Change

Well I've not done a lot that's blog worthy; the last time I used the camera was last Wednesday, and after that I've had a few days of feeling a bit weary and not up to much. In that time though, I have fitted new integrated fridge and freezer units; both were well past their shelf life (c16yrs) and ready for change, though still working fine up until the fridge blipped off on Tuesday. By the time I'd swapped the fuse and confirmed that was not the issue, looked for and ordered new units, it had a miraculous resurrection but I doubt it would have lasted much longer.

The camera use on Weds was to capture a couple more bits from the front garden. I found a much more straightforward Narycia duplicella on the cherry tree trunk, and a small Harlequin Beetle sitting it out tucked up with a 7-Spot at the top of a window frame.

The only other new square record was a pair of Canada Geese honking as they headed directly over the garden last week whilst I nipped out to top up the feeders. Again. The Goldfinches are costing me a fortune this year despite buying sunflower hearts in bulk.

Whilst I'm not seeing much, I'm catching up on some overdue PC maintenance tasks - prompted by Stewart's issue with his electricity provider overloading the mains circuit and frazzling his PC. I've got not far off 500Gb worth of photos built up over the years of family, places and of course wildlife. It's a resource that is constantly growing, and I do not trust cloud-based services etc. So, I've always relied on physical back-ups, and as the total file-size has grown (and therefore the impact of any loss increases) I also back-up my back-up. The hard-drive on the PC is more than sizeable enough to be the main host for all of my files, but I hold a copy of all the photos, music, MapMate records, other key files etc on a 2Tb flash drive and a separate copy on another 1Tb flash drive that I keep in a lockable fire-proof case. As I go through the year, I am adding files and tidying up the PC host, and then on a six-month rotation I back up each flash drive. I should do it more regularly but it takes a while. Worst case scenario should be that I've lost the last six months worth of photos - although at least anything that it useable will have featured on this blog, social media or family What'sApp etc. However I forgot during the summer and so I've started backing up both drives again as I write.

Change is inevitable in life, and even things that seem to have been a long-standing constant have to move on eventually. Tomorrow, Nichola's parents will be leaving their house in Guineaford and they're moving to a more sensibly sized and manageable property as they move into the second half of their 70s. The house they are leaving has been their home for c28 years, the longest they'd lived anywhere, and all three of our kids and their cousins have grown up knowing nothing but this house.

There are masses of great family memories, and it's been a shame that thanks to Covid etc we've not been able to visit them since Dec 2019. The house had a great rural garden and I've seen some great wildlife in it over the years. They're staying in North Devon and won't be too far away though, and whilst one door literally closes another opens. The new house will be closer to the estuary and Northam Burrows.

Here's a couple of moths I've only ever seen whilst garden trapping at the Guineaford house:

Brussels Lace

Nut-tree Tussock

The only other change of note, I've finally decided to order an Olympus TG-6 camera given that all I hear are good reviews and see good results. I was thinking of waiting to see if a new TG was coming out, but the noises seem to be more along the lines of the range coming to the end of line. My trusty P600 won't last much longer, although it's behaved for most of the year after the wobble last spring, and the P950 has proven to be too unwieldly for proper macro work (whilst being great for big zoom birding, dragonflies and similar). This blog is already a mish-mash of photographic sources so aside from some early experiments and comments (when I've got anything to point it at) I won't be making a point of highlighting which camera I've used for what shots. Likely the TG-6 will be mainly used in the field and I'll keep the P600 going as long as possible for indoor macro work on moths and similar.

I'm feeling up to more this week, but the weather has turned baltic to say the least. I'll be busy with work tomorrow, but hopefully Weds should be a crisp and dry day albeit remaining blisteringly cold, so I'll be planning to get back out then.

Life in the Garden

After an early trap-emptying session (with a lot more moths than of late, though nothing exceptional) the day has mainly comprised of cracking on with painting fence panels, seeing as it was dry and warm. Not a lot seen whilst doing that, but I did notice quite a few bits dithering around the gardening waste bin which have probably come from some lilac branches cut off yesterday. I also found a new for me larva. So, here's a mix starting with some hoppers .....

These two were amongst a handful in the trap this morning:

Ribautiana tenerrima

I reckon this is Oncopsis subangulata, but both this and O. flavicolis occur together on birch so I'll need to grab a couple to check out.

And this was on the gardening waste bin during the day ....

