seen plenty of brimstones and a comma or two but this peacock cooperated by staying still for a while.

This little creature is a beetle classified as nationally scarce - Pilemostoma fastuosa. 

It is known as a tortoise beetle because its head is hidden beneath the shell of its thorax. These small beetles (about 4mm) live on chalk downland but they overwinter in woodland. My specimen seems to have stopped over here on its journey between the two. It has just a mile to fly to get to the nearby chalk downs.

Snow at Sandgate

Just down the road to the Sandgate Conservation Area.
All the lakes are frozen across, fallen branches trapped in the ice

 

Trees stand out on the frozen heath but a stream in the wood still flows under the bridge.

Grasses are trapped in a frozen pond while a moorhen leaves its tracks, running across some softer ice in a sheltered corner.

Prize pictures!

Those nice people at Belvoir fruit farms have sent me a case of cordials. One of the photos I took for this blog won a prize in their "Hedgerow" photography competition. It was supported by Butterfly Conservation so I sent in one of my best butterfly shots of a red admiral with a small copper.

It's the first competition I've ever entered so I was a bit shocked to get a prize. I was one of five runners up to the winner. You can see all six prizewinning pictures on their facebook page.

I know a good recipe for turning elderflower cordial into elderflower champagne. So I won't be needing to go out picking elderflowers next spring!

Wood pecking

I watched a great spotted woodpecker making a hole in a rather old birch tree today. He came back several times to continue his activity. Is he starting a nest hole or looking for insects?

Fungus foray

We decided to look in the woods for fungi today. The surprise was that we found lots in our garden and the lane before we got to the woods.

First the garden:-


Next, the lane:-
And finally, the woods:-



The picture in the centre of the last row ls interesting. Fungus growing on fungus!

I think it will be difficult for me to identify all these fungi.

By clicking on a picture you should be able to see an enlarged view.