Few butterflies around but at least the Odonata have woken up!

My OH decided recently to dust off his bike, pump up the tyres and get out for some rides around the local lanes in the early evening. I'm really pleased he thought to do this, as we have no chance of our usual outings for bird and wildlife spotting this spring and summer, and he's been working his socks off doing all my chores as well as his own for more than three months. So far he's spotted several bunnies, a fox, a hare, a deer and a Yellowhammer - a bird that we don't see very often. Thankfully he took his camera (a PowerShot SX40) so got some pics of the deer.

Roe deer, very zoomed in across a maize field and taken by my OH.

Thursday was a lovely warm sunny day (27c) but I'm amazed how few butterflies are around. I did see a Swallowtail and a Hummingbird Hawkmoth but was most excited to see my first (ordinary old!) Meadow Brown of the year. For those not in Europe these are common over the summer months and not the most colourful as you'll see in the following photo, but it felt like summer had properly arrived. It's cooled down again but at least we've had a few nice sunny days, although the garden is drying out alarmingly quickly and there's a brownish patch over the sand filter bed, which is needing watering already, as it's new grass sown last autumn. The lake overflow is down to a trickle now.

Not a very good picture but the only one I got -
a Meadow Brown (Maniola jurtina), surprisingly in my woodland!

Damselflies always seem quite late emerging around my lake and I didn't see my first one until I think the last day of May, but now there are quite a few Blue-tailed damsels flying around and mating already, and Friday I saw a male Large Red damselfly as well as a male Beautiful Demoiselle flying rapidly around. This makes up for the lack of flutterbies! I've seen a few dragonflies too, but too distant to have a clue as to species.

Male Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula).

This wild corner is by the seating area and lots of damselflies
rest on the vegetation here - not to mention all the other
insects who like the wild flowers, so gives me something to watch!

Whilst on the subject of pond life, there are still tons of tadpoles. This is only the second time in our 10.5 years here that there have been so many, and I'm hoping to see lots of little froglets like I did that last time - but get photos of them this time! Already some of the tadpoles have legs forming.

Tadpoles taken with SX50 but I need to try again with my DSLR with the polarising filter!

I've been spending a fair bit of time looking closely at my Pollinator Meadow (aka the Bug Bar), and I've sensibly decided to note all the insect and spider species which I spot over the course of the growing season. Of course I can't ID all the different bees, flies and hoverflies which visit, but I'll do my best. I realise I should also note all the plants growing here, so I've a few wildflowers to try to ID properly - I can tell when something's a cranesbill or maybe a storksbill, but which actual species I never know. So that will keep me busy.... :-) I'll report on that when it all goes quiet at the end of autumn.

Unfortunately the Mullein Moth caterpillars have disappeared, and now I know why at least one of them has gone.....

Poor catty, but a wasp's gotta eat too! The black shriveled thing on the top
of the leaf is the remains of a caterpillar moult.

Paper Wasp, (Polistes sp. ?) eating a Mullein Moth caterpillar.

A few other buggy finds here and there..... this next one is still in the Pollinator Meadow on the Hedge Woundwort, only I hadn't noticed those eggs when I took the photo!

What came first, the bug or the egg?
I'm assuming they are mating in a spot where someone else laid these eggs!
Woundwort Shieldbugs (Eysarcoris venustissimus).

Also on the Verbascum - a cricket of some sort - Speckled Bush Cricket?

Checkered Beetle (Trichodes apiarius) - these beetles lay their eggs
in the nests of some solitary bees species, and also in bee hives,
so their larvae eat the bee larvae.

Clockwise from top left: Longhorn Beetle (Corymbia rubra?), unknown tiny spider,
unknown - a true bug? and unknown cricket.

Hoverfly - possibly Eristalis sp. and may be E. tenax, the Drone Fly.

Same Hoverfly as above, feeding on a blackberry flower.

