Black kite eating frog, Christophstal June 2019
High brown fritillary, Christophstal June 2019
High brown fritillary, Christophstal June 2019
Heath fritillary, Christophstal June 2019
Black-veined white, Christophstal June 2019
Female scorpion fly, Panorpa panorpa, Christophstal June 2019
If I hadn't seen this bird being fed by its parents just before this photo was taken, I'd never have worked out what it was. This is a newly fledged starling.
Starling fledgling, Christophstal June 2019
Common blue, Christophstal June 2019
Heath fritillary, Christophstal June 2019
I managed to find a few minutes to photograph the butterflies in the garden. There was a ratty-looking common blue and this really fresh heath fritillary which looked like it had only just emerged.
The extremely warm, dry weather afforded me the opportunity to put my moth trap our last night. It was a good night with lots of species and lots of moths. I haven't been through my photos properly yet, but I'm not expecting to add any species to the garden list. We did have a new beetle species in the trap, the cream-streaked labybird, Harmonia quadripunctata. I've added some photos of the other highlights of the night.
Cream-streaked ladybird, Harmonia quadripunctata, Christophstal June 2019
Clouded buff, Christophstal June 2019
Speckled yellow, Christophstal June 2019
Goat moth, Christophstal June 2019
Red-backed shrike, Christophstal June 2019
We've only seen red-backed shrikes a couple of times this year. We had a brief visit from a male today but he didn't stay long. Whether this is because of the early grazing of the cows or some other reason is open to speculation.
Some goldfinches have found the thistles down by the pond. They've been at our bird table too and some of our scabious look like they've been visited as well.
It's been quite dry and warm recently so I was quite surprised to see this bright yellow slime mould, Fuligo septica, beside the path when I went for a run this morning.
Goldfinch, Christophstal June 2019
Fuligo septica slime mould, Christophstal June 2019
Mountain ladybird, Hippodamia notata, Christophstal June 2019
Shaggy rose beetle, Christophstal June 2019
Nemophora metallica, Christophstal June 2019
Spreading or Rampion Bellflower?, Christophstal June 2019
Unknown fly, Christophstal June 2019
Aconitum buds, Christophstal June 2019
Another new beetle for the garden and another ladybird. This is the mountain ladybird, Hippodamia notata.
There was also another shaggy rose beetle. This is a better photo than I got earlier this month.
There have been a lot of longhorn moths around recently with several hundred Nemophora degeerella lecking over the privet for the last few mornings. Today I photographed this Nemophora metallica longhorn moth on scabious. I'm only 90% certain of the ID as this species usually has an orange head.
I took a photo of a bellflower which Christine still has to ID properly and an interesting looking fly which I will try to ID. And lastly I took a photo of one of the Aconitum plants in our garden which is about to flower.
Here are a few photos of some insects, birds and other stuff I managed to photograph between heavy rain showers today.
I included a photo of some aphids as they are having a good year for some reason. Nearly all the plants in the garden are heavily infested.
Agapanthia villosoviridescens, Christophstal June 2019
Ringlet, Christophstal June 2019
Aphids on tufted vetch, Christophstal June 2019
Episyrphus balteatus, Christophstal June 2019
Scaeva selenitica, Christophstal June 2019
Marchantia sp. liverwort, Christophstal June 2019
Juvenile black redstart, Christophstal June 2019
Juvenile black redstart, Christophstal June 2019
Red squirrel, Christophstal June 2019
Baby heron and parent, Christophstal June 2019
I've often wondered what a baby heron would look like. Today we had one down by the pond being taught fishing by its parents. It's just a slightly smaller version of the adult!
First thing this morning, we found a pair of great spotted woodpeckers under our bird table teaching a baby how to eat sunflower seeds by wedging them into a crack in the wooden base of the table. Terrible photo as it was taken through the window so as not to disturb them.
A couple of hours later (at 9:30) this fox was eating peanuts under our other bird table.
Baby great spotted woodpecker and parent, Christophstal June 2019
Fox, Christophstal June 2019
Painted lady, Christophstal June 2019
Painted lady, Christophstal June 2019
Polydrusus sp, Christophstal June 2019
Ants and larvae, Christophstal June 2019
Centrotus cornutus, Christophstal June 2019
Glyphipterix forsterella, Christophstal June 2019
Agrypnus murinus, Christophstal June 2019
Agrypnus murinus, Christophstal June 2019
Chrysolina sturmi, Christophstal June 2019
Jumping spider to be identified, Christophstal June 2019
If our garden is anything to go by, this year has been a bumper year for great tits and blue tits. We've had lots of fledglings visiting our bird tables over the past week or so.
This morning we were woken by the dawn chorus which included an unfamiliar song. I managed to spot the singer while out for a run - it was a wren. There seemed to be quite a few wrens singing today.
The weather wasn't too good today, but it was mainly dry and overcast. In the few sunny intervals I photographed what insects I could. There were at least three worn-looking painted lady butterflies flying over the harrebuckel.
I photographed and id'd a few more beetles and a micro moth. I also took a better photo of Centrotus cornutus as there were two in our thistle garden today.
Christine was moving pots about on the patio and uncovered this large ant nest. These are some quite distinctive, very small ants which we sometimes get inside the house.
It was warm and windy today. Despite the wind, there were a lot of insect activity in the garden. Here are two new beetle species; Centrotus cornutus and Oedemera femorata. The former is a real beauty - the horns and strange projection over its back are meant to make it resemble a thorn.