Common Froghopper

Also knocking about on the gardening waste bin were these beetle larvae:

Harlequin Ladybird

Ten-spot Ladybird

However this larva was a bit of a mystery. It's clearly a sawfly, but I found it resting on the side of the shed not really close to any plants. The gardening waste bin was nearby, and I wondered if it had come from there with the ladybird larvae. As the bin was mainly full of lilac cuttings, I stuck the larva in a tub with a leaf but it wasn't interested. So I stuck in a range of leaves from the back garden, and as there were also clippings from bushes on the front I stuck those in too. Still nothing. I then stuck in a leaf from our small Lycesteria formosa bush which is also on the front, though none of that went in the bin. Immediately it started eating and has already eaten half of the leaf. I guess it must have got knocked off and swept up somehow, but aside from some larval feeding damage I couldn't find anymore larvae on the bush.

This is one of the Abia spp., which may need to be reared through to confirm to species.

At this point, I'm going to mention that I've created the post with the new Blogger editor, and it is wank. It's going to take a bit of getting used to, and rather than being more intuitive it feels like a real slog. In particular, adding labels efficiently is a mystery and I had to revert to the legacy editor to get it to publish without a label error message. Good luck!
Here is something from some better Editors.

A Tick on My Neck

I crashed into a bit of an old-man sleep on the settee last night after dinner, and by the time I came round I couldn't be arsed with blogging. And it's not like there was nothing to blog about either!

Yesterday was another sunny day with slightly less breeze. Everytime I nipped out to the garden with the camera, just when it looked like there was something to point it at another blasted Eristalis pertinax would come in and disturb the quarry. I found my self openly berating the said hoverflies as complete fucking idiots. I then realised that vocally remonstrating with diptera was perhaps a sign that being confined to barracks really was driving me bonkers. [I should mention that my very recent confinement is more about dealing with some sort of excrutiatingly painful inflammation in my left big toe joints. Gout? Athritis? Rickets?]

Anyway, whilst stood there pointing at hoverflies and swearing at them, I felt a tickle on my neck. The kind of tickle that instinctively makes you grab at it and have a look. On my fingertip was a tiny black dot - too small to see any detail with the naked eye but big enough to immediately point the camera at and have a look. Bugger me!

An inconspicuous ladybird, Nephus quadrimaculatus no less. A full tick for me, and amazingly up until 27/03/2020 this had never been recorded in VC55. One was beaten from ivy, which in turn prompted a bit of action and another couple of records have been made along with other inconspicuous ladybirds (including the first VC55 Scymnus interruptus and the first VC55 Horseshoe Ladybird since 1872). So finding this in such a lucky manner was pretty amazing, the only bashing or beating involved was me shouting at hoverflies. Anyway, I immediately stuck it in a pot that I had in my pocket - and then realised the pot had previously housed both a Mompha subbistrigalis and an Epermenia chaerophyllella netted in the garden. The tiny beetle was now scuttling around with a liberal coating of scales. I brought it in, got the news out and cleaned it up for another shot - not that's it's much better.

Otherwise, the Eristalis managed to completely mess with my mind. I'd noticed what appeared to be a large pale and fluffy-looking fly buzzing around but not landing. Eventually it did settle, and I cautiously approached it expecting something interesting .... only to note that it was a completely shit-looking Eristalis pertinax. I wondered if it was just very worn, one suggestion on the UK Hoverflies group was that it was actually just covered in dust and dirt after emergence. Great - these are going to keep messing me about for weeks.

Wanker

I did manage to point the camera at another hoverfly though, and after scrutinising the picture I came to the conclusion that it was new for me - which was subsequently supported by no less than Roger Morris.

Melangyna lasiophthalma

I failed to net it, or any other diptera or hymenoptera for that matter, though this bug hit the threads ..

Slightly out of focus Deraeocoris lutescens

In order to try and attract more stuff onto the lilac bush leaves, I made up a sugar-solution and flicked a few splashes on. It didn't really work. Until this morning when I realised that the bush was now covered in small groups of ants benefitting from the residues. I'm assuming Small Black Ant, but I'm not going to start squinting at them under a microscope.

There did seem to be a few more flies around in the garden today, though apart from the regulars there were no new hoverflies. I was pleased to get the following shots though, considering the flies were sat on top of the 6ft garden fence panels and I am somewhat less than 6ft. I'm glad the camera has a swivel view-screen.

Face Fly - Musca autumnalis

Other diptera was not identifiable ....

I think this is a 'Flesh Fly' - Sarcophaga sp.

I'm guessing one of the Anthomyiidae, maybe Hylema sp.

The first Harlequin Beetle of the year in the garden blundered into my net, and I managed to grab a shot literally just before it blundered off.

Also knocking around today were two or three Red Mason Bees, none of which would settle anywhere for a shot. I've got a few bits from today in pots to work on: a couple of carabids (another Amara type and something small and Bembedion-ish), a Nomada sp. bee and this sawfly ..

Athalia sp.

Birds-wise it has been very quiet, nothing new. And the moth trap is out tonight for the first time for a few days.