Health update

I now know why I've been so tired of late - I received a prescription in the post from my Oncologist, and when I looked up what this weekly jab I need to have is, it's for anaemia! I have to have that coupled with a daily iron/Vit C pill. I haven't been checked for my iron levels since before I started chemo, but a bit of googling shows that there are different types of anaemia and most people having chemo develop anaemia at some stage, as the chemicals are screwing up your red and white blood cells, amongst other things. So the jabs are supposed to stimulate my bone marrow to produce more red blood cells and the iron helps this work somehow. I read all this stuff then promptly forget most of it when I'm trying to explain to others. Well, I'm not a doctor!

My perineal wound started healing up nicely but just like before, as soon as I was thinking this might actually be it, it might actually, really, finally, be healing.... it started oozing and niggling again! But this time the pain hasn't got any worse, just at the niggly level, which is irritating but I can cope with it.

I had my first jab last Weds and I haven't been quite as tired, but I'm still very up and down with days that are better and days that are worse. I did have one good day, and even one good day is to be thankful for these days. That was the hot day and I even got my fleece off (in 27c!), because I feel the cold so much.

One of my biggest problems at the moment is trying to deal with constipation, as I'm now taking three drugs which can all cause it - and trying to get the right balance between drugs and laxatives is almost impossible. So it tends to be one or the other! Now I'm just waiting and hoping for more energy. I don't actually see my Oncologist for another two weeks so it's a bit annoying as I've got a lot of questions now, which I ought to write down before I forget!

Veg patch and Pollinator Meadow in May

What's better than one Painted Lady in your garden? Why, two of course! I was so happy to see the return of these migratory beauties last week. They made a beeline for the Dame's Rocket (Hesperis matronalis) in my Pollinator Meadow, which is quite a hit with butterflies.

I've gone back through my old posts and labelled the Pollinator Meadow posts as for some reason I never did that. If you are interested in how it looked the first year (2012) when it was mostly annuals, plus lots of bees and other insects on the plants, here's a link, and a post about it from last year with lots more critters including bee flies and crab spiders is here.

I was lucky they posed like this showing both sides of the wings although
I only managed one snap before one flew off, so got lucky!

The day before there was just the one Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui).

White butterflies love this plant too - here's a Small White (Pieris rapae).
Dame's Rocket is a brassica and they can use it as a host plant,
but I've never discovered any caterpillars on it.

And a Comma (Polygonia c-album).

This I think is a female Green Veined White (Pieris napi).
These Heartsease Violas self seed all over the veg patch and the strawberries
have gone wild into the Pollinator Meadow now too!

The Pollinator Meadow is the patch with the white flowers. It was originally about 1.5 metres wide by about 5 metres long, but it's spread this year as you'll see in the photos below.

In the middle of this plot in the foreground is a patch of self seeded coriander!

The shadier end of the Pollinator Meadow, which now has colonised the metre wide strip
of bare soil in front where I grew some veggies last year!

There are quite a few Aquilegias snuck in now, and I was pleased
to see some different colours from the usual dark blue
and purple that I mostly have.

Some bug life going on in there too - lots of Hairy Shieldbugs
(Dolycoris baccarum) on a Verbascum (I've no idea if they eat this plant)
and Woundwort Shieldbugs (Eysarcoris venustissimus) on the Hedge Woundwort.
I can't manage decent macros right now as they are too low down!

One of my other flower strips from last year has been taken over by
Dame's Rocket too and there's hardly any room to sow the annual
flowers I was going to as so many plants have self seeded!

And here's another of my flower strips by the fence -
there's just room to get in a few more annual seeds.

Same strip - the Hollyhocks are getting huge!
There's also Opium Poppy, Feverfew, Sunflowers, Gladioli and Phacelia.

I managed one job last week on my hands and knees - weeding around one of my
strawberry patches and putting some straw down. It's not worth putting up the netting
so we'll share these strawbs with both birds and slugs alike. :-)

Onto some veggies - my OH's spud patch after its first earthing up, and another
row of strawberries which haven't had straw put down.... yet. If at all!

A variety of lettuce he sowed earlier into this cold frame - the lid's been taken off now.
There's Cos, Batavia and Little Gem here.

