A few days ago, Andy sent me this photograph of a male stag beetle that he had found in his garden. I know that he has a very tidy garden (a subject we have debated together several times!) but he does have several rotting tree stumps. There are very few records of stag beetle […]
Not another post on bees. Well don’t blame me, blame Pam! Another of my natural history heroes is Gilbert White (1720-1793). He only wrote one book “The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne”. He is known for his meticulous observation and documentation of Nature. Although he was one of the first to observe migration in […]
Seventeen gardens were surveyed for our 4G Birdwatch. Thanks to those of you that sent in your lists. I hope that you enjoyed taking part. 42 species of bird were recorded and I have separated these into two lists – one of “typical” garden birds and the other of “flyovers or unusual visitors”. First the […]
Roy has sent me some pictures and video from the camera in his blue tit nest box. The box was put up earlier this year and its first family has already fledged! The photograph shows the last three birds waiting to go. I very nearly bought a camera for one of my house sparrow boxes. […]
Join Sally and I for the 4G Bird Watch. What birds are using your garden or have made a flypast. Almost no rules! All we want is a list of birds in your garden (estimated numbers or maximum count) seen or heard. Add a note if you have nesting or have seen fledged birds or […]
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly [fill in the rest yourself!] She swallowed the cow to catch the dog, She swallowed the dog to catch the cat, She swallowed the cat to catch the bird, She swallowed the bird to catch the spider, She swallowed the spider to catch the fly; […]
In my post More about Mason Bees I gave the name of the bee species as Osmia bicolor but it should have been Osmia bicornis. Apologies for that. It has been changed on the website but not before it was sent out in other formats. It would be really good to find Osmia bicolor as […]
The mason bees (Osmia bicornis) in our garden are still active with the female bees provisioning their mud cells with pollen. In my last post I said that there did not seem to be much sexual selection going on – as I released a female she was immediately grabbed by a male. But I have […]