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!

More bugs and flowers in May

I'm trying to get my May photos posted before June arrives! Having looked at the weather forecast, I'm freaking out seeing temps over 30c and wall to wall sunshine from Thursday onwards, as we haven't had that much rain in May, so the garden will shrivel up with those kind of temps (and so will I). Well at least the water butts are all full, including my 4000 litre ex septic tank reservoir.

For now though, looking back over the end of May, and some of my bug finds. It helps me now that the vegetation has grown, so insects are often higher up and easier to photograph, although I'm finding that I'm getting more agile and bendy and can sometimes actually bend over and pick things up off the floor, and can stroke the cats now, instead of just the tips of their tails!

Absolutely tiny Misumena vatia crab spider on an Ox-eye Daisy.

Strangely this last week I've seen very few butterflies, only a couple of Small Whites, and the usual Speckled Woods in my little woodland area. And that's when it's been sunny! Very odd. But this one was seen one evening earlier in the month but I forgot to put it on my last blog post.

Settling down for the night, Small Heath
(Coenonympha pamphilus) butterfly on Irises.

Small Heath (Coenonympha pamphilus) butterfly.

Drinker Moth caterpillar (Euthrix potatoria).

A very handsome Longhorn Beetle.

Agapanthia sp., probably A. cardui.

One of the first Blackberry flowers blooming, with a solitary bee.
I hadn't noticed the little spider there though! Possibly a crab spider?
The bee survived. :-)

Tadpoles again, there are thousands of them!
This time I used a polarising filter to cut the glare.

A newish shrub, Physocarpus diabolo. Top it is attracting a small solitary bee,
and bottom left if you can open this full screen you'll see a miniscule spider!

Physocarpus diabolo. I'm really pleased as last year it only had
about four flowers, and this year it is loaded!

Happy to see the return of Ragged Robin (Lychnis flos-cuculi) at the base
of my lime green smokebush! It seemed to disappear years ago
after several very dry springs, but this year it's back.

Golden leafed Weigela, on the right attracting a Carder Bee.

Pretty variegated Weigela, name unknown as it
came as a cutting from a friend's garden.

Spirea 'Goldflame' in bud.

A couple of shade lovers in the veg patch under the greengage tree:
Hedge Woundwort on the left and Foxglove on the right.

Peonies are just starting to flower, which usually means rain,
as these blooms are so big and heavy that the stems can
barely support them even when they are dry.
We usually cut the bigger ones and bring them inside.

 I think this is a bunch of newly fledged Great Tits (Parus major)!
They are so cute.

That's nearly it for May photos. There is plenty going on in the garden; the Blue Tits in the nest box must have fledged but they haven't been visiting the feeders with mum, but I've heard them in the trees so I guess they are getting a lesson in searching for green caterpillars, which is mostly what they are fed when in the nest. I'm trying to really enjoy the birdsong and dawn chorus (even whilst I'm cursing the blackbird for singing at 5am) because I know by the end of June it will go rather quiet on that front.

There are a number of tiny Mullein Moth caterpillars on the Great Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) in the Pollinator Meadow. Really the Pollinator Meadow should be renamed the Bug Bar, as it's as much about native host plants now as a nectar and pollen bar! There's even grass and nettles in it which both support many species of butterfly and moth. It's actually very liberating having an area of the garden where I don't have to worry about weeds in amongst my flowers! :-)

Mullein Moth (Cucullia verbasci) caterpillar early instar.

As for how I am doing now, I'm tired, very tired. Have just finished round 5 of my chemo, so next time I'll be halfway through! The butt area pain is greatly diminishing which is a relief, although it may well come back as I know only too well. For now, I'll just enjoy it while it lasts.

More wildlife sightings

It seems to be lizard season here right now, but unfortunately that means they are easy prey for the cats. One of the rotters brought this beautiful large lizard indoors and dumped it there. My OH yelled at me to get my camera, and when I saw it I couldn't believe it! It measured 4 inches (10cm) from head to the base of its tail. Unfortunately it had lost its tail, not such a big problem as they grow back, but I also saw in some of the close up photos that I took that it had bite marks on it, and a bit of blood. 

Poor thing. We put it back by the steps to the garage under the Euphorbias and just have to hope for the best. It's a Western Green Lizard (Lacerta bilineata) and I've never seen one before, so really surprised to see one here. Apparently their head and body length can reach 5 inches, and up to 16 inches to the tip of the tail! The next day I saw a small one with green colouring under its head so assume it's a young one of this species. That one was OK, thankfully.

Western Green Lizard just after we put it back outside.

It didn't look very happy so I hope it survived.
I didn't want to share the better photos I took which show up the injuries behind the head.

And in other wildlife news:

Tadpoles! More excitement as I haven't seen any here for years.
I also got to test out how a polarising filter really works against reflection!

But to get to the tadpoles I had to pass the ducks on the
narrow path, so they went into frantic nervous preening mode!

Drinker Moth caterpillar (Euthrix potatoria).
I couldn't find the ID myself but I have just joined an excellent insect group
on facebook and I get IDs in minutes, the people there are that good.

Yet to get an ID but this is either a wasp, or a bee that looks like a wasp!
That's a tiny weevil in the background and this activity is all inside a tulip.

A male Orange Tip butterfly (Anthocharis cardamines).
They are hard to capture as they never stay still for long.

Speckled Wood butterfly (Pararge aegeria).

We went back to the Marais de Sougeal last week. By this time the water meadow has been drained although there are a few mini lakes that are permanent, and water channels, streams and ditches, so plenty of water for the water birds that stay here all year round. This time we got to walk along the new path which was no longer flooded and discovered that the hut in the distance was none other than a brand new hide! With windows that open too, shock horror! 

The birds and ducks were very distant but we did clock up yet another Lifer - two Whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus)! They are migratory waders, wintering in Africa and here they are en route to their breeding grounds in the far north. These two could end up in northern Scotland, Iceland, Scandinavia or northern Russia, who knows! 

The path to the new hide. The bank is brand new and has been planted up with shrubs and trees.
I guess eventually we won't have much of a view over the meadow except from the hide.

Rubbish photo because it was so far away but I can't see as clearly
as this through my binocs! A Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus).

I went wandering off looking for bugs amongst the stinging nettles and comfrey that covered the bank between the meadow and the path, and found my first damselfly of the year!

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans), violet form.
I believe this is an immature female.

After a while it hopped to another blade of grass.
I'm not sure what the red blob is, I wonder if it is an egg of some kind?

Then got fed up with the camera in its face and flitted off further away!

What amazes me is how grass and other plants survive being under water for a month or two then spring back and carry on growing like nothing happened. In the meadow were also many Cardamine pratensis flowers, known as Cuckoo Flower or Lady's Smock. This is one of the food plants for the larvae of Orange Tip butterflies.