Another view of the veg patch looking colourful - just the way I like it.

I had a brief look at some of the fruit trees and whilst I see tons of cherries that have set, as far as the plums go there are some greengages, but barely a damson and none that I can see on my purple plum. But that's just how it goes and we're lucky we had a good plum year last year and I got to make tons of greengage jam. I haven't checked the orchard yet for apples and pears. Should have plenty of soft fruit as usual although I'm not going to be picking a lot so the birds or the neighbours will have to enjoy them! There is one preserving job we do plan to do even if my OH has to do most of it (poor guy), and that's make elderflower cordial, as we both love it. But it's somewhat easier to do than make jam!

I have more garden photos from the rest of the garden, and critters, but will post them separately. 

I'm also feeling loads better!!!

September flowers - having fun with florals

Where has this week gone?! It's been quite warm and sunny and I've enjoyed seeing two new species of dragonfly visiting my pond. More about that another time as for now I am sharing a selection of flowers taken over the course of the month, some with bugs on them but that's more because there are always insects about, rather than I was specifically trying to capture them. Many of these photos I have had fun with, either with the shooting or the processing - with bugs I want them looking natural and lifelike, but with florals anything goes, so I am trying to make myself push those sliders and press those effects buttons, go garish or muted or add textures, or all of the above! And shooting towards the sunlight in the early morning when it's all misty and dewy with autumnal light produces some great effects and bokeh.

Bidens and a spider.

Bidens and a Marmalade Hoverfly (Episyrphus balteatus).

Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm' and Golden Oregano
(the latter has flowered really well and for ages, thanks to the rain in August).

All the purple leafed Sedums are flowering late, having survived an early attack by Ermine Moth caterpillars.

Zephirine Drouhin. Images taken 3 days apart, in different light and with different processing.

A Dahlia, one of several which I inadvertently grew from seed last year,
thanks to a packet of mixed flower seeds for attracting butterflies.

This one looks better viewed large as the little ant doesn't show up very well here; however the
crab spider was a really tiny one and I couldn't get a sharper shot than this.

Dahlia 'Bishop of Llandaff'. I know the name of this one!

Mating Flesh Flies on an annual Coreopsis.

Coreopsis again, also known as Tickseed. This one is my favourite annual.

Veg patch this year - there are veggies in there too!

Sunflowers are fun and the bees love them.

Pollinator Meadow year 3 in the early morning light.

Same view taken from behind a Dill plant.

Dewy Mirabilis jalapa, before the flowers close up for the day.

A Dahlia with a spider waiting for an unsuspecting pollinator.

A Grasshopper amongst the Rudbeckia 'Goldsturms'.

Cosmos in the veg patch.

Borage with a Honey Bee and on the right, a Heineken Hoverfly (Rhingia campestris).

This is a strange year! Verbena bonariensis is usually my main butterfly nectar flower but this year
hardly any have been attracted to it. Here's a Green-veined White (Pieris napi) having a drink.

Looking towards the garden through the trees early in the morning.

From the other direction - I still don't know what the tall yellow flowers are!
They spread like crazy just like the Bidens next to them.

Then there is ICM, which stands for Intentional Camera Movement, an effect you can create in camera by moving it whilst on a slow(ish) shutter speed. My friend Marianne has been trying to teach me how to do this and it requires a LOT of practice! I'm still mostly getting duff pictures but it's great fun trying.

ICM - the stems top left are my Bronze Fennel which hosted so many
Swallowtail caterpillars and there's also Sedum 'Autumn Joy',
the pink flower in the background (which is usually covered in butterflies,
but not so this year. Sob).

And a few harvest pictures that didn't fit in with other posts....

Thanks to heavy rain in August I actually got some edible peaches!
They doubled their size although they are still much smaller than
the commercially available ones.

And everyone loves rude veggies. :-)

And now I am awaiting the forecasted thunderstorms and heavy rain which the garden sorely needs, yet the sun is shining outside, I can hear a Robin singing and I'm torn because when this mini heatwave is over, that will truly be the end of summer. But roll on autumn! :-)