I also recorded a new micro moth, Aethes hartmanniana. None of these are terribly exciting - I'm just spending a bit more time working on the identifications.
There were a few mazarine blue butterflies around too - these two look a bit worn. They've probably been sitting out the recent cold and rainy weather.
I finally got around to photographing some of the recent caterpillar activity. I found this satellite moth caterpillar on a dandelion leaf under the maple last week. It had been really windy so I reckon he had fallen off the tree. I haven't managed to get him to eat anything yet.
I also photographed the grizzled skipper caterpillar which emerged from the egg I collected a couple of weeks back. This is very slow-growing. He's only a few millimetres long at the moment despite having emerged a week or so ago.
Centrotus cornutus, Christophstal June 2019
Satellite moth caterpillar, Christophstal June 2019
Satellite moth caterpillar, Christophstal June 2019
Grizzled skipper caterpillar, Christophstal June 2019
Grizzled skipper caterpillar, Christophstal June 2019
Heath fritillary, Christophstal June 2019
Valgus hemipterus, Christophstal June 2019
Christine saw this fresh heath fritillary behind the sheds - the first one this year. And we had another new beetle - Valgus hemipterus.
I was initially convinced that this was a black kite which flew over the house today. It looks to be heavily in-moult, but it only shows five 'finger' feathers and that tail looks a bit red kite-like.
Black kite, Christophstal June 2019
Black kite, Christophstal June 2019
Litter, Christophstal June 2019
Witch's broom, Christophstal June 2019
Celypha lacunana, Christophstal June 2019
Polydrusus sp., Christophstal June 2019
Coccinula quatuordecimpustulata, Christophstal June 2019
Unknown moth, Christophstal June 2019
Bird-cherry ermine caterpillars, Christophstal June 2019
Thistle head, Christophstal June 2019
Perennial cornflower, Christophstal June 2019
Cercopis vulnerata, Christophstal June 2019
When we went up to our upper field yesterday, we found two teenage girls having a picnic. We didn't have any problem with this - but today we had to clear up the mess they left. If we see them again they will be politely moved on.
It was not as warm today as was promised. On the way back from collecting the litter, we saw this unusual witch's broom on a silver fir.
Despite the cooler weather, there was plenty going on in the garden. Here are a few moths, beetles and other stuff from today.
The thistle has grown spontaneously under one of the bird feeders. We don't know how it got there.
After looking at the perennial cornflower photo, I realized there was a caterpillar on the grass behind. I went and collected him. I've not had much luck with breeding through grass-eating caterpillars. I'll see how this one goes.
It was very sunny today but there was a strong, cold wind which kept the temperature down. Even so, there were a lot of butterflies about including this grizzled skipper, mazarine blue and small copper. There were lots of small tortoiseshells and small heaths too.
We found this beetle, the shaggy rose beetle, Tropinota hirta, on one of the daisies in the garden.
We went up to our upper field to put the bird perches back up after the visit of the cows. We saw a forester moth up there which is the first time I've seen one up there. The spignel is flowering too which doesn't usually happen when the cows have visited so early.
Lastly, I took this photo of a mayfly on our patio hedge. I think it's probably impossible to ID it.
Grizzled skipper, Christophstal June 2019
Mazarine blue, Christophstal June 2019
Small copper, Christophstal June 2019
Shaggy rose beetle, Tropinota hirta, Christophstal June 2019
Spignel, Christophstal June 2019
Mayfly, Christophstal June 2019
Blood-vein, ex larva, Christophstal June 2019
In a remarkably quick metamophosis, the Geometrid caterpillar I collected on the 25th May and which pupated on the 31st May emerged today. As predicted, it was a blood-vein moth.
It was quite a successful night for moth trapping. I got two new species: a Treble-bar and a Lime hawk-moth. I'd been expecting a treble-bar as we have so much St John's wort around here. The lime hawk-moth was a surprise though. I don't know where the nearest lime tree is but it isn't nearby.
Later in the day we had some drama in the cellar as I found a very small mouse in the vent. I had to be sure to catch it as I didn't want it getting into the cellar. I used my butterfly net and managed to put him outside safely.
We had this year's first sighting of a red-backed shrike today. This male seemed to be establishing a territory as did this common redstart who used virtually the same perch a bit earlier.
There were lots of birds of prey around today too. I saw a red and black kite flying together which seemed strange. I didn't get a photo unfortunately as I was strimming the garden at the time. I did manage to get a nice photo of this kestrel though.
Treble-bar moth, Christophstal June 2019
Lime hawk-moth, Christophstal June 2019
Mouse in the cellar vent, Christophstal June 2019
Common redstart, Christophstal June 2019
Red-backed shrike, Christophstal June 2019
Kestrel, Christophstal June 2019
Common quaker caterpillar on bird-cherry, Christophstal June 2019
Stormy weather, Christophstal June 2019
Before we went away, we collected some bird-cherry blossom to put in a vase. When we got back, the area around the base of the vase was awash with frass. We found a copper underwing caterpillar and this common quaker caterpillar. I could see that the copper underwing caterpillar was heavily parasitized so I put it back outside for nature to take its course. I'll keep the common quaker caterpillar so I have something to look forward to early next spring.
The weather was much more pleasant back in Christophstal - it was too hot around the Kaiserstuhl. It got a bit stormy later on though, but it brightened up again enough for me to risk putting my moth trap out.
We went down to the Kaiserstuhl for the weekend to see the bee-eaters and were very pleased with how easy it was to see them.
Here's a selection of photos from our visit.
White storks, Wasenweiler June 2019