Delights of a Garden Pond

 Having spent the morning clearing brambles etc from the surroundings of my garden wildlife pond, I could sit comfortably in the shade observing the comings and goings in the afternoon. A species of wasp not recorded this year arrived first, Dolichivespula media, the Median wasp only arrived in England in the 1980s and is slowly expanding its range northwards and becoming more common. This was joined by Common wasp, Hornets, Paper wasps and several Bumble bees. A Blue-tailed Damselfly and a much too friendly Southern Hawker (egg laying right under my feet!) completed the party of guests.

Kingston Nature Reserve 8th August

Mike, Ann and Carina joined me for an enjoyable walk in Hayley Wood although, with very few flowering plants, insects were in very short supply. On the way home, I called at the Kingston Embankment Reserve (for details of the site see Ann Miles Blog: Walk to Kingston Embankment Reserve) and was delighted to find it full of flowering Carrot, Knapweed, Ragwort and Red Bartsia together with its special Bee Mellita tricincta. Lots of insects on the flowerheads including the strange Conopid Fly and a Gall Fly. Lots of Butterflies on the wing including a fresh pair of  Small Whites.

Paxton Pits Update

Another sunny and very warm day at Paxton and there were very few insects about. After finding an unusual bee on Red Bartsia flowers at another reserve yesterday, I thought it worth looking for this flower at Paxton and with it I found the target Red Bartsia Bee (Melitta tricincta). Other finds were Green-veined White, Migrant hawker, Common Darter, Brown Argus, Ormyrus nitidulus, plant bug Sternoderma laevigatus. Furrow Orbweaver and Brown Argus. The Grebe chicks are  beginning to dive, with the Cormorant much too  but with a beak full of foliage. (Also Common tern and Little Grebe)

New Species for My Garden List

To ensure that I spent at least some time clearing the area round my pond today rather than photographing the inhabitants, I locked my camera in a cupboard till after lunch. Even visits from Common Darter and Southern Migrant Hawkers to the garden were ignored while I tackled the excess vegetation around the pond. In the afternoon, I settled down for a couple of hours recording the life in the pond now much easier to access. No Dragons but there was a Willow Emerald Damselfly, lots of Wasps and Bees plus Pond Skaters and Trypoxylon attenuatum Slender Wood-bore Wasp. The Wasps were mainly Europaean Paper Wasps Polistes dominicus - a first record for my garden and obviously breeding somewhere nearby from the amount of activity.

The first pond skater image rivals any Shakespearean tragedy with the Pond skater standing over and about to stab its victim  (a Pond Olive).