Stay safe. And sane!

Park Life

Abbey Park is a long-standing park right in the center of Leicester (well, pretty much anyway). It's been one of those places that everyone in Leicester City will have gone to, walked through, played on etc for decades. It's not a place I visit more than once in a blue moon. On Thursday I had a walk around there with Nichola - not because of any compelling reason to go, or anything specific to look for, it just fitted with other things we were doing in the area on the day.

It's a place a great beauty, serenity and peace despite it's central location .....

Abbey Park, River Soar 01/06/2017

..... or at least it could be. There are certainly nice spots in the park that could/should be good. But in the main the park is full of kids, picknickers, dog walkers, neer-do-wells and, generally, people. Too many of them. Still, I had my camera, we had some sunshine and we had an ice-cream so all was well.

Nichola was most enamoured by the Canada goslings, despite me proclaiming them as vermin. Here's some much less fluffy bits that I did point the camera at.

Volucella pellucens

Ptilinus pectinicorinis (female)

Harlequin Ladybird

Mesopsocus immunis

I did note that there were 100s of Blue-tailed Damselflies around the place, in various states of maturity. Some were sitting on metal railings running alongside the river, all facing the same way into the breeze, but many others were just loafing about on various vegetation, walls etc.

 

Croft Hill Bits

I nipped over to Croft Hill for a brief walk around yesterday afternoon. It was good to get out and have a look at a few bits for a change, seems like I've had another busy period where time flies by. Nothing too out of the ordinary, with larval life being the most notable things I pointed the lens at.

Pretty sure this is Diurnea fagella - has those odd enlarged third thoracic legs. Found this feeding in a spun tent on hazel.

This is a hoverfly larva, and probably a Syrphus/Eupoedes sp.

Harlequin Ladybird larva - found loads of these.

Myathropa florea

Mesembrina meridiana

And this spectacular thing is a powdery mildew on oak - Erysiphe alphitoides

Do me a flava

After posting all that rock pool nonsense earlier today, the sun finally broke through and it looked worthwhile heading out for some pseudo-birding (with boys in tow). First up, we headed over to Birstal Meadows and I was in luck. A Common Sandpiper was still loitering, along with two Wood Sandpipers (two more or the same two as last week - who knows, either scenario seems equally unlikely). Even better, at least two Yellow Wagtails were knocking about.

Next we headed over to Watermead CP South. It was a lot quieter than recent visits (knobhead wise) but also little of birding interest aside from numerous singing warblers including Garden Warbler. Only one or two Sand Martins and Swallows noted, but no terns, Swifts or House Martins. The only worthwhile things that hit the digital sensor were these ..

Mating Harlequin Ladybirds, female form conspicua, male form succinea

Scorpion Fly

Also got around to photographing this male Eyed Hawk-moth that was waiting for me in the rearing box on Monday, having been reared from a larva found last year on the Sallow overhanging the garden.

Chat, Grebe, Pest, Merveille

I had intended to get up and out early this morning and have a mooch around parts of the Soar Valley South patch, however when the alarm went off I found I couldn't be arsed as I felt knackered. I was less than impressed when an hour later I was woken by the phone calling me into work to manage a crisis. Work issues dealt with, I dropped into Grove Park on the way home with every intention of finding a decent chat. I had Black Redstart in mind (site is 100% perfect for this species) but had to make do with a Wheatear instead - still nice.


Though a bit too far away for my poxy lens.

A Red-legged Partridge ran down the main road (these are patently the most stupid species in Britain), and a column of 5 Common Buzzards wheeled overhead, but otherwise it was quiet. not even anything notable on the balancing pool.

On the other side of the road to the Wheatear, it was most disappointing to see that work had actually progressed on the main waste ground which undoubtedly ends future breeding of Little Ringed Plover in the area.


LRP ex-breeding site

I also had a quick look around Jubilee Park on the way home. Again very quiet but I was surprised to find a Little Grebe on the pool. Otherwise a couple of Wigeon, Tufted and Mallard on there.

I then had to be at home to help get it sorted for Isabelle - she's having a few friends over for a sleepover. This means my whole evening will be spent banished upstairs with the boys and Nichola whilst a gaggle of young teenagers take over the kitchen, TV, games consoles and wi-fi. What a facking liberty!

I noticed whilst pretending to hoover that there were a lot of ladybirds congregating on the south-facing windows. Investigation confirmed my suspicions - lots of Harlequins looking for roosting sites. There was c30 all over the rear windows/door at any one time - at least double that and possibly more involved. Their activity only during spells of very bright sunshine - whenever it clouded over they stopped appearing.


Spotty pest


Blotchy pest

I also managed to have a proper go at the Merveille du Jour




Merveille Camo